It was an ordinary day. Opened the front door to pick up my morning newspaper and found that Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, my hometown county, has once again topped the list of "Best Places to Retire." Funny that it has been voted once again to be the top place to retire, since Carol and I have just moved into a retirement community in Lancaster County. Perhaps our move put Lancaster County over the top on the list! I remember reading that last year it was #5 on the list of places to retire after being ranked #1 in 2019. I must admit that Lancaster County has just about anything and everything that is needed if you might want to retire. I spent most of my working life as a high school Industrial Arts teacher and after retiring from that job, worked at a gallery and frame shop for a former student of mine. I began working in education in 1966 and finally retired in 2021 from the frame shop. So...I spent 55 years working before I finally made the move and retired to a more quiet and relaxing life. And...I did so in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. So why is Lancaster such a desirable place in which to retire? Lancaster doesn't have year round warm weather like many Southern states or beautiful beaches like Hawaii, California or Florida, so what does it have that would draw the votes to make it #1? Seems that people are looking for more than just weather. One reason for the big draw is housing affordability. Retirees can enjoy the same quality of life they do in larger metropolitan areas at a lower cost. A typical home price in Florida is $415,762 while the same home in Lancaster is $267,549. Pretty big savings! Another factor is access to quality health care. US News and World Report noted that Lancaster County climbed the rankings due to the close proximity of top-ranked hospitals with Lancaster's city-based Lancaster General Hospital at No. 4 and Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Dauphin County at No. 5. As people age, they find health care to be a main reason as to where they want to retire. Lancaster County also ranked high in overall happiness...how much people who currently live there enjoy where they live. Lancaster residents find they enjoy both the rural area as well as downtown areas. They can visit winning restaurants and shops in downtown Lancaster, or enjoy scenery and roadside stands in the surrounding countryside. Lancaster's history, culture and food are all reasons the local retirement communities here draw from other areas. As for my wife and myself...well, we have both lived in Lancaster County all our lives and know no other place than Lancaster County. We finally moved to Woodcrest Villa about a month ago. The place has everything anyone could possibly want in their life from plenty of housing choices, such as the villa that Carol and I have chosen to roomy apartments to plenty of eating places, plenty of athletic things to do, plenty of friendly people to talk to everyday, a large library, great entertainment...and the list goes on and on. Lancaster ranked #1 in 2019, but fell to #5 last year. This year they have regained the #1 ranking. Other top 10 places to retire in the 2022-23 survey were: #2 - Harrisburg, PA, #3 - Pensacola, Florida, #4 - Tampa, Florida, #5 - York, Pennsylvania, #6 - Naples, Florida, #7 - Daytona Beach, Florida, #8 - Ann Arbor, Michigan, #9 - Allentown, Pennsylvania, #10 - Reading, Pennsylvania. Lancaster County ranks high in so many categories that it probably will remain near the top for years to come. We are glad that we managed to find our perfect retirement home before they are all gone. And...our two cats find that they too love our new home. They have plenty of windows to see the beautiful surroundings and plenty of interior space to chase each other to their hearts content. We believe we made our move at the right time. One great feature is the long-term medical care they offer. Appears to be one of the best around. Time will tell! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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