Beacon Falls is a small town of about 5,000 in east-central Connecticut. It offers a rural setting in Connecticut's hills, yet is only about a half hour drive from either New Haven or Hartford.  Retirees can take a convenient train to New York from New Haven's Union Station. Photo of Tracy S. Lewis House courtesy of Wikipedia (public domain); photo…...

Bellevue is a growing and prosperous city of 151,854, people (2020 census) across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the second largest city center in Washington, often characterized as an "edge-city" to Seattle.  The city's long-term development plans include the Bel-Red Corridor Project, a large-scale planning effort to encourage the redevelopment Bellevue's northern portion.  Bellevue has many different neighborhoods and…...

Chapel Hill is a particularly beautiful (population just over 53,000) college town in the gentle hills of central North Carolina. The University of North Carolina (24,000 students) is the centerpiece of this charming  town with a cosmopolitan flair that makes it appealing as a retirement community. This entire area is highly educated, with Duke University nearby in Durham, and NC…...

The friendly, historic city of Hot Springs makes an excellent retirement community. Hot Springs Reservation was the first country’s Federal Reserve (1832) and became a National Park in 1921 (the nation's smallest by area). Its downtown Historic District protects the thermal waters and the historic and opulent buildings on Bathhouse Row. Fordyce Bath House is the centerpiece and museum headquarters.…...