Does she like a strong neighborhood type community, or is she into gardening, or is she basically a city girl at heart?
Moving somewhere, especially if it's the "where do I want to live the rest of my life" decision is difficult.
My parents decided on Albuquerque when it came time for both to retire, because living in Seattle was just becoming too expensive in the early 2000's.
But there were several things that made Albuquerque more attractive than, say, Silver Springs Colorado or somewhere in Western Washington or around Eugene, Oregon - not the least of which was the relatively mild weather...
Albuquerque is a large city with a lot of options available and plenty of things to do. There were also a lot of retirees there due to the weather; so a lot of facilitation for the needs of the elderly are available.
Dad was a military retiree, and there were several safe neighborhoods with houses with large enough lots for gardening around the major Air Force base there - even though they were close to one of the rougher parts of town (the "Little Vietnam" area). Add in lot of natural scenery, history, and archeology within driving distance (as both my parents were/are into history and sight-seeing), and a low cost of living, Albuquerque appears to have been a good fit - for the time being. As Mom is getting towards her eighth decade and has become more housebound, though - it's not so good (public transportation in her area is a nightmare). Laz and I are hoping to get the 200 sq. ft of our California room fixed up by the time she's going to have to decide if she wants to go into a nursing home or get some living assistance because she'll needs help - we prefer her to move in with us in our ADA-compliant double-wide here in SoCal than to be stuck on her own without the ability to care for herself. Even though there are facilities to care for her either at home or in a facility with a home setting there; it's just a matter of personal peace of mind on our end.
My point is that there are progressive pockets pretty much everywhere - even in red states - but most of them require living in a city, which tends to be more expensive than living in a rural area when you're on a fixed income. And not all of them are elderly-friendly - especially if there's not a good tax base to support infrastructure and assistance programs.
Because she's retired and on a fixed income, she really needs to visit someplace before the decision to move is made. And she has to think about what sort of life she would be comfortable living in, and how she might be able to transition from being able to care for herself to requiring long-term care.
Haele
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