October 26th, 2010
New BEST places to retire
| With its dramatic red rock cliffs and canyon rivers, Sedona is by all accounts lovely – one reason more than 400,000 tourists descend on the town every year. But for Cathy Severson, 58, everything that made Sedona a great place to visit also made it a poor choice to settle when she was looking to leave California: It was too expensive and, with 11,600 year-round residents, too small. “And there’s always a huge influx of tourists and just one main road,” Severson says.Prescott, on the other hand, just 63 miles southwest, shares Sedona’s mild climate, ample opportunities for recreation, and jaw-dropping scenery. But further from Flagstaff, and still quite a ways from Phoenix, Prescott doesn’t get the tourists – or the prices. The cost of living is about 10% lower that it is in Sedona. (Residents in both places pay low state income and local property taxes.) And there’s a vast difference in home prices: According to Trulia.com, a two-bedroom in Sedona has an average list price of $396,064, compared to $210,286 in Prescott.
While Sedona is known for its galleries and museums, Prescott is no wasteland. The capital of Arizona in the late 19th century, hundreds of the town’s buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places, and local museums exhibit permanent collections of of Southwestern art, pottery and jewelry, and American Western art. The nearby Yavapai Regional Medical Center, recently added a heart center, headed by highly-rated cardiac surgeon Pierre Tibi, a founding partner of Phoenix Cardiac Surgery. |
Key Stats*Median home price (Zillow): State income tax rate: County property taxes (median, % home value): Nearest major airport: |
Photos: Sedona: John M. Scott; Prescott: Kerrick James
Read more: Prescott, Ariz.: The New Best Places to Retire – Personal Finance – Retirement – SmartMoney.com http://www.smartmoney.com/personal-finance/retirement/the-new-best-places-to-retire/?page=2#ixzz13VCxKTYy
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