Anyone who is a fan of this newsletter knows I am not a fan of “best places” lists. The latest one to get my attention is from US News & World Report which is best known for its rankings of colleges and universities. Their latest ranking seriously needs an education. I respond with a list of my own. Also, I have a take on the announcement that rocked the golf world last week. The Saudis are coming, the Saudis are coming. And finally, poetry makes its way into the newsletter this month. Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” offers some good advice for those of us whose friends and neighbors don’t see things as we do.
After I retired from the corporate world, I took a job with a moderate-sized university. A few months in, I noted that the university’s mission statement should have included, “Do whatever it takes to improve our standing on USNews & World Report’s list of best universities.” The magazine’s list drove many of the discussions among university officials; “obsession” was not too strong a characterization. I later learned that other universities employed full-timers dedicated to working on the USN&WR annual rankings.
A friend recently sent me one of USNews’ latest lists; the ranking has nothing to do with education and, frankly, it does not use a particularly scholarly approach to attitudes and attributes. It is the USNews’ latest ranking of the “Best Places to Live.” If you live in a cocoon free of societal shifts and political issues, and you don’t mind getting advice about where to live from people who have never visited the cities they are assessing, you will be misled by this latest list.
UNSNews weights its rankings as follows: Quality of Life (36%), Value/Affordability (23%), Desirability (22%) and Job Market (19%). Some of those categories are flawed. First, one of the weighted criteria in the Desirability category is a “Desirability Index” which, no surprise, defines how “desirable” it is to live in a particular metro area. My expectation was that the magazine’s editors would have asked the people in the 150 metros it ranks to score their urban areas on a list of obviously desirable traits. But, no, the magazine asked 3,500 people from around the nation where they would most like to live among the 150 cities that they probably HAVE NEVER EVEN VISITED. If I live in Anchorage or Bangor, ME, for example, what do you think I might say about Tampa, FL or Myrtle Beach, SC? (The survey, by the way, was conducted in March 2023, when mean temperatures in Anchorage and Bangor are 25 and 30 degrees. In March, mean temperatures in my own state of Connecticut are just 40 degrees.)
USNews demeans weather’s impact in another way, giving it just a 10% weight in the Desirability category. Whereas they ignore climate as a strong factor in people’s perceptions of places they’ve never visited, that 10% weighting indicates USNews finds climate relatively unimportant in a decision to relocate. Yet, for decades, climate has driven the historic southward migration of retirees; and now, given the effects of the pandemic, many employees newly working from home are also exercising the option to relocate to warm weather areas far from their corporate offices.
Nowhere in the Quality of Life category, or anywhere else in USNews’ list for that matter, is an acknowledgement that drastic societal changes and divisions between how states treat individual rights may have an impact on a metro area’s desirability. Retirees on both sides of the political spectrum have, for decades, pretty much ignored the red state/blue state differences because the warm-weather red states wanted to do all they could to attract new residents and the blue states wanted to do all they could to retain them. But today, for many Americans, the political climates in some states has become as important as the meteorological climates. You cannot have missed that some state legislatures, for example, have imposed bans on abortions after just six weeks, banned certain books, wiped child labor laws essentially off the books, and even imposed restrictions on companies whose social values they do not like – or at least they tried to impose them. USN&WR’s dismissal of the dramatic political and social differences between states and their most prominent metro areas assumes that desirability and political discomfort are somehow mutually exclusive.
For those considering a relocation but without a firm idea about where, the best guidance I have is, “Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines” and hit the road to visit as many as you can. Nothing else is a substitute, especially magazine rankings.
Ranking the best places to live is a subjective exercise. If it weren’t, then all those ranking agencies – USNews & World Report, Kiplingers, NerdWallet et al – would not disagree so widely on their conclusions. As a public service, I offer my own super-subjective list of best places to live in the Southeast Region of the U.S. – minus any ranking order. My list is based on research over more than 15 years and at least a couple of visits to the golf communities located in each of the following metro areas.
One of the most popular destinations in recent years, Greenville offers a nice package of amenities that appeal to many Baby Boomers. These include a rather modest but high-quality group of golf communities, from the deluxe Cliffs to the more egalitarian Pebble Creek, with a nice selection in between (e.g. Green Valley and Thornblade). The downtown area is stuffed with entertaining venues that include a minor league baseball stadium (Shoeless Joe Jackson’s statue is outside), a major concert venue (Peace Center) and a growing number of eclectic restaurants, some with views of the city’s beautiful Reedy River.
Talk about a restaurant scene, the Holy City is a religious experience for foodies where farm-to-table dining is embellished by sea-to-table offerings (no better place we know for oysters). The city is literally surrounded by the widest array of golf communities, from the half dozen championship layouts on Kiawah Island, including the famed Ocean Course, to the suburban layouts in Mt. Pleasant (Arnold Palmer’s modern RiverTowne, George Cobb’s Classic Snee Farm and, in nearby Awendaw, the legendary Mike Strantz’ Bull’s Bay). For urbane living near an urban setting, those who can afford it choose Daniel Island and its two highly ranked layouts by Rees Jones and Tom Fazio.
This four-mile strip of the Grand Strand of Myrtle Beach packs a lot of golf, beach and food options along US Highway 17. The Grand Strand features only a few private clubs, and most of them are south of Myrtle Beach, including DeBordieu Colony (Pete Dye), The Reserve at Litchfield Beach (Greg Norman) and Wachesaw Plantation (Fazio). Top public courses include Caledonia and True Blue (two by Strantz) and Pawleys Plantation (Nicklaus), which is currently undergoing a $2 million restoration to its circa 1989 glory. The small area offers a wide range of dining establishments, chief among them the Southern-food oriented Frank’s, the eclectic Chive Blossom and the ultra-casual back-in-the-woods PIT (Pawleys Island Tavern). For at-home chefs, there are four supermarkets within four miles, including a Fresh Market (like Whole Foods). The beach at Pawleys Island is one of the best on the east coast and accessible to all, if the parking lots are not filled. (All beaches in South Carolina are open to the public.)
Okay, full disclosure: If I were looking for a year-round retirement place, Florida would not be at the top of my list. It is just too relentlessly hot during the summer months. But for a vacation home, I would target the Sarasota area for its cultural activities, especially the art museums (Ringling, Salvador Dali) and a younger-minded population (and I include many local retirees in that designation). The proximity to the Gulf of Mexico beaches and a wide array of golf communities, including the immense Lakewood, one of the most comprehensive in the state, and Longboat Key, which juts out into the Gulf, makes Sarasota the embodiment of the old saw “location, location, location.” And a nice bonus, especially for sports fans like me, is that the Tampa Bay area boasts some of the best teams in all the major sports. Since this decade began, relatively small Tampa Bay has produced two world championships in professional football and hockey. And the Tampa Bay Rays baseball club is currently the best in major league baseball.
University towns like Charlottesville (University of Virginia) tend to offer a sophisticated array of activities. That stands to reason since both professors and students are well educated and expect high standards of quality. Universities are also magnets for concerts and theater productions and, for those of us with a disposition toward lifelong learning, continuing education courses. Golf communities anchor both ends of the city, with the Scottish-tinged Glenmore and totally renovated Keswick Hall to the east, and Farmington Country Club and Old Trail to the west. The city’s location makes it an easy 90-minute drive to the Wintergreen Resort in the Blue Ridge Mountains and its 45 holes of top golf, and under three hours to the ocean.
Savannah, GA…a city loaded with character and history, with the well-organized, multi-golf-course Landings community just 20 minutes away.
Chapel Hill, NC…another university town with all kinds of golfing options nearby.
Asheville, NC…a small version of San Francisco, with all the benefits and none of the downsides.
Wilmington, NC…historic town with modern conveniences, charm and accessibility.
Richmond, VA…one of the most underrated cities for retirees.
Vero Beach, FL…makes my list based on its reasonably priced real estate, nice beaches and quality services.
Larry Gavrich
Founder & Editor
Home On The Course, LLC
The golf world is in turmoil with the stunning announcement that the PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Tour have buried the hatchet – in the players’ backs, some high-profile players like Rory McIlroy might say. McIlroy and other PGA stalwarts – Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, many others – were betrayed by the organization that had asked them to remain loyal as their fellow competitors were lured to LIV with nine-figure contracts.
Now that PGA Tour leader Jay Monahan, who will play second fiddle to a Saudi-installed leader of the new tour, has stabbed them in the back, multi-millionaires like McIlroy, who were aggressively and publicly critical of their former competitors for chasing the big bucks, have two choices – cave or create some alternative competitions. Perhaps in anticipation that this day might come, Tiger Woods and McIlroy developed TGL, a tech-dominated and team-oriented golf league with Monday night prime-time competitions. When the new league, which will start in January 2024, was announced earlier this year, the LIV Tour accused Woods, McIlroy and the PGA of hypocrisy, an accusation that seemed especially rich (pun intended) coming from an organization that plucked players from the PGA with immediate multi-million dollar “appearance fees.”
But, perhaps fatefully, the PGA Tour is partners with Woods and McIlroy in the new league. It remains to be seen if that arrangement is binding or if the star players betrayed by their tour will go ahead and try to turn their Monday night venture into something more expansive and, perhaps, more enduring. I hope so but admit that is wishful thinking. With all the money involved, expect the PGA players to continue to worship the golden goose, no matter who controls it. McIlroy implied as much the day after the announcement of the takeover by LIV.
“I still hate LIV. I hope it goes away,” he said. “[But] at the end of the day, money talks and you'd rather have them as a partner." Oh, Rory, LIV isn’t going away. It just has a new name, PGA Tour.
The most enduring line from any of my high school English classes in the 1960s was the windup to Robert Frost’s poem Mending Wall – “good fences make good neighbors.” It is a line I have thought about a lot in recent years as our national politics have driven friends and families apart.
I live in two places; full time in Connecticut and occasionally in a condo in South Carolina. And let’s say that invisible fences have managed to keep the peace.
I have never been close to my neighbors in Connecticut. The couple across the backyard moved in more than 10 years ago and they must work by night and sleep by day because we have seen them fewer than a half dozen times over the decade. We noted that their daughters, when they were young, would huddle around a fire pit in the back yard on cool autumn nights, but they must be off to college or somewhere else because we haven’t laid eyes on them in five years. In the case of our backyard neighbors, their invisibility has created the invisible fence between us.
One side of our house is bordered by a fairly well-trafficked road but on the other side is a house with a couple we have never socialized with. My wife will occasionally engage in pleasantries with the lady who lives there, but her husband is a sour guy I want nothing to do with. Once when I found myself locked out of my house, I went over to their home to use the phone (in the days before cell phones). He didn’t even get up from his chair; just pointed to the phone and said nothing. Since then I have built a metaphorical wall that keeps us at arms-length from each other.
We have owned our condo in South Carolina for more than 20 years. My neighbors are conservative, me not so much. In the early 00s, it was amusing and occasionally stimulating to talk about politics. I will admit I liked to goad them a bit about their views. The summer of 2008 was a watershed. During a July 4th get together in the parking lot in front of our group of six condos, the subject of universal healthcare came up. “It’s European Socialism,” one of them declared. Ever the provocateur, I asked, “So what’s wrong with European Socialism?” My neighbor seemed flustered that his labeling had been challenged. He sputtered “It, it, it’s not American.”
I had looked forward to a retirement that included spirited discussions of issues, including politics. But one neighbor’s lame definition of European Socialism was followed a year later by another neighbor labeling the sitting U.S. President as “the anti-Christ.” I realized then that we would have to wall off certain subject categories in order to continue to get along. During a period of more and more divided opinion and attitudes, it has worked. Indeed, good fences make good neighbors.
