Originally Posted by
genejockey
It has occurred to me recently that finding a house/neighborhood to retire in will require a fair bit of needle-threading to keep both of us happy. On the one hand, Mrs. GeneJockey wants a very walkable place, with everything readily at hand. On the other, I want to be able to ride from home without having to drive anywhere, on nice back roads with lots of nice trees and greenery (out here, during outdoor riding season, we have nice trees and brownery). Her preferences would pull us farther into the city, whereas mine would pull us farther out. I'm hoping that what we have here - the combination of walkability with rideability - is not unique to here.
There is an area sort of like that not far from us. It's a small town about an hour south of the DFW metroplex, and has a nice historic area close to downtown that results in a walkable area. However, what you get in that walkable area may not be what you want. For example, the shopping aspect gives you small town shopping and no access to a lot of things. To find nice shopping, you'd have to drive to Dallas or Fort Worth. In other words, you will get a small town life without access to large town amenities such as those in your area.
I'm not suggestion that you move to Texas. I'm just pointing to some of the give and take that would be required to find your utopia.