My wife and I spent two and a half days in Flagstaff early last week to see if we liked “Flag” as a potential retirement spot. While there I planned on doing some railfanning at the old Santa Fe station (now serving Amtrak and as the Flagstaff Visitors Center) downtown Flagstaff. The spot is a real classic with the super heavy duty double track transcontinental main line located on a curve that has both east and westbound trains coming upon you with only about one minute advance warning (at most, usually about thirty seconds or so). The BNSF freights (mostly intermodal with some general merchandise trains mixed in) were fast and plentiful. I saw over fifty trains in both directions while there for just about four hours in the 2.5 days during my visit. The speed of the BNSF freights was awesome, even coming by the station…I’d say about 50 mph plus past the station. The BNSF power I saw was 100% G.E. and many of the new A-1-A units (can’t recall the exact model number of these)…not a single EMD in the entire trip. I heard Amtrak at about 6:45 Wed. morning as the Chief came through eastbound and about three hours last already on its way to Chicago but did not get to see either Chief while there. Bottom line, Flagstaff is a nice place (weather was perfect…highs of about 85 and lows of about 55 compared with highs of 114 and lows of about 85 in Phoenix, 2.5 hours drive south on Hwy 17) and the people were nice as well. Not the kind of place my bride or I want to retire to though. Railfanning was cool but I do prefer the much better mix of freight, commuter and Amtrak along with plenty of switching my “spot” Eola in IL offers so we’re likely to stay put for a while longer in IL (despite all its negarives). Thanks for reading.
Jim, I wonder if the sole disqualification is BNSF’s traffic mix. Because, otherwise, in Flagstaff you seem to have described paradise.
That depends on the beholder…and the beholder’s wife. We’ve been retired for two years, and have no plans to move anywhere. We’ve seen some of these greener pastures, but the trains at home (or near home, as Jim would attest) are just fine.
We’ve sunk our roots in the Chicago suburbs; the church and local history that mean so much to us are right here, and–although you couldn’t gauge it by this year–the weather isn’t that bad. Pat doesn’t take well to heat, so moving south–especially southwest–isn’t an option. We thrive too much on spring blossoms and fall colors. The extremes of the other two seasons are tolerable in the long run.
And everything that’s good about railroading these days is happening right in our back yard. Good commuter service in a city that appreciates it, strong freight service with an expanding infrastructure, and high(er) speed passenger rail in place or coming, What other area can say that and point to progress actually being made?
Carl summed it up quite well. My wife and I are not super tollerant of heat so the Carolinas (where we still own my parents home) or Florida (where my in-laws lived) are not options…any we like flowers, grass and trees (other than pines) so raking rocks is not all that appealing. Although the weather in metro Chicago leaves a bit to be desired (like Carl said, this years strings or 90 plus days are yukkey)…and paying $10K a year in property taxes stinks…but my guess is we’ll stay put unless something unexpected happens.
Jim and Carl:
Great multi topic discussion. My wife and I are about 10 years behind on the retirement issue. We have been to Flagstaff and along with Asheville, NC, consider these two communities to be ideal retirement prospects.
The thought of pulling up stakes from NW Indiana is one of mixed emotions. LIke you, friendships, church, and community weight heavily on us (me more than my wife). My guess is where the grandkids are (none yet) is where we will be. Yes, this summer is not fun…today will be the 17th day above 90 degrees, which is average for the entire summer. But Lake Michigan helps during the summer, but that lake effect snow is not fun.
I really enjoyed Flagstaff for a variety of reasons, but am not sure if living there would be a solution. Perhaps a couple of months a year would be ideal.
The BNSF certainly does put on quite a show.
Ed
My wife and I are retired in North Dakota ourselves and feel our green pasture is right here. The Sun Belt has no attraction for us. But it is otherwise with many NoDaks, as it is for many other northerners, so I was curious about what caused Jim to put the brakes on.
I must say, if you gotta go, he made Flagstaff sound like the place.
Well Fred, it came down to these issues (1) Lack of what my bride called “really good health care options” which she (correctly IMHO) considers paramount when you are elderly, (2) lack of cultural opportunities at least at the levels available in and near Chicago, (3) housing prices are at or perhaps slightly above what we have here in the western burbs or Chicagoland (although property taxes are way less than half of what we’re paying now (4) transporation options…Phonenix airport is a 2.5 hour drive away and Flagstaff airport has flights but they are very expensive…sorry but Amtrak is not an option for my wife even though the Chief stops daily in both directions…and (5) my wife LOVES to garden and she says there is nothing resembling “real dirt” in Flagstaff only “some red stuff wth LOTS of rocks mixed in it which doesnlt pass as dirt” and no grass (not a bad thing as I would not need a lawn mower, only a good rake to level out the rocks once in a while. That’s about it.
All good solid reasons for staying put. I also appreciate Carl’s plug for the four seasons. I know Sun Belt longtimers argue that they too have seasons, but let’s just say those seasons aren’t as dramatically expressed as ours. There is something about those swings that adds interest to life and encourages us to cultivate the philosopher in ourselves.
I also understand the curiosity that leads to taking a look over the fence, even if only to confirm that we like it just fine where we are, thank you.
A long happy retirement in place, gentlemen!