Have you recently moved to a new city after retiring?

Grande-tante - what you write is interesting.
I also think that if you live somewhere pleasant and spacious, people will want to come to visit.

However, on a minor point, part-ownership is fairly common in the UK, although I am unsure in which technical ways it may differ from your system.
It is mostly used by young people, who aim to eventually get full ownership; but I know quite a few older people who are part-owners with their Housing Associations.

Yes we have moved on retirement.

Not to a city, though, ,but to a small town.

Reason: simple arithmetic.

If we had stayed in Copenhagen half of our combined pensions would have gone to pay the expenses of the flat we were living in as part-owners. (A system that is common here, but unknown in the U.K.

What would be left of our pensions would have provided food etc. but absolutely no form of luxeries such as theatre tickets, holidays,. New clothes and shoes could probably jave been squeezed out of the budget, but left us short for the rest of a month or two.

By moving to the opposite end of the country, we have been able to cut our living expenses to less than a third of what they were in Copenhagen,

This means that once the pandemic is over, we will be able to afford holidays, and that we could go out this morning and buy a new lawn-mower and hedge-cutter without having to live off the cheapest imaginable food for the next three months.

As far as friends and family go, those who want to stay in touch know where we are.

Our experience over the last many years has been that in a big city people are no longer interested in keeping up with friends or family - you see them once or twice a year for an evening if you are lucky. Every time you invite them, they are "too busy, but will be in touch soon" - they never do get in touch, so obviously it was time to think of making new friends somewhere else.

Obviously, you need to look before you leap and consider pros and cons, but we are glad we made the change.

I sort of did both. I returned to my native area, and realised that had been my intention all along, without me having actually voiced it!
I am wary of identifying myself, so don't want to say where I live / have lived, but I am interested in 'out of place culturally & politically'.
After training in London and meeting DH, we lived for a while in a very rural area, and then, for most of our working lives, in a large town well known for its cultural diversity. I have to say that wherever I have been I have always been able to find people 'on my wavelength' to be friendly and join in with, whilst rubbing along with folk who aren't!
I don't know if you & I are culturally & politically similar or poles apart, but I would be very wary of assuming that by moving somewhere you will instantly fit in.

However I do see that as your sister lives where you are thinking of going, you will have a ready-made network, and if that attracts you, I would say 'go'.

We moved to a new town to be nearer to our daughtter and to have some new adventures, New friends and places to go things to do. So far so good considering there are still Covid restrictions and we are avoiding crowded places.

We retired to the coast (a life long dream) but we'd owned a holiday flat here first so had experienced living here in all seasons. Two AC are over 200 miles away and one is in Australia! The UK based ones visit in school holidays and I have a rail pass so travel to them, too.

Since moving here, we've divorced and I’ve remarried (DH lives in France) but have no regrets about any decisions. I’ve made friends through church and amateur theatre. Perhaps you could take short breaks in the areas to which you would consider moving to help you make your choice. Good luck!

I am in a similar position and I don't know the answer. I am divorcing my husband and wish to move nearer to my AC. But they are spread out within about 100 radius. It is so hard to know what is for the best. I want to be closer to my old friends too but would like to live in a friendlier place than where I am at the moment. Life's never ending decisions!! Abuela5...I feel for you. ... there is also a part of me which would like to live in France but I am not sure I am brave enough to do it on my own xx

A few years before I retired, I deliberately found a job back near the sea, 50 miles along the coast from where I lived when the kids were little. I missed the coast. It's a large town, with two small cities a short train ride away. I walk the beach every day. It's pleasant, sociable and has everything I need day-to-day. No, I don't regret it. (I would add that I've moved around quite a bit in the last fifty years. Perhaps I'd feel differently had I stayed near where I was brought up)

Hi Sodapop,
Thanks for your reply. That's the real issue, considering what you want from life. We moved to this town in 2013 because it had good access to all three adult children.

I can really understand that Brexit and Covid would make you reconsider what you want. the same happened to us. We bought a small house in Southern Spain, but eventually decided to keep it as a holiday home, rather than a permanent place.

We moved to another country on retirement. We are very happy here didn't regret our decision until Brexit and Covid. It's given us reason to consider again what we want from life.