Top 5 healthiest hometowns for retirement

3. Madison, Wisconsin
As far as Charles McDowell, 58, is concerned, there aren’t many places where a person can get the best of a big city — like world-class concerts and top-notch health care — and still be in a very small town: “When we go shopping at the Farmers’ Market, it’s not just a great place to get food, it’s a big social outlet — I can see 30 or 40 people I know in a few hours.”

So when he and his wife, Candace, 57, director of the University of Wisconsin’s Multicultural Student Center, started planning for retirement, the decision to stay in town was an easy one. Charles loves that it’s an easy walk to shopping and health clubs, and that there are four golf courses within ten minutes of his house. And between the university and civic groups, meaningful volunteer opportunities are everywhere.

Madison has worked hard to earn its reputation as a green — and healthy — city. An extensive bus system cuts down on congestion and air pollution, and the bike trails are numerous and well maintained (when it snows, bike paths are plowed at 4:00 a.m.). In warmer weather, kayaks, canoes, and sailboats dot the local lakes; in winter, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, and ice-boating are popular.

Nor is it surprising that Madison — known for its cutting-edge environmental and urban-planning policies (it had the nation’s first curbside newspaper-recycling program, back in 1968) — is embracing retirement issues with the same enthusiasm. For example, the Madison Senior Center recently received a prestigious research grant to study ways in which boomer volunteers can best work with older adults, says Margie Groom, program coordinator.

Certainly some of the credit for that goes to the University of Wisconsin, whose presence is a primary reason people choose to retire here: those 60 and older can audit many of the courses on campus for free. But one of Madison’s key strengths is that it’s more than just a college town. It was named Wisconsin’s capital long before the university was born, and the handsome granite capitol building continues to be the city’s centerpiece.

• Population: 223,389
• Median housing price: $257,400
• Average number of sunny days: 187 per year
• Healthy bragging rights: Residents have low rates of diabetes, of high blood pressure, and of high cholesterol
• Where the action is: At the Memorial Union Terrace, students and other residents relax and watch the sailboats
• Favorite workouts: Bikes rule here, even by college-town standards; when there’s snow, the city begins plowing bike paths at 4:00 a.m.
• Totally unexpected: One of the highest per-capita rates of registered moped users

4. Santa Fe, New Mexico
When Susan McDuffie, 56, retired last year as an occupational therapist for the Santa Fe public schools, she didn’t lack for things to do. In fact, she’s not sure how she ever found time for a job in the first place. She works a few days a week at a gallery that sells work from more than 400 Native American artists. Her own pottery is shown at another gallery where she works one day a week. She’s a regular at a flamenco dancing class, and she’s writing a sequel to "A Mass for the Dead," a mystery set in 14th-century Scotland that she published two years ago.

Susan is a good match for the place that calls itself “the city different.” Santa Fe has been blending Spanish and Native American cultures since it was founded as a Spanish trading post 400 years ago. The result is an unparalleled range of artistic and cultural influences — it is “the artiest, sculpturest, weaviest, and potteryest town on earth,” according to travel writer Jan Morris. Artists flock to Santa Fe for the kind of light you get by combining low humidity, clean air, and an elevation of 7,000 feet.

Of course, those are some of the same qualities that make Santa Fe a healthy place in which to live and retire, too. Its rates of diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol are among the lowest in the country, in part because of a city-funded health campaign aimed at older residents. In addition to offering a 268-bed hospital and easy access to specialists in nearby Albuquerque, Santa Fe is teeming with alternative medicine specialists who graduated from the local University of Natural Medicine or the New Mexico Academy of Healing Arts.

Known for its outdoor lifestyle and emphasis on healthy eating, Santa Fe boasts a network of trails that leads into the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. And Deborah Madison, author of several best-selling  cookbooks, is a regular at the local farmers market, which recently celebrated its 40th anniversary and has a new building in the city’s rail yard.

Despite its relatively small size, the city has its own symphony and community orchestra, plus an opera with an international reputation and the annual High Mayhem Emerging Music and Arts Festival. “I love the mix of cultures and influences here,” says Susan. “You can’t get it anywhere else.”

• Population: 72,056
• Median housing price: $499,900
• Average number of sunny days: 283 per year
• Healthy bragging rights: American Lung Association ranks it #2 in the United States in air quality
• Where the action is: The Plaza is the heart of downtown
• Favorite workouts: Hiking in the 1.6 million-acre Santa Fe National Forest
• Totally unexpected: Has the highest U.S. art-per-capita rate — even greater than New York City’s

5. Fargo, North Dakota
People don’t move to North Dakota for the weather. But for the hardy residents of Fargo, the area’s four seasons — each with its own activities, from hockey and ice fishing to softball and vegetable gardening — are a prime attraction.

“In the summer the weather here is beautiful,” says Greg Sanders, Ph.D., a professor of child development and family science at Fargo’s North Dakota State University. “There’s low heat and humidity, and people really get out and enjoy it. And in the winter — keeping in mind that many of the natives are from pretty healthy stock — it’s the same thing, especially cross-country skiing. That’s the spirit of this place — people tend to get out and make the most of whatever weather they get.” The city’s 18 outdoor ice-skating rinks all have heated warming houses. And the rolling prairies outside of town provide plenty of outdoor escapes.

But Fargo has urban pleasures, too. The renovation of its downtown district has made the area hip, with newer French cafés and ethnic restaurants mingling with the German, Russian, and Scandinavian diners the region has long been known for.

And surrounded by three major universities, the area is rich in medical facilities, entertainment — in particular, a wide range of performing arts — and college sporting events.

John Mark, 65, grew up here, and when he retires this year, the only big change he plans to make is to look for a little part-time work on a golf course. He’ll also step up his volunteer work, organizing charity tournaments. Although he has plenty of friends who have moved to Florida or Arizona, the prospect of being a snowbird leaves him cold. “The idea of packing up and going away for four months? I don’t need to do that — Fargo is just a good place to be.”

Plus, Fargo’s fresh air — and commitment to preserving it — makes this one of the cleanest, greenest cities on our list, with one of the best air-quality–index scores. It uses biodiesel fuel to power its transit buses, and it has made a serious commitment to incorporate methane-powered generators, solar panels, and wind generators into the city’s infrastructure. The city has even handed out cloth shopping bags to residents.

• Population: 90,056
• Median housing price: $156,200
• Average number of sunny days: 200 per year
• Healthy bragging rights: Ranks ninth in the nation for regular flossing and brushing
• Where the action is: The Hjemkomst Center in Moorhead, a multiuse facility built around a replica of a Viking ship
• Favorite workouts: Walking and biking in city parks; fishing and canoeing in the Red River in summer
• Totally unexpected: “Wood-Chip Marge,” an 8-foot, 500-pound statue commemorating the main character in the 1996 dark-comedy film “Fargo.”

For more helpful information and to check out more great cities for retirement, visit AARP The Magazine.

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