Best place to retire: Liberty Station
Pros: Small-town feel
Cons: Away from the city center
Real estate: Condos and townhouses run from $450,000 to $850,000.
For a little less activity, look to Liberty Station, a 400-acre redevelopment of an old naval training center. You'll find a variety of housing set among 125 acres of open space and parkland, a public golf course, miles of waterfront walking and biking trails and a historic district.It feels like a small town with wide streets and palm-tree-lined plazas, and yet a 2.5-mile bike ride or a $7 water-taxi fare are all that separate it from downtown.
"Being so close but not right in the streets gives us such great flexibility," says Nancy Carasco, 64, a retired middle-school teacher who moved from the suburbs in 2005. Her three-year-old grandson loves looking at the "big buildings" in the nearby skyline from the park that's close to their home.
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