Carson City: A great place to retire

On a Friday morning Chuck Matule, 68, is seated at his kitchen nook working out a Sudoku puzzle while his two dogs bask in the spring sun in the backyard.

His wife Andrea "AJ" Matule, 59, sits in the living room of their east Carson City home that overlooks the Sierra.

"We did not actually think we were going to retire here," AJ said. "We were just tired of the Bay area."

Their reasons for spending their retirement in Nevada's capital city, including affordable housing and its vicinity to Lake Tahoe and historical attractions, is why Carson City was named one of the best lake or mountain destinations to retire in the May/June issue of Where to Retire magazine.

The magazine cited "the natural, rugged beauty of the area and the Old West history," as a reason for choosing Nevada's capital among seven other cities, including: Pittsfield, Mass.; Petoskey, Mich.; Gainesville, Ga.; Hot Springs, Ark.; Santa Fe, N.M.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Home prices also played a role.

Dan Smith, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Premiere in Carson City, told the magazine that the average home price here is now closer to $200,000, down from more than $300,000 in 2007. In Dayton, homes that were selling for $400,000 in 2005 are now going for $225,000, Smith told the magazine.

As he was climbing into a golf cart at Empire Ranch in Carson City on Thursday, Dave Hill, 62, said he and his wife bought their retirement home in Dayton before home prices had spiked.

"We just wanted to get away from the congestion, taxes," said Hill, who spent 25 years as a manufacturer in the Bay area. "And Nevada, through all of our travels here, it seemed like a very friendly place."

As a result of lower housing prices and attractions such as the V&T Railroad, Brewery Arts Center and nearby Virginia City, the magazine said Carson City is likely to attract more retirees in coming years.

By 2028, Carson City's population of people 65 or older is expected to climb from about 8,000 this year to about 11,500, according to the state demographer's office. Meanwhile, the population of those between 19 to 64 is expected stay around 32,700.

On Thursday morning, Jay Tesene, 64, was walking her three dogs along the Carson River and stopped to throw a stick into the water for her pets. She said she moved to Carson City in 1997 to work for the state in an attempt to escape Midwestern winters.

She retired in 2007 and decided to stay.

"I like that there are so many hills and places to hike," Tesene said. "You have to get used to not seeing a lot of green here, I really missed the green tremendously when I first moved here."

She adds she likes the casual attitude of the area: "I haven't worn a dress since I retired."

Laura Hersh, 88, who retired in 1969, lived in Sacramento until 2003. Today she manages the gift shop at the Carson City Senior Center.

"It's too busy, too crowded," Hersh said of her former home. "I think all people who want to retire should retire in Carson City."

While she said Nevada's capital caters to seniors, with short commutes and historical attractions, she does have some requests, namely an Olive Garden or a Red Lobster.

Sometimes, AJ said, she longs for the ocean, and on the hot summer days, the climate of the Bay area. Regardless, there are too many activities she and her husband enjoy in the area, from riding their motorcycles to Genoa to skiing Mt. Rose.

They moved to Carson City in 2000 when Chuck took a job with the state's IT department while AJ continued to commute to San Francisco each week to continue her career in the software industry.

After Chuck retired in 2003 and AJ in 2007, they had some decisions to make after buying some property in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

Then they got to thinking.

"Why would we leave here?" AJ said. "We have skiing here, the climate is great, it's much better than the area we were looking at, medical care is great."

"Every time we were thinking maybe we should move, then the question kept coming up," she said. "Why leave?"