A new list of the "best and worst cities to retire" puts Hartford and New Haven near the bottom.
Bankrate.com ranked 172 cities in the U.S., taking into account factors such as cost of living, crime, walkability, and weather.
Hartford was ranked 166 out of 172 on the list because of the high cost of living, high taxes, and violent crimes. New Haven fared even worse, coming in at 170 out of 172 for having high taxes, high crime, and below average weather conditions.
But AARP Connecticut state director Nora Duncan questioned the effectiveness of lists like Bankrate’s, that use just a few broad categories to assess whether an area is suitable for retirement.
“Theres more to where you want to retire than just a couple of factors,” Duncan said.
Duncan pointed to the AARP Livability Index, an online, interactive resource which takes into account 60 factors, as a better tool for determining where to retire.
“Those were picked as a result of a survey of 4,500 Americans aged 50 and up who were asked about what aspects of their communities were most important to them,” Duncan said. “The thing about the Livability Index with AARP is that you can play with it, check your community, compare to neighboring communities, as well as look up cities that you might think you want to retire to.”
Bankrate listed Mesa, Arizona as the best place to retire, but the AARP Livability Index gave Mesa an overall livability score of only 45 out of 100, well below Hartford's score of 58, and New Haven's score of 51.
