Also would recommend renting. Renting offers the opportunity to spend time in different States or places you're interested in seeing. The expenses involved in ownership are not worth the 2,3,4 months you might spend there. Why pay a huge heating bill for a place you will not be in? Best of luck!

OP says s/he doesn't want to rent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Many good replies, if you are considering somewhere by the shore and price is no object then Cape Cod, or a MA community by route 3a are crowded but lovely. If New Hampshire then around Portsmouth is charming. Southern Maine also is a favorite getaway for New Englanders (Ogunquit area) but that's for summer.

Lake George, New York

Google "Cottages At Summer Village" and "Seaglass Village". They are both in Wells, Maine. They are both beautiful communities with nice amenities. They are not over 55 communities, but are worth looking into. Good luck.

Check out Lake Placid NY or Saranac Lake NY .... which is only 10 minutes away .

Located in the Adirondack Mountains . Worth exploring . Beautiful setting , lots of interesting things to do . Plenty of different options from condos to townhomes to individual homes and most importantly not overcrowded . Good luck !!

Toms River
 

We have a house in TV and one in Toms River (TR). Yes, TR ans surrounding areas have many retirement communities (Holiday City, Leisure Village etc). They are fine, but do not compare to TV. We are, having grown up in TR, partial to TR and the Jersey Shore. We love living in TR in the summer months, and love the Beaches in Seaside and Ortley Beach. There is also proximity to NYC, Atlantic City and Cape May. All can be day trip excursions.

Try eastern Tennessee
 

We bought land in Tellico Village. It’s in East Tennessee in the Smokey Mountains outside of Knoxville. Cool in the summer due to its elevation. We are selling the lot because the area is too expensive for us. It’s like The Villages, but smaller. Check it out. Resale homes available.

another vote for camden, wells & kennebunkport area!!!

If you are intent on the Northeast, I can't help. However, you might want to check into Chautauqua communities. There is the most well-known in New York. We have a cottage at Lakeside Chautauqua on Lake Erie. We don't retire for a few years yet, but will spend our summers there and our winters in TV.

The Chautauqua movement was built on four pillars: education, recreation, religion, and cultural arts. During the Chautauqua season, there are LOTS of activities in all of these areas. My husband plays tennis and pickleball. There are nightly shows and daily lectures on a variety of topics. There are classes to take. The international shuffleboard tournament is often held there. The scenery is beautiful. It is a small, friendly community that is easy to become a part of. I, actually, like it better than TV.

Programming has continued, but is not at full-force during Covid. Check out Lakeside at lakesideohio.com.

Good luck with your mission.

How do you feel about having to leave the community and contend with the traffic in the area when it cones to getting to appointments and doing errands?

Lakeside Chataqua
 

Lakeside Chataque is my family’s favorite vacation spot and they go there almost every summer for the last ten years. My siblings live on the east side of Cleveland so it’s a two hours drive from their homes. I have been there for few times myself as for our family reunion vacations there. It’s a beautiful small quiet community with Normal Rockwell and Victorian themes.

Just visited Lakeside yesterday. Make that much smaller than TV and living on Lake Erie in the winter would be only for the hardy. Also some of the nearby restaurants and shops close off season after Labor Day.

Leaving witch community?
 

Are you asking about leaving TR for appts in NJ, or leaving TV for appts in tv?

A nice area in NY is in the wine country part of NY, the weather is milder then further north, you have the lakes and great scenery. There are a lot of activities during the summer months, and its not far from larger cities like Rochester, Syracuse. Can't figure why I don't live there, always enjoyed it.

Suggestion
 

We lived for many years in New York on the Hudson and my recommendation would be Rhinebeck, New York and a rental. It is a great community, close to a number of places to go to and not far. Some examples: Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park/Roosevelt homestead, the Catskill Mountains, Olana Castle in Hudson, NY, The Dutchess County Fair which is one of the best in New York and beyond, Restaurants on the Hudson, a lot of visitors and residents come to Rhinebeck on the weekends and there are some rather notable people who have homes there on the Hudson. Also you get some of the best fruit during the season. Guess I have said enough. Just a place to look at to get away for a few months. Hudson which is about 1/2 hour away is a center for Antique shopping and a fun place to walk around. This kind of gets you away from the "organized" way of living vis vis the Villages. Also, Woodstock is not far away and a fun place to visit on the weekends. You can always catch a train at the small station there and take the train to NYC for a day (about 1-2 hour ride down the Hudson) and through all of the small villages on the Hudson. A movie was just made about the ride. If I were to go back for a couple months and rent I would probably choose Rhinebeck.:popcorn: Good Luck

Neither! Wondering about the convenience vs inconvenience re exiting the NJ retirement community to face the traffic that exists on the outside of it! You couldn't pay me to contend with the misery that exists there between the young drivers and older drivers taking their driving frustrations out on each other! I stopped going there because of all of those folks on the road there!

My answer would be Cape Cod. Wellfleet, Truro, all the way to Provincetown. No, it's not going to have a golf cart to ride everyday but you will hear the ocean and walk the beaches :)

I have to agree! Camden is beautiful. Bring your camera and if you paint or sketch great spots can be found to do this as you relax.

Sunbird
 

The name for residents of Florida who want to go north for three or four months in the summer is SUNBIRD. A northern resident who goes south during winter months is a snowbird. Having said that, renting for the first year makes a lot of sense. That is especially true now when there are more buyers than sellers and real estate generally is currently over priced in the current market. Good luck.

Before my wife decided to get a cat rescue, we would pick a state we wanted to explore and then rent a house in that state. So whatever you want to do then pick a state. We loved Colorado, Maine, Vermont and Pennsylvania. Then the cat came. Rental houses that allow cats are far and few in between, not to mention the pain it is traveling with a cat.

Btw, Chautauqua communities are all over the US. There's one in Boulder, CO, PA, NY, OH... Enjoy!