25 Best Places to Retire

Your post-work years are a time to improve your golf game, take up a new hobby, or just enjoy a well-deserved break. In these great college towns, you can expand your intellectual horizons too.

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19. Brunswick, ME
Brunswick, ME
Population: 15,177
% over 50: 37%
Median home price: $199,250*
State income tax: 6.85%**
Where to take classes: Bowdoin College

A classic New England fishing village, Brunswick is picturesque but not isolated, bustling but not hectic. Independently owned restaurants, galleries and shops line "Maine Street," while the quiet coastline offers summer boating. Festivals, farmer's markets and, in winter, skating take place on The Mall, a village green complete with a trolley-car hot dog stand. The area has two hospitals, but the state's premier facility, Maine Medical Center, is just 30 minutes away in Portland.

Moreover, Brunswick is home to Bowdoin, a 207-year-old, top-ranking liberal arts college that opens its doors to locals interested in auditing classes, for free. And for an annual fee of $40, newcomers and old-timers alike can join the Association of Bowdoin Friends for such perks as discounted tickets to concerts and sporting events, borrowing privileges from the university library, and more.  

See complete data and interactive map for Brunswick

NEXT: Athens, GA

Last updated October 06 2010: 4:55 PM ET
* As of 2008

** top bracket



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