Best Healthy Places to Retire: Walnut Creek, California -Mangificent view may be worth the high cost of living...that's what Emily Brandon of the U.S. News and World Report wrote on September 18, 2008. To quote the article:

"Every Wednesday morning, about three dozen retirees gather at the local rose garden to weed, prune, and socialize. Pouring sweat into the soil at the nonprofit Gardens at Heather Farm gives these senior volunteers spiritual rewards, as well as tasty ones,."When you plant a fruit tree, you've got to live to see it fruit," says Jules rosen, 87, a retired podiatrist transplanted from Brooklyn, N.Y. "Gardening is one small area where you play God. You decide what lives and what dies."

"Rosen lives in a sprawling gated community called Rossmoor, home to nearly 10,000 seniors. It has its own theater, library, and aquatic center, two golf courses, and more than 200 clubs and special interest groups. "People move from all over the country to here, so they are outwardly seeking," Rosen says. "It's hard to be lonely in Rossmoor."

"But should one weary of this retiree playground, Walnut Creek is designed to help seniors, approximately one third of the city's population, get around town. A local bus system with senior discounts makes it possible to go carless. A free trolley connects downtown Walnut Creek to the local BART station, where seniors can catch a subway ride to San Francisco and back for about $9. And locals who pay $7 annually to join the city's Senior Club become eligible for a city-owned minibus service that will transport retirees anywhere within the city limits for $1 each way.:

My reaction to this aritcle: As a resident of Rossmoor in Walnut Creek for several years, I concur that Walnut Creek is one of the best places to live - let alone retire - and the 55+ community of Rossmoor is exceptional. It is a secure gated community, has natural geographical beauty, great weather, many activities to choose from, and is centrally located to so much that the San Francisco Bay Area has to offer. It may be too expensive for some, but in my opinion, you get what you pay for.