Beachtown, USA...which beach town could you happily live in all year round?

North Eastham, Cape Cod.

I like the grey solitude of P-Town in winter. Nantucket, anywhere on it. Connecticut seaside towns are beautiful in the winter, when they're gray and windswept. Lots of stone, seaside places with hearths and hot drinks.

Connecticut or New England...just got to narrow it down now!

If you're a moody fuck winter person, like I am, they's towns in Winter are the equivalent of tropical resorts for annoying Summer people.

I'd agree with R2 but when the tourists leave, P-Town is now nothing but gentrified, small town with a bunch of insufferable "artistes" who think their shit don't smell. The scenery is beautiful but the locals are assholes. Totally agree with you about Nantucket.

[quote]Connecticut or New England...just got to narrow it down now!

Yes, if you would that would be great.

Sorry about the lousy pic...sort of backfired.

I had wanted to post/feature a pic of Sylvan Beach from Sterile Cuckoo (1969)

stars hollow, where you are always welcome. come stay at the dragonfly inn.

[quote]Totally agree with you about Nantucket.

Personally, I wouldn't fancy being stuck on a small island all year round, however lovely.

(cont...) Sometimes a guy's just gotta hit the road.

I'm sorry, but I don't think I could do it all year round except in Santa Monica or Venice.

Sorry OP, I had to go & ask Lord & Master where it was we stopped off when in New England. Southwest Harbor, Maine was relatively unspoilt, but that was about 5 years ago?

Sorry OP, I had to go & ask Lord & Master where it was we stopped off when in New England. Southwest Harbor, Maine was relatively unspoilt, but that was about 5 years ago?

It looks very nice, R11...can't have changed much in five years.

& very romantic in the winter snow

Wellfleet or Truro. Yeah, Ptown I guess - but I actually spent a couple of winters there and yes, the locals are absolute cunts.

But Cape Cod in general for me.

Saugatuck. It's commuting distance to Grand Rapids.

oh! I love Saugatuck, r15! Ive stayed at The Dunes a couple of times. Such a hoot. And the area is gorgeous. All they need is a really stellar restaurant. Everyday People? Bleah

Duluth... Houghton, MI... Marquette MI...Harbor Springs, MI....

Great Lakes are where it's at for temperate beachside living (no hurricanes, very low tsunami risk, cheap).

But if you don't like winter, and who really does, there are many coastal options.

Goleta, Ca., a nice college town on the outskirts of Santa Barbara.

Monterey, Ca., which does have a beach as well as all those lovely coastal rock formations.

Half Moon Bay or Pacifica, Ca., nice towns which are only a short drive from San Francisco. Cool to chilly all year round, as is Monterey.

And I've seriously considered moving to San Diego, which is a beach city rather than a beach town.

And I need to take a road trip along the Oregon coast, plenty of towns there.

[quote]And I've seriously considered moving to San Diego, which is a beach city rather than a beach town.

I got a very creepy vibe about San Diego even though I was only there briefly. But I'm usually correct about these things.

I lived on Nantucket off-season for a while. I thought it would be glorious and lovely, but I was bored out of my mind, you get tired of being on a SMALL island where you knew everyone, you get tired of the cold, grey, windy days. Yes, it's beatiful before compare, but it is hard to live in such a small, isolated place without resorting to drugs or drink. I'd fly home to Boston just to relieve myself of the boredom. I think of my winter on the island whenever I hear the song "Another Winter in a Summer Town." Also -- my sister lives in Boston, and has a house on the beach on the cape. She thought it would be great to live there year round -- she works for herself, so she could work from home -- but she, too was bored out of her mind and couldnt take the small mindedness of the year-round residents. She still has the house on the cape, but only goes there during the summer now. We romanticize these quaint towns, but, generally, year round residents are NOKD.

[quote]I got a very creepy vibe about San Diego

Though San Diego has somewhat of a gay scene and some gorgeous beaches, it's city full of fundies and right-wingers. Plus, it's still very much a military town with a large Navy and Marines presence.... which isn't always a bad thing.

A lot of on-line porn comes out of San Diego.

I Winter at The Overlook Hotel.

Plymouth MA

Close enough to the Cape to fully enjoy it. There's a ferry to Ptown and close enough to Boston to enjoy on weekends.

I live in Provincetown year-round and love the winter here. I feel lucky to have a nice group of low-key friends, none of whom are assholes.

Every town has it's share of assholes. And every community with many artists tends towards narcissism, and lord knows there are many here, but I still don't think it approaches a majority.

Perhaps you've spent too much time in the West End where the A-List Gay poseurs tend to live. I'd recommend spending more time in the East End and Center of town. You might find the people living there more amenable.

Manhattan Beach/Hermosa Beach the closest thing to the mythical Baywatch.

La Jolla

Santa Barbara

Santa Cruz

Pacific Grove

Leelanau County, Michigan. On the Lake Michigan side, not the Grand Traverse Bay side.

references to California beach towns in the winter makes me think of 1970s made for TV movies, for some reason...probably for a valid reason.

Cannon Beach, Oregon, about two hours west of Portland and near the mouth of the Columbia River. Lewis and Clark spent the winter about 20 miles north of there at Fort Clatsop.

We need to know OP's definition of "cold in the winter."

Emerald Isle, NC - assuming Stephen Amell as a bed-warmer.

Newport, RI of course.

Another Winter in a Summer Town. The beach is empty, they covered the pools. The patio umbrellas come down. Oh God, My God

I despise when people put "Beach" as a favorite on Facebook.

I love the Jersey shore in the winter. It is just amazing and you're 45 minutes from civilization. I also love the Connecticut coast near Mystic.

....

Pinehurst and Southern Pines NC. Not near the water but in the sand hills and very beachy. Not terribly far from Raleigh.

Pinehurst may be a little too small

Sarasota, FL, where Siesta Key Beach is outstanding. The Sunday evening drum circle brings out all of the hippies for miles..

Sunny Isles Beach, FL, walking distance from Haulover Beach, where there are lots of hot guys walking around nude.

Are there any beaches where good-looking, muscular guidos are predominant? Gunnison (nude) Beach on Sandy Hook, NJ? Is it near a great beach town?

Apparently the world's sexiest beach for women is at Kiev. But the men, not so much.

For men of course there is Rio

This is turning into which beach has the hottest guys, it's supposed to be about the best beach towns to live in all year round.

I've often wondered about The Hamptons but that sordid association puts me off.

[quote]Nantucket, anywhere on it.

Not Martha's Vineyard? Why not?

[quote]I love the Jersey shore in the winter. It is just amazing and you're 45 minutes from civilisation

Except for the bears.

Erie, PA

Whidby Island in Puget Sound.

[quote]I don't mean in a tropical state...

Other than Hawaii, there are no "tropical states."

[quote]which beach town could you happily live in all year round? I don't mean in a tropical state...I mean a place that gets cold when the winters come?

[quote]This is turning into which beach has the hottest guys, it's supposed to be about the best beach towns to live in all year round.

Martha's Vineyard

Sullivan's Island, SC. Barrier Island right off Charleston.

Santa Barbara, CA, hands down.

[quote]Other than Hawaii, there are no "tropical states."

Florida is sub-tropical.

"The climate of the north and central parts of the US state of Florida is humid subtropical. South Florida has a tropical savanna climate"

If I hit the Lotto I'd buy a place in Carmel, CA.

If you're into moody grey, the coast of Oregon puts the east coast to shame. Dramatic, chilly, ethereal.

And Re: Oregon, also dangerous. Tons of fallen logs, sneaker waves, and freezing water temperatures (below 50 F).

Beautiful pic, R55.

Never heard of 'sneaker waves' before....but I like it.

Laguna Beach is the gayest beach town on the west coast.

But it's getting more expensive and less gay by the day.

Hold me David, I'm scared...of the sneaker waves.

Sneaker waves are scary. They kill a good number of people per year.

R55's pic looks like how I imagine heaven.

....

[quote][R55]'s pic looks like how I imagine heaven.

Freezing cold and wet?

Puerto Rico and the USVI are in the tropics.

American Samoa is in the southern tropics

Florida is sub-tropical.

[quote]If I hit the Lotto I'd buy a place in Carmel, CA.

All my life I heard people say things like this. Then I went there.

R63 None of those is a state.

R64 and R52 Sub-tropical is not the same as tropical.

I've always wanted to drive from Seattle to LA in the early spring. The hikes in Big Sur seem amazing.

Mount Desert Island, Maine looks beautiful.

Annapolis Royal if you stretch the "beach" part a bit.

Manhattan Beach.

R69 Apparently you're stretching the "USA" part as well.

Boothbay Harbor, ME.

Virginia Beach

Cape May, NJ

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I grew up very near the ocean and beach towns, but don't care for living on or near a beach (or a lake or a pond for that matter.) A craggy coast would be nice, a river or canal fine, a harbor nice, but I mostly missed out on that gene that makes people itch for water frontage. Views are important, but landscapes not seascapes. At most a beach is a place to spend a bit of vacation time; even then it's something I would do at someone else's suggestion, not my own.

Santa Barbara

I live in Yarmouth, ME and it's amazing to be here yearround. Ogunquit in the summer, Portland is an AMAZING small city and in general Mainers are a very outgoing, generous people (as long as you're a resident and not a tourist).

Best town for local seafood, anyone?

You can't talk or relate to the locals. Genuine conversation is so important.

Atlantic City, if I could roll back time a few years and the casinos weren't going all to hell because of increasing competition (Pennsylvania, Native casinos, etc.), AND if I had tons of money and could live in that high-rise - condos, maybe? RIGHT on the Boardwalk. I know, the city is a slum, boarded-up buildings, hideous BUT I fucking love the Boardwalk.

I second Boothbay.

Basically anywhere in Maine - Booth Bay, Bar Harbor, Camden, Kennebunk, Ogunquit. I also love Hull, Ma or Martha's Vineyard.

Wonderful mix of coastal beaches here. A wise crowd. But it looks like the A-Gays of NYC don't come here anymore. No mention of The Hamptons? It can't be that expensive, weeding out aspirants. For real winter- beach effect, the Carolina beaches, especially North, can't be beat.

Watch out for the Grammar Police R4, they'll want to correct your post to "they's be" towns.

....

Shelter Islamd . Beautiful childhood memories . Could see myself growing old there.

Martha's Vineyard

R86 - Ever run into Rufus Wainwright on Shelter Island? I know his father and grandfather lived there for years. Rufus talked about growing up not wealth (or as wealthy as his East Hampton cousins).

( r86) have not been there in years . When I was kid my mother would rent a house there in the summer it was not as chic as The Hampton . We were not poo r but not Ruch , it was down to earth and the locals were friendly .

I used to be a lifeguard on Nantucket for 2 summers in the 70s. It was dreadful. On weekends if I had them off, I'd jump in the car (I lived in Sconset), and race to the last ferry back to Hyannis so that I could hitch to Provincetown. If I missed it, I'd drive over to the airport and plead to hitch hike on a private plane landing anywhere between Hyannis and Boston. If neither worked, I'd get drunk, stoned, and dance the night away with horny women at the Chicken Box on Nantucket (or as we would say, la boite de poulet).

Thoughts on the best year round beach town on the East Coast? Excluding Florida.

****

Coastal Maine would be my pick. I like the four seasons. But the summers are too short. Also, I had some friends who lived in Maine for three years solid. After the summer/fall tourist season, they both said that all most locals do is go to local bars/pubs and get drunk nearly every single night because there was nothing else to do. Most people lived the whole year off what they made in the summer. They said 80-90% of the town were alcoholics. Sounds boring.

Yes, the people in those places can be spooky, so I've heard.

R12, hate the term "spoilt". So chavvy.

Pinehurst is 2 hours from the coast. Wilmington NC IS on the coast and is a great town. Wrightsville Beach is across a little bridge and is a great island.

[quote][R12], hate the term "spoilt". So chavvy.

Not really, it's the British term.

Asbury Park, NJ It's character, charm, and it's an hour's train ride from NYC. Very, very gay friendly.

Nags Head

The West Coast beach towns would be much better to live in year-round since they don't get snowy or dreary in the winter. I'll take 12 months of good weather vs. 4 or 5 on the East Coast.

I used to love to go to Moody Beach year round. It is just north of Ogunquit. Unfortunately, my parents sold the place because once we were graduated from university we didn't have three months to spend up there in the summer. They now live year round on the Jersey shore. It is very nice, but not at all like Maine.

[quote]The West Coast beach towns would be much better to live in year-round since they don't get snowy or dreary in the winter.

Presumably you mean on the southern half of the west coast. And they do get dreary in the summer as well as the winter. LA is famous for "May Gray" and "June Gloom."

[quote]Asbury Park, NJ It's character, charm, and it's an hour's train ride from NYC. Very, very gay friendly.

Thanks for that lead, R98.

I've been reading all about it.

Very interesting.

The Deep South

I was originally going to say Cape May because of all of the Victorian structures, but someone mentioned Asbury Park (which, coincidentally, is where I was yesterday afternoon). And then I remembered Ocean Grove also has its share of Victorian structures as well - plus it has that cute section of tent summer homes, and a cute downtown area and that Great Auditorium. And it's closer to "civilization" than Cape May.

So I pick Asbury Park/Ocean Grove.

Saugatuck, Michigan. Yes, there will be lots of snow!

Buxton, NC. Look at this alpha lighthouse.

DANGER, WILL ROBINSON—two year old thread!!

Count me in for another for the Maine seacoast.

St. Simons Island, GA. Lovely town between Savannah and Jacksonville, FL. Owned a small cottage there a block from the beach that was my weekend retreat when I worked in Atlanta in the '90s. Was funky, laid-back and affordable then. Unfortunately, adjacent Sea Island, GA is a rich Republican destination and that unpleasant demographic now dominates St, Simons. Still, a beautiful spot on the SE coast.

Ogunquit/Portland Maine.

Brighton Beach Brooklyn.

^ Boris

As someone once said, everyone who lives on Nantucket year round is either a recluse or a drunk or both.

Having lived in remote New England in the winter, it’s beautiful but dangerously isolating and boring. Like living in any beach town, more a fantasy than a reality. Even Florida beach towns or Puerto Vallarta are filled with retired drunks. California is probably the best bet for year round beach town.

Agree with 107. I was just there a few days ago. The last 45 minutes of the drive to Buxton are beautiful, nothing but sand dunes on either side of the road. The town really doesn't have much but the beach and the lighthouse, but for some people, that's enough.

My second choice would be Key West.

Old Saybrook, CT.

The Pacific has cold water, even in southern California. So does much of the Atlantic. The southern Great Lakes are much warmer. The Pacific Coast tends to be very depressing in winter--the Pacific NW is particularly dreary. the advantage of snow is that it reflects light and deadens sound, which is why the cold but relatively snowless Pacific NW can be so depressing. California gets allot of fog and grey days. LA can be pretty gray well into March. Much of the Southeast is pretty depressing in winter, too--snowless, but damp, gray and not warm..

I was surprised by how much homohpobia there is in Ogunquit. After all, it was a major watering hole for gays in the 70s, but there were actual bars where they would throw gay people out by the 2000s.

I grew up in a suburban beach town in MA and inherited the family house in my mid-40's. If I could have shaved 20 points off my IQ, drank heavily, and tripled the wellbutrin dosage I might have survived. I knew I couldn't thrive, so I was out of there inside of two years. Because I grew up there, when I came back it was divided in my mind into two groups: people I knew from 30 years ago and didn't always want to see again or people I never knew, and because they all worked so hard to earn enough to buy into "the tony seaside resort" there they weren't there that much - they were too busy working. Taking care of the place was expensive and time consuming and I didn't want to get sucked into the lives and problems of the people I was paying to take care of it. It was one of those places where, if you had any brains or ambition as a kid you left ASAP because your talents were in greater demand and paid more elsewhere. It wasn't quite as rural as "Green Acres" but I was Eva Gabor, not Eddie Arnold: I was the one singing "Give me Park Avenue."

Thomas Wolfe was right: you can't go home again.

R114 Santa Cruz is lovely.

Virginia Beach sucks year round. And you don't want to spend the off season with the locals in the Outer Banks, NC. Drunks, Trumpkins, and more drunks, with a side of incest.

But it's full of hotties (of course, perhaps less available now that Harlow Cuadra is locked up....)

San Diego or Boston

I'd have to go for somewhere on the central CA coast, pretty much anywhere between Santa Cruz or Santa Barbara. Southern CA is just too crowded, anything too far north is too cold & I hate the east coast. Big Sur has always attracted me...or what about somewhere like Morro Beach?

People on the west coast rarely ever leave town, and that seems weird to me.

Ipswich, MA, Cranes Beach. Gorgeous white sands and views on both sides.

Gorgeous in the winter, a huge estate and tons of trails.

To think I almost moved to Biloxi.... Before Katrina.... Beach town are deathtraps! Haven't any of you been reading about climate change?

Sure, R128, but this is just a fantasy....why ruin it? We know it's coming hard for the coast.

r124 Morro BAY, not Beach.

I love the Central Coast and have considered moving there to escape the LA heat (I'm retired.) But it's quite isolated; there are no large cities and the air service sucks. Santa Barbara is too expensive, and anywhere farther north is too far from anything. Santa Cruz might be OK since it's not far from San Jose, I guess.

East Hampton. We can’t live out there full time, but we keep the house open year round now. We have done Thanksgiving with the family, and Christmas Eve, and it’s beautiful.

There’s some secret historical-feeling part of the place that comes out in the winter time. It’s hidden in the summer. The beach in the dead of winter is one of my favorite things.

Pismo Beach?

Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts

Good timing to resurrect this thread. I am working on planning on coming up with Plan B for retirement if Trump's SALT property tax cap isn't repealed in NY. I've been thinking about beach towns in CT. Close enough to get me to NYC by train or car, nearby airports, access to good medical facilities. I don't really care about the people who live in the area, I am sure I will meet a few decent people wherever I go, but my friends are portable and I mostly like to keep to myself and a few very close friends and family. I am planning to explore West Haven this weekend.

R134, never thought I'd see anyone contemplate a move to CT for a tax benefit.

R134, never thought I'd see anyone contemplate a move to CT for a tax benefit.

r135/136, coming from NY it would be a massive benefit, and the areas I am looking at are well under $10k a year in property taxes. Even Greenwich, CT taxes are lower than what I pay in NY.

How do random threads like this get resuscitated years after they were first posted?

That would actually be an interesting UI test Muriel--surface "More Like This" links on threads that highlight related threads from the past five years.

Asbury Park is a good bet. Gay friendly and not too far from NYC. Good food too. The winter is incredibly depressing though.

If I won the Lottery, I'd move to Half Moon Bay, Ca.

Half Moon Bay is a pretty little town on the coast, just half an hour's drive from San Francisco. I'd get all the benefits of small-town life except a low cost of living, plus easy access to the big city! And Half Moon Bay is a nice little town, pretty little downtown, miles of coastal paths, uncrowded beaches, houses in redwood forests a little way up the hills. Expensive as all hell, of course, which is why I'm not moving there until money is no longer an issue.

wouldn't recommend winters here, especially if you have small kids and a drunk husband

I live on the Cape and I just got laid off from my mostly travel job and I'm dreading February and March. Maybe I'll get some weed and see if that helps.