The market town of Skipton, "the gateway to the Dales", and its surrounding area in Craven, North Yorkshire, is the best place to retire to, according to research by Guardian Money in partnership with credit reference agency Experian. Despite relatively little sunshine, Skipton scored highly on other indicators, including rainfall, crime, house prices, transport, neighbourliness – and access to glorious countryside. Experian number-crunched 40 measures that make up "quality of life" as rated by people whose children have left home, with a special emphasis on air quality, crime rate, population density, burglary rates, neighbourliness, good health and life expectancy. We could only obtain data for local authorities in England. What does it tell us? That Devon and Dorset will remain firm favourites for years to come – but also that several northern districts beat the south hands down when it comes to quality of life. None of the big cities came anywhere near the top of the … [Read more...] about The top 10 places to retire
