Let's suppose, for argument's sake, that you live in orange to red zone light pollution. Suppose further that it's cloudy more often than not (and raining right now). Suppose you dream of escape to the country to spend you retirement astronomising. Perhaps you plan to win the lotto. Perhaps that rich maiden aunt/uncle is looking a bit pale. Perhaps you are saving money. Perhaps you can't see it really happening but it's nice to dream.
Perhaps you have actually done it.
Where would you go? What region? In town or on a property? But most importantly how would you chose? What services and facilities do you need? What can't you abide to be near? How do you judge the best overall location for astronomy? How do you balance astronomy vs other priorities? What are the other priorities?
It's roughly 20 minutes - 5 days a week - to work so I have time for pleasant musings. I reckon having a frequent clear skies is a 'must' but unless you want to live in dust you have to accept rain. When it is clear the seeing should be at least good and often very good. It seems to me that being close to a town with basic services such as decent food (especially fresh produce) and at least basic medical services (GP dentist) is pretty important. Being within easy range of specialist is also good (my aunt and uncle returned to Wollongong because they were spending too long travelling to the specialist). If you are in a small enough town and have a dark back yard the seeing might be acceptable but out of town will be better. Larger rural properties give more privacy but probably require more time and money for upkeep (weed spraying anyone?) Out of town you also have to consider what services (internet, water, power, garbage collection etc) you can do without.
I can't be the only one to consider such matters. What are your thoughts and have you found the perfect spot? I reckon I've seen a fair few suitable spots but I've yet to find nirvana. How are you going?