Looking for a great friendly place to live in Devon or Dorset - any ideas?

Your most welcome, Bella.  Your story about low wages and high cost of living sounds sadly familiar for a lot of regions in the US too.

I think a lot of people like to make a change about halfway through their lives.  We moved "out west" when I was 26, from Pennsylvania to Arizona (2,500 miles apart), so going home to visit was a big undertaking, like going on a vacation.  But now that I'm past the midway point, I think I'm ready for a change too, but work will keep me here, I'm afraid.

The other region of England that we were fortunate enough to visit was North Yorkshire, if you're game to move further afield from where you live now.  It's absolutley gorgeous up there, and the city of York if fabulous.  I hope you have fun planning.