Not having a mortgage to pay off or take out certainly made the move less complicated. We retired early, which required planning. There is no room for a mortgage in early retirement :).
This house is about 6 miles away from our former home, but the tone of the neighborhood is quieter, smaller. This is more like a small town. Neighbors actually greeted us with tokens when we moved in. In our other neighborhood we were beginning to see transients walk through, catalytic converters getting stolen, etc. And then, of course, there is the water. 🌊
Oh yeah, that is not good. It sounds like you made a really smart move! We lived in a neighborhood like that before we moved to where we currently are.