By Carol Timblin, Managing Editor

Historically, population growth has been tied directly to the availability of jobs in a certain region. That’s not necessarily true anymore. As factories across the nation lose jobs to
overseas companies, towns, cities and counties are looking for ways to boost their economies. Many have discovered the advantage of recruiting active retirees to move to their areas. These transplants are smart, financially secure, energetic and
influential. Wherever they choose to settle, they breathe new life into their adopted communities and give their time and talents to worthy causes.

Many are pursuing their retirement dreams in the 11-state region covered by Retirement Lifestyles™ magazine.

According to a recent study conducted by Thomas, Warren +
Associates in collaboration with the National Active Retirement Association (NARA), about 175,000 in the 65+ age range moved to the South in 2005. Florida attracted the largest number – an estimated 68,000 new 65+ citizens – two and a half times the 27,000 65+ transplants who moved to second-place Texas.

These new residents brought $1.9 billion in income to Florida and $732 million to Texas. Surpassing North Carolina, which has held the third-place slot for the past several years, Georgia
attracted almost 16,000 new 65+ residents who brought in over $400 million in income to the state. A ranking of other states in the survey shows Tennessee next in line as a retirement
destination, followed by Virginia, South Carolina, Arkansas,
Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.

The Phoenix-based company used 2005 census data, based on
samples or estimates, in determining where the 65+ segment were moving, explained Gene Warren, president. “We looked at the number of people 65+ moving into each region of the country and found the Deep South again led all other regions.”
Where people move is related to migration patterns, he added.
People from the Northeast tend to move to Virginia, the Carolinas and Florida, while Midwesterners are more likely to move to Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas.

“Retiring to Florida or Arizona is a habit with people,’ he said.
“People have been retiring to these states since the 60s. However that is starting to change. Texas is coming on strong; it offers everything the Carolinas have except mountains…. It also has the desert, which is not found in the Carolinas. Georgia is also a popular place to live, especially around the Atlanta and Athens areas, as well as the North Georgia Mountains.

“South Carolina appears to be catching up with North Carolina,”
he continued. “As real estate goes up in places like Asheville and Charlotte, people are moving to South Carolina cities such as Greenville, Rock Hill and Lancaster, where they can still have
access to the big city without living there.”

Weather and climate have always attracted people to the South, but other factors such as affordability and quality of life have become important, too. “Home prices in the Northeast and Upper Midwest have skyrocketed,” said Warren. “You may have purchased a house for $30,000 in 1975 that’s now worth $900,000.

When you can sell that home and buy one for $200,000 to $400,000 in the South, you have a great deal….” He also mentioned the entertainment value of small bucolic towns in
the South. “You’ll be one of 67,000 fans in a bad seat at an Angels or Dodgers game, but you can buy a front row seat and see a pretty good baseball game in a small southern town.” “Any place can be a retirement destination, depending on what people want,” said Alan Church, vice-president of the research company. “The prototype of what a retirement town should be has changed over the years.

People are looking for different things in different places these days.”

Retirement Lifestyles Magazine is published bi-monthly.

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