For Long Haul, Spotlight Shines On The Sun Belt

When it comes time to retire, many Americans apparently still like it hot.

Demographers and sociologists have noted an increasing number of retirees moving to smaller cities such as Boulder, Colo., and Savannah, Ga., looking for a slower pace and more value for their money.

Other retirees choose to trade the rambling house in the suburbs for a cute condo in a downtown area, becoming "ruppies" -- retired urban people who embrace the pace and amenities found in big cities.

Still, the Sun Belt remains the fastest-growing retirement area among today's over-65 set, experts say.

Florida and its beaches remain a popular place to spend the sunset years, yet the current hottest retirement destination doesn't even have a coastline: It's Arizona.

According to Wake Forest University professor Charles Longino, a gerontologist who studies the migration of people 60 and older, the top retirement destinations for Americans are the counties that include the following metropolitan areas:

1. Phoenix.

2. Las Vegas.

3. West Palm Beach, Fla.

4. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

5. St. Petersburg, Fla.

6. Fort Myers, Fla.

7. Tucson, Ariz.

8. Los Angeles.

9. Sarasota, Fla.

Longino uses U.S. census figures to track regional growth of the over-60 set. The areas cited are those with the biggest influx of retirees in the last 10 years. Those cities are the biggest draw, although retirees often settle in communities just outside of them.

Retirees -- and others -- have long moved to the South to escape frigid Northern winters. But retirees aren't just looking to shake off the chill.

"Quality of life, or at least the perception thereof, is at the heart of this (relocation) process," Longino said.

When they retire, people are looking for many things in a community, says Leslie Morgan, a sociologist and associate dean at the Erickson School of Aging Studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In addition to physical comfort, retirees want ease of mobility, safety, a stable cost of living, recreational amenities and low taxes.

Retirees flock to Phoenix and Tucson and cities in between -- such as Scottsdale, Sun City and Prescott -- because they offer all that.

Take former Chicago-area residents Bernie and Kathleen Berk. The retired couple built their getaway home in Scottsdale in 1990 and moved there permanently in 1994. They chose the area for the weather, culture, proximity to friends and family, and recreation. Despite brutal Arizona summers, they suffer no buyer's remorse.

"The climate is better for my allergies, and it's easier living here," said Bernie Berk, 80. "You don't have to wear heavy clothes, property taxes are lower, and within two hours you can be skiing in the mountains or relaxing at a lake. There's golf and shopping and theaters and museums -- there are new things opening up all the time to keep up with all the people moving in here."

Fifteen years ago, such an influx of retirees would've had developers scrambling to build more over-55 communities and nursing homes. That's changed.

"We're testing a lot of things out now," Morgan said.

Retirees have housing choices that vary from traditional single-family homes to assisted-living condo communities to co-housing.

Co-housing, gaining in popularity among retirees, lets residents create a community based on a common purpose -- such as concern for the environment or love of music.

A surge in any population usually translates into a local economic boost. But for retirees in boomtowns, it can mean they're confronted with problems they thought they left behind when they moved -- such as increased traffic.

"There's lots of development here," Berk said. "We call (the new subdivisions) mushrooms because you don't see them, and then overnight they come from nowhere. And all those people have cars."

Some retirees opt to dodge cars by moving downtown so they can walk or cab to wherever they're going, says city planner Kyle Ezell, author of "Retire Downtown: The Lifestyle Destination for Active Retirees and Empty Nesters." This is on the rise in big cities, including Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

It's hard to say if baby boomers will continue their predecessors' Sun Belt relocation trend when they reach retirement age, Morgan says. Smaller cities and towns in Western mountain and Southern coastal states are becoming more popular among retirees.

"Most people don't relocate, because it's expensive or they want to stay close to their family or church or community," she said. "But the experiences the boomers have had have been so different from the previous generation; they've shifted jobs a few times, and relocated, and gotten divorced. They have more options for independent living as they age."

Copyright 2007 Investor's Business Daily, Inc.