Go west, not-so-young man
Florida is no longer the preferred choice as a retirement haven
Nestled in the foothills of the northern Colorado Rockies, Fort Collins is another new retirement haven. This erstwhile frontier outpost is home to Colorado State University and more than 7,500 acres of untouched nature. Because of its small-town feel and rich culture, the city consistently makes top 10 lists of places to retire. Which may explain why its over-65 population grew by 35 percent and its near-retiree population more than doubled during the '90s.
Activities galore. Peggy McGough, 67, moved there with her husband, Byron, 71, from Bisbee, Ariz., nearly five years ago. "Bisbee was two hours to the airport, two hours to the theater, and 45 minutes to shopping," she says. Fort Collins offered big sky, open spaces, a movie theater, and its own opera company. When the McGoughs aren't attending monthly history lectures or tapping their feet to Dixieland jazz at one of the town's nightspots, they spend their time touring the West with retirees from a Model T club.
Apart from scenery, golf courses, and plenty of sun (Yuma, Ariz., gets more than 4,000 hours of sunlight a year, making it America's sunniest spot), an abundance of things to do marks the new retirement magnets. Besides world-class skiing, Park City, Utah, offers photography and landscaping classes. The wineries in the Hill Country near San Marcos, Texas, host tasting tours ("Wine Trails"), and Santa Fe, N.M., offers a menu ranging from ironwork and calligraphy classes to horseback riding and performances of Verdi.
In part, the demographic shift to small and midsize cities with rich cultural and recreational opportunities reflects wealth and education, says Warren Bland, a California State University geography professor and author of Retire in Style: 50 Affordable Places Across America. Unlike their predecessors, he says, many of today's retirees are coming from large urban areas; are college educated, wired, and worldly; and have lived healthier lives--meaning they can expect to live longer--than their predecessors did. "People are looking for a lively and entertaining experience in retirement," says Bland. "They're not just going to lie around for their last 10 years."
Obviously, money counts. Some of the fastest-growing senior magnets are in states with no personal income tax, such as Alaska, Nevada, and Texas. The Lone Star State also freezes school-district property taxes for homeowners at age 65. Other states that don't levy personal income tax are Florida, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming. (Tennessee and New Hampshire don't either, but they do tax investment income.) Social Security benefits aren't taxed by 26 states, and many states offer full or partial exemptions on pension income.
Family ties or the lack of them are also a factor, and not just for retirees. The same cities that have posted net gains among empty nesters and retirement-age people are at the top of the list as draws for all age groups. So retirees who decide to move in order to be closer to family members often find themselves in rapidly expanding cities in the Southwest and the Rockies.
That's what happened to 79-year-old veteran Murray Cohen. In a wheelchair since a World War II combat injury, he was living in New York with his oldest daughter when she died unexpectedly at age 44. He moved from New York to Austin three years ago at the behest of his younger daughter. "It was a difficult move. I had many friends in New York, and two sisters and a brother. But my daughter wanted me here with her," says Cohen, who lives in an apartment on his own and uses a city-run shuttle service to get around. He starts his week with a Monday morning "News and Schmooze" program at a nearby Jewish community center. Then there's physical therapy, bridge in the afternoon, and various trips run by the center's "Roads Scholars" to movies and other goings-on.
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