Good Riddance to the Rat Race
Today's retirees are looking for the good life in all the small places
Lutz, Fla., was a simpler place when Bill and Jane Robbins moved there in the late '60s. Orange groves, cypress trees, and pastures surrounded the couple's home. And the drive to nearby Tampa, where Bill worked as an electrical contractor and Jane held a job as a secretary, was short. The couple thought they would never leave.
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All that changed as their retirement years approached. Lutz had grown rapidly over the past 30 years. In place of orange groves and pastures, the Robbinses found their home surrounded by gated communities and big-box stores. That idyllic drive to Tampa? It was replaced by a harrowing commute, on traffic-congested highways. So after a few retirement years filled with irate drivers and rushed neighbors, the Robbinses started searching for a slower pace of life.
They found it in Thomasville, Ga. Just 30 minutes from the Florida state capital in Tallahassee, the city is a throwback to another era. Once a weekend-getaway spot for the rich and powerful--President Dwight Eisenhower was known to play golf at a local country club--Thomasville still sports a small-town feel. Lush oak trees and quaint Victorian houses dot its landscape, home to roughly 20,000. The city is also amenity rich for its small size; a newly revitalized downtown includes an eclectic mix of restaurants and high-end stores and a top-notch hospital, which will soon boast a $22 million cardiovascular center. "We're just tickled pink with what we've found," says Bill, who moved to a 4-acre farm with his wife last year. "Between the country atmosphere and the down-home attitude, I've enjoyed my time here."
The quiet life. Bright lights, big city Thomasville certainly is not. While larger metropolitan areas like Las Vegas or Tampa are still retiree magnets, smaller cities and towns have come increasingly into vogue. Indeed, the fastest-growing metros for seniors are now in the small-to-medium-sized range, according to an analysis of the 2000 census by Brookings Institution demographer William Frey. Locales like Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Naples, Fla., consistently make lists of the best places to retire; both saw their 65-and-over populations increase by more than 60 percent from 1990 to 2000.
Driven by the desire for less congestion, lower crime, and cheaper house prices, many are leaving the cities for smaller places. Of those who lived in metropolises with populations of 5 million or more, one third retired to cities of between 1 million and 5 million, according to a study of census data by Charles Longino, a Wake Forest University sociology professor. A slightly smaller share moved to cities with even smaller populations.
Dave and Molly Freitag are typical of this new breed. Feeling trapped by the rapid growth around their Bellevue, Wash., home, the Freitags moved to tiny Prineville, Ore., last year. With a population of around 8,000, Prineville is a tight-knit community. "If you go into the hardware store and you don't have your dogs with you, they ask you where your dogs are," says Dave. The low cost of living was another draw: The median price of a single-family home in the county was just $129,240 in 2005, compared with $321,100 in Seattle and $172,800 in Tampa.
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