Get the feeling more seniors nowadays have shelved plans to retire in Florida or Arizona? Does it seem like the seniors who do move aren’t going very far, relocating instead to nearby places so they can be close to their children, grandkids and friends?
Have you noticed that a few seniors are moving back here from Florida? Maybe it’s because they need more help and want to be near their families. Could they possibly just miss the Midwest?
These questions and other curious retirement migration facts eventually will all be explained. We just have to wait for the government to crunch the numbers collected by the 2000 census.
One of the many, probably overlooked, questions on the census form asks whether you have moved in the last five years. Responses to this question and a few others will reveal whether seniors are still moving in droves to the Sun Belt, or if they have discovered some new destination with even lower taxes and better views.
Somewhat surprisingly, retirement migration patterns probably won’t have changed that much from the last census, according to demographer Charles F. Longino Jr.
“Over the last four decades, migration patterns of the elderly have been fairly stable,” said Longino, a professor at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.
A recurring migration theme is that the elderly tend to move from larger to smaller places.
“I’m not talking about rural places,” explained Longino. “City people don’t move to isolated mountaintops.”
Instead, the elderly may move, say, from Chicago to Kansas City.
“People step down to a somewhat smaller place and the quality of life always goes up,” said Longino.
This trend may also explain migration patterns of the elderly within a metropolitan area. A local example would be the Del Webb Sun City project in far northwest suburban Huntley.
Chicago-area seniors can move there and yet they are still close enough to the city to visit there and enjoy cultural events. But because they live in Huntley, a more than 50-mile drive from Chicago’s Loop, they hope to avoid a lot of the headaches of urban life, such as traffic congestion, crime and high tax rates.
Of course, urban planners and developers want to know whether seniors will continue to move to places such as Florida and Arizona.
It’s clear, according to Longino’s studies, that over the last 40 years this pattern hasn’t changed much either. Migrating retirees prefer the Sun Belt states, though fluctuations in moving patterns have occurred.
For instance, California has become a place retirees move from, not to. Longino again credits the quality of life issue. California tends to be congested; housing is expensive.
“If a couple living in California can find someone to buy their little three-bedroom house for $500,000 they can go somewhere else and get a better place that costs less. They can put the rest of the money in the bank to supplement their retirement income,” he said.
Illinois will probably not become the destination of choice for retirees on the move. In fact, a 1995 study ranked Illinois second to last of all states in the number of new migrant retirees moving here. New York was the only state that did worse.
Keep those statistics in perspective, though. Only 5 percent of retirees move across state lines. Another 5 percent move within a state. The vast majority of seniors don’t move at all, Longino notes.
A migration pattern specific to Chicago shows that residents who move don’t show a preference for one particular place.
“Chicagoans go everywhere,” said Longino.
In contrast, New Yorkers tend to settle along the southeast coast, while Californians prefer the less populated West Coast states of Oregon and Washington.
Asked whether some of the statistics from the 2000 census would prove surprising, Longino said the actual numbers of retiree migrants might actually drop. This census will chart the movements of what Longino considers the “trough” generation, those born during the Depression era.
Because there are fewer people in this age group than in previous generations, retiree migration will probably decrease.
A drop in retiree migration could be a big shock to states, such as Florida, with a large elderly population. As for Chicago, Longino doesn’t expect a decrease in retiree migration to have much of an impact. Elderly populations have remained relatively stable in the Midwest.
The really big changes will come when the Baby Boomers start to retire. That generation isn’t captured in the 2000 census. But when Boomers pull up stakes, look out. Said Longino: “That’s a whole different ballgame.”
Resources
– Lake Barrington Woods, a rental retirement community in Lake Barrington, has opened its model apartments. The information center is located at 22320 Classic Ct., just north of Kelsey Road and south of Illinois Highway 22 off Northwest Highway. The community has 192 residences that include 150 independent apartments and 42 assisted-living apartments. Floor plans include studio, one- and two-bedroom layouts. Meals and housekeeping services are available. The property has a fitness center, indoor swimming pool, library, computer center and beauty/barber shop. For more information, call 847-842-8900.
– An executive, 9-hole golf course has opened at Carillon North in Grayslake. The Carillon North Golf Course, which developer Cambridge Homes donated to the Grayslake Park District, is open to the public. Cambridge also is building a clubhouse, expected to open this month. Golf course fees are reduced for seniors who live in the Grayslake Park District. For more information on Carillon North, call 847-223-9999.
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Jane Adler is a Chicago-area freelance writer. If you have questions or information regarding housing for senior citizens, write to Senior Housing c/o Chicago Tribune Real Estate Section, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611. Or e-mail adler@corecomm.net
