By Julia Boyle
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE
If Florida is the first place that comes to mind when you hear the word retirement, think again.
According to Chuck Longino, director of the Reynolda Gerontology Program at Wake Forest University, media attention has labeled Florida, Arizona, and California as the most traditionally popular retirement destinations, but only about four and a half percent of people over 60 make the move across state lines.
Principles of Migration
Longino studies retirement migration trends and has discovered three principles:
• Regionally rooted people search for a retirement location only 30 to 50 miles away from where they have lived to stay close to family, friends, and patterns of life.
• Metropolitan access offers people with more educated taste and interests the amenities of a city while providing a relaxed, smalltown style of life.
• Regional retirement centers allow movers to more easily maintain some degree of social continuity. This principle combines the first two. A person can have the best of both by moving to a local vacation place near a big city.
“People move to places they’ve vacationed that are close to the city and to family. They want the best of both worlds—a place without the hassles of city life, but with the lifestyles they’ve developed over the years,” Longino says.
Just Beachy
By providing all three of Longino’s principles, the Jersey Shore appeals to many types of people who have lived the majority of their life in New Jersey, even those who first retired elsewhere.
That was the case for Jeanne Brown, who recently moved back to New Jersey after first retiring to Florida. “It’s very nice here, and I’m not that far away from my kids,” she says.
At Seabrook, Brown lives only minutes from her beloved beach, an hour’s drive from New York City, and in an active social community.