Paradise found ? The tide of older Americans moving into the Sunshine State is rising. While the newcomers bring affluence, policymakers are confronting the issues caused by their rapidly swelling ranks

EconSouth, Fall, 2004

"Middle Georgia is usually not viewed as a retirement destination," said Jeff Moredock, managing director of Houston Springs. "But the reality is that many retirement destinations are saturated as well as expensive. When you look at the folks who are moving, not all are terribly wealthy. A large segment is middle income. They're not in a position to buy a beachfront condo in Florida, so there's an opportunity for us here."

Officials in nearly every Southeastern state set goals and budget money to attract retirees, either through national advertising campaigns or through programs such as Mississippi's Certified Retirement Cities. In that program, the state offers tax breaks and other incentives for residents over 65 who live in qualified communities.

Mississippi officials justify the tax breaks on the grounds that each retirement household brings to the state disposable income equal to 3.7 factory jobs. Each relocated retiree household brings an average of $320,000 in assets and has median annual income of about $33,000. Moreover, that money tends to stay close to home since some 90 percent of retiree income is spent locally for goods and services.

"We are not about age restriction here," said Diana O'Toole, program manager for the Mississippi Development Authority. "We are looking for people who want to be assimilated into our communities."

Retirement patterns change

Despite the backlash against growth and the increasing competition from other states, Florida remains a top destination for retirees. But, added Susan MacManus, professor of political science at the University of South Florida in Tampa, "We're going to see a completely different pattern of retirement."

Having pretty well saturated the southeast coastal region of Florida between Miami and Palm Beach, more retirees are moving out of that part of the state than are moving into it.

But Florida is a big state; its diverse geography still offers plenty of open spaces that are attractive to older people. For example, the St. Joe Co. owns 825,000 largely uninhabited acres primarily in northwest Florida, including miles of oceanfront. The company's Web site said this land is planned for development that will eventually become "as unique, special and evocative as Nantucket, Napa Valley or Santa Fe."

In the few years since the 2000 Census, the University of Florida's Smith said the state's population growth actually gained momentum, and he projects this decade's growth rate will surpass that seen during the 1990s. According to Smith, Florida's population is expected to increase by 3.4 million between 2000 and 2010, with an estimated 89 percent of that growth coming from in-migrants.

Homebuilder Del Webb ranked Florida as the top state baby boomers are most likely to consider moving to. And three Florida destinations made the list of the Retirement Living Information Center's Top 10 "hot counties" for active adult homebuyers.

The top destination in the United States is Florida's Summer County, home to part of the Villages. The booming community, which sprawls across three counties and encompasses 25,000 acres, sees about 300 homes on average built each month. The Villages is about halfway to its capacity of 100,000 people, and in light of the projected growth in Florida, the developers have good reason to believe they will reach their final goal.