Retiree-Attraction Policies for Rural Development

Richard J.Reeder

Agriculture Information Bulletin No. (AIB741) 32 pp, July 1998

Many rural communities have benefited from the attraction of retirees in recent years. With the baby boom generation beginning to make retirement decisions, many other rural communities might consider economic development stategies based on attracting and retaining retirees. This report reviews the literature on the impacts (both positive and negative) of retiree attraction in rural areas and indicates which places might benefit most (slow growth or declining population) and least (rapid growth) from retiree attraction. Factors indicating local potential to attract retirees include natural and manmade amenities, proximity to cities and tourism, and past record of attracting retirees. Recent State retiree-attraction initiatives are examined, such as direct State technical assistance and marketing, the use of local self-help models, targeting previous residents, and promoting the development of planned retirement communities.

Keywords: Retirement communities, retirement counties, retiree attraction, retiree attraction policies,rural development policies

In this report ...

Chapters are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.

• Front matter (contents, summary), 84 Kb
• Retiree Counties Buck 1980’s Trends, 1,307 Kb
• Benefits of Attracting Retirees Now, 700 Kb
• Research on Retiree Impacts, 72 Kb
• Places That Might Benefit From Retiree Attraction, 692 Kb
• Creative State Initiatives, 81 Kb
• Conclusions, 68 Kb
• References, 66 Kb

• Entire Report, 2,575 Kb

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Updated date: July 20, 1998