This program of research and extension/outreach focuses on rural retirement migration. Specifically, we are gathering information on the experiences of newcomers versus longer-term older residents of high-growth rural retirement communities scattered across the U.S. We are investigating the level of community ties and ties to informal social networks among the two comparison groups for the purpose of determining effects of social participation on the health and well being of older residents. Moreover, we are investigating how high-growth rural retirement communities have adapted to the in-movement of older newcomers.

Retirement migration has been occurring in rural places characterized by scenic beauty and outdoor recreational opportunities from the 1970s to the present. Past studies have examined the characteristics of older in-movers and some economic and social impacts of the retirement migration trend. Little prior research, however, had examined whether older newcomers become involved in their new communities. Nor had prior research investigated whether or how becoming socially connected following a move to a rural community affects older newcomers` health and well being. These issues are important to planners, economic developers, rural businesses, community service providers and other stakeholders experiencing retirement in-migration. Some states and rural localities have developed explicit strategies to try to attrach retirees to their areas because of the relative affluence of the older in-movers. How well integrated older newcomers become in destination rural communities, however, has implications for the contributions they will make to their new locales and whether they will be retained in those communities or move elsewhere. Both issues have implications for community and economic development.

In 2002 we surveyed over 800 older in-movers and longer-term older residents of 14 rural retirement destinations in different regions of the US, and we conducted a follow-up interview with the same individuals in 2005. In 2006 we conducted case studies in four rural retirement destinations in four regions of the country to gain a more in-depth understanding of the dynamics of newcomer involvement in their new communities. We also interviewed local leaders and public officials on their perceptions of the positive and/or negative impacts newcomers have had on their communities. We found that the newcomers quickly become involved in community organizations, that a third are joining adult offspring in their new communities and that local leaders and officials perceive the in-movement of older retirees to have had positive impacts on their communities -- through their volunteer and fundraising activities, increased demand on the goods and services provided by local businesses and increased local tax bases. On the negative side, housing prices had increased, making it harder for young families to buy into the local housing market.

Findings from this study have been requested by the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, various federal, state and local agency personnel (including in Albany), media outlets (including the New York Times), local leaders and public officials in rural retirement communities, as well as citizen groups in those communities. Outreach publications have appeared on the Web sites of the four regional rural development centers, and we have published various pieces of our research in other outreach as well as academic publications. Findings from this study have been requested by various universities and outreach organizations in the United Kingdom where rural retirement migration has also been a dominant trend. We are making the results of our work widely available to government, academic, private, and non-profit organizations.

• USDAs National Research Initiative Competitive Grant
• Polson Institute for Global Development Seed Grant

David L. Brown (Dept. of Dev. Soc., Cornell University)