Retirement Migration as a Community Development Option

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Abstract
One focus of recent community development efforts has been to attract retirees to rural areas. The feasibility of such a strategy is enhanced if county-level migration patterns of persons 65 years of age and older shift over time and differ from those of the general population, particularly during times of economic recession. Focusing on nonmetropolitan retirement migration in the Pacific Northwest, this paper explores these issues as well as the types of rural counties that are most attractive to retired migrants. It then examines the relative ability of three models–using amenities, service-availability, and cost-of-living factors, respectively–to explain nonmetropolitan retirement migration between 1980 and 1985.