Home Builders Begin to
Shift Gears to Accommodate Baby Boomers
Home builders nationwide are training their marketing sights on
baby boomers as the leading edge of that gigantic wave of consumers next
year hits age 55, the traditional retirement threshold. Experts say
there is nothing traditional about baby boomers. One of their strongest
traits is their refusal to slow down or accept growing old. Retirement
for those who take it early, in most cases, is expected to mean only
changing careers or working from home.
The new retirement communities taking shape are
far different from their predecessors. They are geared to fitness and
computer addicts. Shuffleboard is out. Jogging paths and home offices
wired for telecomputing are in. Boomers are investing savings and stock
market gains in resort areas where they may choose to retire full-time
when real old age kicks in - maybe a decade from now.
It only makes good sense
that builders are trying hard to shift gears to accommodate the changing
demands of the post-World War II generation born between 1946 and 1964,
said Annie Gerard, a vice president of National Survey Systems, a research
consulting firm. The baby boomers, Gerard said, represent 76 million
Americans and almost a third of the U.S. population. "So what they do
moves and shakes and rattles everybody else," she said. "You overlook
that segment only at your own peril."
In contrast with their
parents' generation, baby boomers are healthier, wealthier and wiser.
While the parents of boomers saw retirement as an end to their working
life, boomers are viewing it in many ways as a beginning, a new
opportunity when they may dive into a new career. Also, unlike their
parents, boomers are not interested in lowering their lifestyle after
retirement to conserve capital for a rainy day. One of the most
striking differences between baby boomers and their parents is their
attitude that bigger is better and they deserve the best.
Marketing experts say
boomers demand home offices, giant bathrooms and master bedrooms, walk-in
closets, and two- or three-car garages. They say boomers also prefer
so-called "great rooms" - combining dining areas and media rooms into
voluminous space for informal entertaining.
Gerard predicts that the
preference for golf course communities will wane. To serve the diverse
interest of baby boomers, retirement housing may mushroom near
universities or in downtown areas near restaurants, shopping and cultural
attractions, she said. Some communities may be founded around hobbies or
philosophies. One of her clients is talking about designing a community in
Florida for lifelong Zen Taoists.
[11/00 - Retirement
Living News]
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The Best Places To Retire
With a beautiful landscape in the rolling wooded
hills of North Carolina,
Chapel
Hill is an ideal place to retire. The average temperature is
about 45 degrees in winter and 84 degrees in summer. There are 16
colleges in the area and two top-notch university hospitals.
Chapel
Hill scores an excellent rating in educational opportunities,
health care, cultural activities, recreation and small-town
friendliness. Over and over again
Chapel
Hill has been rated the very best place to retire in America.
Charlottesville,
Virginia, is considered one of the safest places to retire in
America with a crime rate well below the national average. Many of
the friendly residents would argue that this is the best place to
retire in America.
Carlsbad,
California, has a enjoyable southern California lifestyle, but
without the crowds and traffic congestions of San Diego to the
south, or Los Angeles to the north. It has a reasonable cost of
living, a wide range of home prices, a generally smog-free
atmosphere with the ocean breeze, and a mild climate. If you are
looking for a good place to retire in California that is not on the
fault line...
Carlsbad, California may be the best place for you to retire in
America.
With no state or local income tax, no snow, an
excellent economy and plenty of things to do, the
Ft.
Myers / Cape Coral area in Florida is the choice of many
families and retirees. Cape Coral has a larger population than Fort
Myers, but it is more of a family community. Fort Myers has more of
the things you would expect to find in a city: libraries, cultural
centers, business and banking, stores and government services. If
you have grown weary of shoveling snow, take a good look at Cape
Coral. About 50,000 other transplanted "snow birds" have already
decided this is the best place to retire in America.
Money
magazine's editors have chosen eight great cities
that have it all: quality of life, affordability and lots to do. |
