This tidbit from my company relocation department: "Today, 22% of the population is 50 or older. By 2010, 20% of the population will be 65 years or older. The Baby Boomer generation is the wealthiest generation of all time, and 40% of them will be moving after turning 60. According to CCNMoney.com, the list below are the top 25 cities with the highest percentage of residents over age 50." Will Reno-Sparks ever make this list?
|
Rank
|
City
|
% of population
|
# of Leading RE Members in the Area |
Median Home Price |
|
1 |
50.84 |
6 |
$189,950 |
|
|
2 |
47.13 |
1 |
$230,000 |
|
|
3 |
46.97 |
2 |
$150,000 |
|
|
4 |
46.85 |
4 |
$273,826 |
|
|
5 |
46.06 |
2 |
$395,000 |
|
|
6 |
45.96 |
3 |
$155,000 |
|
|
7 |
45.88 |
1 |
$322,400 |
|
|
8 |
44.67 |
1 |
$160,000 |
|
|
9 |
44.53 |
2 |
$238,659 |
|
|
10 |
44.22 |
4 |
$625,000 |
|
|
11 |
42.91 |
4 |
$205,050 |
|
|
11 |
42.91 |
3 |
$195,000 |
|
|
13 |
42.80 |
0 |
$360,000 |
|
|
14 |
42.73 |
2 |
$358,000 |
|
|
15 |
42.25 |
0 |
$291,500 |
|
|
16 |
41.40 |
3 |
$99,900 |
|
|
17 |
41.33 |
4 |
$242,900 |
|
|
18 |
40.45 |
3 |
$190,000 |
|
|
19 |
40.30 |
4 |
$200,000 |
|
|
20 |
39.52 |
6 |
$790,000 |
|
|
21 |
39.49 |
4 |
$229,000 |
|
|
22 |
39.47 |
4 |
$180,900 |
|
|
23 |
39.45 |
3 |
$420,000 |
|
|
24 |
39.39 |
4 |
$1,362,500 |
|
|
25 |
39.28 |
1 |
$452,500 |
Source: Census data, Onboard 2005 projection
Ken
I don’t think Reno is ever going to be on the top 25 list. Tahoe is too exclusive for most retirees to make their home full-time, and in general the whole area posseses a climate which is much too inhospitable to be attractive as a full time residence for a retiree.
Reno is the kind of place people leave for those top 25 retirement destinations.
Instead Reno’s focus seems to be and should be primarily on building a good, solid city in which to raise kids and in which your kids won’t mind sticking around through their 20s, starting lives and helping to drive innovation and economic diversification and sustainability. All that stuff costs money, ie, “taxes as user fees”, and that’s just another reason why retirees are not that likely to start flocking to Reno any time soon.
Now as for whether we want retirees in the market for condo hotels, or if we want the moneyed geriatric coming to town for special events, golf, etc… that’s a completely different discussion. I support it.
Moving2Reno
I agree with Ken. Reno will never be in the top 25. if you look closely a majority of the cities in the top 25 have a warm climate. Reno’s elevation is over 4000 feet and is freezing cold or really hot and dry. We get a couple of mild weeks in the fall and spring but other than that we have the extremes.
Also there is really nothing for old people to do in Reno, especially in the middle of the freezing winter (Except gamble). Plus Horrible public transportation and little or no entertainment besides gambling and crappy casino shows.
If I were old and retiring I would be looking at places like San Diego and Florida where their condo markets are imploding (San Diego is about to have a whole bunch of cheap condos thanks to severe overbuilding in the downtown area) On top of the weather there is way better entertainment and much more to do in warm coastal cities. In addition lush green plants and year round flowers are so much nicer than burnt yellow sagebrush and snow
Rory
Moving2Reno:
“Plus Horrible public transportation and little or no entertainment besides gambling and crappy casino shows.”
The transportation part, I can agree with. But where did you get the idea that Reno has poor entertainment options? There is more to do in Reno than many cities of much larger proportions. Sacramento comes to mind.
“In addition lush green plants and year round flowers are so much nicer than burnt yellow sagebrush and snow”
Not really. Those with arthritis will find our dry climate much more appealing than locals with HEAVY humidity, like in Florida.
Why are you moving to Reno if you find the place so unappealing?
Behavioralist
These various `best places’ lists are skewed towards averages and also reflect the bias of the people who frame the parameters for the scoring. If your kids are grown, you may not care if City X gets bonus points for its school system. Unless you are a bus rider, you may have no interest in points scored for public transportation. And high scoring for a locality with a large number of “me too” formula type chain restaurants is meaningless to those of us who never frequent such places anyway. These types of comparisons are best suited for economics classes or for scholarly articles by behavioral scientists, but are not that useful for real humans looking for their next home. None of us is an average. It is necessary to visit locations of choice several times, at different seasons, meet and talk with people, and look for the type of restaurants and entertainment that interests you. When I do that, Reno comes out pretty high on my list. And Havasu City? You’ve got to be kidding. Hot, boring, crowded with college kids drinking beer and old retired geezers in their motor homes. Many times averages add up to a big Zero in my opinion.
Doc