Region's Retiree Appeal Remains Despite Health, Other Concerns

Northwest Arkansas scores high as a place for older residents to live, according to a recent in-depth study by the California-based Milken Institute.

The region ranks 91st as a home for residents between ages 65 and 80, based on criteria ranging from employment opportunities for older residents to how far the average resident has to go to get to a grocery store. This is out of 352 Metropolitan Statistical Areas ranked by the study.

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The Milken Institute’s “Best Cities for Successful Aging” study, released Nov. 18, is available online at http://successfulag…

Doug Thompson can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWADoug.

However, overburdened health care and transportation systems and a relative lack of community resources, such as few YMCA sites and library branches, bring the Milken ranking to 123rd for residents older than 80. The institute released its "Best Cities for Successful Aging" study on Nov. 18.

"Unlike many 'best places to retire' lists, the Milken Institute starts from the insight that most Americans want to age at home and in place and not uproot themselves from their communities," according to a statement by the institute.

"The Best Cities for Successful Aging index examines 84 separate factors that most affect the quality of life for older adults," the statement said. "These include not only health and wellness, crime rates and weather, but also economic and job conditions, housing, transportation, and social engagement factors.

"The index also recognizes the new economic and social reality that, especially for the 65-79 age group, many need and want to continue paid employment," the report said.

In health care, the region ranked 210th out of 352 for nurses per number of residents who are age 65 and older. The same method of measuring ranks the area 155th in number of doctors and 178th in available hospital beds. Despite this lag behind demand, the region ranked 82nd in affordability of care, putting it within the top 25 percent in that category.

The region is still a retirement destination, as it was during the boom times for that sector in the 1980s, according to Mike Harvey. Harvey is chief operating officer of the Northwest Arkansas Council, a nonprofit association of the region's political, business and education leaders.

However, the area's population is trending younger, he said.

"Northwest Arkansas is a very young region because it's where people come to work," he said.

More than 30 percent of the workers in Northwest Arkansas are between the ages of 22 and 34, he said, citing U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics. That makes the region the 10th highest concentration of workers of that age group of any metro area in the country, according to the statistics.

The Milken study ranked the region 206th out of 352 U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas for the share of its population age 65 and older. About one in nine residents here are older than 65.

Retirees are also becoming less concentrated, Harvey said. Bella Vista started as a retirement community but has attracted a growing number of younger people since it incorporated in 2006, he said. This springs from several factors, Harvey said, including rising real estate prices in nearby areas.

"Baby boomers who retire tend to move to cities with colleges in them like Fayetteville," Harvey said. "They're looking for access to cultural amenities. The previous generation was looking for space."

"It's hard to put a finger on it, but in general, retirees used to look at who had the best golf courses and the best health care," Harvey said. "Now retirees are looking for more of a nightclub scene and music."

Part of Northwest Arkansas' attraction for retirees is that the state rates well in general.

Kiplinger, a financial advice publisher based in Washington D.C., publishes an annual "State-by-State Guide to Taxes on Retirees." The September 2014 report said Arkansas is a low-cost, low-tax retirement destination. The state exempts Social Security benefits and up to $6,000 of retirement income from its state income tax. Also, Arkansas's real estate taxes are among the lowest in the nation, Kiplinger finds.

NW News on 03/29/2015

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