A growing number of nonmetropolitan communities have chosen to pursue
nontraditional avenues for economic development including the promotion of the
nonmetropolitan area to older adults who may choose to migrate after retirement. The
purpose of this study was to help community leaders in nonmetropolitan areas make
informed decisions if they choose to revitalize their town through the aid of immigration
and retention of retirees, by knowing what infrastructure to plan for based on the neighborhood,
housing, and support service preferences of future nonmetropolitan retirees.
This prospective study compared two populations: preretirees who planned to migrate
to nonmetropolitan areas during the first 10 years of retirement and preretirees who
planned to age in place in nonmetropolitan areas upon retirement by (1) age integrated/
age segregated neighborhood preference; (2) housing tenure and structure preference;
(3) support service preference of a hospital and/or family members; and (4) the socio-demographic
variables of marital status, health status, current income level, and number
of sources of retirement income.
An age stratified random sample of preretirees from two states (N=1,175),
Oregon and Utah, was included in the study. Statistical analyses included descriptive
statistics and chi-square and one t-test to test nine null hypotheses. Migrant respondents
differed in their preference for neighborhoods with older residents (p=.00000), preference
to rent (p=.00002), and tendency to feel that family in the community was important
(p=.00031). Migrants differed significantly in their marital status (p=.01292), in
that more were unmarried. With regard to health status (p=.02752), more age in place
reported excellent and fair/poor health as opposed to migrants' very good and good
health. Nonmetropolitan community leaders interested in economic revitalization
through the attraction of and retention of elderly retirees may want to consider including
in their community the following: housing that tends to be more age segregated than age
integrated, single family dwellings that can be rented, a hospital, and formal support
services that may be needed if the informal support of family and friends is not available. / Graduation date: 1995
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/35250 |
| Date | 24 April 1995 |
| Creators | Barlow-Pieterick, Marilyn |
| Contributors | Brandt, Jeanette A. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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