gc
10-25-2003, 01:43 PM
D-FW is in demand as a haven for retirees
11:43 AM CDT on Saturday, October 25, 2003
By DAWN WOTAPKA / The Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/business/stories/102603dnbusretiredfw.4bac6.html
In her 34 years with the federal government, Kay Kennedy's addresses included Japan and Korea. She worked in the Pentagon and traveled across the globe, visiting Germany, Hong Kong and England.
But now that she's retired, Ms. Kennedy has returned to her native state. She lives in Seagoville, a Dallas suburb.
Surprised? Don't be. The Dallas-Fort Worth area is a magnet for retirees. In fact, the area's elderly population grew faster than it did in all major Florida cities except Orlando in the 1990s.
Dallas shares many characteristics with traditional retirement destinations – warm weather, regional mass transportation and active networks of senior centers planning shopping trips, dances and dinners.
But Dallas also has a low cost of living, top-of-the-line medical care and something perhaps even more important – a lot of grandchildren who moved to the area with their career-oriented parents.
"What good does it do sitting in New York City or Chicago or Philadelphia when your grandkids are in Dallas?" asked Paul Zobisch, publisher of The Senior News Source, a monthly newsletter distributed in North Texas. "Most of them are just packing up and moving down here."
That's helping the Lone Star State's senior count catch up to the Sunshine State, according to the Milken Institute, an economic think tank in California. In the 1990s, Dallas-Fort Worth was the nation's 10th largest elderly magnet among major metro areas. In the '90s, Texas' elderly growth rate of 21 percent outpaced Florida's at 18.5 percent.
"I think people want to move to the Sun Belt, and they want to move to a place that has high amenities," said William Frey, a senior fellow at the Milken Institute and demographer with the Brookings Institution in Washington.
The Texas Department on Aging predicts that between 2000 and 2005, the number of residents older than 60 in the Dallas area will increase by 16.5 percent and in Fort Worth-Arlington by 17.8 percent Collin County's elderly population count will jump 42.6 percent.
Through 2040, the Dallas area's elderly population is expected to grow by 312 percent while the overall population will "only" double. In Fort Worth-Arlington, gray growth of 310 percent is forecast for an area where general population growth will be 65 percent.
"That's a lot of older people," quipped Norman Moorehead, director of the Dallas Area Agency on Aging, a group that develops and funds services for the elderly.
Those growth projections don't differentiate between the aging of current residents and incoming elderly. To be sure, the aging of the baby boomers is driving most of the growth in the elderly population.
Tracking the elderly
For now, numbers about how many elderly transplants Dallas attracts are hard to find.
"It would be a pretty impossible tracking task," explained Russell Smith, a Texas Department on Aging spokesman. "It would be a really, really ambitious marketing survey, I would think."
But there's plenty of anecdotal evidence.
Like Ms. Kennedy, 73-year-old Mary Forster opted to retire in the Dallas area instead of California, where she once lived and worked as a bookkeeper. Ms. Forster said living there was too expensive, so she settled in Mesquite.
For example, in Washington, where Ms. Kennedy said she couldn't afford to retire, earning $50,000 would be like earning $31,000 in Mesquite, according to the salary calculator at www.realtor.com.
Vernon and Arline Swanson relocated from Lincoln, Neb. Here, they pay lower property taxes, have "more house for the money" and can swim much of the year, said Mr. Swanson, 82, a former district manager for an insurance company.
Wilma C. Gregg, who moved here in August, said her children are what brought her here from Colorado, where she had lived since 1948. The 82-year-old's health is beginning to fail, and her son and daughter-in-law "wanted me out here where they could take care of me," she said.
The region's housing options range from stately homes flanking golf courses to assisted-living facilities. Ms. Gregg, who cleaned apartments when she was younger, is on a limited income. She found a "very nice and very clean" one-bedroom apartment at Dickinson Place in Dallas, a nonprofit residence for the elderly that's priced on a sliding-rate scale.
Ms. Gregg is also within walking distance of Baylor University Medical Center, which has a geriatrics program.
The Baylor medical system runs Senior Health Centers across the region, offering care, education and support. Its Ruth Ray Hunt Elder House Calls Program visits the homebound elderly. An eighth senior health center should open in Fair Park this year.
Accessibility
"We recognize that ease of access is important for this population," said Kevin Flynn, area administrator for the Baylor Senior Health Network. "I think accessibility is so important. I can't emphasize that enough."
The Methodist Health System, meanwhile, operates the Senior Access program, which includes prescription discounts, free health screenings and meal discounts at its hospitals. At its Senior Access center on North Beckley Avenue, a hall walkers exercise program, computer, bingo and Spanish classes are offered.
"Almost anywhere you're living in the Dallas area, you're very close to health care," said Mr. Zobisch of The Senior News Source. "And you don't have that in the vast majority of places across the country."
Other benefits
Another benefit, seniors say, is transportation. Dallas' bus and rail system provides regional access for those who cannot drive.
"The transportation, regardless of what people say, is better," said Christina Frias, a volunteer with the Area Agency on Aging who has worked with seniors for three decades. "From where I live in southwest Oak Cliff, I can get on the DART and go all the way to North Park and Garland and Plano."
Another plus: The Dallas/Fort Worth area coordinates many of its resources. By calling an information referral hotline, seniors can access services in eight counties. If that doesn't suffice, they'll be referred to the Access Center for the Elderly, which works with social workers to ensure that seniors don't feel "lost between the cracks," said Valencia Gill-Hooper, the center's project coordinator.
"That's unique," she said. "Dallas is on the cutting edge of that."
While Ms. Gregg pondered relocation, her daughter-in-law, Nora Donnelly, tapped several agencies for information and assistance. The effort helped produce a smooth move and prevented Ms. Gregg from having to do a lot of the work.
"It pays to go to a lot of resources and get answers to questions," said Ms. Donnelly, a North Dallas resident.
Ms. Gregg has plenty of entertainment options.
Dallas County boasts a network of more than 25 senior centers, recreational facilities brimming with activities including painting classes, shopping and "just about anything you can think of," Ms. Kennedy said.
The Dallas County Department of Health and Human Services' Older Adult Services division runs 19 centers. Its $1.2 million budget funds transportation and activities including water aerobics and dances. Its computer and e-mail classes are especially popular with transplanted retirees.
"Traditionally, seniors are isolated," said Dianne Rucker, the division's assistant director. "As their friends pass, they have a difficult time getting to meet people, and our centers are perfect."
At the Seagoville Senior Center, Ms. Kennedy uses the skills she acquired as a government contracting officer – she does computer work and updates the calendar and newsletter. She also takes yoga classes and plays bridge.
In Mesquite, Ms. Forster also works on computers.
"There's no reason to get bored if you're here," she said.
Mr. Moorehead of the Dallas Area Agency on Aging is surprised it took some seniors so long to discover the city.
"Dallas is quite a community. I'm just saying it's a good place to come," he said. "It's not just a community that ignores its older population – it involves them."
E-mail businessnews@dallasnews.com
11:43 AM CDT on Saturday, October 25, 2003
By DAWN WOTAPKA / The Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/business/stories/102603dnbusretiredfw.4bac6.html
In her 34 years with the federal government, Kay Kennedy's addresses included Japan and Korea. She worked in the Pentagon and traveled across the globe, visiting Germany, Hong Kong and England.
But now that she's retired, Ms. Kennedy has returned to her native state. She lives in Seagoville, a Dallas suburb.
Surprised? Don't be. The Dallas-Fort Worth area is a magnet for retirees. In fact, the area's elderly population grew faster than it did in all major Florida cities except Orlando in the 1990s.
Dallas shares many characteristics with traditional retirement destinations – warm weather, regional mass transportation and active networks of senior centers planning shopping trips, dances and dinners.
But Dallas also has a low cost of living, top-of-the-line medical care and something perhaps even more important – a lot of grandchildren who moved to the area with their career-oriented parents.
"What good does it do sitting in New York City or Chicago or Philadelphia when your grandkids are in Dallas?" asked Paul Zobisch, publisher of The Senior News Source, a monthly newsletter distributed in North Texas. "Most of them are just packing up and moving down here."
That's helping the Lone Star State's senior count catch up to the Sunshine State, according to the Milken Institute, an economic think tank in California. In the 1990s, Dallas-Fort Worth was the nation's 10th largest elderly magnet among major metro areas. In the '90s, Texas' elderly growth rate of 21 percent outpaced Florida's at 18.5 percent.
"I think people want to move to the Sun Belt, and they want to move to a place that has high amenities," said William Frey, a senior fellow at the Milken Institute and demographer with the Brookings Institution in Washington.
The Texas Department on Aging predicts that between 2000 and 2005, the number of residents older than 60 in the Dallas area will increase by 16.5 percent and in Fort Worth-Arlington by 17.8 percent Collin County's elderly population count will jump 42.6 percent.
Through 2040, the Dallas area's elderly population is expected to grow by 312 percent while the overall population will "only" double. In Fort Worth-Arlington, gray growth of 310 percent is forecast for an area where general population growth will be 65 percent.
"That's a lot of older people," quipped Norman Moorehead, director of the Dallas Area Agency on Aging, a group that develops and funds services for the elderly.
Those growth projections don't differentiate between the aging of current residents and incoming elderly. To be sure, the aging of the baby boomers is driving most of the growth in the elderly population.
Tracking the elderly
For now, numbers about how many elderly transplants Dallas attracts are hard to find.
"It would be a pretty impossible tracking task," explained Russell Smith, a Texas Department on Aging spokesman. "It would be a really, really ambitious marketing survey, I would think."
But there's plenty of anecdotal evidence.
Like Ms. Kennedy, 73-year-old Mary Forster opted to retire in the Dallas area instead of California, where she once lived and worked as a bookkeeper. Ms. Forster said living there was too expensive, so she settled in Mesquite.
For example, in Washington, where Ms. Kennedy said she couldn't afford to retire, earning $50,000 would be like earning $31,000 in Mesquite, according to the salary calculator at www.realtor.com.
Vernon and Arline Swanson relocated from Lincoln, Neb. Here, they pay lower property taxes, have "more house for the money" and can swim much of the year, said Mr. Swanson, 82, a former district manager for an insurance company.
Wilma C. Gregg, who moved here in August, said her children are what brought her here from Colorado, where she had lived since 1948. The 82-year-old's health is beginning to fail, and her son and daughter-in-law "wanted me out here where they could take care of me," she said.
The region's housing options range from stately homes flanking golf courses to assisted-living facilities. Ms. Gregg, who cleaned apartments when she was younger, is on a limited income. She found a "very nice and very clean" one-bedroom apartment at Dickinson Place in Dallas, a nonprofit residence for the elderly that's priced on a sliding-rate scale.
Ms. Gregg is also within walking distance of Baylor University Medical Center, which has a geriatrics program.
The Baylor medical system runs Senior Health Centers across the region, offering care, education and support. Its Ruth Ray Hunt Elder House Calls Program visits the homebound elderly. An eighth senior health center should open in Fair Park this year.
Accessibility
"We recognize that ease of access is important for this population," said Kevin Flynn, area administrator for the Baylor Senior Health Network. "I think accessibility is so important. I can't emphasize that enough."
The Methodist Health System, meanwhile, operates the Senior Access program, which includes prescription discounts, free health screenings and meal discounts at its hospitals. At its Senior Access center on North Beckley Avenue, a hall walkers exercise program, computer, bingo and Spanish classes are offered.
"Almost anywhere you're living in the Dallas area, you're very close to health care," said Mr. Zobisch of The Senior News Source. "And you don't have that in the vast majority of places across the country."
Other benefits
Another benefit, seniors say, is transportation. Dallas' bus and rail system provides regional access for those who cannot drive.
"The transportation, regardless of what people say, is better," said Christina Frias, a volunteer with the Area Agency on Aging who has worked with seniors for three decades. "From where I live in southwest Oak Cliff, I can get on the DART and go all the way to North Park and Garland and Plano."
Another plus: The Dallas/Fort Worth area coordinates many of its resources. By calling an information referral hotline, seniors can access services in eight counties. If that doesn't suffice, they'll be referred to the Access Center for the Elderly, which works with social workers to ensure that seniors don't feel "lost between the cracks," said Valencia Gill-Hooper, the center's project coordinator.
"That's unique," she said. "Dallas is on the cutting edge of that."
While Ms. Gregg pondered relocation, her daughter-in-law, Nora Donnelly, tapped several agencies for information and assistance. The effort helped produce a smooth move and prevented Ms. Gregg from having to do a lot of the work.
"It pays to go to a lot of resources and get answers to questions," said Ms. Donnelly, a North Dallas resident.
Ms. Gregg has plenty of entertainment options.
Dallas County boasts a network of more than 25 senior centers, recreational facilities brimming with activities including painting classes, shopping and "just about anything you can think of," Ms. Kennedy said.
The Dallas County Department of Health and Human Services' Older Adult Services division runs 19 centers. Its $1.2 million budget funds transportation and activities including water aerobics and dances. Its computer and e-mail classes are especially popular with transplanted retirees.
"Traditionally, seniors are isolated," said Dianne Rucker, the division's assistant director. "As their friends pass, they have a difficult time getting to meet people, and our centers are perfect."
At the Seagoville Senior Center, Ms. Kennedy uses the skills she acquired as a government contracting officer – she does computer work and updates the calendar and newsletter. She also takes yoga classes and plays bridge.
In Mesquite, Ms. Forster also works on computers.
"There's no reason to get bored if you're here," she said.
Mr. Moorehead of the Dallas Area Agency on Aging is surprised it took some seniors so long to discover the city.
"Dallas is quite a community. I'm just saying it's a good place to come," he said. "It's not just a community that ignores its older population – it involves them."
E-mail businessnews@dallasnews.com