Is this taking place in TN too? (college, quality of life)

[TN Tin Man]

Originally Posted by alleycat

Form follows function!

I need to go find a good cow thread . . .

Like a fine bovine........... [img]http://******************/kaos-animal-cow-smiley-6119.gif[/img]

[MrsMtnsOnTheMind]

Must be mountains in general that the baby boomers are attracted to.

[hiknapster]

Or cows!

[AlisonL]

Or both!

[TN Tin Man]

It's both and clear mountain air............

[goodbyehollywood]

Mountains are the new beaches. A beach house has been the ultimate fantasy for so long, but it's no longer attainable for most people. So mountains are newly hot. As the former rats race there, the prices will go up and mountains will become less attainable, too.

Hmmm... what's the next mountains? Something to do with cows, I'm sure...

[Pam& Bill]

Bill and I are both Baby boomers. A few years ago, we met online, he was living in Mississippi at the time having survived the eye of Katrina that went over his house. He was looking to leave Mississippi as Katrina was the last hurricane he wanted to experience. I lived in upstate NY, surrounded by the beautiful Catskill mountain range.
We met face to face in Pigian Forge and rented a cabin for the week. The Smokies worked their magic on us and we decided that Tn. was where we wanted to live.
Back when we first visited, sitting on the porch swing of our cabin, soaking up the peace and tranquility we decided we wanted our own version of "Walden".
So for us as baby boomers the mountains hold an attraction of living a simpler life that is as uncomplicated as we can make it. Plus Tn. was as far south as I wanted to go and as far north as he wanted to go. So being in Dandridge is perfect for now for us and we have cows in the field beyond our back yard. They are always watching me when I take the dogs out, what do you think that means???
Pam

[12buttons]

Originally Posted by HengyMama

Just saw this article on MSNBC.

Baby Boomers migrate to Rocky Mountain West

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — John Kerr wasn't dreaming of palm trees and balmy winters when he retired from WGBH, the Boston public TV station known for producing such hits as Antiques Roadshow. His thoughts had gone West. The 69-year-old put on a green uniform and Smokey Bear hat and became a seasonal ranger in Yellowstone National Park, where snow can fall every month of the year, including July. "That's why they have wood stoves and furnaces," Kerr said. "Warm weather isn't the issue for me. It's keeping vital and interested and involved." Demographers say thousands of people like Kerr are heading to the Rocky Mountain West in their later years. Forget the warmth of Florida and Arizona. Baby Boomers, in particular, are gravitating toward the peaks and sagebrush basins of Wyoming and Montana, promising to turn these states from relatively young into two of the nation's oldest.

They're drawn by low crime, fresh air, little traffic and abundant outdoor activities, said Larry Swanson, an economist and director of the Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Missoula, Mont. Laurie Lyman, 55, was an elementary school teacher in San Diego when she began traveling to Yellowstone on long trips to watch wolves. In 2005, she decided it was time to get as close to the wolves as she could. "I said to my husband, 'You know what? Life's too short. I'm going,"' she said, adding that many people like her are snapping up property around Yellowstone.

I wonder if this is also responsible for the influx of people to TN? People seem to be gravitating toward mountainous regions.

The article is pushing an agenda - most boomers are aging in PLACE meaning they are staying where they are...they hate Fla and nursing homes

[RiverView]

Statistics say that 40% of the 77 million baby boomers are looking to move to the southeast. So yes, that is happening here too. That's why you started seeing amenitized communities a few years ago in out area. Their target market is the baby boomers.

[hiknapster]

I think the intent of the original post went right over my head.

I guess HengyMama was saying that baby boomers are looking for mountainous areas. That's probably true. I guess I just don't agree with that article. What jumped out at me was that there is a lot more traffic, pollution and civilization here than there. Also, it is so much colder up in Wyoming.

I see little comparison with Tennessee and Wyoming. But that was not what she was saying.

Sorry, I'm obtuse.

Anyway, I found this article to be interesting.

Surveys by AARP and others have shown that they are much more willing to move to a new place late in life than their parents were. Famous for their self-indulgent tastes and meager savings, members of the baby boom generation are also expected to gravitate to places that are less stressful and less expensive than the cities where many have spent their working years. At the same time many will want to continue working in some fashion.

As the AARP Magazine has pointed out, boomers are a demanding, some might say spoiled, generation. One of the magazine's surveys found that boomers sought places with a ''youthful vibe,'' great medical facilities, cultural and educational opportunities, and sophisticated restaurants -- not your conventional retirement community.

Because of their desire to keep working, if part time and on their own terms, boomers are also attracted to areas with strong economies. College towns, for example.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E6D6143DF930A15753C1A9619C8B 63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1 (broken link)