mondoboston.com

Posted by Pam on July 1st, 2008 in real estate market

Traditionally, people don’t come to Boston to retire. Instead they move to cities like Miami, Phoenix or even Las Vegas where they can gamble, play golf and lie on the beach. And besides, the cost of living is lower in many of these places while the weather is certainly warmer.

But will a national housing slump and the simultaneous sharp increase in gas prices, change the old retirement pattern?

According to a recent New York Times article, migration to places like Florida has slowed dramatically in the last year. William H. Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution says he believes that baby boomers will further affect migration patterns, settling in a wider range of places as they retire than previous generations of retirees.

“It will be a much more varied group of destinations — they’re going to sprinkle out all over the place,” Mr. Frey said. 

 Boston may look particularly good to retirees who are interested in arts, culture and living in an urban, walkable environment. That combination of characteristics is not easy to find in many parts of the country. As well, retirees may also find:
1) Properties are more affordable in Boston than they used to be. Priced out of Boston previously, retirees can now find good deals in the city, especially since they don’t have to worry about living in a good school district. Cambridge may be particularly attractive to this group, as well as Somerville, the South End, and parts of downtown Boston.
2) Boston’s dense urban streetscape and subway means that life can be lived without a car. This can mean substantial savings considering rising gas prices, and the cost of owning, insuring and maintaining a car. Aging retirees also don’t have to worry about how they’ll get around when it’s time to relinquish the driver’s license.
3) Boston’s housing stock of generally smaller homes and condos reduces the overall cost of maintaining a home.
4) While heating costs may be higher than Phoenix, Miami or Las Vegas (and after all, heat is necessary in some of these places in the winter, anyway) air-conditioning costs can be dramatically reduced or eliminated altogether.
5) Retirees who plan to work in retirement (according to the AARP, increasing numbers of seniors are planning to do just that) can find more satisfying and varied job opportunities than in places oriented strictly around leisure activities alone.

Anecdotally, one retiree I know chose to retire in Boston after a working life spent in Pittsburgh, precisely because she sought out a city that would keep her intellectually and culturally stimulated. She spends her days taking classes, attending lectures and nurturing a budding art career.

Not a bad way to spend a retirement.