The Kansas City Star
February 27, 2006 Monday
A; Pg. 1
More retirees settling down in college towns
MARÁ ROSE WILLIAMS
The Kansas City Star
In 1964, Harry and Becky Gibson graduated from the University of Kansas. Now, more
than 40 years later, the avid Jayhawks have retired where they met - in Lawrence.
John and Jan Dean did not attend the University of Missouri, but they decided that
Columbia would be a perfect place to settle when his career ended, to be near their
children and amenities such as decent weather, good medical care, opportunities to
teach and the arts.
The Gibsons and the Deans are part of a growing trend of adults older than 55 who have
found a rejuvenating life in college towns nationwide.
"We have been to Florida and have seen all these old people sitting around on beaches
doing nothing, and that is not us," said Harry Gibson, 63, a part-time director of Douglas
County Bank. His wife, a retired teacher, volunteers with their church and on the KU
campus and is a part-time fashion consultant.
"If you move around young people and live around young people, it's stimulating," said
Becky Gibson, also 63. "It keeps you young."
AARP The Magazine reported two years ago that baby boomers make up a large portion
of the retiree population that is redefining retirement in part by moving to college towns
where they find the community and camaraderie they knew as undergraduates. Not to
mention jobs, a youthful vibe, culture, top-notch hospitals and good restaurants.
"We know this is a really hot issue, but we don't have any stats yet on the numbers of
seniors who have moved into college towns," said Tammy Gordon, spokeswoman for
AARP.
CNNMoney.com, in a 2005 report on the best places to retire, said that access to
cultural events, educational opportunities, diversity and a vibrant atmosphere have
attracted thousands of retirees to college towns.
Lawrence and Columbia were mentioned on the Web site's "best places to retire" list,
along with Madison, Wis., Boulder, Colo., and Berkeley, Calif.
College towns, recognizing their allure, increasingly are mounting publicity campaigns
aimed at drawing retirees to settle there. Universities benefit by gaining volunteers who
often serve as mentors and advisers, and getting donations from comfortable
alums.
A growing population
Returning alumni have driven this movement, said Leon Pastalan, a professor emeritus
at the University of Michigan and president of the National Center on Housing and Living
Arrangements for Older Adults.
Harry Gibson, who as a student played basketball for KU, always had fond memories of
his days on the Lawrence campus.
It was where he got his degree in mechanical engineering, which led to a comfortable life
on the East Coast and in the Southwest. So it seemed right that once the Gibsons' two
children were grown that the retired couple should make their way from Houston, where
they last lived, back to Lawrence.
Retirees who have no past connections to university towns are joining the tide.
The Gibsons have a lot of company in Lawrence, where they belong to the New
Generation Society, a group of about 250 older residents, many of whom moved to the
city after retiring. The group holds weekly events that include touring the KU campus,
enjoying music and theatrical performances, sitting in on lectures, and participating in
panel discussions with faculty and students.
The Columbia Chamber of Commerce noticed an influx of retirees as early as 1992, and
at the time came up with a marketing campaign to promote the city as a good place to
retire.
Columbia's goal was to attract 2,000 retirees by 2000. "We ended up with more than
2,600," said Don Laid, chamber president.
John Dean, 68, retired a little more than two years ago as president of a Pennsylvania
company that manufactures air compressors. For years, Dean and his wife had visited
Columbia to see their children - alumni who had moved there. But having children in
Columbia was not the main reason the Deans retired there.
"One lesson I have learned is that retirees should not chase their children, because the
children will move ," Dean said. "We would live here even without the children. I think
retirees find that college towns are just nice places to live."
Demographic studies indicate that the trend has accelerated in the last five to seven
years.
For example, since 1999 the population of Columbia age 50 and older has increased
68.2 percent. In Lawrence, that same population has increased 61.5 percent, according
to the latest census.
Making a contribution
Proximity to good health services is often a priority for retirees, and living near campuses
usually means access to good hospitals and doctors.
But Pastalan said that for the most part, the retirees who move to college towns have
maintained a young spirit and have good health.
"When time came to retire, I was thinking recharge," said Bill Lathrop, 74, who retired in
1991 from his orthodontic practice in Hays, Kan., and seven years ago moved 225 miles
east with his wife, Bonnie, to Lawrence.
"Our health is fantastic," Lathrop said. "I was looking for a stimulating experience."
Unlike her husband, who was ready to relocate, Bonnie Lathrop, 71, said she leaned
more toward staying in Hays, where they had some connection. Neither was a KU alum.
But after they visited friends in Lawrence several times, they rented a town home there
and stayed a few times a year.
"We had no intention of moving to Lawrence," said Bonnie Lathrop. But they met many
other retirees and were drawn in by the New Generation Society activities.
They built a home in a Lawrence subdivision. "The first day we looked out and saw the
young children skipping to the school bus, we knew we were in the right place," Bill
Lathrop said.
While retirees such as the Lathrops gain life-renewing opportunities near college
campuses, Pastalan said these retirees also contribute to the university and the
community.
Members of New Generation each year donate thousands of dollars to a community
child-care facility for low-income families. Others volunteer regularly at KU's Hall Center
for the Humanities.
Managers of endowments for MU and KU said that while they could not identify specific
donations, they know that many retirees living in Columbia and Lawrence are regular
financial contributors.
"For the alumni there is a loyalty," Pastalan said. "There is time for them to give back to
the university."
Many universities encourage returning retirees to join in the education process and offer
noncredit classes for free or at a reduced rate. Other universities, such as Iowa State
University in Ames, for example, have a senior college where retired faculty teach
courses to retirees.
David S. Schless, president of the Washington-based American Seniors Housing
Association, does not see an end to the trend.
"It is something we will continue to see for the foreseeable future," he said, "because it
works well for universities and the retirees who have moved back to campus."
CNNMoney.com's 2005 report listed the best college towns in the United States in which
to retire. The report looked at lesser-known college towns and considered affordable
housing, recreation, cultural options, pollution, crime and access to health care. The
report also listed the best cities in each state in which to retire. The college towns judged
to be the five best were:
Athens, Ga.: University of Georgia
Brunswick, Maine: Bowdoin College
Iowa City, Iowa: University of Iowa
Las Cruces, N.M.: New Mexico State University
Ashland, Ore.: Southern Oregon University
For more information, go to money.cnn.com/best/bpretire.
To reach Mará Rose
mdwilliams@kcstar.com .
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