Why so many elderly in small towns?

[paiste13]

After a zoning issue was put to rest due to the hardship it would cause on "those with fixed income" I began to wonder... how did it come to be that most of our small towns are populated with elderly people? It may seem obvious on the surface but let's dig a bit deeper.

We hear some statements frequently; young people want to move to a large city, educated people want to move to a big city for jobs, but people come back to small towns to raise a family, etc. When people have children and move back to a small town we assume they are in their 20/30s. Where are these new residents working if their jobs are all located in larger cities? Is there an increase in educated-jobs in small towns? If that's the case, why don't' they move away once the kids are grown and they are retired?

[Blide]

We hear some statements frequently; young people want to move to a large city, educated people want to move to a big city for jobs, but people come back to small towns to raise a family, etc.

These days this means either the suburbs or a long commute. Most small towns that are off the beaten path are slowly dying because there are no opportunities for younger people. When the only job opportunities are in government, retail, or what's left of the local industry, there's little reason for them to stay or come back.

[otterpop]

The elderly remain in small towns because their friends and family are there or nearby. Their homes are places of security and memories. Their spouse may be buried nearby. The elderly are less prone to want to change the staus quo. Small towns are often cheaper to live in.

I think mostly though, many of the elderly do not have the resources (income and mobility) to move elsewhere. We may like to think that the retired are living a carefree life of grandkids, cruises and well-deserved recreation. But the plain truth is for far too many of the elderly it is a life of loneliness, deprivation, poverty, poor health care and worry.

After a zoning issue was put to rest due to the hardship it would cause on "those with fixed income" I began to wonder... how did it come to be that most of our small towns are populated with elderly people? It may seem obvious on the surface but let's dig a bit deeper.

We hear some statements frequently; young people want to move to a large city, educated people want to move to a big city for jobs, but people come back to small towns to raise a family, etc. When people have children and move back to a small town we assume they are in their 20/30s. Where are these new residents working if their jobs are all located in larger cities? Is there an increase in educated-jobs in small towns? If that's the case, why don't' they move away once the kids are grown and they are retired?

[Cardinal]

...but people come back to small towns to raise a family, etc. When people have children and move back to a small town we assume they are in their 20/30s. Where are these new residents working if their jobs are all located in larger cities? Is there an increase in educated-jobs in small towns?...

The claim that people "come home" at the point they start to raise a family is largely a myth that is supported by anecdote rather than data. It stems from some survey research asking questions like "Would you return if there were employment opportunities...", and the answer gets translated as "people want to move back". We have also done survey work on those who moved back, and find the majority are not thrilled with the experience. Most do not find the job opportunities they wanted, and returned to take care of an elderly parent. The sentiment might be expressed as "As soon as mom is planted in the ground I am out of here".

[wahday]

I agree. There is little evidence to support the notion that young families are moving back to the small town they grew up in. Exurbs or suburbs are one thing and there are trends supporting the idea that many people who grew up in suburban settings seek to provide that same experience for their children. But a small town not dependent on a metro center is a different animal.

I think obstacles to retention of the young in these places are both jobs and competing with the economies, excitement and cosmopolitan nature of more urban areas. I know for me, after I went to college, it was hard to see myself moving back to my town (which is a suburb of Philly but still its own town). It seemed boring and small-minded.

[stroskey]

I have done the opposite of most - I went from a city of 3 million to a college town of 500,000 to my current town of under 50,000. There are a lot of older people here but I think that has to do with the employers they worked for leaving in the recent past so they are all settled here. Young people move out because the employers left.

[Linda_D]

Also, some people return to their hometowns when they retire. I have some friends who just did that, and I'm thinking of doing that myself when I retire.

I think that small towns/rural areas have always been sending significant numbers of their young people off to "the big city", but in the past, there were always some economic opportunities for those younger people who wanted to stay or those who wanted to return. Most of those opportunities have evaporated, however.

I think small cities and large small towns (20,000-50,000 residents) are still economic viable. Some smaller towns may also be viable, depending upon economic opportunities. My home town (about 2000 people) has two large state prisons plus a small hospital and remnant of state jobs from the old state facility for the mentally retarded that provide a modest economic base for the area and stabilize the economy.

[anthrus]

I wonder to what extent this trend has halted or is reversing, if only because of the recent recession. I was born and currently live in an area that hemorrhages young people to the coasts. I myself moved to a large, east coast metro. I moved back because I perceived that my little rust belt town in Upstate NY weathered this recession much better than other places, and that I had more opportunity here. It's not the most stimulating job on the planet, but it gives me a paycheck that goes much farther than in most larger cities, and it's certainly easier to find work here than say, New York City. While I'm here, the city has had time to sell me on its quality of life, which we have in abundance. There are even a couple of hipster neighborhoods some refer to as "starter Brooklyn," oddly enough.

I'd probably move as soon as things settle down out there, or I had another good reason. But I know others have made similar moves to my own, and mobility among Americans is at a record low. Is America experimenting with a new pastoralism?

[Blide]

I wonder to what extent this trend has halted or is reversing, if only because of the recent recession.

I think it really depends on the location. A lot of rural towns I just don't see ever coming back since they're so far out of the way. Rustbelt towns may be hurting but they still have a lot going for them unlike many single industry rural towns. Being an hour plus away from any major transportation corridor is just not conducive to getting economic development unless you're lucky enough to have some tourist draw or natural resources.

[Linda_D]

I wonder to what extent this trend has halted or is reversing, if only because of the recent recession. I was born and currently live in an area that hemorrhages young people to the coasts. I myself moved to a large, east coast metro. I moved back because I perceived that my little rust belt town in Upstate NY weathered this recession much better than other places, and that I had more opportunity here. It's not the most stimulating job on the planet, but it gives me a paycheck that goes much farther than in most larger cities, and it's certainly easier to find work here than say, New York City. While I'm here, the city has had time to sell me on its quality of life, which we have in abundance. There are even a couple of hipster neighborhoods some refer to as "starter Brooklyn," oddly enough.

I'd probably move as soon as things settle down out there, or I had another good reason. But I know others have made similar moves to my own, and mobility among Americans is at a record low. Is America experimenting with a new pastoralism?

I have seen this phenomenon as well. In fact, my employer, the local community college has benefited from several people just like you who have returned from the NYC metro because, yeah, we have some jobs in Chautauqua County. They're NOT glamorous, and they don't pay like jobs in the big metros, but life style and the cost of living (ie, housing) make it so you can live here pretty comfortably on a modest income.

I think it really depends on the location. A lot of rural towns I just don't see ever coming back since they're so far out of the way. Rustbelt towns may be hurting but they still have a lot going for them unlike many single industry rural towns. Being an hour plus away from any major transportation corridor is just not conducive to getting economic development unless you're lucky enough to have some tourist draw or natural resources.

This is very true. Upstate NY still has a decent population base to support economic activity. The distances between major population centers are smaller than elsewhere, too. Upstate has a string of small and medium sized cities stretched out along the I-90 and the I-86 corridors that provide some economic vitality. Also, the state population is large enough that it can support an entire system of 2 year and 4 year state colleges and public community colleges that are frequently located in small towns and cities and boost economies. That's in addition to private colleges/universities located in rural/small metros. Examples: Fredonia, Geneseo, Oneonta, Alfred, Brockport, Oswego, Potsdam, Ithaca, Binghamton.

In many parts of the US, the economy is based on agriculture where the trend to larger and larger farm units means fewer and fewer people to support businesses in small towns. Additionally, low commodity prices over the last decade plus have taken a toll on rural populations, too. As farmers quit because of low prices, some rural areas are experiencing the kind of depopulation that hasn't been seen since the era of the Great Depression.

[canglong2007]

In China we also face same condition that elders stay in small towns or villages and foster their grandchildren and the matures move out to those big citys to find jobs, you know, we China still not built adequate welfare for everyone yet, for instance, every chinese citizen has an unique registry not like id called"Hukou", it can decide your initial class as an urban citizen or a rural citizen. In china, most rural people can not get the same pension as urban people, and usually have not enough education oppotunities. So now, you see that the farmers who still plow are most elders, the young generation are not like assiduous as their parents, and we have been losing cultivation adepts, and the farmers have to resort to as much as fertilizers, all the taking severe ecology pollution.

[Linda_D]

In China we also face same condition that elders stay in small towns or villages and foster their grandchildren and the matures move out to those big citys to find jobs, you know, we China still not built adequate welfare for everyone yet, for instance, every chinese citizen has an unique registry not like id called"Hukou", it can decide your initial class as an urban citizen or a rural citizen. In china, most rural people can not get the same pension as urban people, and usually have not enough education oppotunities. So now, you see that the farmers who still plow are most elders, the young generation are not like assiduous as their parents, and we have been losing cultivation adepts, and the farmers have to resort to as much as fertilizers, all the taking severe ecology pollution.

Welcome to Cyburbia!

Farming has always been backbreaking work for long hours with little reward and always at the mercy of weather, which is why people in all parts of the world have been escaping to towns and cities for several millennia, and still doing that when they can.

[Cismontane]

If you actually do the numbers, from now until 2050, it looks like something like another 25 million people will leave rural areas and move to the cities in the US, forming as many as 10 million new households in urban areas... as the urbanization rate is projected to increase from 81 to 89%. Assuming it is mostly the young who move, it doesn't seem like there will be much of anyone left but the old by the time the migration process is over and the next generation of those who are no younger ages out.