Atlanta a Great Place to Retire

The Atlanta Regional Commission has a Division on Aging that serves as Atlanta’s Area Agency on Aging (AAA). No matter where you live in the 50 states, you should be covered by a AAA that is responsible for implementing the services mandated by the Older Americans Act. We are fortunate that Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) has a fantastic staff that is constantly reaching out to work with local nonprofit organizations like SCS to serve the needs of seniors better.

ARC completed a fascinating study of older adults in 2006 to supplement basic US Census information that is only collected every ten years. A few of the key findings include:

• A majority of older adults think the Atlanta region is a good place to retire (67%).
• Most older adults have been aging in place —living in the region an average of 37 years — and most hope to continue aging in place; 64% state that they would remain in their current home as long as they can.
• Even if they do move from their existing home, 52% plan to move to another home in the Atlanta region.
(Source: http://www.atlantaregional.com/documents/ag_aging_survey_5_1_08.pdf)

These key findings spotlight the challenging future of aging service organizations like Senior Citizen Services: more seniors are enjoying Atlanta for retirement; more seniors plan to age in place; more seniors plan to remain homeowners.

-- by Jeffrey Smythe, Executive Director