An Unlikely Retirement Locale

By Richard Bambrick

Richard.Bambrick@gmail.com

The most recent census taken in America raises an interesting question about some of the 65-and-older set: What is going on in southern Michigan?

The U.S. Census Bureau Census 2000 Summary report lists the 10 U.S. cities with a population of at least 100,000 that have the highest percentage of residents who are 65-years and older. As one would expect, the state of Florida dominates this list with the cities of Clearwater, Cape Coral, Saint Petersburg, Hollywood, Miami and Hialeah. Of the remaining four, one is Scottsdale, Ariz., and another Honolulu, Hawaii. All of these cities boast warm year-round climates that are a comfort to the aging. Why then are the Michigan cities of Warren and Livonia, both suburbs of Detroit, on this list?

It is certainly not the warm climate. During the coldest four months of the year, the average low temperature in this region ranges from 18 degrees to 28 degrees, well below freezing. There are only four months during the year when the mean temperature averages above 60 degrees. The answer must lie in the cities, themselves.

Warren, Mich., with a population of just over 138,000, is Detroit’s largest suburb. The 65-and-over crowd makes up 17.3 percent of that population, at about 24,000. The city prides itself on keeping its citizens at home. In an overview of the city of Warren on Wikipedia’s Answers.com, it is stated that Warren is ranked first in the nation for resident longevity, with the average stay about 36 years. The national average is 8 years. People stay in Warren.

For its part, Livonia, Mich., bills itself as a center of culture and the arts. Livonia’s population is just under 101,000, with a 65-and-older group of 17,000, or 16.9 percent. Answers.com states that Livonia is “the second least economic stressful city in America,” as rated by City American City Business Journals. Moreover, it is safe in Livonia, at least according to the FBI, which ranks it the seventh safest city in America. “Murder,” states Answers.com, “is rare.” That, alone, allows the population to age.

The Census Bureau, in its summary report, attributes this large grouping of senior citizens in Michigan to continuing trends of “migration of the young,” and “aging-in-place.” However, there may be another reason people stay in Warren and Livonia after retirement despite the cold weather. According to Warren’s Answers.com profile, in 1970 the city’s Caucasian population made up 99.5 percent of the overall, making it the “Whitest City in America.” Over the years, that percentage eroded to 91.3 percent by the time of the 2000 census, dropping Warren to the second whitest city in America. Livonia, with Caucasians making up 95.5 percent of the population, now has the title of “Whitest City in America.”

As to the question of what is going on in southern Michigan, is it possible for some senior citizens that the comforts of a warm retirement climate are overridden by the potential challenges of ethnic diversity in the Golden Years?