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I read somewhere that most retirement communities are not ethnically diverse. In fact most people who move into a retirement community are White. I visit relatives in retirement communities in Arizona and Florida and are shocked to see mostly white people in States where a good percentage of people are minority.
I wonder if many retirees have decided that they want to move to a community closer to what they experienced in the the 1940s, 50s and 60s before America changed demographically. Is that why so many retirement communities are white dominated?
I read somewhere that most retirement communities are not ethnically diverse. In fact most people who move into a retirement community are White. I visit relatives in retirement communities in Arizona and Florida and are shocked to see mostly white people in States where a good percentage of people are minority.
Could it be that black, mexican, asian people have more sense of community? Or perhaps they see the value in multi-generational families.
Both these are things which were 'normal' 30-50 years ago. Something this 'most selfish generation' now retiring seems to have lost touch with.
I noticed the same thing. When I have explored Florda in the past several years now, every place I visit is overwhelmingly white, I am white also, but I like some diversity and more than just skin color also. I am finding I am leaning more and more towards Florida for retirement, but I would not live in that type of community. Portland is a very white metro area and also a very young population,really does not have alot of diversity. I found I need the diversity of people in the population,especially as I get older.
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Location: home...finally, home .
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I think it might be that most retirement communities are rather expensive & not affordable for everyone , as well as the fact that many ( Asian and Hispanic anyway) families already have that sense of community. They do not feel the need to recreate an artifical one.
Then, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and the communites do not attract minorities because they do not have any minorities in them.
I read somewhere that most retirement communities are not ethnically diverse. In fact most people who move into a retirement community are White. I visit relatives in retirement communities in Arizona and Florida and are shocked to see mostly white people in States where a good percentage of people are minority.
I wonder if many retirees have decided that they want to move to a community closer to what they experienced in the the 1940s, 50s and 60s before America changed demographically. Is that why so many retirement communities are white dominated?
Truthfully, I doubt that most of the people moving to these 55 and older communities even realized that they are mostly white. I don't think that has anything to do with why people are moving there. I think that you get to a certain age and the idea of mowing a lawn isn't that appealing, but you aren't ready for a condo yet. And, if you have been busy working and running a business for the last umpteen years and haven't put much energy into developing a social life these places offer access to kids your own age to play with.
There may be certain cultural reasons why this lifestyle appeals more to whites than other ethnicities, but I don't think there is anything discriminatory going on there.
As a Black just retired American I can assure you that retirement communities are working hard to solicit Black buyers. As one person posted it is a matter of equity and income. Many African Americans in the northeast are moving into active 55 near their current communities are relocating to the south. North Carolina is very popular. If they know you have equity to cash out you are popular regardless of race. Look how many retirement brochures have diversity on their golf/tennis court pictures.
Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
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I would only live in a place that reflects the country- about 60% white, 10% black, 12% mexican, 4% Asian, 2% indian and 12% multiracial and whatever else. That is where I live now and that is where I want to live until I die.
I would only live in a place that reflects the country- about 60% white, 10% black, 12% mexican, 4% Asian, 2% indian and 12% multiracial and whatever else. That is where I live now and that is where I want to live until I die.
According to the Bureau of the Census, the United States is 80.1% White, almost identical to the state of Florida which is 80.2% White. You can check the racial population of individual states, counties & cities here:
For what it's worth, most of you know I spent the past year visiting a number of retirement communities. I was apprehensive about visiting places in the south, but I did not encounter any racism whatsoever in the retirement villages (I did have a racial incident with some teenage boys in North Carolina who cut me off while driving near Lake Norman. They were not southerners, however--they had distinctive NJ accents).
I'm pretty good at noticing how salesmen "size me up" and I feel comfortable saying that the only color anyone cared about was how much green I had in my bank account. Now I should also point out that I made a good impression becuase I am a well groomed woman who speaks with a pleasant voice and is clearly well educated. If you come in looking like a thug, you might get a different reaction--no matter what race you are.
Finally, the places I visited had a majority of white residents, but I did not feel I would be the sole non-white person. Perhaps this is more of an issue in the north--in the southern states the population of retirement villages seemed to be about as diverse as the population of the town they were in. I visited places in Arkansas, Tennessee, Florida, both Caorlinas, and Georgia before finally buying a place in Georgia in December.
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