Baby Boomers Invading Tampa

As baby boomers make the transition into retired life, they are forgoing gated retirement communities and looking for more urban
surroundings, giving Tampa a boom of its own.
With three million senior citizens out of a population of 18.7 million, Florida has earned its Gods waiting room nickname. In Tampa,
however, it seems the next generation of retirees is less shuffleboard and more skateboard.
Baby boomers were born between 1946 and 1964 and according to the U.S. Census; the largest-growing age group in the City of
Tampa is between 50 and 64 years of age. In 2000, the 50-64 set totaled 41,103 people and jumped to 57,427 in 2010, for an increase of 39.7
percent.
In contrast, the 75-84 age group had the largest decline over the same span of time, dropping from 13,832 to 12,313, for an 11 percent
decrease.
Jennifer Doerfel, executive vice president of the Tampa Bay Builders Association, believes baby boomers are the future of the Tampa
housing market and will be for some time.
I recently attended a conference where the topic of discussion was the Tampa Bay real estate market and who might be our future
residents, Doerfel said. During that discussion I learned that Tampa Bay is second only to Tennessee for most appealing location for baby
boomer retirees over the next 25 years.
Doerfel feels this group is more active than its senior predecessors and will shed its cars and suburban lifestyles for walkable shopping
districts and urban centers. She speculated, My sense is that our weather, proximity to airports and medical facilities play a major role. Our
attraction is easy to see we have the weather, we have the entertainment. Now we just need to ensure that we have the infrastructure and
housing to accommodate these future residents.
In her book, The End of the Suburbs: Where the American Dream is Moving, author Leigh Gallagher echoes Doerfels sentiments. She
writes, This has all been happening for years, but its now being backed up by data. The rate of suburban population growth has outpaced that
of urban centers in every decade since the invention of the automobile, but in 2011, for the first time in a hundred years, that trend reversed.
Construction permit data shows that in several cities, building activity that was once concentrated in the suburban fringe has now shifted
primarily to cities, or what planners call the urban core. At the same time, demand for the large, single-family homes that characterize the
suburbs is dwindling, and big suburban home builders like Toll Brothers are saying their best markets are now cities.
Also worth considering in this migration is the already massive Hispanic population in Florida, specifically the I-4 corridor.
In a report released by Rumbo Cultural Marketing and Branding for Estrella TV, the I-4 corridor is already one of the top ten
Hispanic Markets in the United States. With Florida being the third-largest Hispanic population in the US, ahead of New York and New
Jersey, Hispanic baby boomers looking to relocate feel comfortable knowing there is already a large Hispanic presence with an
accommodating infrastructure.
The report adds that the I-4 corridor is the No. 8 Hispanic media market home to nearly 1.5 million Hispanics, which is almost
the entire Hispanic population of New Jersey.
Cost of living, however, might be the simplest answer to why there is an exodus to Florida.
Between 2000 and 2010, Floridas population grew by 17.6 percent. Other states have seen similar growth, such as Texas (21 percent),
Tennessee (12 percent) and tipping the scales is Nevada (35 percent). These states, along with six others, have no state income tax.
High-tax states, such as New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, each have dwindling population increases of five percent or less.
With no state income tax and an overall tax burden that is third-lowest in the nation, baby boomers essentially receive a raise once
they cross the Florida border.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Florida ranks No. 25 in average income of all U.S. states and territories. States such as No. 4
New York and No. 6 New Jersey certainly pay more but according to CNBC, are the No. 4 and No. 5 respectively when it comes to cost of living,
where Florida comes in at No. 28.
In a city such as Tampa, as per the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER), the cost of living justifies the boomer
invasion.
C2ER reports that the cost of living in Tampa is seven percent lower than the national average, where Miami is seven percent higher
than the national average. Costs such as groceries, housing, utilities and even health care are below the national average and lower than Miami
across the board.
Beyond money, there are quality-of-life issues to consider.
Over the past decade, Tampa has seen its skyline grow not with office buildings, but with condo towers. SkyPoint, Element and both
Towers of Channelside are all 30-plus stories and the only high rises built in Tampas downtown since 2007. Surrounding these monoliths are
parks, museums, restaurants, shops and the Tampa Bay Times Forum. Within walking distance of anywhere in downtown is a trolley that rolls
right into Tampas Latin quarter, Ybor City, for a night of dancing and people watching.
Being able to walk and having access to public transportation are keys to drawing the boomers.
In an interview with Governing magazine, Naomi Klein, director of planning in Westchester (N.Y.) Countys public works and
transportation department, says boomers and seniors have transportation on their minds. We find that their No. 1 concern about getting older
is transportation. They dont want to lose their independence. Theres real concern about having to give up driving, Klein said.
Transportation also becomes an issue when it comes to doctors visits. Should a boomer decide to give up his or her car, there is still
reliable public transportation to world-class medical facilities such as Moffitt Cancer Center and Tampa General Hospital and virtually every
corner of Tampa.
With a lower tax burden, pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods and great weather year round, Tampa has a lot to offer invading baby
boomers over suburban life, but as Gallagher pointed out in her book, the move could be more of a revolt against the suburbs than anything.
The more I researched, the more I discovered that the most dramatic shift involved where and how we choose to live the housing
crisis only concealed something deeper and more profound happening to what we have come to know as American suburbia. Simply speaking,
more and more Americans dont want to live there anymore.