Thousands of wealthy retirees are leaving Florida behind and choosing to spend their golden years in Appalachia – but not everyone is happy about it.
With its warm weather and low tax burden, the sunny state has long been known as the retirement capital of the US.
Yet Southern Appalachia, known for its stunningly beautiful views, is increasingly giving Florida a run for its money. Wall Street Journal reported.
The population in southern Appalachia counties designated as retirement or recreation areas grew 3.8 percent between April 2020 and July 2022 — more than six times the national average, according to Hamilton Lombard, a demographer at the University of Virginia .
But while older populations are attracted by cheaper living and housing costs, lower crime levels and pleasant weather with fewer hurricanes, some locals are furious about the impact this influx is having on property prices, traffic and even restaurant bookings – with one resident saying: ‘ they should go back to where they came from’.
Southern Appalachia is becoming a thriving retirement community due to an aging and affluent population, but some local services are struggling to keep up
Helen (right), born and raised in Dawson, isn’t happy about the influx of transplants moving to her rural neighborhood
Pictured: A map of Southern Appalachia in relation to the rest of the United States
Ed Helms, 75, and his wife moved from Panama City Beach, Florida to a gated community, half in Dawson and the other half in a neighboring county, to escape natural disasters, traffic congestion and the rising cost of living.
“Our property insurance went through the roof,” Helms, who worked in mergers and acquisitions, told the Wall Street Journal.
‘We were tired of not being able to find a place to sit in restaurants. Everything became beyond reason. We wouldn’t go back for anything.’
People like the Helms are often called “halfbacks” — a nickname for those who originally came from the Northeast and Midwest and moved to Florida before eventually settling somewhere in the middle.
This trend started in the early 2000s and then slowed during the recession, but has now picked up steam again in earnest.
Gayle Manchin, co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission and wife of Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, told WSJ she believes the pandemic has fueled retirees’ interest in returning to more isolated, nature-filled areas.
Since then, an average of 328,000 people from other regions of the country have moved to the five-state region of Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, according to Lombard of the University of Virginia, who has followed the pattern. 2020.
Georgia’s Dawson County has proven particularly popular, with a 12.5 percent population increase from 2020 to 2022, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
But this huge influx has put enormous pressure on local services, leaving some lifelong residents like Helen Anderson unimpressed.
Anderson was born and raised in Dawsonville, Georgia, where her family made ends meet by raising chickens and selling moonshine from the foothills of Atlanta’s Blue Ridge Mountains.
“They need to go back to where they came from,” she told the Wall Street Journal when speaking about the newcomers.
Manchin told the WSJ that demand for affordable housing has skyrocketed because more workers are needed to serve the influx of halfbacks.
The migration of these wealthy retirees has decimated governments as they try to expand health care, housing and other services to their citizens, she added.
But Billy Thurmond, chairman of the Dawson County Board of Commissions, noted that some of the people stopping him to complain about the traffic and development are ironically the same people who have moved to the county in recent years.
“People who moved here now want us to put up a fence and prevent anyone else from coming here,” he told WSJ. ‘That’s not how it works.’
County Manager Joey Leverette said medical calls to senior care facilities in the county also take up resources. For that reason, provincial officials are considering splitting up staff and dedicating some of them to emergency calls only, freeing up crews to respond to fire calls.
“It’s a game changer,” Leverette told WSJ. “If we don’t get the funding, we’ll just have to keep plodding along as best we can.”
Since 2020, an average of 328,000 individuals from other regions of the country have moved annually to the five-state region of Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee
The population in Southern Appalachia counties designated as retirement or recreational areas grew 3.8% between April 2020 and July 2022 – more than six times the national average
Demand for affordable housing has skyrocketed due to the influx of new workers serving the retiring halfbacks
County Manager Joey Leverette said medical calls to senior care facilities in the county are taking up resources
Retirees are leaving Florida in droves due to the increased cost of living, natural disasters and traffic congestion
Southern Appalachia is known for its rural and serene nature
The U.S. Census Bureau has predicted further development for the county, according to a piece the weekly Dawson County News recently shared on Facebook.
One person commented, “All life in the South and the South is being destroyed.”
Linda Bennett, 81, has lived in Dawson County. Now a widow, she lives in a house just off Georgia Route 400. She loved being in the country, but she worries that with so many newcomers, North Georgia will never be the same.
“It’s grown so much; it’s just surreal,” she told WSJ. ‘With all the houses and apartments they are building, things are not getting better. How could that be?’
After her husband died, Delaware native Karen Rickards, 73, moved from Tallahassee, Florida to Dawson, Georgia.
A halfback herself, she wonders how much more growth Dawson County can handle.
“They’re building house after house after house,” she told WSJ. “Atlanta is definitely coming here.”