Thousands of wealthy retirees are leaving Florida and choosing to spend their golden years in Appalachia instead — but not everyone is happy about it.
With its warm weather and low tax burden, the Sunshine State has long been known as America’s retirement capital.
Yet southern Appalachia, known for its stunningly beautiful vistas, is increasingly giving Florida a run for its money, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The population of 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 reservations – with one resident saying “they had to go back to where they came from’.
Southern Appalachia is becoming a booming 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, is not happy with the influx of transplants moving to her rural area
Pictured: A map of southern Appalachia relative to the rest of the United States
Ed Helms, 75, and his wife moved from Panama City Beach, Florida to a gated community, half of it in Dawson and half in a neighboring county, to escape natural disasters, congestion and the rising cost of living.
“Our property insurance was skyrocketing,” Helms, who worked in mergers and acquisitions, told the Wall Street Journal.
‘We got tired of not being able to find a place to sit in restaurants. Everything was getting out of hand. We wouldn’t go back for anything.’
People like Helms are often referred to as ‘halfbacks’ – a nickname for those originally from the Northeast and Midwest who moved to Florida before eventually settling somewhere in the middle.
The trend back in the early 2000s and then slowed during the recession – but has now really picked up again.
Gayle Manchin, co-chair of The Appalachian Regional Commission and wife of Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, told the WSJ that she believes the pandemic has fueled retirees’ interest in moving back to more isolated, nature-filled areas.
According to Lombard of the University of Virginia, who has tracked the pattern, 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 annually since 2020.
Georgia’s Dawson County has proven particularly popular, reporting population growth of 12.5 percent from 2020 to 2022, according to US Census Bureau estimates.
But this huge influx has put enormous pressure on local services and left some lifelong residents like Helen Anderson unimpressed.
Born and raised in Dawsonville, Georgia, Anderson’s family makes ends meet by raising chickens and selling moonshine from the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Atlanta.
“They should go back to where they came from,” she told the Wall Street Journal when discussing the newcomers.
Manchin told the WSJ that demand for affordable housing has skyrocketed as more workers are needed to service the influx of halfbacks.
The migration of these wealthy retirees has spread governments thin as they try to expand health care, housing and other services to its citizens, she added.
But Dawson County Board of Commissions Chairman Billy Thurmond noted that some of the people who stop him to complain about traffic and development are, ironically, the same people who moved to the county in recent years.
“People who have moved here now want us to put up a gate and prevent others from moving here,” he told the WSJ. ‘It doesn’t work that way.’
County Manager Joey Leverette said medical calls to senior care facilities in the county also take up resources. For that reason, county officials are considering splitting staff to dedicate some to emergency calls only, freeing up teams to respond to fire calls.
“It’s a game changer,” Leverette told the WSJ. ‘If we don’t get the funds, we’ll just have to keep scrambling as best we can.’
An average of 328,000 individuals from other regions of the country have moved to the five-state region of Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee annually since 2020
The population of southern Appalachia counties designated as retirement or recreation areas grew 3.8% — more than six times the national average — from April 2020 to July 2022
Demand for affordable housing has skyrocketed for the influx of new workers serving the halfbacks moving in
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 rising costs of living, natural disasters and congestion
Southern Appalachia has been known for its rural and peaceful nature
The US 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 of the South and Southern life is being destroyed.’
Linda Bennett, 81, has lived in Dawson County. Now a widow, she lives in a home near Georgia Route 400. She loved being in the country, but she worries that North Georgia will never be the same with so many newcomers.
‘It has grown so much; it’s just unreal,’ she told the WSJ. “With all the houses and apartments they are building, it won’t get any better. How could it?’
After her husband’s death, Karen Rickards of Delaware, 73, moved from Tallahassee, Florida to Dawson, Georgia.
Even as a halfback, she wonders how much more growth Dawson County can handle.
“They’re building house after house after house,” she told the WSJ. “Atlanta is moving up here, without a doubt.”