A Typology of Retirement Places: a Community Analysis

Abstract

The paper delineates types of retirement communities by the features which attract retirees, the types of retirees attracted, the promotional campaigns used, the economic considerations involved and the potential problems faced by each type of community. Communities wishing to assess their potential to attract retirees may use this typology to assess what they offer and the types of retirees they are likely to attract. Five types of retirement communities are delineated: resource amenity, planned, continuing care, old home town and regional center. While existing literature concentrates on counties, this typology is also useful at the sub-county level. Perhaps because the literature concentrates on counties, several of the community types presented have not been discussed explicitly in the literature.