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PAM Articles 
Retiree-Attraction Policies: Challenges for Local Governance in Rural Regions
B. DOUGLAS SKELLEY
PAM, Vol. 9 No. 3,
(2004)
Retiree-attraction policies are particularly promising economic development
strategies for many nonmetropolitan and exurban communities, yet scant attention has
been given to the implications of such policies for local governance. Although these
policies can bring dollars with a high multiplier effect to communities while imposing low
demands on some public services, they are not without costs. After exploring the positive
and negative aspects of retiree-attraction policies, this article poses questions such
policies should raise for locally elected officials, public administrators, and other
stakeholders concerning the sustainability of such policies and their community’s
readiness to undertake this kind of economic development.
