- Retirees are flocking to parts of southern Appalachia as Florida experiences an increase in the cost of living, natural disasters, and congestion
- Local governments are struggling to handle the rapid population growth
Thousands of wealthy retirees are ditching Florida and now 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 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 counties in southern Appalachia designated as retirement or recreational areas grew by 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 cost, 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’.
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 going sky high,’ Helms, who worked in mergers and acquisitions, told the Wall Street Journal.
‘We got tired of being unable to find a place to sit in restaurants. Everything was getting out of reason. We wouldn’t go back for anything.’
People like the 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 picked up again in earnest.
Gayle Manchin, the The Appalachian Regional Commission’s co-chair and wife of Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, told WSJ she believes the pandemic has fueled the retirees’ interest in moving back to more isolated, nature-filled areas.
According to Lombard of the University of Virginia, who has been tracking the pattern, an average of 328,000 individuals from other regions of the country have relocated to the five-state region of Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee annually since 2020.
The Georgia county of Dawson has proven particularly popular, reporting a 12.5 percent population increase from 2020 to 2022, according to estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau.
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, her family making ends meet by farming chicken and selling moonshine from the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Atlanta.
‘They ought to go back where they come 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 serve the influx of halfbacks.
The migration of these wealthy retirees has spread governments thin as they trying to extend healthcare, housing, and other services to its citizens, she added.
But chairman of the Dawson County Board of Commissions Billy Thurmond noted that some of people who stop him to complain about the 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 stop anybody else from moving here,’ he told WSJ. ‘It doesn’t work that way.’
County Manager Joey Leverette said medical calls to eldercare facilities in the county are also taking up resources. For that reason, county officials are considering splitting up staff to dedicate some to just emergency calls, freeing up teams 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.’
The U.S. Census Bureau has projected further development for the county, according to a piece that the weekly Dawson County News recently shared on Facebook.
One person commented: ‘The entire south and southern living is being ruined.’
Linda Bennett, 81, has lived in Dawson County. Now that she is widowed, she resides in a home close to Georgia Route 400. She cherished 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 is just unreal,’ she told WSJ. ‘With all the houses and apartments they’re building, it’s not going to get any better. How could it?’
After her husband died, Delaware native Karen Rickards, 73, moved from Tallahassee, Florida to Dawson, Georgia.
A halfback herself, she is wondering how much more growth Dawson County can handle.
‘They are building house after house after house,’ she told WSJ. ‘Atlanta’s moving up here, no doubt.’
- EXCLUSIVE: Locals are furious with the plans to create a new national park
Residents living in and around a proposed new national park in the heart of Wales have blasted the eco-scheme as a ‘crazy idea’ that will cause planning chaos and drive up house prices.
Welsh Labour in their ‘Programme for Government’ have pledged to create a new national park in north east Wales, based around the current Clwydian Range and Dee Valley area of outstanding natural beauty.
The park would cut through sections of Powys, Flintshire, Wrexham and Denbighshire where residents say there is already a large discrepancy between the value of similar sized housing, with research showing it can be up to £100k.
Last year it was revealed that Powys recorded the biggest spike in house prices in the UK with the average property going up 17.4 per cent in value.
While locals say that creating a new park would see them paralysed by bureaucracy when it came to home improvements and extensions,
On resident told MailOnline: ‘If they turn it into a national park you won’t be able to do anything. It’s a crazy idea – why does it need to be a national park?’
At picturesque Llangollen, next to the river Dee – a town with a popular canal and a gateway to Wales which attracts thousands of tourists properties inside the area of outstanding natural beauty are already £100,000 more expensive than those outside.
Research by property firm Purplebricks revealed that a four-bedroom home within the proposed park site at Froncysyllte in Llangollen costs £500k while a four-bed detached property in nearby Wrexham, but outside of the zone, costs just £399k.
Two three-bedroom homes inside the proposed site. in Ruthin and Corwen, are worth £375k and £339k respectively compared to a bigger four-bed home worth just £275k outside of it.
Resident Pat Convery, 64, told MailOnline the prospect of the park being pushed through fills him with dread.
He explained: ‘You won’t be able to do anything. There’s enough bureaucracy around planning and you have an area of outstanding natural beauty already.
‘If they turn it into a national park you won’t be able to do anything. It’s a crazy idea – why does it need to be a national park?’
Mr Convery said it would become another ‘costly bureaucracy’ established by the Welsh Government which had spent millions of pounds already on the controversial 20mph default speed limit.
He added: ‘They need to run things more like a private business. There are enough people employed by the state already.’
Kevin Burns, 68, an engineer, said the plans were ‘not a good idea’ and would be ‘too restrictive’ in industrial areas of nearby Flintshire. ‘There’s too much bureaucracy already in Wales,’ he added.
John Simon, 70, a property owner and local, said :’I would get rid of the National Assembly. I have got to the age now where all politicians and all parties I have no regard for any of them because they don’t take account of people’s real requirements.
‘I am so fed up of the whole lot of them. It’s just another gravy train for politicians.’
The Welsh government have argued that the new park would be ‘important for the environment’ and help Wales ‘achieve more sustainable tourism’ – but previously warned of painful budget choices for Wales in the devolution era.
In north west Wales, in the Snowdonia national park, there have been some complaints of ‘over-tourism.’
Mountain paths have been eroded by walkers, there have been issues with rubbish and complaints about selfish parking blocking country roads.
House prices have soared in villages popular with families wanting a beauty-spot holiday home. There are fears it could happen in a new national park, within just an hour of Manchester and Liverpool.
But at his town centre food shop Ross Anderson, 52, said a new national park would be ‘a good thing.’
He said :’We are largely a tourist town. It can only be a good thing for the area. There have been a lot of positive things with the area of outstanding natural beauty, it’s pulled a lot of people in.
‘The last twelve months have been the busiest we have ever had.’
Customer Sharon Gunning, 56, visiting family from Spain, said :’It would be a shame if it became too expensive for local people. It’s a beautiful area.’
It is expected that the proposals and boundary of the park will be confirmed this year ahead of possible implementation by 2026, the Powys County Times reported.
Local Plaid Cymru Councillor Elwyn Vaughan has opposed the plan at every turn and warned that should it go through it could cost local people £4m a year and raise house prices by 25 per cent making things ‘even worse’ for young people.
Cllr Vaughan told a Powys County Council meeting last month: ‘The existence of a national park status makes no difference to biodiversity.
‘What it will do is cost about £4 million a year at a time when Powys needs to save £40 million over the next three year.’
He added: ‘Setting up a new authority is not sustainable when we are likely to see other authorities go into the wall.’
Commenting on the Welsh government’s plans, Purplebricks chief sales officer Jonny Magill told MailOnline that any new national park could see some teething problems.
He explained: ‘I can see how the introduction of the proposed Clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Park will lead to an increase in house prices in this area.
‘It could ensure more control to limit new housing developments, due to restrictions in areas of natural beauty- therefore, reducing the amount of homes available in these sought-after postcodes.
‘The associated lifestyle and beauty are certainly at a premium.
‘National parks have notably contributed to a positive effect on house prices, creating an increased demand for properties. This trend is evident even in locations like Nottingham, where I am from.
‘Sherwood Forest, a renowned national park, has become a focal point enhancing the desirability of the surrounding properties. Interestingly, this surge in demand not only impacts traditional home sales but also translates into a higher demand for rental properties, Airbnb’s etc.
‘As Wales continues to enhance its appeal for both residents and visitors, the establishment of this national park seems poised to exert a positive influence on property prices. This optimism persists even in the face of potential increases in council tax for investors.’