Retirement on the Horizon?
Top Small Towns in the South

Millions of aging boomers and retirees are considering how to spend their “second half” and how and where they will spend their second careers or retirement.

Small towns are increasingly an attractive option for relocating empty-nesters, boomers and retirees. In small towns, you can put down roots and take part in community life as a volunteer, an entrepreneur or even a civic leader. Small town living generally has
a number of advantages, including less traffic, lower taxes, more affordable housing and a variety of recreational opportunities. If the town is within an easy drive to an urban area, you’ll surely have quick access to good medical care, great restaurants, shopping,
cultural and educational venues, interstate highways and an international airport.

While traveling around the region served by Retirement Lifestyles™, our staff members have been looking for small towns offering an excellent quality of life for active retirees. Our search has turned up some real gems – small towns where your retirement dreams can really come true.

Here are our top picks for 2008:

MUSCLE SHOALS, ALABAMA

Location – On the Tennessee River in Colbert County of Northwest Alabama near sister Quad cities Florence, Tuscumbia and Sheffield.

Area: 12.1 square miles.

Average Temperatures – 32 degrees F in January, 78 degrees F in July and August.

Population – 12,703 (2006 estimate).

Claim to Fame – A “world music capital” and home of FAME Studios and Muscle Shoals Sound Studios.

Median Home Value -- $88,700 (2005 estimate).

Medical Care – Helen Keller Memorial Hospital and Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital.

Colleges & Universities – University of North Alabama, Northwest-Shoals Community College and Heritage Christian University.

Airport – Northwest Alabama Regional Airport.
Area Attractions – Alabama Music Hall of Fame, Helen Keller’s Birthplace, W.C. Handy Home and Museum, Tennessee Valley Art Center, Kennedy-Douglas Center for the Arts, The Ritz Theatre and Natchez Trace Parkway.

Recreational Options – Fishing, camping, picnicking, swimming, water-skiing and golf.

Top Annual Event – W. C. Handy Music Festival.

Famous Residents – Country singers George Strait, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.

Contacts – Shoals Chamber of Commerce,
PO Box 1331, Florence, AL 35631-1331, 256-764-4661, www.shoalschamber.com; Colbert County Tourism & Convention Bureau, PO Box 740325, Tuscumbia, AL 35674, 800-344-0783, 252-383-0783,
www.colbertcountytourism.org.

Did You Know? Rod Stewart, Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Carrie Underwood and many other musicians have recorded songs in Muscle Shoals

ROGERS, ARKANSAS

Location – Benton County in Ozark Mountains of Northwest Arkansas.

Area - 33.58 square miles.

Average Temperatures – 32 degrees F in January, 78 degrees F in July.

Population – 52,181 (2006 estimate).

Claim to Fame - Home of the first Wal-Mart.

Median home value - $135,500 (2005 estimate).

Medical Care – St. Mary’s Hospital/Mercy Health Center and Northwest Medical Center/Northwest Health System.

Colleges & Universities – The University of Arkansas, John Brown University, Northwest Arkansas Community College and Northwest Technical Institute.

Airport – Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport.

Area Attractions – Rogers Historical Museum,
Beaver Lake and Hobbs State Park.

Recreational Options – Boating, fishing, waterskiing, scuba diving, swimming, camping, picnicking, hiking and horseback riding.

Top Annual Event – Frisco Festival celebrating area’s railroad heritage.

Famous Resident -- Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton lived in nearby Bentonville.
Contact – Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce, 317 West Walnut Street, Rogers, AR 72756, 479-636-1240, www.rogerslowell.com.

Did You Know? Humorist Will Rogers married Betty Blake in Rogers in 1908.

AMELIA ISLAND, FLORIDA

Location – On the Atlantic Ocean in Nassau County of Northeast Florida, 30 miles north of Jacksonville, near the Georgia border.

Area – 615.6 square miles.

Average Temperatures – 52 degrees F in January, 81 degrees F in July.

Population – 65,850 in Nassau County; 11,361 in Fernandina Beach (county seat).

Claim to Fame – A premier vacation spot since Victorian times, offering a plethora of recreational pastimes.

Median Home Value -- $146,400 (2005 estimate).

Medical Care – Baptist Medical Center – Nassau; Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville.

Colleges & Universities – Florida Community
College and University of North Florida in Jacksonville.

Airport – Jacksonville International Airport.
Area Attractions – Historic Fernandina Beach, Amelia
Lighthouse, Fort Clinch State Park, B.E.A.K.S (Bird Emergency Aid and Kare Sanctuary), Florida House (state’s oldest hotel), and sea turtle nesting grounds (May-October).

Recreational Options – Fishing, boating, kayaking/ canoeing, bicycling, Segway touring, camping, horseback riding, bird watching, tennis and golf.

Top Annual Event – Amelia Island Concours
d’Elegance.

Famous Resident –U.S. Senator David Yulee
(1810-1886).

Contacts – Amelia Island Chamber of Commerce, 961687 Gateway Blvd., Suite 101G, Amelia Island, FL 32034, 904-261-3348, www.aifby.com; Greater Nassau
County Chamber of Commerce, PO Box 86, Callahan, FL 32011, 904-879-1441, www.greaternassaucounty.com

Did You Know? Eight national flags have flown over Amelia Island – France, Spain, Great Britain, Patriots of Amelia Island, Green Cross of Florida, Mexico, Confederate States of America and United States.

 BRUNSWICK, GEORGIA

Location – Seat of Glynn County, on the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean, midway between Savannah and Jacksonville.

Area – 25.2 square miles.

Average Temperatures – 41 degrees F in January, 72 degrees F in July and August.
Population – 16,074 (2006 estimate).

Claim to Fame – Fishing and shrimping hub.
Median Home Value -- $80,800 (2005 estimate).

Medical Care – Southeast Georgia Health System.

College – Coastal Georgia Community College.
Airports – Brunswick Golden Isles Airport; Jacksonville International Airport and Savannah/Hilton Head International
Airport.

Area Attractions – Sidney Lanier Bridge, Historic Downtown Brunswick, Howfyl Plantation State Historic Site, Overlook Park & Lanier Oak, Jekyll Island State Park,
Cumberland Island National Seashore, St. Simons Island and Little St. Simons Island.

Recreational Options – Fishing, boating, camping, picnicking, hiking, horseback riding, birding, tennis and golf.

Top Annual Events – MayFair and Brunswick
StreetFair.

Famous Residents – Poet Sidney Lanier, who wrote “The Marshes of Glynn,” and Eugenia Price, author of the St. Simons Trilogy, who had a home on nearby St. Simons Island.

Contacts – The Brunswick-Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce and Golden Isles Convention & Visitors Bureau, 4 Glynn Avenue, Brunswick, GA 31500, 912-265-0620,
www.brunswick-georgia.com; www.bgivb.com

Did You Know? The first Brunswick stew was cooked on St. Simons Island on July 2, 1898.

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