|
CHICAGO (July 7,
2005) - A new survey conducted for Bankers Life and
Casualty Company reveals Portland, Ore. is the best city
in the United States for senior living with Seattle, San
Francisco, Pittsburgh and Milwaukee rounding out the top
five. A panel of experts on
gerontology and senior issues identified the qualities for
optimal senior living. Major categories were: health,
disease, economics, social, environment, spiritual,
transportation, housing, and crime. Each category was
statistically weighted to reflect the needs of the senior
population.
"We find the survey results contain
some cities we don't often associate with senior living,"
said Bankers' Chief Operating Officer Scott Perry.
"That's because we weren't looking
for the best places to be retired, but the best cities for
seniors regardless of whether they are retired, working,
active or non, healthy or not. It's about more than golf
courses and tennis courts," he said.
Categories for the survey were
suggested by Robert Butler, M.D., President and CEO of the
International Longevity Center, New York; Joan Frankel,
Senior Consultant of Health and Human Services, Metro
Chicago Information Center; and Susan Morisato, formerly
Senior Vice President of Product Management and Chief
Actuary at Bankers. The survey was conducted by veteran
survey administrator Sperling's Best Places and identified
the top 50 metro areas in the U.S.
The categories
The Health category included criteria such as
physician to senior ratio, gerontologist to senior ratio,
hospitals per capita, and availability of adult day care,
assisted living facilities, continuing care (CCRC)
facilities, independent living facilities, nursing homes,
and senior meals.
Housing included cost of
living, median home price, property taxes and monthly
apartment rent.
Transportation included
public transportation, special access transportation, and
commuting times.
Social included the
percentage of seniors, entertainment, the arts, museums,
education, recreation, colleges, and libraries.
Crime included violent crime
and property crime.
Environment included sunny
days, clean air, clean water, natural disaster risk, ocean
coastline, rivers and lakes, and national parks.
Economy included consumer
prices, sales taxes, unemployment rate, and recent job
growth.
Disease included life
expectancy, age 85 expectancy, depression rate, heart
disease, and cancer rates.
Spiritual included percent of
population belonging to organized religions and the number
of religious congregations.
Bottom Five
Cities or metro areas ranking at positions 46-50 were:
Riverside-San Bernardino, Cal., Orange County, Cal.,
Nassau and Suffolk Counties, N.Y., Miami, Fla., and Bergen
and Passaic Counties, N.J. For a complete listing, visit
Bankers online at
www.bankers.com.
About Bankers Life and Casualty
Established in 1879 and
headquartered at the historic Merchandise Mart in downtown
Chicago, Bankers Life and Casualty Company focuses
exclusively on the financial security needs of seniors.
The company offers a broad portfolio of health and life
insurance and retirement savings products designed
especially for seniors. These products are distributed
through a national network of professionally trained
company agents. Visit us online at
www.bankers.com.
| Bankers' Best
Cities for Seniors 2005 |
| 1. |
Portland, Ore. |
|
26. |
Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C. |
| 2. |
Seattle , Wash. |
|
27. |
Austin, Tex. |
| 3. |
San Francisco ,
Cal. |
|
28. |
Columbus, Ohio |
| 4. |
Pittsburgh, Penn |
|
29. |
San Antonio, Tex. |
| 5. |
Milwaukee , Wis. |
|
30. |
Orlando, Fla. |
| 6. |
Philadelphia ,
Penn. |
|
31. |
Tampa-St.
Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. |
| 7. |
New York , N.Y. |
|
32. |
Norfolk-Virginia
Bch-Newport News, Va |
| 8. |
Boston , Mass. |
|
33. |
Newark, N.J. |
| 9. |
Cincinnati , Ohio |
|
34. |
San Diego, Cal. |
| 10. |
Chicago , Ill. |
|
35. |
Phoenix, Az. |
| 11. |
Cleveland , Ohio |
|
36. |
Atlanta, Ga. |
| 12. |
Salt Lake City ,
Utah |
|
37. |
San Jose, Cal. |
| 13. |
Detroit , Mich. |
|
38. |
Fort
Worth-Arlington, Tex. |
| 14. |
New Orleans , La. |
|
39. |
Baltimore, Md. |
| 15. |
Indianapolis ,
Ind. |
|
40. |
Charlotte, N.C. |
| 16. |
Kansas City , Kan. |
|
41. |
Las Vegas, Nev. |
| 17. |
Los Angeles , Cal. |
|
42. |
Fort Lauderdale,
Fla. |
| 18. |
Minneapolis-St.
Paul, Minn. |
|
43. |
Oakland, Cal. |
| 19. |
Denver, Col. |
|
44. |
Dallas, Tex. |
| 20. |
Greensboro-Winston, N.C. |
|
45. |
Sacramento, Cal. |
| 21. |
St. Louis, Mo. |
|
46. |
Riverside-San
Bernardino, Cal. |
| 22. |
Nashville, Tenn. |
|
47. |
Orange County,
Cal. |
| 23. |
Providence, R.I. |
|
48. |
Nassau-Suffolk,
N.Y. |
| 24. |
Houston, Tex. |
|
49. |
Miami, Fla. |
| 25. |
Washington, DC |
|
50. |
Passaic, N.J. |
|
