Henderson, Boulder City among top places to retire

David Strow

Tuesday, May 18, 1999 | 1:18 a.m.

When it comes to retiring, there are few places like Henderson and Boulder City.

That's the conclusion of "Retirement Places Rated," a new research book, which ranked Henderson and Boulder City the No. 3 retirement spot in America. Henderson-Boulder City was beat out only by Fort Collins-Loveland, Colo., and Charleston Sea Islands, S.C.

"We've seen a dramatic increase in the number of seniors moving to our community, and we're looking at that as an enticement for additional seniors to move," said Henderson City Manager Phil Speight. "We're a very safe community, we have a very low property tax, no state income tax and a very good value for a home."

Author David Savageau surveyed retirees to identify factors most important to them: public golf courses, historical neighborhoods, a mild climate or a low crime rate. The combined responses were used to rank each area and give it an overall grade.

Thirty percent of Henderson's population is now over the age of 55, Speight said. By contrast, 65-and-over residents account for 11.4 percent of Clark County's population, according to the Census Bureau. That's about the national average.

From 1990 to 1996, Henderson was the nation's fastest-growing city of 100,000 or more residents. The city grew from 64,948 to 122,339 over that time, an 88.4 percent increase. Ironically, neighbor Boulder City, also identified in the Savageau study, has fought to keep rapid growth from spilling over its boundaries.

Del Webb Corp. helped play a significant role in Henderson's boom, Speight said. Four years ago, the homebuilder opened Sun City MacDonald Ranch, a 2,500-unit retirement community in Henderson. It was Del Webb's second retirement community in the Las Vegas area -- in 1988, it opened Sun City Summerlin, a 2,500-unit development.

Today, Del Webb has sold about 1,900 of MacDonald Ranch's 2,500 homes. Anthem, Del Webb's new Henderson community, has 9,100 homes devoted to retirees, and sales have been "very brisk" since its opening last July, said Scott Higginson, vice president of government and public affairs at Del Webb.

"Las Vegas was the No. 1 retirement community," Higginson said. "I'm convinced (Del Webb's Henderson developments) have pulled Henderson into the lead."

When it looked to build its second retirement community in the area, Del Webb first looked to stay in the Summerlin area. "But as we moved up the hill, the cost of homes escalated," Higginson said. "We opened Sun City MacDonald Ranch with smaller homes, and we were wildly successful.

"We were looking for land where you could build, and that was in Henderson."

The top 10 list was rounded out by Wickenburg, Ariz.; St. George-Zion, Utah; Boca Raton, Fla.; Scottsdale, Ariz.; Prescott-Prescott Valley, Ariz.; and Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Fla.

"Boomers planning for retirement may be headed away from the traditional California or Florida spots, where their parents settled," Savageau said. "The fastest-growing parts of the country now are on the Western Slope of the Rocky Mountains, and in the suburban areas of the desert Southwest."

The Associated Presscontributed to this story.