Retired but staying in town: Seniors decide New York City offers best quality of life

LORE CROGHAN New York Daily News 01/12/2009 02:23

When New Yorkers Helene and Joe Kirschner were picking a place to retire, they checked out Research Triangle in North Carolina and towns in Connecticut and Massachusetts because they thought there’d be a good quality of life if they lived near a university.

After making the rounds, they realized the best university town for them was their hometown: New York City.

While exploring other communities, “I missed the pace of where I’m from,” said Helene, who grew up in Flatbush, Brooklyn, and has lived in Manhattan for four decades.

“You can sit in your apartment and have low music and loud lights, or loud music and low lights — but once you step outside your door, the stimulation is in the air,” she explained.

The Kirschners decided to stick around, a choice that’s becoming increasingly popular despite cold winters and the high cost of living. The struggling economy and battered housing market across much of the nation is another factor keeping retirees from packing up.

“There’s a revisiting among recent retirees of what they want life to be like in retirement,” said Michael Gusmano, co-director of the World Cities Project, affiliated with NYU and Columbia, which examines how New York, London, Paris and Tokyo cope with their aging populations.