The stereotype of baby boomers moving to Florida post-retirement is one of the oldest around. But while many people from that generation have indeed retired to the Sunshine State, recent reports indicate that boomers are now abandoning Florida for an unlikely alternative: Southern Appalachia, a region that includes Northern Georgia, the Carolinas, and portions of Tennessee and Virginia.
An influx of boomers moving to Appalachia is “transforming the region from poor, serene and rustic to a bustling retirement haven,” said a recent report in The Wall Street Journal. These boomers have become known in Appalachia as “halfbacks,” which the Journal said is a “reference to how many first moved from the Northeast and Midwest down to Florida before settling somewhere in between.”
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Why are boomers moving from Florida to Appalachia?
How is this change affecting Appalachia?
How do native Appalachians feel about this?
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