Doug and Kate Judd were ready to retire. The only question that remained to be decided was where to go.

"We definitely wanted a friendlier climate," says Doug, a former machine-tool-company employee, who like his wife had grown up in Milwaukee and spent his life nearby. Fans of outdoor activities, the couple wanted to spend more time hiking, canoeing and camping.

Florida, the clichéd retirement destination, simply didn't appeal. "The lifestyle there seemed a bit more sedentary, involving a lot of shopping," Kate says. "I don't think we're retirement community material."

Where's my dream retirement?

After looking at alternatives such as San Diego, they moved a year ago to a house near the top of Missionary Ridge, overlooking Chattanooga, Tenn. "This has so much of what we were looking for," Kate says. "It's an economical place to live, (and) we can be on a hiking trail in minutes." Chattanooga hasn't knocked Florida off its perch as the most favored retirement destination. Nearly 20% of Americans over 60 contemplating an interstate move still eventually head to the Sunshine State, according to census data monitored by the Center for Creative Retirement at the University of North Carolina in Asheville. But that's down from 26.2% back in 1980.

And as baby boomers like the Judds swell the ranks of retirees, the stereotypically sedate retirement lifestyle -- revolving around golf, tennis and lots of sunshine -- is likely to slump still further, making way for a new set of retirement hot spots.

"Boomers are looking for something different in retirement, and that extends to where and how they live," argues Nanette Overly, a co-chairwoman of Ohio's 50+ Housing Council, which studies housing-related decisions made by older Americans. "They want amenities, yes, but not the same ones as their parents and grandparents," adds Overly, who is also the vice president of sales and marketing for Epcon Communities, a property management company in Dublin, Ohio.

Tell us: Where would your "dream" retirement be?

So goodbye, Florida, and hello, Chattanooga. This midsize city -- where the amenities include hiking and biking trails, an aquarium and a thriving local arts scene -- is one of the leaders in a growing cluster of communities trying to woo baby-boomer retirees to less-traditional destinations for their retirements. Among the others: Asheville, N.C.; Austin, Texas; and the college towns of western Massachusetts.

Booming Chattanooga

Choose Chattanooga, a heavily promoted program aimed squarely at this group, is reaping rewards: J. Ed.

Marston, the head of marketing for the city's Chamber of Commerce, now fields 1,200 to 1,400 inquiries a month from boomers interested in moving to Chattanooga. That's up from 80 to 100 before the program was launched 18 months ago.

Census data already show that Chattanooga, and Tennessee as a whole, are capturing an above-average share of those Americans who move from one state to another.

"We are finding boomers want to be in a real, live, diverse community that offers a lot to do," Marston says.

Many boomer retirees still crave warmth and good weather, although they may seek it out in south-of-the-border spots such as San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where a large expatriate community has sprung up, or similar communities in Panama and Costa Rica.

But regularly, sunshine and golf simply aren't enough. "Preferred destinations are about more than warm weather and rock-bottom taxes," says Sri Reddy, the head of retirement income strategies at ING, an investment management company that offers financial planning advice to clients. "Survey after survey shows that what boomers want from a retirement lifestyle is a place where they can pursue their own specific interests, however esoteric, and be among like-minded people."

'I feel like I belong.'

Reddy's father retired after working 30 years as a doctor and is now taking classes to become a Web designer, she says, adding that her dad wouldn't have dreamed of moving anyplace that lacked high-level educational opportunities.

Hampshire College is one of many colleges trying to capitalize on this. In the Pioneer Valley, in western Massachusetts, the college hired Boston's Beacon Communities to build what the school is billing as a "lifelong learning community" aimed at boomers and tied to the college. The ground hasn't been broken yet at the development, called Veridian Village, but some 20 individuals or couples have put down deposits for one of its town houses and apartments.

"These are for people who would rather attend college classes at Hampshire or one of the four other colleges nearby -- Smith, Amherst, Mount Holyoke or the University of Massachusetts -- than play golf," says Pam Goodman, the president of Beacon Communities. "Boomers have a much wider range of interests than their predecessors, and they're not going to stick to any single pattern, or destination, when they retire."

Retirees looking for new destinations have to answer plenty of questions before they make a decision.

Should they stay near home or venture to another country? Health care is important, but how do they balance access to hospitals with other amenities?

'Think through the practical elements'

"This may end up as our transitional or first retirement destination," says Brad Goersch, who moved to St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, with his wife, Donna.

In addition to snorkeling and scuba diving, Brad oversees their ham radio rental operation while Donna teaches horseback riding. "We may move back to the mainland if we need to be close to a hospital after we get older," he says.

Ron Manheimer at the Center for Creative Retirement offers workshops aimed at helping retirees decide how to weigh multiple factors in their decision. "A lot of the people who come to our programs are already thinking that Asheville would be a great place to retire to," he says. Manheimer urges them not to decide too hastily.

"You need to do a test run," he explains. "If you like Asheville in February, well, that's a good indicator!"

Some boomers are opting not to be pinned to one place at all. After spending 27 years with Johnson & Johnson as an information technology executive, Betty Robinson retired at the end of 2006 and left her New Jersey home -- for a 48-foot trawler yacht.

"Learning about navigation, about boat maintenance, re-energized me," says Robinson, 57. So far she has taken the yacht, LiLy, on one long-haul trip from Annapolis, Md., to Florida, where she spent a winter hopping from one marina to another.

"I no longer have a land base at all, and that kind of amazes my more conventional friends," says Robinson, laughing. "But I'm eliminating the whole idea of being tied to a single place. My retirement life is going to be a big adventure." Choosing is the hardest part

Published June 12, 2008