Objectives: Guided by the concept of "aging in place" and potential policy implications, the study analyzed naturally occurring retirement communities (NORCs; 40% or greater house owners and renters aged 65 years and older) and whether there were spatiotemporal patterns in Ohio between 2000 and 2010.
Method: Data were derived from the 2000 and 2010 census tracts. Geovisualization was used to visually examine the distribution of NORCs in 2000 and 2010. Global Moran's I was used to quantify the spatial distribution of NORCs in Ohio and Local Moran's I was used to identify clusters of NORCs (i.e., hot spots).
Results: The number of NORCs slightly decreased despite the overall increase of the older population from 2000 to 2010. NORCs were identified in one of the 3 most populous counties (i.e., Cuyahoga) and its neighboring counties. A number of hot spots were identified in Cuyahoga County (among Ohio's most populous and NORC-rich counties), both in 2000 and 2010. There were different patterns including emerging, disappearing, and enduring NORCs and disproportionate distributions of NORCs across the state between 2000 and 2010.
Discussion: Locating NORCs could aid governments to create "aging in place" sensitive policies to address issues of independence, social care, health care, volunteerism, and community participation.
Keywords: Aging in place; Geographic information systems; Housing; Naturally occurring retirement communities; Population aging; Spatial analysis..
© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.