Where the snowbirds go?

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by AviationGuy

I can't help if if you and the other person can't believe ithat snowbirds from the Midwest and Canada are in the Valley.

What evidence do you have for this claimed phenomenon?

Apparently no one on SSP from the Midwest or Canada has ever heard of masses of their local snowbirds heading for the Mexican border as a retirement destination. It sounds bizarre, frankly.

Is there any data pointing to such a phenomenon? I could see folks from Texas or Oklahoma, but you're telling me masses of Michigan, Ohio and Ontario retirees are forsaking Naples for Brownsville? Aren't those towns super-poor, incredibly humid and like 95% Mexican American?

[Boisebro]

Originally Posted by Crawford

What evidence do you have for this claimed phenomenon?

Apparently no one on SSP from the Midwest or Canada has ever heard of masses of their local snowbirds heading for the Mexican border as a retirement destination. It sounds bizarre, frankly.

Is there any data pointing to such a phenomenon? I could see folks from Texas or Oklahoma, but you're telling me masses of Michigan, Ohio and Ontario retirees are forsaking Naples for Brownsville? Aren't those towns super-poor, incredibly humid and like 95% Mexican American?

I know plenty of Midwesterners who have retired in Sun City and/or spend their winters in the Valley. nobody is saying Texas has more snowbirds than Arizona or Florida, but there are people who choose to spend their winters in south Texas, including my own family and many of their friends. Arizona was far too hot, and Florida was too muggy, so they chose Texas.

[Sun Belt]

Originally Posted by Crawford

What evidence do you have for this claimed phenomenon?

Apparently no one on SSP from the Midwest or Canada has ever heard of masses of their local snowbirds heading for the Mexican border as a retirement destination. It sounds bizarre, frankly.

Is there any data pointing to such a phenomenon? I could see folks from Texas or Oklahoma, but you're telling me masses of Michigan, Ohio and Ontario retirees are forsaking Naples for Brownsville? Aren't those towns super-poor, incredibly humid and like 95% Mexican American?

There are tons of Canadians all along the Mexican border. The low cost, dry climate and cooler conditions make it attractive. They're all over the southwest desert regions and they are certainly in south Texas too.

Texas

While you don’t often hear about it, Texas has quietly become one of the most popular destinations for Canadian snowbirds in recent year. In addition to the unique culture and dining, Texas offers many Canadians the ability to access the sun, ocean, beaches and warm weather at a fraction of the cost of most other popular snowbird states.

Corpus Christi, Galveston, South Padre Island and Brownsville are all great choices and popular snowbird destinations located along the Gulf of Mexico, offering snowbird rentals to suit most budgets.

https://www.snowbirdadvisor.ca/best-...dian-snowbirds

[Docere]

Must be a very new phenomenon. For every Canadian that winters in Texas, there are probably 50 in Florida.

[Boisebro]

Originally Posted by Docere

Must be a very new phenomenon. For every Canadian that winters in Texas, there are probably 50 in Florida.

can't speak for Canadians, but I've known about snowbirds in Texas (or Winter Texans) for 20 years, and i'm sure it didn't just start then. we vacationed in South Padre in the early 80s and there were a ton of RV parks full of people from the upper Midwest.

here's a map of the south Texas RV parks that cater to them:

http://www.wintertexaninfo.com/Mobil...mmunities.html

[Docere]

Only a proxy measure (not all retirees are captured nor are all retirees) but here's birthplace:

By county:

Broward County FL

Northeast: 326,459 17.5%
Midwest: 103,345 5.5%

Palm Beach County FL

Northeast: 378,181 27%
Midwest: 111,659 8%

Collier County FL

Northeast: 76,848 22.1%
Midwest: 69,867 20.1%

Lee County FL

Northeast: 150,350 22.1%
Midwest: 147,247 21.6%

Sarasota County FL

Northeast: 107,960 27.1%
Midwest: 91,949 23.1%

Cameron County TX

Northeast: 3,751 0.9%
Midwest: 14,741 3.5%

Maripoca County AZ

Northeast: 299,141 7.3%
Midwest: 681,063 16.7%

And for selected places:

Boca Raton FL

Northeast: 28,607 31.2%
Midwest: 10,237 11.2%

Palm Beach FL

Northeast: 4,048 47.6%
Midwest: 987 11.6%

Naples FL

Northeast: 5,529 26.4%
Midwest: 7,031 33.5%

South Padre Island TX

Northeast: 260 9%
Midwest: 652 22.6%

Scottsdale AZ

Northeast: 31,615 13.5%
Midwest: 62,961 26.8%

Sun City AZ

Northeast: 5,552 14.1%
Midwest: 19,661 49.9%

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by Docere

Only a proxy measure (not all retirees are captured nor are all retirees) but here's birthplace:

By county:

Broward County FL

Northeast: 326,459 17.5%
Midwest: 103,345 5.5%

Palm Beach County FL

Northeast: 378,181 27%
Midwest: 111,659 8%

Collier County FL

Northeast: 76,848 22.1%
Midwest: 69,867 20.1%

Lee County FL

Northeast: 150,350 22.1%
Midwest: 147,247 21.6%

Sarasota County FL

Northeast: 107,960 27.1%
Midwest: 91,949 23.1%

Cameron County TX

Northeast: 3,751 0.9%
Midwest: 14,741 3.5%

Maripoca County AZ

Northeast: 299,141 7.3%
Midwest: 681,063 16.7%

And for selected places:

Boca Raton FL

Northeast: 28,607 31.2%
Midwest: 10,237 11.2%

Palm Beach FL

Northeast: 4,048 47.6%
Midwest: 987 11.6%

Naples FL

Northeast: 5,529 26.4%
Midwest: 7,031 33.5%

South Padre Island TX

Northeast: 260 9%
Midwest: 652 22.6%

Scottsdale AZ

Northeast: 31,615 13.5%
Midwest: 62,961 26.8%

Sun City AZ

Northeast: 5,552 14.1%
Midwest: 19,661 49.9%

Could you provide you source...also, what about the other six or so coastal counties in the Valley, including Nueces (Corpus Christi) that are popular with snowbirds? Thanks.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by Docere

Must be a very new phenomenon. For every Canadian that winters in Texas, there are probably 50 in Florida.

It's not a new phenomenon. I've been around for more decades than almost anyone at SSP, and even when I was a kid we knew that the Valley was a destination for snowbirds. I don't think anyone is claiming the numbers of Florida or Arizona.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by AviationGuy

Could you provide you source...also, what about the other six or so coastal counties in the Valley, including Nueces (Corpus Christi) that are popular with snowbirds? Thanks.

American Factfinder:

https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/...html?refresh=t

[Docere]

Nueces County TX:

Northeast: 6,188 1.7%
Midwest: 17,266 4.9%

Hidalgo County TX:

Northeast: 4,668 0.6%
Midwest: 36,345 4.4%

[Docere]

Born in Canada:

Maricopa County AZ 27,066 0.7%
Broward County FL 18,428 1%
Palm Beach County FL 11,086 0.8%
Lee County FL 7,100 1%
Sarasota County FL 5,392 1.4%
Collier County FL 2,848 0.8%

And selected places:

Scottsdale AZ 3,488 1.6%
Boca Raton FL 1,170 1.3%
Hallandale Beach FL 1,055 2.7%

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by Docere

Nueces County TX:

Northeast: 6,188 1.7%
Midwest: 17,266 4.9%

Hidalgo County TX:

Northeast: 4,668 0.6%
Midwest: 36,345 4.4%

Thank you, I appreciate the information. There should be a few more counties with snowbirds (like Aransas), but these plus Cameron are good enough to list. There should be a Canadian number, too, but you've done enough work. Thanks again.

[RC14]

Here in Salt Lake City I think most snowbirds go to St George. It's in the south west corner of the state of Utah, in the Mojave desert. They have palm trees down there and it doesn't snow very often.
After that, probably Arizona and Vegas but that's just based on my observation.

As far as Texas is concerned, I have never heard of snowbirds going to Texas but from what I hear about Corpus Christi, it is very beautiful and I would not be surprised if a few make it down there. I think the challenge that part of Texas has is that it's too far away from the country's population centers to get allot of attention form Northerners. You have to make it all the way down to Texas and then continue much further south and/or west. I simply don't think enough people have any idea what it's like down there.

[Docere]

Of course these broad regions don't distinguish some of the finer differences - no way to distinguish transplants from say, Wichita and Shaker Heights.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by RC14

Here in Salt Lake City I think most snowbirds go to St George. It's in the south west corner of the state of Utah, in the Mojave desert. They have palm trees down there and it doesn't snow very often.
After that, probably Arizona and Vegas but that's just based on my observation.

As far as Texas is concerned, I have never heard of snowbirds going to Texas but from what I hear about Corpus Christi, it is very beautiful and I would not be surprised if a few make it down there. I think the challenge that part of Texas has is that it is too far away from the population centers in the country and in an obscure location. My guess is that there aren't enough northerners who ever make it that far south for the word to get out.

The word got out a long time ago. There are more than a few (see previous posts for some numbers). Not quite sure how the numbers were derived, though.

But it's not Florida or Arizona by any means as far as the total number of snowbirds. No one is claiming that.

[lio45]

One other factor is that Texas is significantly further away when you're starting in the Northeast. Florida can be done comfortably in two days with one overnight stop in the middle.

Proximity is probably a major factor why people just go straight south from where they are. BC/Prairies all go to AZ (or Palm Springs). Everyone here in the East goes to FL. Even Northeast vs Midwest there's a visible difference: for the latter it seems the path of least resistance for snowbirds is Interstate 75 to the Gulf. East Coasters on the other hand tend to follow I-95 and end up on the Atlantic coast of FL.

[JManc]

I've been in Texas 20 years and still have family and friends back home in New York and this is the truly the first I have ever heard of Texas being a destination for snowbirds. Perhaps it's simply not on the radar for New Yorkers.

[Docere]

It seems that the snowbirds are visible enough to be noticed in South Texas, but are such a small share of snowbirds overall that nobody up north really notices them.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by lio45

One other factor is that Texas is significantly further away when you're starting in the Northeast. Florida can be done comfortably in two days with one overnight stop in the middle.

Proximity is probably a major factor why people just go straight south from where they are. BC/Prairies all go to AZ (or Palm Springs). Everyone here in the East goes to FL. Even Northeast vs Midwest there's a visible difference: for the latter it seems the path of least resistance for snowbirds is Interstate 75 to the Gulf. East Coasters on the other hand tend to follow I-95 and end up on the Atlantic coast of FL.

The difference between Atlantic and Gulf coasts is less stark than I thought. It looks like there are similar numbers of Northeasterners and Midwesterners on the Gulf Coast. But the Midwesterners are split between Florida and Arizona.

Maybe Ohio/Michigan folks head to Florida, but then Arizona becomes dominant to the west of there?

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Docere

Maybe Ohio/Michigan folks head to Florida, but then Arizona becomes dominant to the west of there?

as i mentioned earlier in the thread, i think overall chicago sends more snowbirds to arizona than florida, but there is still a lot of chicago snowbirderism to florida as well because if you want a beach (and many people do), you're SOL in arizona.

if you just want to play some golf and hang out by the pool in february, then arizona works great!