Seniors and others have been seriously impacted by the recession.
But that hasn’t happened everywhere. Some small towns in the United
States have actually been doing okay and haven’t seen any serious signs
of recession yet.
 A recent interview
with the town mayor of Natchitoches, Louisiana, provides insight into
the secret why seniors will make it in some places and may not in
others. I spoke with him to find out what that secret might be.
Natchitoches is a college town and also a place designated by U.S.
News and World Report last year, as well as Kiplinger at various
times in the past ten years, as one of the top ten retirement
destinations.
Natchitoches is also the oldest town in the Louisiana Purchase and a place where people come from all over the world to do research on history of the French settlers, the Spanish, and the English, who came to Natchitoches by turns over the years. In addition Natchitoches is a small New Orleans with architecture that is similar to the grand old city, now in ruins. It also has jazz, a river, and an exotic Creole community as enticements for visitors. But it isn’t just that historical significance of Natchitoches that is keeping the economy going and thereby helping seniors. Like other small towns, it’s a number of things. Diversification, Mayor Wayne McCullen of Natchitoches points out, is key to how the town will likely fare over the recession. 'Diversification will help everyone," he says. The fact that the town is small, little more than 18,000 means that" businesses are able to connect with one another and exchange ideas through meetings. That willingness to lean on one another is the hallmark of the small town, and it's why Natchitoches has managed to get through difficult times when other places could not. McCullen went on to say, " Natchitoches has tourism, a college and that retirement designation. It also has Alliance Compressors and Lions, three major businesses that are the principal employers of the area. That means there is an economic base that supports the community, but that doesn't mean we aren't feeling the effects of the recession. I just think we will fare better because of that sense of community here." While real estate prices have dropped significantly across the country and hurt seniors, the real estate in Natchitoches never got to those high levels reported in other parts of the country. The average home didn't reached the $200,000 mark at the top of the market. In fact $140,000 did, and still does, buy a comfortable home. Many of the local banks, like the Bank of Montgomery that has been in Natchitoches for generations, refused to take on subprime loans, preferring to do business in that old-fashioned way. That old-fashioned way included knowing your customer and giving loans that were based on the borrower having a reasonable down payment and earnings to support the payments. So they don’t anticipate any problems because they were conservative in their business dealings, according to Tyler Murchison, the Chief Lending Officer at the Bank of Montgomery. Randy Stelly, Publisher of The Real Views Newspaper in Natchitoches, reports that in his contacts he sees seniors and othersdoing reasonably well, although he observes there has been a downturn since the University has had to lay off instructors and several key companies have enclosed Nevertheless,. Stelly believes that Natchitoches indeed will fare better than other places when he says that "Natchitoches is in a bubble, with the insulation of that bubble provided by a growing number of baby boomers with solid defined benefit pensions that aren’t affected in the same way that private savings can be." A local realtor, Janice Bolten, agrees. Bolten continues to sell houses and says, " because the homes of seniors didn’t inflate in Natchitoches as in other places, it is easier for them to sell their homes than it would be in cities. So these seniors, if their health is serious enough, can move to join their children, unlike what has occurred in other places, according to reports. This is unlike seniors in cities and other places where the fact that seniors can’t move has increased local budgets, causing economic problems. Natchitoches is unique in many ways, and those who look for places to retire can be assured of some financial stability they might not have in other places if they move to Natchitoches. That doesn't mean we aren't suffering too, but I think it's likely less. I'm still selling homes." A local minister also has an opinion about what it takes to survive economic downturns and that's faith in something greater than oneself. Reverend Kathy Muder of the local Presbyterian church says, "I think it takes a strong sense of faith in oneself and the community, but it's also helpful to be able to draw on a power higher than oneself when times are hard. I think people around here do that." The town of the Steel Magnolias, where the movie was made, shows its steel again in the spines of the residents who have lived through hard times before and can likely do it again, as town leaders maintain. It’s likely folks elsewhere may need that steel even more than the folks of Natchitoches, given the fact that other places might not have the same support systems. | ||||||||||
