Web site lists Carson as outstanding community retirement

Carson City and Carson Valley are among 157 "outstanding communities" for retirement featured in a new Internet Web site designed for those looking for the best place to retire.

The Searchers, a St. Louis-based data research and information firm, launched a Web site April 10 at www.USA-Retirement.com that details chosen communities and provides links to the local chambers of commerce, newspapers and other sources of information.

Carson City and Carson Valley, Reno/Sparks and Las Vegas are the three Nevada communities featured by The Searchers, chairman and CEO Dan Flanagan said.

"Carson City/Valley was picked because of the beauty around there, the mountains, the accessibility to Lake Tahoe and Reno," Flanagan said. "You can golf, ski, fish, the cost of living is good. You have all the amenities."

Flanagan said many retiring Baby Boomers want to maintain an active lifestyle. He said many retirement guides dwell on financial concerns but barely touch on quality of life issues.

"Baby Boomers are turning 50 at the rate of 10,000 a day," Flanagan said. "They're going to redefine how people want to retire. In their minds, they're not going to get old."

The Web site describes each outstanding community with 78 sets of criteria based on information gained from chambers of commerce, tourism authorities, economic development authorities and other local sources.

People fill out an online questionnaire and the Web site selects four or five communities best matching the listed desires. There is a $9.95 charge.

Unlike other guides that rank cities, The Searchers does not put its communities in any numerical order.

"You can't put your biases on things," Flanagan said. "You might like chocolate ice cream and I might like vanilla ice cream."

About one in five Carson City residents is age 60 or older.

T.J. and Mary Ann Gioia are among those who already have retired to Carson City, arriving in February 1994.

"The openness of the area, that's the biggest thing," said Gioia, a retired printer. "We love the climate here. You have the four seasons but not as extreme as on the East Coast. Carson City is probably the friendliest place we have lived."

Gioia, with the help of Mary Ann, has produced and directed the Senior Frolicks and Senior Follies for the past four years.

The Gioias were living in Massachusetts as T.J. retired, but they didn't want to stay there. They had pleasant memories of Thousand Oaks, Calif., where they lived in the 1960s, but the house they sold for $95,000 now costs $238,000.

"There's no way we could retire there," he said. "Our nephew said, 'If you want a place that looks like Thousand Oaks, you should look at Minden, Gardnerville and Carson City.'"

The Gioias over the years had often driven through Carson City while living in Southern California but they never thought of living here. While visiting family in Riverside six years ago, they decided to take a look at the Carson area.

"It's the best move we ever made," Mary Ann Gioia said. "When we first came here, I fell in love with the area. It reminded me of Thousand Oaks when we moved there in 1959. We love St. Teresa's Catholic Church. We love the Carson City Senior Center. The senior citizens have a beautiful place to go to do whatever the desire."