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Many who remain in or close to their hometowns have another motive: to more easily keep a job or start a business as they get older. About 35% to 50% of those who have officially retired choose to work part time, says Donald Davis, vice president for work-force development for the National Council on the Aging--all the more important now that retirement savings are being flattened by the economic downturn. "I'm noticing that about three-fourths of my clients ages 55 to 70 are working in some capacity and don't really want to move too far from their business contacts," observes Adorna Carroll, a partner in the Berlin, Conn., real estate firm of Realty 3 Carroll & Agostini.

The decision to remain has been made easier by the proliferation of retirement communities in four-season markets. For instance, the Del Webb Corp., based in Phoenix, Ariz., a developer of eight upscale retirement complexes, most in warmer climates, opened a community in Huntley, Ill., in 1998. Since then it has developed a facility in Romeoville, Ill., and the first residents are expected to move in during spring 2002, says Dave Schreiner, vice president of Del Webb's marketing and strategic-planning group. Another development is being built in Fredericksburg, Va., outside Washington.

It was an active seniors' environment and proximity to their daughter that enticed Mitchell and Norma Gattas to relocate from De Kalb, Ill., to Crest Hill, Ill., about an hour away. In September they moved into a one-story single-family home in a community for residents 55 and older called Carillon Lakes. The Gattas now live just 15 minutes away from their daughter, son-in-law and four-year-old granddaughter, whom they see almost every day. "Who needs Florida or Arizona?" says Norma, 71, a retired accounting assistant. "We can see our daughter any time we want, and we have every possible activity at our doorstep all year long."

The same was true for Rich and Mary Ellen Wholey of Wheaton, Ill., grandparents of 15 kids ages 3 months to 16 years. They toyed with the idea of moving to Arizona after snowbirding there for two winters. Instead, they bought a home in Carillon Lakes, 20 miles away. All but one of their five children live nearby. The Wholeys' nephew was killed in the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center, making them look at their decision to remain near their kids in a new light. "After going to our nephew's memorial service, we realized just how much we needed to hold on to family," says Mary Ellen, 65, a retired secretary.

Among those drawn back home by the lure of the familiar and comfortable are Harry and Linda Safstrom, who moved two years ago to a house in Lafayette, Colo., 45 minutes from their hometown of Englewood, Colo. The couple, who met in fourth grade, left the state in 1967 and spent the past 34 years in 17 different homes as Harry moved during his career with Dow Chemical Co. They now live near their siblings and parents. Harry's contacts in his hometown have made it easier for him to set up shop as a management consultant. "We traipsed all over the country for so long that we decided it was time to go back to where we had a real sense of belonging," says Harry, 56.