Why Retirees Flock to
An Unlikely Destination

On a gray mid-November day, snowflakes are swirling, the wind is biting and the afternoon temperature is 20 degrees Fahrenheit. This is Iowa City, Iowa, where the sun shines 166 days a year on average. That means it doesn't shine 199 days a year. For folks who desire year-round warm, sunny weather in their retirement, Iowa City is no place to be.

But inside their comfortable Iowa City home, Homer and Genevieve ("call me Denny") Dudley aren't complaining about the weather. The former New Jersey residents knew it would be gray, or cold, or gray and cold, a lot. Yet they chose Iowa City as the town to which they retired after 27 years working in the New York City area -- Homer for Allied Chemical Co. in sales, Denny for AT&T Corp. in public relations.

Friends and family "who have come to visit us here have loved it, too," says Mrs. Dudley, age 77. "If they thought we were crazy, now they think we're so smart."

What the Dudleys and others have found is a setting increasingly attractive to older adults: a university town, one with some elbowroom between it and the nearest big city. In the case of Iowa City, the school is the University of Iowa, whose 27,000 students constitute more than one-third of the town's population. The elbowroom, meanwhile, goes on for some distance: Des Moines, the state capital and closest city of any size, is 112 miles and numerous cornfields distant.

Meeting Every Need

Beyond those basics, Iowa City at first blush might seem an unlikely choice as a retirement destination. It's certainly not the warmest of university towns -- or the coldest. As such it isn't a haven for sun worshippers or downhill skiers. Downtown, which straddles the Iowa River, is pretty enough but hardly the stuff of picture postcards. Other college towns can point to, say, a better library here or more shopping there.

Beneath the surface, though, Iowa City -- in the opinions of most transplants -- shows itself to be a place that meets virtually every need. There's a vibrant arts community, continuing-education riches, affordable housing, world-class health care, numerous opportunities for volunteer work, and nearby rural escapes, to name just some of the benefits. Together, they create an environment that prompts would-be residents to think outside the box.

"Iowa City ... is nothing special to look at," concedes Sandra Hudson, age 66, who moved here three years ago from Cambridge, Mass., with her husband, John. "It's not a place you feel must be put on canvas. It's more like Harvard Square or Hollywood and Vine. It's a place to experience."

Dick Duncan has seen the phenomenon firsthand. He has sold real estate in Iowa City since 1957, following in the footsteps of his father, who began the business in 1944. At first, Mr. Duncan noticed an increase in what he calls "retention" -- people already in Iowa City who are retiring and could afford to go anywhere, but stay. Indeed, he numbers himself among them. "It would be easy for me to move to California," Mr. Duncan says, where his two sons and twin brother live. "But I want to stay here." An avid tennis player and sports fan, he says he would miss the availability of campus and municipal courts and would find it difficult to duplicate the excitement of Big Ten Conference competition.

More recently, Mr. Duncan started seeing clients like the Dudleys and Hudsons, with no previous ties to Iowa City. The Hudsons, for their part, used the Internet to help narrow the search for a home. The couple had lived in Massachusetts for 24 years. John had taught sociology at Harvard University; Sandra had been a condominium developer. "We wanted to duplicate many of the benefits of living in Cambridge, yet have a much lower cost of living," Mrs. Hudson explains.

The couple recalled a conversation they had with Edward Bernays, the father of public relations, at his 100th birthday party. When he retired, Mr. Bernays told them, he sought a community with seven characteristics: a population of under 100,000, for a less-crowded feel; an active intellectual life; diverse cultural events; a tradition of welcoming newcomers; a strong economy; four seasons; and world-renowned medical facilities. Using the Internet, the Hudsons found numerous university towns under 100,000 population. "But when you cross-tabulate for a world-class hospital, you're down to a handful," Mr. Hudson says.

Indeed, the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (the formal name of the school's medical center) is regularly ranked among the nation's top health-care facilities by medical-school accreditors and government regulators. Its 843 beds are staffed by 1,467 nurses and 1,222 physicians covering 31 specialties. Within a few minutes of the university center is a veterans hospital with 93 beds and a private hospital with 234 beds.

Fortunately for the Hudsons, they haven't needed to make the acquaintance of physicians and nurses. They have made lots of new friends, though. For Mr. Hudson's 70th birthday last June, 70 Iowa City acquaintances attended his birthday picnic in a city park.

"Iowa City is a very welcoming place," Mrs. Hudson says. "We belong to two dance groups, a camera club, two speakers clubs, a book-review club, and the Young Stamfords, which is a Sherlock Holmes group. When we're in town, we're always on the go."

The Hudsons and other retirees volunteer as guides at the University of Iowa Art Museum, a spacious, well-lighted building overlooking the Iowa River, just across the water and north of downtown at the edge of the main campus. The guides, or docents, receive free, in-depth education about each museum exhibit. In addition, they are allowed to audit every art history and art appreciation course offered by the university.

The premier performing-arts venue is Hancher Auditorium, also part of the university. "We find it remarkable that with the entire population of Iowa being less than the Boston metropolitan area, Hancher manages to bring in outstanding events at a third the price of the identical events on the stage of Boston's Wang Center or Symphony Hall," Mrs. Hudson says.

"Had we been paying Boston ticket prices, we would stick with the tried-and-true events such as Yo Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and Mark Russell," Mr. Hudson adds. "But with Hancher prices we can risk Philip Glass, Robert Wilson, the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan or Pro Musica Nipponia."

Iowa City serves to broaden literary experiences, as well. The university is home to the Iowa Writers' Workshop, among the best-known laboratories in the U.S. for authors to polish their fiction, poetry and nonfiction skills.

Everybody's a Writer

"Writing, like Big Ten sports, permeates the community," Mr. Hudson says. "Nearly everyone we know writes or intends to. The criteria for calling yourself a writer are diligence and enjoyment, not publication. In polite company, one would never think of asking a self-proclaimed writer, 'Have you published?' Inquiries always focus on, 'What's the topic of your current work?'" (The Hudsons are no exception: John is writing about his lifelong intellectual journey; Sandra is composing children's stories on certain days and a memoir on others.)

Prairie Lights bookstore, just off campus, is inextricably linked with the literary atmosphere. It's one of the largest and best-stocked independently owned downtown bookstores in the nation. In any given month, at least 10 nights will be filled with readings by visiting authors. The 100 available seats are frequently filled. Some of the better-known authors appearing last year were Michael Chabon, Madison Smartt Bell, Mona Simpson, Jane Hamilton and Murray Sperber. A local radio station broadcasts the readings live.

In many ways, Prairie Lights is the hub of a lively downtown built along the tree-lined meandering Iowa River, which is the only prominent natural feature of Iowa City. The limestone outcroppings are impressive, the riverside municipal parks are heavily used in pleasant weather, as are the trails for bicyclists, joggers, inline skaters and walkers.

Music and entertainment certainly aren't limited to the university campus. An outdoor Friday-night concert series can be heard downtown from mid-May until early September. Saturday nights are occupied by a downtown jazz series from early June until early September. There are arts festivals in June and September, a Shakespeare festival in June, sidewalk sales in July and September.

As in other university towns, residents are sensitive to health, environmental and conservation concerns. Smoke-free restaurants are publicized in a handy, easy-to-find pamphlet. Curbside recycling orchestrated by the city is popular, and the municipal recycling center is often crowded with items that can't be easily handled elsewhere. Retirees play a large role in a program to catalog the age of local trees.

It's easy to get around downtown and the campus thanks to free shuttle buses. Eleven additional bus routes, all publicly funded, simplify travel from neighborhood to neighborhood and from Iowa City to other area towns. The 8,400-acre Coralville Reservoir and the 2,180-acre Lake Macbride State just outside of town provide year-round recreation, including fishing, swimming, hiking and cross-country skiing. Although nobody retires to Iowa City specifically to play golf, seven courses are open to the public. Tennis courts dot the city.

Tax Squeeze?

Not that Iowa City isn't without its challenges. Adding services -- for retirees and others -- while trying to keep taxes reasonable means something might have to give. City Manager Steve Atkins says some bus routes might need to be trimmed and fares raised to help pay for 13 new vehicles and a transit center. Meanwhile, the town's very nature -- young, transient and dominated by the medical-care sector -- can make it difficult to develop sustained political leadership.

That said, many transplanted retirees are bringing valuable private-sector experience to the table, enough so that the leadership situation might change over time. The City Council, for instance, appointed Sandra Hudson to serve on the Public Arts Advisory Committee, where she has fought to maintain funding for public art.

And what of the weather? Don't cold winters take the edge off Iowa City's amenities? Not really, most residents answer. Few people move here without knowing what to expect. (The Dudleys, before making a final decision to relocate in Iowa City, rented a home in town for two months in the dead of winter to dispel any doubts.) Rather, transplants point to the scenic nature of the surrounding countryside.

"The rolling hills in any season revive the soul," Mr. Hudson says. He and his wife have an unorthodox favorite vista, where Mormon Trek Boulevard, State Highway 1 and U.S. Highway 218 converge. "We pull into a convenient parking lot, put a classical CD in the player, and watch the setting sun paint the clouds" and the high, exhaust trails of jets en route to Chicago, Mrs. Hudson says. "Spectacular! If an artist were to paint the scene, critics would claim the colors were too vibrant."

Home in the Heartland

Iowa City at a Glance

Distances to the closest major cities outside Iowa

Sources: Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce; Iowa City Department of Planning and Community Development; Digital Neighbors.com

Mr. Weinberg is a writer who lives in a different university town, Columbia, Mo.

Email your comments to rjeditor@dowjones.com.