For Many Elderly, California Is Not the Place to Be : Population: From 1985-90, state had net loss of seniors. Costs, crime are among reasons. Others ‘age in place.’

Back in 1965, Teresa and Glenn McGill said goodby to their sleepy little Pennsylvania town and headed west. In California, they found good jobs, purchased a comfortable home in West Hills and raised three children.

Decades later, when it was time to retire, the couple chose California again.

“A lot of people ask us [about moving],” 74-year-old Teresa McGill said. “You think about it, but where’re you going to go?”

But many older people are choosing to leave California--or not come at all.

According to a University of Michigan study, California suffered a net loss of 53,472 people age 60 and older between 1985 and 1990. That number includes losses of 12,159 seniors to Oregon, 10,997 to Nevada, 10,453 to Arizona and 6,545 to Washington state, according to the study. California is the only state in the western part of the United States that is losing more older people than it is gaining.

“That’s dramatic and does show that there’s something unique going on there,” said demographer William H. Frey, author of the study. Among the causes that researchers cite are crime, natural disasters, the cost of living and the upheaval of large-scale immigration.

But such changes notwithstanding, California still has more residents age 65 and older than any other state. The large elderly population is due in part to such people as the McGills, who migrated here decades ago and now have chosen to spend their leisure years in the place where they once made a living.

“The good years in California brought people from all across the country,” Frey said. “There’s a huge number that aren’t leaving.”

Demographers call it “aging in place.” And the phenomenon has long-term implications for the state, “ranging from the allocation of social services to formulating political agendas,” Frey said.

Rather than head for retirement magnets, some recent retirees decide to remain where they are--often because of family, friends and the comfort of familiar neighborhoods. Some lack the economic means to move, while others simply have no desire to leave.

Since their retirement, the McGills have discovered another side to life in Southern California.

During their working lives, Glenn was an auto technician at Hughes Aircraft and Teresa was manager of a Valley motel. Now, the two are bona fide retirees, intent on enjoying the benefits that come with the title. They bowl, ballroom dance, play bingo. At the Canoga Park Senior Citizen Center, Teresa McGill runs bingo and bowling and serves as one of the hostesses when the seniors take trips to Las Vegas, Santa Anita and other recreation spots.

“I’m telling you, we’re so busy,” Teresa McGill said. “It keeps us active.”

The two see no reason to return to Pennsylvania or go anywhere else.

Many who migrated during California’s boom years now form a wealthier stratum of the state’s elderly population, Frey said. Overall, this group tends to have higher education levels and lower poverty levels.

But older people who worked low-paying jobs or none at all during their younger years often find that their economic situation worsens in retirement. For this group, leaving is often not an option.

“In a way, they’re stuck,” said Sandra Davis, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles office of the American Assn. of Retired Persons. “From an economic standpoint, they can’t move.”

In 1993, there were more than 3 million people age 65 and older living in California--about 1 million in Los Angeles County.

Statewide, about 7.6% lived below the poverty level in 1989, according to one study. Only Connecticut had a lower poverty rate for older people.

Born in Spain, 83-year-old Helen Rodriguez moved to California from New York in 1956. For Rodriguez, it made good financial sense to stay here and live with her family.

“I live with my daughter and it’s not so bad, but if I wasn’t living with her it would be very bad,” Rodriguez said. “How can I pay rent and eat and everything? It’s impossible,” she said.

“People stay home but they need more and more assistance to stay, which puts a tremendous strain on our resources,” said Maria Arechaederra, executive director of WISE Senior Services in Santa Monica.

In Santa Monica, where about 18% of the population is elderly, the city government has tried to improve services for the elderly, Arechaederra said.

It provides a comprehensive transit service to ferry older residents to doctor appointments and shopping. And through WISE the city has a one-stop, consolidated resource center for senior services. The center offers a range of services from health insurance counseling to case management.

But too often Arechaederra encounters retired people who--whether choosing to leave or stay--have not planned sufficiently for life after work.

“I’m amazed at the people who come here newly retired and think that Medicare will take care of everything, and are surprised that they have to buy supplemental insurance,” she said. “I think we all have a responsibility to really start looking at what we have and how we’re going to make it.”

In the 17 years that she has worked at the center, Arechaederra has seen a decline in the city’s elderly population. “I don’t see that migration of older people trying to move to California to retire,” she said.

The loss of older people from California is a classic case of push and pull.

The cost of living in California is a significant push for California retirees and a deterrent for those from other states.

“Before, people used to come to California because of the climate, but what we are seeing is that people are looking more for financial security,” Davis said.

People still value “climate-friendly” locations, but states such as Nevada, which has no personal income tax, provide an added allure--a nice climate and added personal income.

Natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods, and man-made events such as the riots of 1992, may also deter people from coming to California, Davis said.

Crime and the desire--or need--to be near relatives also factor into decisions to leave California.

Large-scale immigration such as that seen in California in the past decade--and the social changes it brings--can also cause an increase in emigration of older people, Frey said. It’s not the people, but the pace of change and societal turmoil that seniors find difficult to cope with, Frey and others said.

Vera Phillips, who was born in Boston but moved to California in 1960, has seen friends leave the state only to encounter different problems in their new homes.

“Friends of mine have gone to Florida,” she said. “They said, by the time you pay to spray each month for all the bugs Florida has, you might as well pay a [personal income] tax. . . . You’re paying a lot more for food and clothing. [One] is thinking of moving back.” Another friend moved to Texas, which also has no personal income tax. That friend was shocked when she received a huge bill for property taxes, Phillips said.

“They’re going to get you one way or the other,” said Phillips, who volunteers at the Joslyn Center in Burbank. “It all balances out.

“In California, you can go to the ocean, you can go to the mountains, whereas in so many states you can’t,” she said. “That’s a great plus.”

Frances and Herbert Johnson have no regrets about remaining in California for their retirement--even though it is no longer the retirement spot of choice.

“You always think the grass is greener on the other side--but it isn’t,” 71-year-old Frances Johnson said, before heading off to serve lunch to other seniors at the Canoga Park Senior Citizen Center. “At our stage in life I think we should stay where we are and be happy.”

And still, there are those who do come to California to retire.

“To us, it’s like a year-round vacation,” said Jean Kostoff, who moved to Burbank from the Chicago area in 1987.

Kostoff’s husband was stationed in Merced in the military in the 1940s and always dreamed of living in California. “He was determined he was going to come out here,” she said.

“We’re very happy now.”