The “ Anchor” & Innovation Linkage

"As we shall see, the greatest opportunities for growth lie in communities recognizing their own advantages, then fostering forms of specialized innovation that rely on those advantages.
 
At the same time, communities must encourage the development of public institutions (NGO’s, think tanks, research centres, post-secondary institutions, etc.) to provide critical support." [1]
 
"Hiding in plain sight within the world’s rapidly changing production terrain are numerous innovation-based growth opportunities that have nothing to do with – and are much better than trying to create Internet, biotech – or lure science- based manufacturing industries."[2]


[1] Dan Breznitz. Innovation in Real Places. New York. Oxford University Press. (2021) at P.5
[2] Ibid at P 55.
"Life satisfaction is strongly influenced by location. People who live in small towns are generally happier than people who live in big cities. People who live next door to the ocean report being happier than those who don’t."[3]
[3] Charles Montgomery, Happy Cities, Toronto, Doubleday, (2013) at P.35
​
Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities

NORCs
​The concept and label NORC was first coined in 1986 by Michael Hunt, a professor of urban planning at University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Gail Gunter Hunt. [4] Based on extensive demographic research they defined a NORC as an unplanned "naturally occurring"  community that had a large proportion of residents over 60. ​ NORCs are retirement anchors. NORCs can be small towns with single family homes and "15 minute" walkable neighbourhoods, "pocket communities" in urban areas or apartment complexes. 
  They found that NORCs evolved in one or a combination of three ways that have a natural association with historic Saint Andrews by the Sea on the Bay of Fundy with its rich heritage.
   
NORCS - Three Attributes
1. Aging in Place
2. Emigration
​3. Immigration

​[4]Hunt, M. E., & Gunter-Hunt, G. (1986). Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities. Journal of Housing For the Elderly, 3(3–4), 3–22. https://doi. org/10.1300/J081V03N03_02

​Saint Andrews - NORC Anchor

       Aging in place: 

• Saint Andrews acknowledges that it  is located on the traditional and unceded territory of the Peskotomuhkati (Passamaquoddy) Nation covered by the Treaties of Peace and Friendship.
• A key characteristic of NORCs is that that they are not initially designed or planned as retirement communities.  They occur when  communities naturally age. A number of  small towns that were originally linked to one industry have naturally aged as the economy transitioned from an industrial base to a knowledge management focus.   Canada and the U.S  are aging societies.. 
•    Saint Andrews occupies a legacy niche in Canadian heritage in tracing its founding as a town to the arrival of United Empire Loyalists circa 1785.
• The Loyalists represent a unique class of immigrants in Canadian history being de-facto asylum seekers seeking refuge to what was then a British colony in the aftermath of the American revolution.  Many literally put their homes on platforms and towed them from Castine Maine on the Atlantic coast in the U.S. to the newly established British colonial town of Saint Andrews on the Bay of Fundy.
• The town proper is situate on  an historic  "plat" replete with a treasure drove of well maintained owner occupied single family heritage homes  with a complement of contemporary single family  three bedroom family homes. 
• The population of the historic town plat is in the 2,000 range.
• The town plat contains a retail hub with a mix of  local neighbourhood businesses encompassed in an easily accessible "15 minute walk" by residents.
• The source of strength and resilience of the town over two hundred years has been its ability to survive and thrive through the boom and bust cycles of  forestry and aquaculture. These were supplanted more than 150 years ago with the sustained evolution of a vibrant heritage leisure and tourism industry.
• Many prominent Canadians and Americans built upscale summer leisure residences in the town in the latter part of the 19th century which have taken on a legacy status in their own right in the modern era of heritage tourism. 
• Tourism was the impetus for the building of the iconic Algonquin Resort Hotel, an anchor to support a vibrant leisure and tourism service economy. 
• The founders and their descendants, along with the modern era  "silent generation" and "boomers", were either born or moved into the town creating an enviable legacy of active community living in a traditional neighbourhood parish culture. 
• Housing was affordable and in their prime working years they either purchased and maintained the heritage homes or built conventional three bedroom family residences. 
• The town's status as a heritage leisure icon attracted generations of retirees who relocated from urban centres to  the iconic heritage town of historic Saint Andrews by the Sea.
• As they have transitioned into retirement in an aging society they want to "age in place" and remain in their  homes in an intergenerational  certified "age- friendly" community with its "15 minute walk" to retail hubs with neighbourhood businesses owned and operated by locals.
•  The Bay of Fundy has the highest ocean tides in the world with the attributes for an anchor in marine science and acquaculture. In 1969 a consortium of universities and governmental agencies created the foundation for a world class research centre in marine science. The Huntsman Centre 
• The Atlantic Salmon Federation, the acknowledged think tank for research on the development sustainability of atlantic salmon  has chosen Saint Andrews as its global headquarters .
• In 1963 Lady Dunn, a prominent philanthropist,  was instrumental in the establishment of the Lady Dunn Trade School which  has evolved into a comprehensive college  and been integrated  into the New Brunswick Community College (NBCC) system
• This educational anchor has enabled Saint Andrews to benefit from all the favourable socio-economic attributes of a small college town. 
• Research shows that trust among neighbours is highest for those who live in small towns. (Ryan Frederick, Right Place Right Time) 
• These are the attributes of  a small town "naturally occurring retirement community (NORC).

      Emigration: 

• Saint Andrews evolved into contemporary  NORC status as the emergent next generation of post war young adults moved on and relocated to urban centres. A "thundering herd" of boomers and millennials raised in Saint Andrews emigrated to urban centres to pursue professional careers. Canada was transformed from a country of "community of communities"  to the most urbanized population in the western world with an estimated 80% of the population living in five urban centres.
• However, the town did not stagnate. Tourism and leisure have attained a vibrant legacy status. An aging population stayed on and aged in place who, along with retirees relocating to the town, have transformed Saint Andrews into an upscale small town  three bedroom single family home NORC.

       Immigration: 

• A significant number of a "new age"  emergent aging population, now dominated by boomers and 55+millennials, is looking to relocate from urban centres and suburbia to small towns that are  intergenerational "age- friendly" communities.
• The NORC study was researched circa 1984-85.  Fast forward to 2024  where a the mass emigration referred to above has resulted in a number of small towns evolving into NORCs. 
• The Public Policy Forum (PPF) reports that Atlantic Canadians enjoy a greater satisfaction with their quality of life than Canadians as a whole. [5]
• Saint Andrews has what the PPF labels as the "Belonging Advantage". Both expatriates returning home and "newbies" who are relocating to the town feel as though they belong.
•  NORCs such as Saint Andrews with their rich heritage and parish life culture (neighbours look in on and care for neighbours) and  their "15 minute walk"along a traditional main street hub with neighbourhood stores and amenities are intergenerational "natural occurring retirement communities (NORCS)".
• Saint Andrews has been certified as meeting World Health Organization (WHO) "age friendly" designation status by the Province of New Brunswick. 
• The New Brunswick Age-Friendly Community Recognition Program is a way of encouraging communities and municipalities across the province to become welcoming places for all ages. The program encourages the creation of policies, services and structures that promote healthy aging and wellness.
• The Age-Friendly Community movement encourages healthy aging and wellness under the following eight areas: outdoor spaces and buildings, transportation, housing, social participation, respect and social inclusion, civic participation and employment, communication and information, community support and health services
• Former emigres are transitioning into immigrants who now want to  "come home" and embrace active retirement living. 
• The town that an emergent generation of retirees on holiday excursions  frequently exclaim has the look and feel of a classic "Hallmark movie" recognize Saint Andrews as an ideal upscale NORC and want to make this intergenerational "age friendly" community their home. 
• "New Brunswick saw more than five times as many net interprovincial migrants in 2021-22 as two years earlier." ( FOONOTE 6)
• The end result is a combination of long time residents and relocated  retirees residing in single family three bedroom homes  who are underutilizing the residences. In many instances they are looking for opportunities to augment their retirement incomes​ in a community that has a student population in dire need of affordable accommodation.  ​
• Many established seniors are now single residents who have enjoyed a comfortable life in their three bedroom homes. They want to continue to age in place. Because of a combination of the physical and financial requirements to maintain the home  along with the emotional stress encountered in "home alone" living, they are feeling the need to sell the treasured family home and move on.
• However, assisted living and long term care are embroiled in a debacle that renders this option a no go and last resort.
• They are looking for viable alternatives that will enable them to age in place.
• ​Saint Andrews has joined the Province of New Brunswick's "Nursing Without Walls" program. Nursing Home Without Walls helps older adults living in rural areas to age in place.  The goal of the initiative is to enable older adults to remain in their homes longer by giving them access to supports and services offered by participating local nursing homes
• NBCC has set up a home share program with Canada Homeshare. Seniors living alone in three bedroom single family homes will rent out a room to a student for a reduced rent in exchange for the student helping out with household shores.
• Home sharing creates a source of revenue for seniors to augment payment for utilities, property taxes, and upkeep of their home.
• Home sharing  creates a mechanism to eliminate social isolation and foster a healthy intergenerational  and multicultural mix between seniors aging in place and college students.
• You're aware from my Boomer Encore page that my wife and I have "come home" to historic Saint Andrews by the Sea.
• Get in touch if  living in an idyllic small town NORC is of interest to you. 
• Contact me if you're a representative of a small town that has NORC potential and you would like to form a small town NORC association.  

[5]Mark Stevenson, The Belonging Advantage – How Quality of Life is Translating into Big Economic Gains for Atlantic Canada. Public Policy Forum. Jan. 2024

 
The NORC Multicultural Value Add

Smart Multi-cultural Active Retirement Towns
(S.M.A.R.T.)

• Canada has evolved into a model multicultural society. The Canadian government has launched an aggressive immigration program to attract immigrants to fill the employment vacuum in the professional, para-professional, skilled trades and service workers. Small towns have an employment void. Schools have declining enrolments. Immigrant families can fill these voids. 
• Research by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) that 76 per cent of small-business owners are planning to exit their businesses over the next decade, marking a potential transfer of over $2-trillion in business assets. . Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA), a strategy where individuals or groups acquire and manage existing companies rather than starting new ventures from scratch, is an under appreciated path.
• As Canada has 100,000 fewer entrepreneurs than two decades ago, we desperately need more people choosing to be entrepreneurs. Increasing support for ETA will increase the number of people pursuing entrepreneurship in Canada, which will increase Canadian labour productivity and overall economic growth.
• Immigrants are entrepreneurial. This is why they embraced “first attempt at learning” (F.A.I.L) replete with risks to immigrate to Canada, "a land of family-friendly opportunity". S.M.A.R.T.s are the locus of family- owned neighbourhood businesses with aging owners and operators receptive to transferring ownership to an entrepreneur wanting to take on the risk and responsibility of transitioning it to the next generation. Many immigrants have these entrepreneurial attributes and have the willpower and family support to embrace an entrepreneurial business opportunity.
• The Canadian government is initiating programs to enable small towns to evolve into smart multicultural active retirement towns (S.M.A.R.T.s.) ​
• ​If you are a recent immigrant looking for a business opportunity that will facilitate you're acquiring permanent residence status  or international student wanting to link your education to a career opportunity link your educational program to a college in a NORC.

Experiencing Saint Andrews

What's it like to actually live in Saint Andrew the town that looks and feels like a "hallmark" movie and a place that it intergenerational age friendly with its "15 minute walks" to and from anywhere in the historic plat?

Who are these "new age" millennials and boomers that are either "coming home" or choosing to leave the burbs behind and embrace active community living?

Go to my Facebook site for personal accounts 

​
​.
​

​

​​​

​

​

y.

​​Next Step

Click into the "Ignite Your Passion & LiveYour 55/65/75+ ​Life to the Fullest " page and retain me as your "Sherpa Guide" to mentor you on how get going on that personalized pathway to your best fit N.O.R.C or S.M.A.R.T. ​

Contact me here

​