St. Mary Parish is now 'retirement certified'

St. Mary Parish is now a Retirement Certified Community.
Encore Louisiana Commission affiliated with the Louisiana Lieutenant Governor’s Office, made the designation this week. Breaux Bridge and West Monroe were also named Retirement Certified Communities.
The designation makes the communities eligible for state-level marketing and possible grants.
Houma-Terrebonne and Thibodaux are among the Retirement Certified Communities, along with Lafayette, Lake Charles, Natchitoches, Ruston and Lincoln Parish, Toledo Bend and Sabine Parish, and Shreveport-Bossier City.
“I want to congratulate officials with the cities of Breaux Bridge and West Monroe, along with St. Mary Parish for their tireless work in making their communities friendly and attractive to retirees,” said Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser in a press release.
“With nearly 76 million baby boomers nearing retirement in the coming years, many states are working to draw them to their areas, and we thought we should take advantage to not only grow tourism but help spur economic development.”
Communities win the designation based on a list of standards that includes climate, demographics, tax structure, local housing availability, public safety, employment and volunteer opportunities, health care, public transportation, and recreation and festivals.
St. Mary has about 7,700 residents who are over 65 and 2,400 who are over 75, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.
Beverly Domengeaux, director of the St. Mary Council on Aging, said the parish can be a good place for seniors because of its relatively warm weather and the presence of senior citizen centers around the parish.
She worries that the parish doesn’t do enough to keep younger people here. But to see the benefits of attracting retirees, look at Florida, Domengeaux said.
“We have better food,” she said.