Where to Retire Magazine lauds Dade City again!
Where to retire magazine, which has offered praise
for the town twice before, lauds it in a new article.
Septmeber 27, 2002
DADE CITY — The same magazine that rated Dade City among the 100 best places in the United States to retire last year has returned, featuring the city in a six-page spread in its fall issue.
Where to Retire magazine, boasting a nationwide circulation of 200,000, calls Dade City a “picturesque small town in the Florida country,” in the issue that came out Thursday.
The article is the third appearance of Dade City in Where to Retire. The city was featured in a 1996 article and again last year in the special Top 100 issue, in which it was dubbed a “five-star small town.”
This month’s article details the advantages of living in a friendly country town that’s close to a lot.
“The small-town ambiance is an attribute that all of the retirees here cite, although there are many other attractions,” said the article, by retired Miami Herald travel writer Jay Clarke.
Clarke reports that many retirees were attracted by Lake Jovita Golf and Country Club development, while others enjoy antique shopping and the closeness to Saint Leo University, Pioneer Florida Museum and Village, San Antonio and Zephyrhills.
The article also highlights the area’s festivals, including the San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival and the Kumquat Festival. It gives special mention to the Little Everglades Steeplechase horse race, held each March on the 1,700-acre ranch owned by Bob and Sharon Blanchard.
Clarke’s interview with the Blanchards focuses on their reasons for leaving Tampa and moving to a small town.
“Both of us like the country,” Bob Blanchard is quoted as saying. “The closest neighbor is a mile away.”
Downtown Dade City Main Street Director Ginny Solberg said Thursday it’s hard to tell where people learn about Dade City when they call her office for information, but she said the city receives a lot of interest from seniors.
“You know who I see here almost weekly? The different Red Hat ladies’ clubs. They’re here all the time,” Solberg said. “They come from Seminole, Port Charlotte, Gainesville, all over. They love to come here for lunch and shopping.”
Where to Retire magazine was launched in 1992. Editors say the magazine examines retirement places, regions and master-planned communities, aimed at the estimated 380,000 people who move across state lines each year.