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Two Acadiana locations designated as Louisiana retirement areas

Posted at 11:17 AM, Mar 10, 2020
and last updated 2020-03-10 12:17:06-04

Two areas in Acadiana have been added to the list of communities designated as a Louisiana Certified Retirement Community.

According to the Louisiana Office of Tourism and Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser the cities of Breaux Bridge, West Monroe, as well as St. Mary Parish have now been designated as retirement communities.

Since its beginning in 2018, the Louisiana Certified Retirement Community program has designated thirteen communities statewide. The areas named Tuesday join the ten other communities named as certified retirement communities that include Kaplan, Lafayette Parish, Lake Charles, Natchitoches, Ruston/Lincoln Parish, Toledo Bend/Sabine Parish, Shreveport-Bossier City, Tangipahoa Parish, Houma/Terrebonne Parish, and Thibodaux.

"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 Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. "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."

Criteria used to become a certified retirement community includes: climate, demographics, tax structure at the state and local levels, local housing availability, public safety and crime index, employment and volunteer opportunities, healthcare and medical services, public transportation, recreational areas, and festival and fairs.

The Encore Louisiana Commission was mandated by the Legislature in 1999 as the Louisiana Retirement Development Commission to market and promote Louisiana as a retirement community state. In 2009, the Legislature renamed the commission as the Encore Louisiana Commission with the goal of setting guidelines and requirements in developing criteria for a destination to become a Louisiana Certified Retirement Community. For more information visit www.louisianatravel.com/retire