Family ties, new senior housing draw most retirees to this Minnesota county

It took Everett Wallin a few years of grieving and loneliness after losing his wife before he was ready to leave the Marshall, Minn., townhome they’d shared.

Now, he’s happy to say, he’s found a new home — in Chanhassen.

“It’s great here. There’s just so much to do,” Wallin said of Riley Crossing Senior Living, one of the many 55-plus newer developments welcoming a steady stream of retiree residents to Carver County. “I like this place a lot.”

In net population gains, Carver County has added more adults age 65 and over than anywhere else in the state, according to data from Minnesota State Demographer Susan Brower.

The southwest suburban county gained an average of nearly 900 people aged 65 and older each year for the past five years, she said.

Across Minnesota, the number of aging baby boomers is increasing significantly, with more residents turning 65 in the two decades from 2010 to 2030 than the previous four decades combined, Brower said. By 2030, 1 in 4 Minnesotans will be age 65 or older.

Which communities are attracting the most baby boomers across Minnesota? Other data from Brower’s office showed the highest migration growth of 65-plus residents has been in rural counties, including northern Minnesota. Closer to the Twin Cities, Isanti County was the top county for the highest rate of new 65-plus residents; Carver County comes in third.

In Carver County, one factor more than any other is fueling the migration: grandkids. Thanks to a boom of families moving here with their kids, Brower said, Carver County is seeing a jump in grandparents who want to be near them.

“The underlying thread is that some of these areas are continuing to build housing for people of all ages,” Brower said.

David Hemze, Carver County’s administrator, said he sees growth in cities throughout its boundaries, from Chanhassen to Chaska to Carver.

“The common thread seems to be growth that’s pulling in people of all ages,” he said. “And we’re really seeing an influx of older folks coming to be near their older kids — and their grandkids.”

Wallin, 89, fits the profile.

After years of moving his family from base to base around the world during a career in the Air Force that spanned the Vietnam War and much of the Cold War, Wallin, his wife, Phyllis, and their three kids moved back to Minnesota.

When they retired from their civilian jobs, the couple moved to a townhome in Marshall in 2017. Phyllis died following a fall at their home in 2020, and Everett has since split his time between Roanoke, Va., where his daughter lives, and Marshall, where he and his wife lived for three of their 63 years together.

“I decided it was a good idea to be close to some of my family members,” Wallin said of his son Mark, Mark’s wife, Jodi, and their two adult sons who are now a much-shorter drive away.

Mark Wallin, who lives in Eden Prairie, said the move has given him a chance “to reconnect a little bit” with his dad.

“I can buzz over there, drop groceries off. Bring him to dinner at our place,” Mark Wallin said.

Everett Wallin has found an active social life where he can work out in the gym, enjoy happy hours, see movies and get a regular haircut at the main-floor barber. He especially relishes time spent with the preschoolers at his complex’s on-site day care. They call him “Grandpa.”

“I can’t always tell what they’re saying,” he said, smiling.

Barbara and Loren Nelson moved to Carver County from Silver City, N.M., three years ago. They run the happy hour at Riley Crossing and Barbara, a former music teacher, sings and reads to the children in the day care.

“We did come to be closer to family. We raised our kids here and have longtime friends nearby,” Barbara Nelson said.

Volunteering at the child care, she said, “makes my heart happy.”

Carver Mayor Courtney Johnson said she wasn’t surprised by the city’s growth in senior residents.

“A lot of adult children are inviting their parents to be closer to them. They want help [with their kids]” she said. “Others come because they want a quieter life than in the Twin Cities. Others want the outdoor amenities, the trails, the [Landscape] Arboretum just down the road.”

As the community engagement manager for the city of Chaska, Kevin Wright’s job includes connecting with people at events all over town.

“From the folks I have talked to, what draws them here is, typically, family,” Wright said, adding that he, too, heard folks say they want to move closer to kids and grandkids.

And “we’re kind of in an area where you have more space. You’re not too far away from Minneapolis and St. Paul, but there’s more of a small-town feel,” he added.

When it was time for Christine Hanson and her husband to find their post-retirement home, they didn’t want to be far from their kids and four grandkids. They moved just 5 minutes from Chanhassen to a Chaska 55-plus community of single-family homes with a large clubhouse, pickleball courts and hiking and biking trails.

She’s become a regular at the Chaska Community Center, taking yoga on Tuesdays and cardio classes Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

After class, she heads next door to the Lodge, where there are activities for seniors, including card games, billiards, dominos and social events.

“It’s a great place,” Hanson said. “I fell in love with it from Day One.”