Why not make Troup County a retirement center? The Chamber can put their thoughts on getting people to retire here.

All this comes from Hoover, Alabama, a little gold mine:

1. People who move there have large amounts of cash.

2. People who move there have no children, so schools get a free ride.

3. People who move there have a high amount of disposable income to spend on going out to eat and shopping.

4. People who move there want to spend money on their hobbies, like golf, fishing, travel, hunting and tennis.

5. People who move there, as a rule, have two late-model cars.

6. People who move there are recession-proof. Nobody will ship their jobs off to China.

7. Retired people will jump-start the economy here; they bring cash.

8. Retired people, as a rule, buy very nice homes and pay cash.

9. Retired people have friends that may follow them here and repeat the cycle.

10. Our medical doctors are top notch. We have so much to offer.

11. We have such a great location, four seasons and beautiful rolling terrain.

12. West Point Lake is a 26,000 acre lake that has some of the best fishing in the world right here in our back yard.

13. We are close to Atlanta, Columbus and Auburn with Interstate 85 coming right through the county.

14. The average three-bedroom, two-bath home is about $135,000. The average four-bedroom, two-bath is about $175,000.

15. This is a way to get the cycle of money to grow in Troup County. As people come here the ripple of money is amazing. People spend money on landscaping, carpet, new appliances, new lawn mowers, new heating/air units. They want to try many of the local places to eat.

My vote is that we are one of the greatest places to live. We are also a place where you get a lot of home for the money.

“America’s Greatest Little City” — I believe I had a bumper sticker over 40 years ago that was telling the world what a great place we were, and we still are a great place. Maybe we need a new bumper sticker that says we still are and what a great place to retire.

“When you do more than you’re paid to do, you will eventually be paid more for what you do.” — Unknown

“It is not the situation, but the way we respond to the situation that’s important.” — John Wooden