The Migration of U. S. Retirees to Guadalajara, Mexico: A Case for Environmental Preference Migration

There is an increasing amount of literature on environmental preference migration.2 Edward Ullman, probably the first geographer to publish a comprehensive review on the subject of environmental preference migration, suggested that migration models must be revised to account for the effect of amenities, specifically physical attractions such as climate and landforms, in producing migration streams.3 Articles in Time4 and U.S. News and World ReportS indicate that the reasons for the dramatic shift of the American population is due largely to a preference for areas with environmental amenities. The purpose of this paper is to examine the migration of retirees from the United States of Americas to Mexico. The particular elements described include: the magnitude of emigration; the regional distribution of migrants in Mexico; their reasons for selecting Guadalajara, Mexico, as a place of residence; and some specific social and economic characteristics of the migrants.