Naturally occurring retirement communities: a multiattribute examination of desirability factors.

This study investigated the factors important in older individuals' attraction to and satisfaction with apartment complexes that become naturally occurring retirement communities (NORCs). Quantitative measures examining the relative importance of various apartment complex attributes in attracting older and younger people to apartments that have and have not become NORCs were obtained by using a multiattribute scaling procedure. Results are presented from two main perspectives: a comparison of the factors attracting older residents to NORCs and non-NORCs; and a comparison of the factors attracting older and younger residents to NORCs.