Vicksburg is one of more than a half-dozen Mississippi cities and towns named a top location for retirees by a national magazine.

The River City, along with Madison, Oxford and towns on the Gulf Coast were named Southern Retirement Hotspots by Charlotte, N.C.-based Retirement Lifestyles, which will feature the areas in its January/February/March quarterly issue, a release from the publication said.

Vicksburg was lauded for its culture, affordability and sense of community. Oxford was highlighted as an active college town and for its downtown, while Madison was noted for its suburban location near Jackson. The magazine noted the entire Gulf Coast, including Gulfport, Biloxi, Waveland, Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian, Long Beach and Pascagoula, adding, “If your goal is to live near the water and/or the coast, the Mississippi Gulf Coast is affordable and stable with a strong military influence.”

“Our editors love relatively undiscovered retirement spots and we feel these are some of the best small towns in Mississippi,” said executive editor Dan Owens in the release.

Retirement Lifestyles magazine focuses on communities and retiree lifestyles in 11 southern states — Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Florida, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Smaller towns that are “under the radar” of the national media are often highlighted, the release said.

“As Baby Boomers age, there will be an increasing interest in finding unspoiled smaller communities with great natural assets and a good quality of life,” Owens said. “Many retirees need an information source like Retirement Lifestyles to learn more about great lifestyle communities.”

The magazine was named second best for readers 55 and older in 2009, behind AARP, in the Mature Market Media Awards.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com