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Old 01-10-20, 12:57 PM  
BigBadBetty
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Madison, WI, USA
My parents live in 55+ community in Arizona in the winter. My aunt lived in one full-time until her death last year. I have been visiting for a week for the last 20 years. I can't say I have every seen many children. Both where my aunt and parents live have multiple pools. Children were restricted to one of those pools. I never used it. There were not allowed in the fitness center either.

My parents live in a free-standing house. The layout is quite nice. Large common area but the secondary bedroom are small. The only thing I don't like is all the development's houses have such small garages. You can get a 3-car garage, but it is a small 3-car garage. We have a full-sized pick up so I wonder if it would fit.

My aunt started in house, but eventually moved to a condo. The house had a casita which was basically a detached bedroom with attached bathroom. It was really nice for guests. Not all of the houses had casitas. The problem with the condo was noise. Hearing declines as we age. Some of her neighbors would blast their TVs all day long.

My aunt's community had some great options like a community car lift, workshop, salon. My parents' doesn't have as many options, but the people there are very physically active. They have softball, pickleball, volleyball, etc., leagues. People are also bicycling and jogging around the community.

I am not yet old enough for one of these communities, but I may be interested in one. I live in a condo so I am used to HOA stuff. It's not my favorite thing, but I like it better than shoveling snow. I would want a detached house for noise reasons.
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Old 01-10-20, 01:42 PM  
Terri1222
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Well, take it from someone who knows first hand...

About 2.5 years ago, I went through a divorce and since I was over 55, I decided to buy a condo in over 55 HOA situation. (FYI, I'm in Florida currently).

At the time, I really wanted to rent but found the rentals to be totally out of my $$ range. However, I could do it if I bought it so I that's what I went ahead and did.

Bad decision.

I've been here over a year now. The HOA is a joke, don't even get me started on it. Most everyone here is in their 80s and above, and their next stop is assisted living. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but since I just turned 60 a month ago, I'm still in a different "age bracket" than they are. If anything my neighbors (who I love!!!) consider me their daughter....


I have in fact met a few people my age recently. But honestly, I'm still working FT from home, and don't get to enjoy in any of their activities which are all during the day, rarely on weekends. Which just makes me want to retire earlier, but it's just not going to happen.

If I decide to move back up north at all (it's where my brothers and their families are), I will probably get involved with an HOA again - I am soooo not into shoveling!

Terri
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Old 01-10-20, 02:24 PM  
BigBadBetty
 
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Originally Posted by Terri1222 View Post
Well, take it from someone who knows first hand...

About 2.5 years ago, I went through a divorce and since I was over 55, I decided to buy a condo in over 55 HOA situation. (FYI, I'm in Florida currently).

At the time, I really wanted to rent but found the rentals to be totally out of my $$ range. However, I could do it if I bought it so I that's what I went ahead and did.

Bad decision.

I've been here over a year now. The HOA is a joke, don't even get me started on it. Most everyone here is in their 80s and above, and their next stop is assisted living. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but since I just turned 60 a month ago, I'm still in a different "age bracket" than they are. If anything my neighbors (who I love!!!) consider me their daughter....


I have in fact met a few people my age recently. But honestly, I'm still working FT from home, and don't get to enjoy in any of their activities which are all during the day, rarely on weekends. Which just makes me want to retire earlier, but it's just not going to happen.

If I decide to move back up north at all (it's where my brothers and their families are), I will probably get involved with an HOA again - I am soooo not into shoveling!

Terri
My parents chose their community because it was more 50s/60s people. They saw people being active outside. My aunt's community was much older. They also saw too many people who needed to be in assisted living...especially in the condos.

There are hardly any kids where I live currently. It is a condo building in city center. There are no child friendly amenities. For the price, you could get a much larger place in a more child friendly neighborhood so that is what people with children do.
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Old 01-10-20, 02:32 PM  
Juliepie
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Also it’s pretty hard to find a completely kid free neighborhood....they’re out there and they are our future leaders....
Children are our future...unless we stop them now.--Homer Simpson
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Old 01-10-20, 02:44 PM  
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Location: West coast of Canada, eh. ;)
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Children are our future...unless we stop them now.--Homer Simpson
Hahaha....

I maintain an open mind about kids & adolescents, many have a lot to offer. I don’t especially want to be surrounded by them at all times, but I don’t want to end up being an old curmudgeon either. IMO that just encourages ageism. Besides, they can provide very good tech support, lol.
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Old 01-10-20, 02:59 PM  
Terri1222
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Oh yeah, FYI, basically the only times you're seeing any grandchildren around here is during schoolbreaks. So few and far between ....

..
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Old 01-10-20, 03:49 PM  
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I totally understand preferences for living. We are all different. Parents with young kids seek out neighborhoods that are filled with families with the hope of their children making friends. It would make sense that as we get older, the same would occur.

This thread makes me sad,though. As a country, we have so much intolerance for one another and in particular people who are different from us. The more we separate, the less we understand about each other and the more intolerant we become. That's how we end up with statements such as "ok boomer"....meant to end any kind of communication, depersonalize and put people in their place.

Family connections and inter-generational interactions are important and benefit everyone. Empathy and understanding go both ways. Nobody wants to be discriminated against due to race, religion, or age (young or old).
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Old 01-11-20, 09:06 AM  
Nuggie's Auntie
 
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Originally Posted by yogapam View Post
Hahaha....

I maintain an open mind about kids & adolescents, many have a lot to offer. I don’t especially want to be surrounded by them at all times, but I don’t want to end up being an old curmudgeon either. IMO that just encourages ageism. Besides, they can provide very good tech support, lol.
Yes! When I first got my iPhone, I brought it to the church youth group and the teenagers were extraordinarily helpful! It was really fun getting to know them better, too.

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I totally understand preferences for living. We are all different. Parents with young kids seek out neighborhoods that are filled with families with the hope of their children making friends. It would make sense that as we get older, the same would occur.

This thread makes me sad,though. As a country, we have so much intolerance for one another and in particular people who are different from us. The more we separate, the less we understand about each other and the more intolerant we become. That's how we end up with statements such as "ok boomer"....meant to end any kind of communication, depersonalize and put people in their place.

Family connections and inter-generational interactions are important and benefit everyone. Empathy and understanding go both ways. Nobody wants to be discriminated against due to race, religion, or age (young or old).
Yes yes yes yes yes. Thank you, Jackie. This is exactly what I was getting at. I understand kids are noisy, rambunctious and sometimes do stupid stuff, but they can also be really delightful. We can help them, they can help us. There were an several older people in our former neighborhood. One couple did not have grandchildren of their own, so they sort of 'adopted' ours. It was very sweet. Another neighbor in her 80's and I would have coffee every Friday morning after I dropped my kids off at school. I loved hearing her stories and she gave me great insight on parenting. We helped them, they helped us and we all enjoyed each other.

My husband and I have always avoided age-stratified activities (except school or kids sports functions) or groups because we feel strongly there is much benefit for all to be mixed together--singles and married, widows, divorced people, old and young, etc. It can be harder to find socio-economic diversity, but that's important, too.
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Old 01-11-20, 10:04 AM  
wishiwasinhawaii
 
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I think the point of this thread was to talk about the pros and cons of living in a 55+ environment. If you like living in a regular neighborhood and 55+ is not for you, that's ok, but it's also ok to want that type of environment.
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Old 01-11-20, 10:19 AM  
Nuggie's Auntie
 
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Location: I love that dirty water...
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I think the point of this thread was to talk about the pros and cons of living in a 55+ environment. If you like living in a regular neighborhood and 55+ is not for you, that's ok, but it's also ok to want that type of environment.
No one is saying it's 'not ok' to want this type of environment. We're discussing the pros and cons. The lack of generational diversity is apparently 'pro' for some and 'con' for others.

There was an article in the WSJ recently that questioned the sustainability of this model over the long term. As baby boomers die, the population of older people will dwindle and these communities are going to have to adapt. There is some concern that buying a property in a 55+ neighborhood might not be a great investment... there may be an over-saturated market in a few years.
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