11 June 2008

Age-Segregated Communities More Popular Than Ever, Despite Housing Downturn

Here's something that came across the PR Wire.
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CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwire - June 11, 2008) - Despite a real estate market that is the worst in decades, one bright spot still remains. Sales in age 55+ active adult retirement communities have remained strong. As the popularity of active adult communities continues to grow, studies have shown that Baby Boomers are increasingly opting to live in these age-restricted developments. A new website, 55places.com, recently launched to help this large demographic group find, research and compare active adult and retirement communities around the country.
55Places.com currently showcases more than 50 active retirement communities throughout 11 popular retirement states. The site is a great one-stop-shop to learn about the details of each community. Visitors to the site can read community descriptions, get details like pricing and association fees, view photos and learn about amenities and social clubs offered by the communities. Unlike other websites, 55Places.com provides objective independent reviews of all active adult communities, including both new and "resale" developments.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just finished reading "Leisureville" and had to write to tell you how much I enjoyed it. Fine writing and great research. I discovered it on the "new releases" rack at our new public library. The library opened last September after voters approved a sixth-penny tax for funding. This was either the second or third try for the library. Some voters disapproved of the chosen site, which was outside of the downtown area, or the funding mechanism, because it meant more taxes. So planners went back to the drawing board. I knew the most recent effort would pass when my wife, teen daughter and I leafletted neighborhoods with a group of fundmamentalist Christian home-schoolers. We couldn't have been any more opposite politically, but we all had the same goal. I learned a lot, and we all got a new public library. This seems to me the essence of community.

I live in Cheyenne, Wyoming, now but grew up in Central Florida. My wife of 26 years grew up there too. I'm 57, she's 52. Are we eventually retiring to a Florida age-segregated community? NO!

Andrew D. Blechman said...

Michael,

I find community to be like one's children: always challenging, but also the very very best part of life.
Great to hear that you have a new library, although it's sad that so many public buildings are leaving downtowns. Our schools were ripped out of our downtown core and moved to a distant "campus" where no child will ever walk to school again. A lot of us also miss the kids hanging around town after school -- it added a vibrancy.

Feel free (although not in any way obligated) to write a sentence or two about Leisureville on amazon or some such site. Perhaps even your library has one. Every reader review gets the word out and it's definitely time we had a national debate about age-segregation. It's the stealthiest of sociological revolutions, not by design, just by apathy.

best wishes,

andrew