active adult community – Page 5 – Retirement Media: Active Adult Living

One of the concerns or questions that people think about when considering a move to a Active Adult Community is will I fit it? Will I be accepted? Will I make friends?

Once person says I am not religious and not too political, so will I fit in with the people at a 55+ community who are generally conservative?

Others wonder about the age differences between themselves and the others in a particular community and would that be a problem?

Others may be coming from a completely different region of the county and wonder if regional differences may keep them from fitting it.

Still some others may have an unrealistic view of life in a 55+ community and think that only old sedate people on walkers who just live out their life in a quite setting live there. These people think they are not ready for this yet and don’t want to be viewed as old.

Wow, that is a lot of concerns to address in one post, but having lived in a Del Community for one year now, here is my take.

In general, just about everyone living in our community seems to be very interesting, engaging and active. Having different backgrounds and experiences makes this a much more interesting place to live than your run of the mill suburban subdivision. People just want to have fun and there is an understanding that we are all in this together. Just about everybody wants to make new friends and get along.

People want to get along and there is no where that is more likely to happen, than right here in an Active Adult Community.

Let me take the age concern first. In our community, there is a wide range of ages, all the way from 55 to 95. That’s 40 years. I think we have friends from every one of those decades.

There’s going to be people your own age. But here is the thing: it doesn’t make any difference. People are people and you will learn not to prejudge someone just because they are older (or younger) than you. Some of the most interesting people I have met are in their 80s. Even on the bocce and pickleball courts, several competitors in their 80’s can beat me at my baby age of 68 🙂 (I learned that lesson at the Senior Games too!).

As far as religion and politics, most of the time that is not discussed. In the present election season, just like in society at large, there is more voicing of opinions, but I don’t think you can escape that until after the elections. There are both Democratic and Republican clubs.

I have heard that us older people can be very opinionated, by this time in life, we know what we believe. I think most people just want to have fun and not be hassled. There is always one or two people you will run into that are to be avoided, but that is the exception.

There is going to be differences of opinions. Just let it go. It’s just their truth, not yours. No harm is being done to you and hopefully by this time in life, you don’t have to convert everyone over to your way of thinking.

Tip: If differences in opinion are an insult to you, please stay off Facebook, where people post things they never (thankfully) say in public.

Some of the people who moved from other regions seem to enjoying living here the most. They love to explore surrounding towns and attend local events. It’s like they are on vacation all the time, as everything is new to them.

The people with the unrealistic view of life at an Active Adult Community will probably just have to miss out on improving their lives. They aren’t likely to take your advise about what life in an Active Adult Community is like. Their minds are made up.

They don’t see the whole purpose is to stay younger by being active, socializing, making new friends, having fun things to do.

The bottom line is that you won’t have any trouble fitting it. This is not high school. There are close to 100 clubs plus many more events for socialization if you want. People are probably going to be more interesting and diverse while being more friendly than where you moved from.

Another thing is that people are past the stage of trying to impress you with how much money they have or the size of their house or their personal belongings. Unless they mention it, you have no idea what they did for a living. If you live here, it matters not if it’s in a Villa or the largest home with basement. That is kind of freeing all in itself.

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A gated community by definition refers to a type of residential neighborhood that has controlled access via one or more gates that residents and visitors must pass through when entering the community. A manned gated community is staffed by a security guard or courtesy person that checks to see if a person is authorized to enter when they do not have an automatic gated opener.

Most of the larger Active Adult 55+ Communities, like those built by Del Webb, Cresswind Homes, and Trilogy Communities are manned gated communities. Gated communities are a signature beneficial feature of active adult communities.

Our community Village at Deaton Creek, a Dell Webb community is a manned gated community. I went up to talk with the guard at the main entrance to find out what the benefits are, of living in a manned gated community. He invited me in for a nice chat and let me sit in the captain’s chair in front of the monitor with a live picture of the rear gate (which is unmanned but gated) and a display of a list of residents and guests on the screen.

Our guardhouse is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

There are three gate lanes at the main entrance, two for entry including one for residents with a automatic gate opener. The guard does look at those vehicles entering the automatic gate also and pointed out one to me entering with an opener but no sticker on the windshield. Hmmm.

A second entrance lane directs people by the guardhouse where we were sitting, to check in. The guard asks their purpose and destination and checks to see if they have been authorized. In our 20 minute meeting, there must have been 15 cars stopping by to gain access. It was surprising busy. He said rainy days are not as busy since contractors are not working.

The third gate is people leaving the community and that gate opens automatically but forces people to slow down a bit. The guard does take a look vehicles leaving.

Benefits of a Gated Community

I already knew residents like living in a gated community because of the perceived safety and I do think that is a main benefit. People travel, take cruises or visit Florida for a couple of months and know their home is pretty safe.

Living in a gated community can be kind of a status symbol and impresses friends who have to stop by the guardhouse on their entry.

Having controlled access also keeps out uninvited people from just riding through the community to take a look or to use as a cut through. Besides saving wear on our streets, it is safer and quieter without that traffic.

Controlled access also keeps the public from driving in to use our facilities and amenities, like the courts used for sports and other things.

The guard said he is there to assist also. If the resident’s automated gate breaks down, he can route us through his gate. If an emergency vechile is approaching, he lifts the gates so they don’t need to stop.

Residents can call the guard house to tell them about visitors they are expecting, but actually it is more efficient to email the guardhouse. They will reply to confirm. Call the guardhouse to ask for their email.