Myths of the 55 Plus Active Adult Lifestyle

Maureen McCann
Jul 25, 2017 · 2 min read

As a year-round resident of a 55 Plus Community and a Realtor specializing in PebbleCreek in the Phoenix area, I hear talk about 55 Plus Communities all of the time. Some of the talk I find to be true — such as living in an active adult community increases the potential to make new friends and develop new interests. And some of the chatter I find to be pure nonsense. Here are my top three myths about the Active Adult Lifestyle:

  1. Life in an Active Adult Community is Relaxing. Some days are relaxing, and you can always relax if you want to, but the vast majority of us would say that we are working toward building substantial “next chapters” for ourselves. Once the house is unpacked and feels like home, the real journey begins. The task of integrating in to the culture - both in the community and outside the gates takes effort. Most of us are actively looking for ways to contribute and then summoning the discipline to make those contributions without the structure of a professor and/or employer. People don’t move to Active Adult Communities to retire — they move to these communities to rebuild. Big Difference.
  2. Young People are Not Welcome. Bologna. It IS true that you must be 19 to permanently reside in PebbleCreek. But there are children here everyday — in the pools, at the restaurants. Many residents from PebbleCreek live near their family and are active caretakers/supporters for grandchildren. And, active adult HOAs are wise enough to understand that there is money to be made in opening doors to the local citizens — our golf courses are open to the public, we rent space for weddings/events, our restaurants are open to everyone. Life in an active adult community is not a life lived in isloation.
  3. Everyone will be Like Minded. Another bunch of spin. It is true that everyone will be living with someone who was born within a 50 -60 year time span. (Our community — and most active adult communities—allows for folks to buy in as long as one of the residents is at least 40, so we easily have three generations of folks living here.) However, we come from all over the United States and many of our residents have lived outside of the United States as well. Our political and social influences are broad — very broad. This is NOT a group of like minded people except in the sense that everyone has chosen to live in a community that places value on social interaction and the faciliation of new interests and talents. That, we can, for the most part at least, agree on!
Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade