Retirement community


A retirement community is a residential community or housing complex designed for older adults who are generally able to care for themselves. Assistance from home care agencies is allowed in some communities, and activities and socialization opportunities are often provided. Some of the characteristics typically are: the community must be age-restricted or age-qualified, residents must be partially or fully retired, and the community offers shared services or amenities.
There are various types of retirement communities older adults can choose from, and new types of retirement communities are being developed as the population ages. Examples of retirement community types include:
  • assisted living communities, also known as assisted living and memory care assisted living communities, which provide all the daily services seniors need in an apartment or condominium style environment - such as activities, dining, housekeeping, nursing, and wellness - usually in a locked and secured building;
  • congregate housing, which includes at least one shared meal per day with other residents;
  • continuing care retirement communities, see below;
  • elder/senior cohousing, multiple individually owned housing units oriented around a common area and a common house;
  • Independent senior living communities, also known as independent living communities, which offer no personal care services;
  • leisure or lifestyle oriented communities or LORCs, which include various amenities;
  • mobile homes or RV's for active adults;
  • subsidized housing for lower income older adults.
Retirement communities are often built in warm climates, and are common in Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, and Texas, but they are increasingly being built in and around major cities throughout the United States. The oldest known and longest continuously running retirement community in the United States is Ryderwood, Washington. Ryderwood was originally established in 1923 as a Long-Bell logging camp, then was sold to Senior Estates, Inc. in 1953 to create a retirement community. Senior Estates, Inc. converted the town into a retirement community. Time Magazine covered the event in the real estate section with the article "Old Folks at Home". As of 2019, Ryderwood remains a retirement community. Del Webb opened Sun City, Arizona, with the active adult concept, in 1960. In 2011, The Villages, Florida became the largest of these communities.
While new retirement communities have developed in various areas of the United States, they are largely marketed to older adults who are financially secure. Lower income retirement communities are rare except for government subsidized housing, which neglects a large proportion of older adults who have fewer financial resources.

History

Retirement communities have been around since the 1920s and 1930s.

Continuing care retirement communities

is the primary term for a major part of the retirement scene, in books, magazines, accreditation and legislation. A typical definition, from a New York Department of Health website is "Continuing care retirement communities and fee-for-service continuing care retirement communities are residential alternatives for adults that offer, under one contract, an independent living unit, residential amenities and access to a continuum of long-term care services, as residents' health and social needs change over time." The accrediting agency CCRC/CARF uses the term CCRC with the same meaning.
In 2010, over 2,000 CCRCs existed in the United States with an estimated 640,000 residents. The popularity of CCRCs is increasing, as the number of older adults in such retirement communities has more than doubled during the last decade. The primary benefit of the CCRC model is that it allows people to age in one community and receive additional healthcare services if needed. Additionally, CCRCs embody a general sense of community and offer peace of mind for couples with the assurance that they will always be near each other, even if one spouse needs more care.
There are three levels of care in most CCRCs and when residents' health needs increase, they will transition from one level to the next. The levels are:
  1. Independent living, in which residents live on their own and have access to a wide array of amenities
  2. Assisted living, which provides help with daily tasks such as bathing and dressing
  3. 24-hour nursing home-style care.
Most CCRCs include an entrance fee and a monthly fee, and these costs vary widely depending on several factors: the luxuriousness of the facility, the size and type of housing unit, whether the person enters alone or with a spouse, and how much future care is covered. Fees tend to be expensive and usually do not include additional services such as phone and television. Additionally, residents should plan on a 3-6% increase in monthly fees each year.
CCRC's usually offer various payment plans, which are listed below:
  1. Life care: Residents pay a large entrance fee and pay a set monthly fee that does not increase if additional healthcare is needed
  2. Modified: Residents pay a lower entrance fee and their initial monthly fees cover a certain amount of higher-level care. The monthly fees rise when further care is needed.
  3. Pay as you go: Residents pay a lower entrance fee, but initial monthly fees increase when additional care is needed
One risk of entering a CCRC is that most will refund only a portion or none of the entrance fee if a resident chooses to leave the community. The same refund policies exist when a resident passes away. Persons considering moving into a CCRC may wish to research existing CCRCs before committing to one.
According to a literature review, CCRCs have been found to be generally described by the elderly as friendly places where new friends are made. However, previous research has also highlighted the difficulty of socially integrating the frail and very old.

Elder/senior cohousing

Elder cohousing, also known as senior cohousing, is a living arrangement in which multiple individually owned housing units are oriented around a common open area and a common house. Residents actively cooperate to live in a neighborhood characterized by socialization and mutual support. The idea for elder cohousing originated in Denmark, where intergenerational cohousing was successfully implemented; intergenerational housing communities are planned, owned, and managed by the residents, who all share in many daily activities together. This idea spun off the idea of an age-specific cohousing model for active elders, in which community designs permit easy access for all levels of physical ability. There may also be options to include studio residencies in the common house to provide living quarters for home health aids, whose services may be shared by several residents.
To be considered a "cohousing community" the following six defining characteristics must be present:
  1. Participatory process – the future residents participate in the design so that it meets their needs
  2. Neighborhood design – the physical layout and orientation of the buildings encourage a sense of community
  3. Common facilities
  4. Resident management
  5. Non-hierarchical structure and decision making
  6. No shared community economy

    Age requirements

At least 80% of the units in the community must include an individual aged 55 or older, to meet the age requirements to qualify as "senior housing".

History

As previously stated, the cohousing living model was first observed in Denmark. There, the communities are known as bofoellesskaber, which translates to "living communities". K. McCamant and C. Durrett coined the term "cohousing", and launched it in the United States in the 1970s. Since its introduction to the U.S. intergenerational cohousing communities have been developed in at least 21 states.

Niche retirement communities in the United States

Niche retirement communities target retirees who "share a common interest, hobby or trait". By 2011, niche retirement communities or "niche senior communities' - known as "affinity retirement communities" by industry professionals - had become "one of the biggest trends in retirement living." These communities attract those over 55 who want to be in communities of like-minded individuals from the same ethnic background, sexual orientation or for those who share an interest such as academia and lifelong learning, Penn State University, Stanford University, University of Florida, creative expression and artists, astronomers, golf, RV aficionados s, veterans, vegetarians, fans of Big 10 football games and country music."
In the United States alone there are approximately 80 million people who were born between 1946 and 1964 - the baby boomers - who control about $25 trillion in wealth. By 2011 there were already over 100 niche communities.
Andrew Carle, founding director of the Program in Senior Housing Administration at George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia observed that the baby boomers "... set the record for embracing fad products, and that'll likely translate over into the niche retirement community as well... targeted toward people with specific interests and backgrounds, from Big 10 football games and country music to gay-friendly lifestyles."
In Florida alone there are niche retirement communities for Polk County retired letter carriers ; for car buffs and RVers, such as Lake Weir Preserve in Marion County; for first-generation Indian immigrants in Tavares, in the Greater Orlando area, Lake County, Florida. The Villages, in Sumter County, Florida- Florida's most well-known and fastest-growing retirement community development is the state's "biggest example of a culturally and ethnically homogeneous retirement community" with a 98.4% white population. The Villages, a gated community with low crime rates, offers "free golf for life" on their executive golf courses.
Colleges have created options for retired alumni who enjoy campus life, for example, at the University of Florida in Gainesville and Eckerd College in St. Petersburg's College Harbor Retirement Community, with its Academy of Senior Professionals.
There are downsides to living in niche retirement communities. According to research by Harvard Law professor Cass Sunstein, "eople who surround themselves by like-minded people are more likely to become more extreme in their views. Sunstein observed increasing polarization in the United States in "ideologically-homogeneous communities" where groups composed of exclusively like-minded people isolate themselves from the wider, mainstream community and have limited exposure to alternative viewpoints. Carle also noted that residents in affinity communities can get burnt out with their life centered around what was once a favorite hobby.