We live in a very active adult community that has one 55+ pocket but is otherwise not age-restricted. We have families, some young children, a playscape area, but the community is fairly self-selecting to 50s+ mostly due to cost. Our HOA is high, but we have a championship 18-hole golf course, pro shop, golf/tennis/pickleball lessons, full-service spa/salon/fitness facilities, several restaurants and pools, a 60,000 sq.ft. indoor/outdoor resort clubhouse with a locally-known chef, wine tastings, walking trails, and over 70 clubs, including specialty spaces like a dedicated arts facility for painting, ceramics (with kiln), cooking classes, etc. There are club-sponsored trips to theaters, museums, restaurants, and even travel groups. And, we have a very active community service league. Though healthcare is not part of the package, our west entrance faces the emergency entrance to a major regional hospital/medical complex which is next door to the fire department; calls to 911 result in almost immediate response. I can also walk to the grocery store, Target, Sprouts, coffee chain, and several small restaurants (if I wanted to).
There are 2,500 homes in our community ranging from 1,100 sq.ft to 3,500 sq.ft, mostly single-story as the developer stopped building two-story homes when demand petered out and they became hard to sell. 90% are single, detached homes, but we have a pocket of two-unit condos and townhomes that share a wall. We were very much attracted to this community for its commitment to energy efficiency. The first two phases of the development came with whole-house solar (the development was initially designed as a solar farm in partnership with our electric provider), but successive phases offered solar as an option. It’s a dark-sky community, and the golf course uses recycled gray water with a solar-powered irrigation system. Other than the golf course, all landscaping is drip/xeriscape.
This place is lovely but waaay more active than I will ever be though it suits DH well. We moved here as a rightsize from the home we raised our son in just as he was graduating from HS. We have already done the Swedish Death Cleaning and figured this would be our retirement stop, but purchasing a cabin in Maine in 2021 and now splitting our year between two places (I’m happier in ME) has shown us that the home in the active adult community is still too big, and we’re considering another downsize. However, we haven’t decided just where yet, and we are considering how a CCRC will fit in to the next move, so I’m watching this thread. Based on the costs some of you are throwing out, though, it seems likely we’ll stick to the AZ bargains.