Has Anyone Made the Leap to a 55+ Community?

Not yet. 58 yo, like where I am living too much to move. However, my parents (77 when they moved in) bought a house in a community that is 55+ on one side and “all ages” on the other. They wanted to move closer to me, so I went with them to check out options in 3 states before they chose one about 20 mins away. I live in the DC area - my parents have traveled all over the world, lived overseas until my Dad retired 20 yrs ago, and have always been very physically active. They got tired of being in neighborhoods with lots of kids and wanted to move back further North and be near more cultural things in an area that was highly diverse. My Mom is a social butterfly - my Dad much less so. She had already formed a posse within two weeks of them moving into their house. They have a separate gym and pool for their community, clubs, a regular card game tourney going, pickleball, tennis courts and bocce. My Dad unfortunately started developing Parkinson’s about 6 months after they moved here so he gave up pickleball and bocce because of issues with his motor skills. But it ended up being a godsend because of being near Hopkins, and proximity to Annapolis where there is a Parkinson’s boxing gym he goes to several times a week and has made friends there. They have a mix of ages - some neighbors are still working and are my age, a couple are in their early 80’s (so my parents are on the higher end of the scale), many seem to be mid 60’s range. But the houses aren’t cheap - as I recall they started around $700k but by the time people add on options etc. easily get to $950k. They sold the lots out within a year - lots of Boomers with pensions AND 401ks to enjoy. I am not yet ready to move further out - but do get envious of their 2 car garage, food truck nights, and quiet over there. I imagine in another 10 yrs our generation will start to populate these places and begin having gaming nights with X Box and Steam decks instead of just bridge and other card games. One place we looked at was too far out from DC but I was envious of the amenities - they had full on art studios, wood shops, etc. I will say that some retirees do start to act like high school - so you see some drama. With my mom’s group there is always one high maintenance person who is unpleasant that eventually gets frozen out by the others lol. But the younger ones (60-65) plan great trips locally and sometimes farther afield, and it is great thing for my parents. The younger ones seem happy as well..