The GenX version of The Villages?

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Xyzzydude@reddit

I plan to stay in my streetcar suburb townhouse then move into a CCRC in my late 70s. Seen too many people who think they can age in place end up screwing themselves and (especially) their reluctant caregivers by ending up sick and immobile in a house that’s inappropriate for it and by the time they realize their mistake, they are too poor and/or frail to fix their living situation.

In the meantime if you’re looking for a GenX appropriate community to retire to where there’s nature, walking trails, people mind their own business, you could do much worse than a community like Tryon Farm in Michigan City Indiana.

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katzeye007@reddit

That website is a crying shame

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Xyzzydude@reddit

The website is pretty much abandoned but I’ve been there and it’s super nice if you like nature.

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Robwsup@reddit

Hate nature, hard pass.

Actually love nature, fuck that website.

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Gloomy_Shallot7521@reddit

I don't even know what The Villages (not like The Prisoner, lol). I've seen the comments about malls, but yuck. I didn't even like being in my local mall as a teen, so I wouldn't want to be in the overly consumeristic plastic nightmare to live out my years. I need trees, and sky, and maybe an ocean. Private island anyone?

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TheJokersChild@reddit

Watch Some Kind Of Heaven and you'll find out what The Villages is all about.

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Wink527@reddit

What do you think about Leisure World? https://leisureworldmaryland.com

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Wyndeward@reddit

Was kinda hoping for less golf and more D&D, but I'm weird.

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b0sscrab@reddit

What color body sponge are you sporting?

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OPsDaddy@reddit

I wash myself with a rag on a stick.

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NoYOUGrowUp@reddit

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notevenapro@reddit

Yuk. I cannot imagine living in a place like that

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harrismi7@reddit

I’m 52 and moved into a 55+ neighborhood July 2025. If you really want to live in one check out the age requirements, since I was over 50 I could buy here. I think it’s great, it’s quiet, there are lots of amenities and events going on. I still work so I don’t get to many events during the day but that’s OK with me. The community does all the lawn maintenance.

I don’t have children and I got tired of being in a neighborhood filled with them and their immature parents. Been there, done that in the last neighborhood I lived in. There were definitely more assholes in the regular neighborhood. Is it perfect, no, there will always be issues with the management of any HOA neighborhood, but I ignore the petty stuff. I’ve met a lot of nice people, everyone waves to you or says Hi when you’re outside. Even though I’m an introvert, I enjoy meeting people here and hearing about where they moved from, I’m one of the few locals that moved to this neighborhood.

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seigezunt@reddit

Interesting. We moved to a neighborhood that by pure circumstance started attracting younger families with children and as we’ve aged, there’s a new group of younger people with littles, and it’s like sunshine. We work from home, and the kids and dogs wander through our yards like it’s one big yard. I would miss that to just move to a place where everyone remembers rotary phones.

But every region is different

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seigezunt@reddit

And having to deal with an HOA would probably send me to an early grave.

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WhiteHeteroMale@reddit

As I was reading your first paragraph, my mind wandered to, “what would be the appeal of only living around older adults? I love having young children in the neighborhood, and having conversations with younger adults who still have some optimism in them.”

And then you answered my question. Sounds like it’s probably not for me. But no judgment for folks who love it.

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erino3120@reddit

The villages is like if the food court at the worst mall in America became a neighborhood. I feel we are all looking for solitude.

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deadlyspoons@reddit

Constantine Cavafy’s "The City" was written in 1894 and reworked until final in 1910. It addresses the futility of trying to escape internal unhappiness by changing external locations. Put another way: “Wherever you go, there you are.”

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Mollyjones85@reddit

A van down by the river sounds nice

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seigezunt@reddit

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Is there cheese? Because you make it sound enticing

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BlownCamaro@reddit

I did that for a summer, and it was fantastic. I still think about it from time to time. Ate out of the river, drank out of the river (boiled of course). No electricity, no phone. Cooked on a campfire.

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Sad-Second-9646@reddit

Let’s found MattFoleyville, an over 55 community for the lower middle class.

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GenericStandard42@reddit

No rolling doobies!

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Sad-Second-9646@reddit

And watch out for flaming bags of dog crap

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potato_for_cooking@reddit

Im in.

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loudmusicboy@reddit

The Villages is god-awful. I know this because I had to visit my mother there for years. If you're a fan of shirtless old guys showing off their man boobs in their golf carts tricked out with whatever SEC/Big Ten school they support, go for it. If you're a fan of dodging STDs (since the Villages has the highest rate per capital), go for it. Some of the dumbest people I've ever met live in the Villages and that's saying something. Don't be looking for much in the way of culture and don't wonder where all the non-white folks are. You're in Central Florida where the Klan still burns crosses. All of this to say, there's no fucking way I would consider living in a GenX geared community. I'm good here in New England.

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FugginOld@reddit

Wow. You sound vaccinated

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Owlthirtynow@reddit

lol. I get what you did here.

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Jackson849@reddit

You must suck on horse dewormer

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FugginOld@reddit

You must suck on immigrant dick.

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mtutty@reddit

You're welcome.

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Underbadger@reddit

This is very accurate.

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BlownCamaro@reddit

I'm good with you staying in New England as well.

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Dynothermsconnexted@reddit

Lit 🔥

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Subject-Ad-8055@reddit

I have a feeling alot of us will leave the country. I have fam in the villages and it is very expensive place to live now and everything there has been boomerified to the incredibly expensive overdone golf carts to even the houses I mean what are you going to do as a 72-year-old man retired living in like a 1,200 square foot two bedroom too bath two car garage house right outside the square I'm like what do you need all the space you old man by yourself so I don't think the village is going to be quite for us..

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seigezunt@reddit

I have a feeling most of us won’t be able to afford to

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Subject-Ad-8055@reddit

i disagree i think gen x will be just fine and will be sitting on a fishing dock on a lake watching the world around us burn..

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JoeInMD@reddit

Leaving the country is typically cheaper

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Guttersnipe77@reddit

I left the country 6 years ago. Can't recommend it enough. Bought a cheap apartment, and live on about $1k per month.

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Z_Opinionator@reddit

We’re going to inherit my inlaws’ condo one day. We’ll sell our 3000 sq ft house and be the next couple to retire and die from there.

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2FDots@reddit

A condo or apartment in a big city with lots of public transit options and medical facilities. Living in a closed community with a bunch of old people who are all the same sounds like a special kind of hell.

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balcon@reddit

That's my plan, too. The importance of having convenient transportation and access to medical care can't be overstated, especially after seeing what aging people have to go through in the small town I'm from. A specialist appointment is two hours away and you have to drive everywhere for everything. At least Walmart will deliver groceries there now.

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WhiteHeteroMale@reddit

I’m 51. My wife and I live in NYC in a rent stabilized (reasonably affordable), elevator apartment, one block from the subway. We joke that they’ll have to carry us out on a stretcher.

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howdyeveryone1@reddit

This is the way.

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EquityDoesntRoll@reddit

We’re in our late 40s and already doing this. Super low-maintenance and clutter-free lifestyle, with way more walking naturally built into the day, plus lots of things to do all the time. It’s the best.

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themiracy@reddit

I think there could be some charms to the right community but I tend to think condo in a big city with public transit also, for us.

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cocobear114@reddit

wow the villages is awful, hard pass. my in-laws lived there til they died...its in the middle of the worst, cheapest area in the state almost [i think lee county is perhaps the poorest in all of FL,], run by some weird family, and like going back to high school in your 60s/70s. bizarre

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seigezunt@reddit

Honestly, the idea of isolating myself against younger people sounds like a kind of hell.

Considering what many of my generation has turned into, no, I would not enjoy having y’all as my neighbors, respectfully

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Timely-Ad-4109@reddit

Amen!!! Looking at how Gen X voted has me turned me into this:

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seigezunt@reddit

Exactly. I don’t need to move to We Drank from the Hose Village where there’s probably a golden statue…

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CofferCrypto@reddit

I moved to Florida from San Francisco and the top thing I complain about is the lack of diversity. Seeing anyone under 55 is like seeing a unicorn.

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Pinepark@reddit

That’s why we moved off the beach. Lived in Madeira for 10 years and now we are a few miles inland. We have a diverse neighborhood (well in ages, not in ethnicity - can’t have too much of that here /s) I like living in a place where you hear the sounds of life. Kids. Dogs. Even the twat 30 year old who revs his Skyline in his garage. Much better than the boring shit on the beach.

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Responsible_Trash_40@reddit

Just drop me off in the woods

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W0gg0@reddit

Howdy, neighbor! My 401K is obliterated, so I’ll be in the trash hut down by the large oak tree.

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BlownCamaro@reddit

How did that happen? The S&P hit an all-time high yesterday.

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Responsible_Trash_40@reddit

Bonfire when it gets dark. BYOB but I have edibles to share.

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Round_Ad8947@reddit

Find a college town see some lectures and cheap shows. Break all the mirrors in my home so the only people I see are all young and vibrant and rely on my mirror neurons to allow me to mimic.

Slack without worrying about finding a job.

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fastcatdog@reddit

No way, sounds like moving to a living grave with an HOA.

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RaisinFresh7318@reddit

I’m 54 and plan to move there in about 6 years. By then our generation will be taking over. It’s a fantastic place. We have several friends who live there and we can continue our very active lifestyle easily.

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Rumblebully@reddit

The villages is active indeed, lol. The STD Capital of America?

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gaetanzo@reddit

Living in the villages is my actual worst nightmare on every level.

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ackshualllly@reddit

God, I bet 98% of those people are intolerable and you can’t escape them

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muchDOGEbigwow@reddit

We’re looking at Falmouth, MA (Cape Cod), but an area of it where it’s spread out. It’s near the ocean, plenty of biking/hiking nearby and there’s an Oceanographic Institute nearby that provides a mix of ages.

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Tall_Midnight_9577@reddit

My daughter's MIL is the sheriff there. Very nice place to live.

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Neat-Ad11@reddit

That’s my hometown! Be in touch if you have questions or want a native of several generations’ opinion.

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Individual_Ask9957@reddit

I wouldn't live in a Villiages-like community if you paid me, regardless of the age range. I've been watching it mestastize from 50 miles away since I was in my 20s.

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RCA2CE@reddit

We are just thinking of having condo's wherever we want to vacation to. Have them on airbnb with a mgmt company while we aren't using them and come and go as we want.

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therealcmj@reddit

Or just rent an airbnb when you want to go somewhere.

The days of Airbnb being profitable when you’re a remote, absent owner and a management company takes care of everything are well and truly over.

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Ziggity_Zac@reddit

I have the same plan. My expectations are rooted in reality. The goal is to keep total cost to something manageable. If I can own 3 condos in vacation destination areas, and the total mortgage is somewhere around what 1 suburban, boring house would cost... that's a win.

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RCA2CE@reddit

We are just going to buy them cash, we own one already without a mortgage and our house will soon be paid off (we don't owe much on it now) - so we can sell our house, buy a small garden house and two more condos.. and float around whenever we want.

I think not having a mortgage on the condo gives us this huge pricing advantage, we don't have to charge a lot to guests - the one we have is a beach place, so far this year - ytd we have a 77% occupancy rate, it isn't even summer/on season yet. We stay so booked we have to block our own visits off way in advance. This thing where an airbnb wont be profitable is more about managing it smartly imho, it absolutely can be profitable.

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therealcmj@reddit

You’re not taking the full cost into account then.

If you own a condo outright that’s great. And it’s (typically but not always) an appreciating asset so even better.

But if you put the same money in an index fund over the past few decades it out performs the house price increase by a lot.

I own my beach condo outright as well. But we’d have been far better off paying the minimum on the mortgage and putting the extra money we sent to the mortgage into the market. And as an added bonus we could have been deducting the mortgage interest (reducing its real cost even more).

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RCA2CE@reddit

I made 15% on my money in the one I own right now. The trick (and there is some magic to it) is to provide a great value to people.

You wouldn't believe how many owners are just trying to gouge guests, and they maintain crap occupancy rates. I do both, keep my place badass and priced affordably so I get great reviews and my occupancy is twice the market average (im near 80%, even in the offseason) - the management company loves me because I know that putting heads in beds means you have to provide a great deal to guests and I put my money where my mouth is by keeping my place up meticulously with a great price.

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Yesno-Yeahnaw@reddit

Please do your homework before buying any condo in the state of Florida. The entire condo market is collapsing, due to special assessments, taxes, and spiking insurance rates. Every time I look at the situation, it takes me days to recover from the sticker shock.

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RCA2CE@reddit

I do my homework on EVERYTHING :)

I live in TX, we have the same issue with Insurance but the state designated a 7 county area where they created their own insurance to serve, the Texas wind insurance agency - so I can get insured ridiculously cheap.

I also always assume a special assessment is a risk, I look at the reserve study and reserve accounts to see if they're funded... the place I have now is NOT funded, I used it as a way to protest my property taxes (outcome TBD) but if that's successful i'll have offloaded my risk via the savings on taxes. Worst case is I'll pay 10-20k or something and that's not so much money to me that it changes anything (but that's down the road, not near term).. I'm one of these people that plans everything I can plan.

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HighBiased@reddit

The Villages looks like hell on earth

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heathers1@reddit

The whole drunken “i peaked in high school and yearn to go back” thing is cringe.

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Thedustyfurcollector@reddit

Is it still true that the highest concentration of STD's in the USA is found in the Villages?

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SouthOrlandoFather@reddit

To be fair everyone in “The Villages” probably has great health insurance and going to the doctor every 3 months and getting tested for everything. If everyone in the United States had same doctor visits I’m sure the map of highest concentration of STD’s would be different. I am sure the FSU campus would be in the running.

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tuesday__taylor@reddit

Honestly, I have a relative who lives in the Villages, and the wait for doctors appointments caused her and her husband to temporarily relocate back home to the Midwest for a year or so while they dealt with a health crisis. There is a pretty acute shortage of healthcare providers in that area.

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SouthOrlandoFather@reddit

I believe it. All those Boomers probably have elite health insurance from their careers. In 20 years Gen X won’t be going to Dr as much as won’t have the same health insurance. My Aunt and Uncle are 91 and 88 and will probably live to 110 as have John Deere insurance and he retired at 50. 50. So crazy.

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WhichPerception7982@reddit

Spring break in Houston, or Caribbean yacht parties temporarily eclipsed the villages.

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Viperlite@reddit

I’ve never heard anyone say they looked like fun before. There are long YouTube videos showing how awful The Villages are.

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itusedtorun@reddit

My aunt and uncle retired there some years ago. They seem to like it. He plays golf 24/7 and she's the neighborhood gossip/ busybody type so it seems to suit them.

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SouthOrlandoFather@reddit

If you are a couple that both play golf or both play pickleball and love nightly get together then you will love The Villages. My wife and I are boat people and beach people so The Villages are not for us.

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Cthulwutang@reddit

Some folks think it’s Some Kind of Heaven.

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RDeckNexus6@reddit

With a nation high STD rate…holy hell

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cobrakai15@reddit

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Comfortable-Pea-1312@reddit

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Nervous-Rooster7760@reddit

The whole idea of that place is a hard pass for me. I have moved into my planned forever place until I need assisted living. Normal neighborhood. You can use a golf cart. Lots of trails for walking/running in the area (I can access 30 miles of them just from my door). Nice pool and neighborhood amenities. Wide range of home options and folks of all ages.

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Objective_Ad729@reddit

This sounds perfect! Where? Love to live by walkable trails.

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Nervous-Rooster7760@reddit

So I don’t like to share many details on SM. Region wise I am in Midwest. I have noticed when visiting family in AZ and TX planned communities are offering more options in same development based in how you want to live.

Lots of cities/metro areas are investing in trail systems as residents want and use them and developers see a connection to them as selling point.

Once you know an area find a good local realtor. Mine had several really great options he was able to share after we sat down and I told him what I wanted. He is also long time resident of area I was looking which really helps as he knew community. I wanted new construction. I narrowed down to two great developments and then it was just deciding what was best overall.

I picked location not because of SM or a ranking in article but family. My kids are in this area now. One could move as they are more nomadic but other is here long term as partner has deep roots. I had also been here several times and knew I like size of area. I feel at home for first time in years. As army brat I moved often and never settled too long. This is only second home I have had as adult where I feel completely at home and very comfortable with my surroundings.

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BigRedJohnson@reddit

We might be neighbors

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Some-Attitude8183@reddit

Where?

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Athrynne@reddit

I don't want to isolate myself from younger generations, I want to be among people so my mindset doesn't get stale and out of touch.

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Kindly-Might-1879@reddit

This! My 89 year old dad retired when he was 62. He has no friends, only mom, my brother and I and our families. He’s so stuck in 1995 about the world. I was about to write a novel here but you probably know what I mean.

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potato_for_cooking@reddit

Ditto. My dad is 88 and has my mom, thats it. Its depressing to watch her continuously contort to keep him "happy".

I wish making friends as an (51m) adult wasn't so tricky. I have a very few but im committed to not putting my wife through that.

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Bong_appetit@reddit

I think Margaritaville has this in north Florida

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Junkman3@reddit

Eventually the villages will become GenX.

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CygnsX-1@reddit

Something tells me they'll run the place into the ground before passing it along.

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Xyzzydude@reddit

The residents of the Villages have no say in how it’s run, its governing models is for-profit authoritarianism.

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HOUS2000IAN@reddit

lol exactly right.

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beaujolais98@reddit

There’s a newish subdivision in Indio that seems to me to be more X focused; it’s a Trilogy build and they are a player in 55+ communities here in CA. It’s mixed - half 55+ half all ages. No golf course but lots of walking trails and a dog park. Clubhouse is centered around a farm-to-table restaurant. As an old X looking to move to the desert and turn into leather in my old age I checked it out. It was a really neat place, and did have more of a modern feel to it. Didn’t like the location personally but loved the concept. Hope to see more like it cropping up as we turn into the 55+ target demographic.

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alkaidkoolaid@reddit

Love your comment. And love your handle more. Back in the 90s when I was a server at a restaurant, I had a boomer table (who were cool and had been drinking copious amounts of wine) told me me, “It’s not the beaus you know, it’s the beaujolais.” I thought it was important you heard this.

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beaujolais98@reddit

lol that’s funny! Thanks for the chuckle

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Sufficient_Stop8381@reddit

Maybe when the boomers kick it we can sweep in and take over the villages. Should be plenty of empty space. I also read that STIs are rampant there, so maybe burning is a better option.

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seigezunt@reddit

Why wait? 😎

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Coconut-bird@reddit

The Villages starting age is 55 so some of us are there. I have a friend who moved there to take care of her mother and says except for the general nosiness of retirees it's not that bad.

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retiredcorpminion@reddit

We are old enough to live there but we couldn’t do it.

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RedSparrow1971@reddit

Like everything else, we’re stuck waiting for the boomers to die off and hoping that they don’t destroy the stuff we’ll need whilst simultaneously knowing that they absolutely will

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NoFanksYou@reddit

Why wait? If you want to move to a retirement community and are 55 then go for it

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yarnhooksbooks@reddit

I want a little tiny home village. 10-12 of us with our own separate little houses, and a big shared garden and outdoor space. Somewhere easily accessible to a town, but far enough out we can feel like we’re in our own little world.

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Neat-Ad11@reddit

I think those actually exist. I met someone once who described where he lived in Belfast, ME as being like that. I always mean to check it out but it seems a little remote.

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idlefritz@reddit

I live in one with quite a few GenX and as it turns out the kind of people that want to move to communities like this tend to do so to free their inner asshole. The boomers are different only in that they never really kept their asshole inside.

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PandorasEvilBox@reddit

Seeing how half of gen x turned out, yeah, I dont want to be trapped in a community with a bunch of them acting like high school assholes.

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GboyFlex@reddit

The whole idea freaks me out. I don't want to be warehoused with a whole bunch of other old people when I'm old(er). I've visited and stayed at several 55 + communities and I'll pass but whatever floats your boat...

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evilJaze@reddit

I live on a street that is all bungalows. We moved here in our 40s because we like the area and we don't need a large house. Our street is entirely elderly couples that downsized. And even though they're all pleasant, it's hard watching them struggle to get around outside to putter about. Also, at least two people per year die on our little crescent and there's ambulances always parked on the road several times per year.

I guess being constantly reminded of your fate has to be something you're cool with to want to live in a senior's community.

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Cthulwutang@reddit

“Great news! A unit has opened up!”

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IndependentlyGreen@reddit

Where they'll squeeze every dime out of you until your last breath.

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GboyFlex@reddit

Some of these communities have insane monthly HOA fees, you're not wrong.

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Ray_The_Engineer@reddit

Agree. Warehoused is a good term for it.

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newwriter365@reddit

God’s little waiting room

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Swimming-Pride5012@reddit

My Grandfather and my Great Aunt/Great Uncle lived there. I visited enough to know that it was quality people watching, but nowhere I wanted to be fully time.

My Aunt/Uncle moved back to NJ full time. My grandfather was duped into marrying a grifter half his age.

There were some great midlife crisis cars down there.

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notguiltybrewing@reddit

Yuck. No thanks.

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clementynemurphy@reddit

I plan on trying to make one for us... But I'm not sure how insurance will work with halfpipes and bmx tracks...

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BooRadleysreddit@reddit

We're also going to need our own micro brewery and dispensary. Maybe a rave hall as well.

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IndependentlyGreen@reddit

I wonder how a 55+ mosh pit looks.

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CptBronzeBalls@reddit

I think it needs to include a ski area. So we can challenge the local bully to a race.

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send2steph@reddit (OP)

Music venues

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