Why move in with the kids?
Things change.
N Our Interstate highway system seems about to become one vast toll road as states seek new revenues to pay for relieving traffic jams.
N Our county, so recently rural, must soon raise money to build a sixth high school.
N And now, courtesy of your ever-alert correspondent, here’s another change to think about—the surge of “55+” communities.
Almost unheard of years ago but growing smartly today, they reflect builders’ reactions to the baby boom generation’s growing surge of retirements. So it’s not at all surprising to see several age-restricted developments springing up in our area.
Perhaps the most prominent national developer of such communities, Del Webb, turned the spotlight on the area by opening Falls Run off Warrenton Road over five years ago. Now it’s sold out and the developer (who’s started some 60 similar tracts nationally) is merchandising another new community nearby, in Celebrate Virginia North. Now at least a half-dozen other area builders have started similar projects. Four Seasons in Dumfries claims it's outsold all other single-family builders in the D.C. metro area. The demographics must favor locating them here. Our many civil service and military families who call Stafford home tend to retire at a younger age than those in the private sector. And our home prices have been attractive to older inside-the-Beltway types.
And I suspect that lots of us empty nesters already here, rattling around in big two-story homes, find the single-story clusters very inviting, just like those cagey developers intended.
How about the traditional option of moving in with the kids? Unlikely. What used to be routine in the old days is now considered, especially by the kids, to be cruel and unusual punishment.
What got me interested in age-restricted communities? Well, just look. My face on this column hasn’t changed much. But a mug shot of me, believe it or not, has appeared here for over 11 straight years of my retirement.
Specifically, though, this column’s idea originated with David Humphrey, Aquia Harbour’s president. He floated the proposal last fall of using an undeveloped tract of land in our private community to establish a small 55+ enclave for older residents who might wish to stay here but would like a one-story home.
Then one evening I was watching TV when an ad came on showing old folks grinning like crazy while dancing, in Florida no less--in the sun. Were they a bit touched, or maybe just doing a ceremonial dance to ward off hurricanes?
No, they were plugging a huge 55+ development in central Florida. Yes, huge. I called and asked about the place, called “The Villages.”
Where’s that? In central Florida not far from Ocala, and--assured the nice lady on the phone--not like those areas further south where the bugs eat you up and snakes scare the wife, and alligators love pets like my Yorkie Lollipop, who’s also reached retirement age gracefully.
How many “Villages?” Oh, maybe 40, she replied. That would make quite a cluster, I thought. And how many homes are included? Perhaps 30,000. Wow.
I had received a packet of fancy promotional stuff about The Villages, including a lengthy DVD, which had shots of President Bush and Arnold Palmer and lots of golf courses. But golf’s lure didn’t exactly light my fire. I’ve tried golf. I much prefer petting Lollipop or even doing the dishes.
Also included was a listing of various costs of home ownership there. For a home valued at about $250,000, average taxes were about $2,900 a year, plus a $1,600 assessment for a “development district bond.”
That’s a Florida gimmick we could well adopt. When new land is developed, the builder has to put in all the amenities before any house goes up. Then the individual homeowners there repay their share of the amenities’ costs in installments.
Finally there’s the annual fee, like a homeowners’ association charge, for such things as neighborhood watch services and golfing privileges. It’s listed at $130 a month.
On the phone, I registered surprise at these costly add-ons. They greatly exceed our Aquia Harbour fees (which are slated to rise again this year, by an outrageous $20).
Politely, the phone lady responded, “But in Florida we have no state income tax.” I agreed that’s something to think about.
Later I looked up comparisons of total taxation loads on citizens by state. Virginia and Florida ranked about the same. But costs of home insurance there must now be high as a cat’s back (third worst state, at over $900) due to the hurricanes’ tendencies to love Florida way too much.
With another lovely spring unfolding here, I think I’ll just stay put.
N Our Interstate highway system seems about to become one vast toll road as states seek new revenues to pay for relieving traffic jams.
N Our county, so recently rural, must soon raise money to build a sixth high school.
N And now, courtesy of your ever-alert correspondent, here’s another change to think about—the surge of “55+” communities.
Almost unheard of years ago but growing smartly today, they reflect builders’ reactions to the baby boom generation’s growing surge of retirements. So it’s not at all surprising to see several age-restricted developments springing up in our area.
Perhaps the most prominent national developer of such communities, Del Webb, turned the spotlight on the area by opening Falls Run off Warrenton Road over five years ago. Now it’s sold out and the developer (who’s started some 60 similar tracts nationally) is merchandising another new community nearby, in Celebrate Virginia North. Now at least a half-dozen other area builders have started similar projects. Four Seasons in Dumfries claims it's outsold all other single-family builders in the D.C. metro area. The demographics must favor locating them here. Our many civil service and military families who call Stafford home tend to retire at a younger age than those in the private sector. And our home prices have been attractive to older inside-the-Beltway types.
And I suspect that lots of us empty nesters already here, rattling around in big two-story homes, find the single-story clusters very inviting, just like those cagey developers intended.
How about the traditional option of moving in with the kids? Unlikely. What used to be routine in the old days is now considered, especially by the kids, to be cruel and unusual punishment.
What got me interested in age-restricted communities? Well, just look. My face on this column hasn’t changed much. But a mug shot of me, believe it or not, has appeared here for over 11 straight years of my retirement.
Specifically, though, this column’s idea originated with David Humphrey, Aquia Harbour’s president. He floated the proposal last fall of using an undeveloped tract of land in our private community to establish a small 55+ enclave for older residents who might wish to stay here but would like a one-story home.
Then one evening I was watching TV when an ad came on showing old folks grinning like crazy while dancing, in Florida no less--in the sun. Were they a bit touched, or maybe just doing a ceremonial dance to ward off hurricanes?
No, they were plugging a huge 55+ development in central Florida. Yes, huge. I called and asked about the place, called “The Villages.”
Where’s that? In central Florida not far from Ocala, and--assured the nice lady on the phone--not like those areas further south where the bugs eat you up and snakes scare the wife, and alligators love pets like my Yorkie Lollipop, who’s also reached retirement age gracefully.
How many “Villages?” Oh, maybe 40, she replied. That would make quite a cluster, I thought. And how many homes are included? Perhaps 30,000. Wow.
I had received a packet of fancy promotional stuff about The Villages, including a lengthy DVD, which had shots of President Bush and Arnold Palmer and lots of golf courses. But golf’s lure didn’t exactly light my fire. I’ve tried golf. I much prefer petting Lollipop or even doing the dishes.
Also included was a listing of various costs of home ownership there. For a home valued at about $250,000, average taxes were about $2,900 a year, plus a $1,600 assessment for a “development district bond.”
That’s a Florida gimmick we could well adopt. When new land is developed, the builder has to put in all the amenities before any house goes up. Then the individual homeowners there repay their share of the amenities’ costs in installments.
Finally there’s the annual fee, like a homeowners’ association charge, for such things as neighborhood watch services and golfing privileges. It’s listed at $130 a month.
On the phone, I registered surprise at these costly add-ons. They greatly exceed our Aquia Harbour fees (which are slated to rise again this year, by an outrageous $20).
Politely, the phone lady responded, “But in Florida we have no state income tax.” I agreed that’s something to think about.
Later I looked up comparisons of total taxation loads on citizens by state. Virginia and Florida ranked about the same. But costs of home insurance there must now be high as a cat’s back (third worst state, at over $900) due to the hurricanes’ tendencies to love Florida way too much.
With another lovely spring unfolding here, I think I’ll just stay put.
posted by Ben Blankenship at
1:08 PM
