It has taken some time in America to realize that there are far more choices than merely working or being retired. In the last few decades, those of a certain age, particularly those over 55 years old, are plotting their path for their later years rather than a limited binary selection.
This phenomenon shows up in the extraordinary number of people who have elected to keep working even though they may have saved enough for retirement. Be it a part-time job, starting a consulting firm, or redirecting their professional skills to non-profit organizations for causes they believe in, many see a new definition of being “active” rather than quickly settling into a traditional retirement.
The same can be said for housing.
Thirty years ago, there were very few choices for senior adults. The first was to keep the house one had, including the ongoing maintenance of a home that had long outlived its purpose of accommodating a growing family. Another was to move into a retirement community, which offered first-rate facilities but also tended to classify residents of being very senior citizens. Finally, there was the choice of renting an apartment but came with the loss of homeownership.
This limit in choices hs eventually given rise to the concept of the 55+ communities where more and more adults are finding a better solution.
According to recent data compiled by TRI Pointe Homes, over 32 million “boomers” will consider these age-restricted communities. Starting in Canada on Vancouver Island in 1987, this new approach to residential living started to become popular in the United States, and now close to 400 of them exist today.
The Spy was curious about this option since these communities have also grown in popularity on the Mid-Shore, and particularly in Queen Anne’s County. We sat down with Kathy Bernard, the manager of Bay Bridge Cove at the foot of the Bay Bridge, to understand in more detail what these communities have to offer.
This video is approximately for minutes in length. For more information about Bay Bridge Cove please go here.
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.