Retirement community

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A retirement community is a residential community or housing complex designed for older adults who are generally able to care for themselves. Assistance from home care agencies is allowed in some communities, and activities and socialization opportunities are often provided.^[1] Some of the characteristics typically are: the community must be age-restricted or age-qualified,^[2] residents must be partially or fully retired, and the community offers shared services or amenities.^[2]

There are various types of retirement communities older adults can choose from, and new types of retirement communities are being developed as the population ages. Examples of retirement community types include:

• Assisted Living Communities, also known as Assisted Living and Memory Care assisted living communities, which provide all the daily services seniors need in an apartment or condominium style environment - such as activities, dining, housekeeping, nursing, and wellness - usually in a locked and secured building.
• Congregate housing, which includes at least one shared meal per day with other residents.^[3]
• Continuing Care Retirement Communities, see below.^[4]
• Elder/Senior cohousing, multiple individually owned housing units oriented around a common area and a common house.
• Independent senior living communities, also known as Independent Living Communities, which offer no personal care services.^[5]
• Leisure or lifestyle oriented communities or LORCs, which include various amenities.^[4]
• Mobile homes or RV's for active adults.^[5]
• Subsidized housing for lower income older adults.^{[6][better source needed]}

Retirement communities are often built in warm climates, and are common in Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, and Texas, but they are increasingly being built in and around major cities throughout the United States. The oldest known and longest continuously running retirement community in the United States is Ryderwood, Washington. Ryderwood was originally established in 1923 as a Long-Bell logging camp, then was sold to Senior Estates, Inc. in 1953 to create a retirement community.^[7] Senior Estates, Inc. converted the town into a retirement community. Time Magazine covered the event in the Real Estate section with the article "Old Folks at Home^[8]". As of 2019, Ryderwood remains a retirement community. Del Webb opened Sun City, Arizona, with the active adult concept, in 1960.^[9] In 2011, The Villages, Florida became the largest of these communities.^[10] While new retirement communities have developed in various areas of the United States, they are largely marketed to older adults who are financially secure. Lower income retirement communities are rare except for government subsidized housing, which neglects a large proportion of older adults who have fewer financial resources.^[11]