55+ Communities (Wilmington, Dover: restaurant, store, horse)

[Charley]

Originally Posted by Steve Van Der Meer

Delaware is aging faster than the rest of the country--between the years 2000 and 2030, the US popluation over 65 is expected to double while Delaware's over 65 population is expected to grow by almost 134% ! ! !! ! !

Yes, and my wife and I will be two of them because we figured out that it's to our advantage in so many ways. If this is a problem for you, I understand completely and expect you won't be joining us.

[little eggplant]

Charly,

Hubby and I will be joining you in DE in the near future, hopefully!

One thing I have not seen on this thread - and I have read all 41 pages (mostly while at work) - is the subject of the terrain at these new places. We will be going down in Sept to do a tour and visit several commuities. If hubby sees a treeless, barren skyline, I assure you he will turn the car around. We both loves trees but he especially not only for the beauty but for their cooling properties in the summer and wind-buffeting abilities, etc. We see the nice pictures of the houses but always seem to see spindly little new saplings planted and you KNOW we would never live to see their growth! I'm sure we will just have to evaluate each community individually when we get there but so far no one place seems promising.

Any other "tree lovers" out there??

[Honeycrisp]

While we enjoy trees for their cooling abilities as well as their wondrous magnificent colors in the fall, we have been up to my eyeballs in raking and bagging them over the years and won't miss that part of it at all, we can always take a trip to VT or upstate NY (which we do at times) or just head for some parks. I think many of the new developments do try to keep some old trees so as not to change the original topography too much but oftentimes keeping a lot just isnt practical (no one wants a huge limb falling onto their roof or car - one 100 lb (?) rainsoaked limb fell onto someone in Central Park last wk and he's still in a coma and is life is still in jeopardy).

Not sure where we'll settle yet though and likely won't be looking til early next year some time so will be interested to hear your thoughts (and others). There's no perfect place out there - but 'near' perfection is good too.

[blueclaw]

Longacre Village in Dover seems to be one of the better 55+ communities in the state . The trick is finding a place where you own the land . Most communities are on lot lease which I am not a big fan on IMHO .

[hotfoot]

Hi there,
Just browsing the messages and saw a reply to Charile from Jacqueline regarding Heritage Shores. Visited there last weekend. We were impressed with the facilities and really liked some of the home models. Was wondering why there are so many resales. I counted 19 on MSN real estate site? Also noted that Jacqueline is from Dutchess County and we currently live in the lower hudson valley and will be retiring June 2010. Would like very much to hear from you.
Also would like to hear about other similar developments within the same area.
Doug & Maria

[RWH]

Good question on terrain. I live in the mountains of Western Pa. From my perspective Delaware is rather flat. For instance, Roesville's elevation varies from about 30 ft to 40 ft above sea level. There are large, well established trees around the community but not on it. It is a new community and from the looks of various satellite pictures, this was farm property and had no trees on it. I like to use Google Earth to see what an area looks like. Google maps also has a nice feature called street view that offers a unique view.

[elizamary]

I would just like to share Our community is new so there are smaller trees that were planted around 3 years ago, some newer.
Like RWH......we also have trees all around us.

The west side of our community does have some trees that were left. My neighbors complain they are always cleaning up and their patios are all stainned.


I love trees also, used to hug them when I was on my holistic kick. But we didn't want a community established loaded with trees. Too dirty and a lot of cleaning up.
This is just us now and I dont' mean to offend and understand the beauty of trees.
When I am in the pool in the mornings.........the view is spectacular with the sun shining on one side and the gorgeous pine and spuces on the other. They are not with the bounds of our community but they are there. oh man I just admire the beauty on many morning. Just so peaceful and breathtaking at times.
On the south side there are woods the residents enjoy.
Plus the parks and little trips DH and I often take.
Being retired we want all the fun and not the work.
Have a great day!!!

[little eggplant]

RWH - we are originally from Western PA also! Northern suburbs of Pgh.

I think some people have gotten the wrong idea of my posting asking about trees in the various communities. We are so turned off by vistas of nothing but rooftops, no greenery to break up the monotony. As for making more work, yes, a lot of trees would do that and I am mainly envisioning just a mature tree here and there - hey, hubby has to have SOMETHING to do come fall, right? I realize most developments had formerly been open pasture and farmland, hence the lack of trees. I am asking out of ignorance, haven't visited the areas yet (that is scheduled for next month) so in the meantime I lurk here and pour over the attractive packets sent to me by the places we are interested in.

Thanks also for suggesting the aerial Google views, hadn't thought of that! Wonder how up-to-date these views are as the former owners of our current house built a deck many years ago but the Google shot does not show a deck!

Thanks for the continuing advice from this board - invaluable to say the least.

[Jabberwocky2]

Hi everyone,
I just found this site, and am delighted to read your comments. My wife and I live in a rural part of New Jersey, and I'll be retiring the first of the year. We will be sad to leave the area, but are being taxed to death, and are looking at Delaware as a place to move. We love the ocean, and it's close enough to family so as to enable us to visit with them fairly often.
I am now up to my eyeballs in community brochures, and this makes it difficult for us to choose a place. Our requirements are for a home in the $300-400,000 range with plenty of room for upgrades, a first floor master bedroom, and a clubhouse on the community grounds.
We plan on going down to Delaware to look at some places, and I was lucky enough to stumble upon this forum. You all seem very friendly, so I plan on sticking around the forum to see how things develop.
The post on trees caused me to wonder....Do any of the community management contracts call for leaf removal in addition to snow removal and grass cutting? We have nine acres...and it's too much now for me to care for. Lots of big sugar maples, ash and hickory....In fall, I have lots of leaves that causes big problems. My leaf compost pile is enormous.
In my next few posts I'll include some of the places that interest us in Delaware.

[Honeycrisp]

Hi Jabberwocky2,
I'm sure mowing, landscaping, leaf and snow removal etc. is included in the fees for 55+ communities - sure hope so anyway! That w/b a huge plus for those of us relocating from the northeast. I love the old oak trees but my goodness, looking at them from afar will be a treat (vs in my backyard). Looking forward to having some social interaction and things to do, it'll be a nice change of pace. Would love to hear your thoughts on the various communities when you visit -