Fairfield Glade (Knoxville, Cookeville, Crossville: environment, vacation, work)

[tismekll]

I know that Crossville has many retirees but is Fairfield Glade an age restricted community? I have read as much as I can find on the internet and that is not mentioned. Thank you

[Tek_Freek]

the average age is over 60...

http://www.city-data.com/housing/hou...Tennessee.html

shows this.

However, it is a beautiful area. Of course I'm prejudiced since we liked it enough to purchase a lot there.

[tismekll]

Originally Posted by Tek_Freek

the average age is over 60...

http://www.city-data.com/housing/hou...Tennessee.html

shows this.

However, it is a beautiful area. Of course I'm prejudiced since we liked it enough to purchase a lot there.

Thanks Tek Freek..I live in an age restricted community and the rules for visiting if under 18 are riduculous and want to make sure I don't encounter that again.

[Tek_Freek]

If you haven't yet you should search this forum for Fairfield Glade. You will find a number of posts (some by me) with good first-hand information about the area and what is there in the way of facilities, fire, police, hospitals, etc.

[tismekll]

Originally Posted by Tek_Freek

If you haven't yet you should search this forum for Fairfield Glade. You will find a number of posts (some by me) with good first-hand information about the area and what is there in the way of facilities, fire, police, hospitals, etc.

Tek Freek, Thank you...I've been keeping up with the posts..looks very promising-I just wasn't sure about the age restriction policy if there was one. Just curious, there is so much out there about Cookeville which I understand isn't very far from Crossville. Did you consider that area as well? If so, why Crossville instead of Cookeville? Thanks for all of your help!

[Tek_Freek]

FFG because of Internet info and we found out that a good friends parents had retired there. We visited, went on to eastern TN and western SC then back to FFG. Never really looked at Cookville, but might do so in the future. Also looking outside Knoxville and around Seattle, WA.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by tismekll

Tek Freek, Thank you...I've been keeping up with the posts..looks very promising-I just wasn't sure about the age restriction policy if there was one. Just curious, there is so much out there about Cookeville which I understand isn't very far from Crossville. Did you consider that area as well? If so, why Crossville instead of Cookeville? Thanks for all of your help!

I'd like to second that. I'm not ready to retire yet, but when I do, I absolutely do not want to live in a retirement community, or a retirement "ghetto" as some have called them on here. My parents did that and absolutely hated it. They like the dynamics of being around young people.

That's why they're moving back to Cookeville as quickly as possible; it's a very popular retirement area yet it also has one of Tennessee's youngest populations because of the university. Plus, with a university you have all kinds of accoutrements (art galleries, good restaurants, coffee shops, concerts, shopping, etc.) that you won't find in a retirement ghetto like Fairfield Glade. True, you have to deal with the "nuisances" of teenaged drivers, families with kids at church and at restaurants, etc., but my parents just got tired of being around nothing but senior citizens all the time.

[Tek_Freek]

Originally Posted by JMT

I'd like to second that. I'm not ready to retire yet, but when I do, I absolutely do not want to live in a retirement community, or a retirement "ghetto" as some have called them on here. My parents did that and absolutely hated it. They like the dynamics of being around young people.

I doubt that you could call FFG a ghetto, but I do have the same concerns regarding everyone being of retirement age. That's one reason we are still looking even though we have purchased a lot in FFG.

Good point.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by Tek_Freek

I doubt that you could call FFG a ghetto, but I do have the same concerns regarding everyone being of retirement age. That's one reason we are still looking even though we have purchased a lot in FFG.

Good point.

OK so it's not a ghetto in the traditional sense, but it's a ghetto in that you've got a bunch of people who want to live only around other people just like them. They're not interested in living in the real world. In this case, it's senior citizens. Florida is full of retirement ghettos, and Fairfield Glade isn't much different.

On a side note: Cumberland County (Crossville/Fairfield Glade) is one of the least racially diverse counties in Tennessee. According to 2000 census figures, there wasn't a single African American student in the entire county school system, and just a few Hispanics.

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by JMT

I'd like to second that. I'm not ready to retire yet, but when I do, I absolutely do not want to live in a retirement community, or a retirement "ghetto" as some have called them on here. My parents did that and absolutely hated it. They like the dynamics of being around young people.

I second that emotion but I may feel differently when I'm an older retiree, say in my 70s. I think maybe some people like "the organization/structure" of living in a retirement community. I'm heading into retirement with plans to do specific things. I picked my retirement location very carefully to accommodate those plans of how I would spend my time. But, if I was retiring and didn't know what I was going to do on a daily basis, I might like the idea of living with other people who depend on a schedule of events to keep them periodically active and in touch with other like-people. I might like those activities/accomodations right on my grounds.

I know a community-oriented 40 something couple who like to go on cruises and tours because they like being in a planned environment. As long as I have known them (almost 12 years), I don't think they have ever taken a vacation where they just went somewhere (not counting the local beach tourist place) and were left to their own devices to fill up their vacation days. Many of their activities now involve their kid's schedule of annual school events that they are very active in. They are always busy and active but rarely of their own making. They both work for different large organizations. The husband wants to live in a planned retirement community like Fairfield Glade. I see it as an extension of their preferred vacation mode and free time spending. Me, on the other hand, well, I have never taken a single vacation that involved a cruise or a travel tour and never considered living in a retirement community. I don't think living in a retirement community is an auto-pilot decision (good or bad) that people make when they get older. I think it's just a preferred lifestyle that can be predicted by how people live before they retire.

It will be interesting to hear why people want to live in Fairfield Glade or another retirement community.