Issues with living in an overwhelmingly young neigborhood?

D

Dave222

New Member
I'm in my mid-60s and divorced. I've lived in my home for 30 years. It is a nice neighborhood and I love my home. But, as the neigbors I lived with here for years retire, they are almost relocating out of the area. I live in the Bay Area so many retirees are house rich but cash poor so they sell their homes to free up cash and buy in much less expensive areas.

The neighborhood is now largely made up of young families with parents under 40. They are nice but frankly I have nothing in common with them. At one time this area had a nice mix of ages but no longer. At best 15% of the neighborhood is over 60 and that is falling. It hit me the other day when I met my new next door neighbors (both 28) that I will become more and more isolated here. Is this a common concern?

I am sure there are areas with a nice mix of ages but, here in the Bay Area, that is not so common anymore. Do over 55 folks ever move to an area as they are looking for more "older folk"? It may be a strange question but it's as if a light went on and I realized the potential for being increasingly isolated here.

One factor was a person in their mid-80s who died at home and no one knew for a week. The neighbors had no interaction with the person and assumed no one lived in the home. I don't want to be in that situation in 15 or 20 years.
 

I assume that you are talking about the SF "bay area" as opposed to the Tampa bay area. We lived in a 55+ retirement community 15 miles west of Phoenix. There were many residents who had left CA (and WA) to much less expensive Arizona. In that community there were 29000 residents and over 100 clubs. Your neighbors were your contemporaries, and if you could not find things to do, you were not trying. There was also much less crime and vandalism.
 

Dave, welcome. We've been living in our home for almost 40 years now and we love it here. Like your neighborhood, the older folks are passing on or just moving away either into senior communities or nursing homes. I have no problems living among younger folks as long as they are nice people, and so far in my area they are all good neighbors. There are still quite a few older couples in the area at this point, but numbers are dwindling.

I don't have close interaction with my neighbors, we don't come over and spend time with each other, but we do say hello, chat when we meet on the street and help each other out when someone is in need. Maybe you can join a senior center and do some senior activities, where you can make friend with folks outside your neighborhood? At least then you can have them over, go to their place or meet them to take in a movie or join in some kind of activity. Only other option if you are really uncomfortable, is to move to a senior community where you'll be around people your age.
 
Hi Dave. We are also in our 60's and have lived in our house since 1994. When we built the house, all the neighbors were about our age with kids and a lot in common. Slowly our demographic is changing; a young family directly across the street with toddlers, and some annoying dirt-bike riding teens down the street. I keep imagining myself standing out on the sidewalk waving my broom and yelling "get off my lawn" in the not too distant future.

All that to say, many of us are in similar predicaments. I love our home and planned to be here till the carried me out feet first, but now I'm beginning to wonder if that will be the case.
 
Welcome Dave! You didn't say whether or not you're currently retired or looking at retirement in the near future. Retirement can be seen as a great opportunity to make a change. Post retirement, people generally have more time to socialize and pursue interests, sometimes have a bit less disposable income, and very likely will have to deal with various health limitations at some point. These are things to be thinking about if you're considering a move. And there's certainly not much point to hanging onto a house you like if you won't be happy with the location.

When my wife and I retired, we sold the "family-size" suburban house and bought a nice one story home in an area that provides all of those things that will be most important to us over the coming years. Only you can decide what those important things are for you.

As for becoming isolated, as you've pointed out that's more a function of "friends" than "neighbors". Over the next 20 years, what will be your primary sources of social interaction? Will you have family nearby? Will you be active in a club or hobby that involves others? Will you be more active in your church? Is there a certain type of volunteer work you'll be involved with? Access to those things, among others, should help you choose a location.

Good luck with your decision.
 
My neighborhood has quite a mix of ages and interests, and though we are all friendly and do look out for each other, most of us do most of our socializing outside of just the neighborhood. I think that if you expect a neighborhood to provide you with all or most of your social interaction it is always going to be frustrating because people age, move on, etc., and a neighborhood is always going to be constantly changing.
 
I'd sell that gold mine and move some place else. If you can. I didn't fit in when I owned a house as a single female. I seemed to be something of an anomoly and people were not kind. I'd like to move to a 55 plus mobile community. My prospects are failing however.
 
Hi Dave, We don't hang out with our neighbors although we wave or talk over the fence sometimes with some of them. I also live in California but not in one of the high dollar areas. If I had a home paid for in the Bay Area I'd have it up for sale and move out of there faster than the speed of light!!!!
 
Welcome, Dave!

One thing I can say about Jacksonville, FL...…….it definitely isn't a retirement area. The "work traffic" here proves that. Most of our apartment complex is made up of young folks and one thing we've found out since we moved here almost 10 years ago...…….they don't like communicating with old/older folks aka Seniors. Possibly the amount of crime here is the reason. Not in our direct area, but a few different areas around here. We are friends with our next door neighbors, but only talk outside when we see them.

So, what are we going to do about it...…...move! Yep, after almost 10 years here, we are planning on moving back to a "friendly" northern Colorado. Yep, there is a winter there, with cold-to-freezing temps and snow, but "Old Man Winter" comes with the area.

As for myself, I like talking to folks who come from my Generation, as in "Baby Boomers" and older, who completely understand the things I'm talking about. The younger generation has no idea what it was like before computers and iPhones. Have no idea what it was like to drive a vehicle with standard brakes and steering. And, on and on.
 

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