Getting ready for retirement in 2023, looking to winter in Phoenix area looking for suggestions. We visit family members in the Mesa area every winter, looking for a resort with younger retirees, we'll be 58 &54 when we pull the plug. Every resort that you look into seems cater to elderly people. They all seem to have activities that pertain to what my grand parents would enjoy. Some of the shows or entertainment we have attended with family was so dated that they were bored as well. Looking for a resort that would cater to the younger crowd I don't want country music, looking for some modern rock and roll ( or metal ). Instead of quilting how about a gun friendly resort to enjoy shooting sports. I know I'm not the only one with these interest, I believe that's a untapped source of income for a resort.
Phoenix Area 55+ Resorts
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zinger1457
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Not real clear on what you're looking for, is it a resort, RV park, 55+ retirement community? Resort to me means a hotel/vacation type of facility, not aware of any 55+ resorts in the Phoenix area.
Ronstar
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Me either. But I would stay at the Scottsdale Phoenician, Scottsdale Fairmont Princess, or The Boulders if I were to stay at a Phoenix area resort. I've visited all 3 during DW's spa days and they seem like nice places. I don't think that any of them are only for 55+ though.
RockyMtn
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unless you go the Sun City or Mesa route there aren't a ton of 55+ communities in the Phoenix areas. That being said there a lot of very "active retirement communities" that cater to the 55+ residents.
Take a look at Terravita which is right near the Boulders, Tonto Verde, Rio Verde, Bellasera to name just a few.
https://www.55places.com/arizona/city/scottsdale
Good luck! We love it here.
Take a look at Terravita which is right near the Boulders, Tonto Verde, Rio Verde, Bellasera to name just a few.
https://www.55places.com/arizona/city/scottsdale
Good luck! We love it here.
I looking at Mesa or Apache Junction area. There are tons of 55 plus communities hoping to find one that has a younger crowd 55 -65. Or other Phoenix metro areas. Should have asked about communities instead or resort.
A qualified +1.
Been a few decades since I was a resident of the Valley, but fiancé' just moved from there and I still have family on the west side. DM, now 82, spent almost 20 years in east Mesa living in a "park model" manufactured home. She was one of the youngest residents when she moved in. By the time she left 2 years ago, she was one of the "last men standing" of the people she initially knew, and she had seen a lot of turnover in the prior 5 years.
The idea of "young and active" in east Mesa didn't fit when I lived in the Valley in the 80's and 90's, and my mother's experience in this century was consistent with that.
If the numbers work, look at Sun City on the west side. My father and 2 uncles lived there independently when they were golfing and active, and my 56 y.o. old sister does now. Overall, much more active population than what DM lived with in east Mesa.
I realize I'm out number but was hoping someone who currently lives in a 55+ community that has a young crowd with similar interest would reply or suggest a community to look into. My inlaws have been wintering for 22 years, lived in 3 communities most of the activities are out dated to them.
grasshopper
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I don't think folks in Apache Junction are joiners, but they love to shoot. West Mesa is where you should start, 15 years since I lived in the East Valley.
Another Reader
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Things have changed a lot in East Mesa in 15 years... West Mesa won't have what the OP wants at all. Apache Junction and East Mesa have a lot of these over 55 parks, but most are oriented to older people.
If the OP is trying to rent a park model, that's different than having an RV and looking for a place in an RV park. RV park spaces are very tight right now.
It's possible you could find something like a park model through AirBNB or VRBO, depending on how long you want to stay. I found this listing in Sunbird in South Chandler.
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1792-E-Augusta-Ave_Chandler_AZ_85249_M12709-63120
DW & I are long-time Phoenix area residents (over 40 years) and have friends/relatives currently and previously living in 55+ communities around Maricopa county including mobile/RV parks along with single family homes (Sun City/Leisure World/Westbrook Village, etc.). Part of the attraction that 55+ communities have for many of their residents - apart from typically lower property taxes - is an insular and often homogeneous environment. Some of what you desire in the form of a "younger" crowd is precisely what many (most?) folks in a 55+ community eschew themselves. We currently have no interest in a 55+ community preferring instead to live in a more diverse neighborhood. That may change for us sometime in the future.
Best of luck in your searches.
We are currently in a park model in the Sun City area. The demographics are quite old, but there is a lot of very able folks as well. As expected. We are winter residents here now, this is our first full year.
We look at it as a way to get into the area with zero risk. If we don't like it, we sell and move on. It does not cost any more to have this place for the entire year than it would to rent a house for two months (if you could find a house for the prime two months). And there is no capital investment compared to a house.
We will have a RZR on a trailer and spend a lot of time out in the desert, and see the carport here as a better place to park the trailer than an open carport out in Sun City. The Sun City clubs have appeal for me, especially the metal working facilities. But I am also concerned that it would be easy to be more isolated because everything is more spread out.
We look at it as a way to get into the area with zero risk. If we don't like it, we sell and move on. It does not cost any more to have this place for the entire year than it would to rent a house for two months (if you could find a house for the prime two months). And there is no capital investment compared to a house.
We will have a RZR on a trailer and spend a lot of time out in the desert, and see the carport here as a better place to park the trailer than an open carport out in Sun City. The Sun City clubs have appeal for me, especially the metal working facilities. But I am also concerned that it would be easy to be more isolated because everything is more spread out.
