Sun City Georgetown, TX

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by BijouBaby

Which Fredericksburg 55+ community does your mom live in?

Heritage Hill Country.
http://www.barbarairwin.com/heritagehillcountry.html

Couldn't find a fancy web site or anything.

[riaelise]

I didn't quite get that impression about Sun City. It struck me as a neighborhood for the 65+ Boomer set, moreso than the 50 year old set. Didn't remind me of a waiting room for assisted living. If anything, I saw a lot of active older people unencumbered by walkers or anything reminding a person of aging. If I were retirement age, I'd definitely consider it.

Also want to say, you won't get a large yard in age restricted communities. Most older people don't want the hassle. My mom moved to Berry Creek, which is a mixed age community with a big senior population. You may want to consider that but understand that there are lots of families there too with kids. You'll deal with suburban teenager hijinks from time to time. It's beautiful though and has a country club.

Heritage Oaks is an option in Georgetown and there's also Vizkaya in Round Rock. That one might be up your alley. It's a new age restricted community and the people there seem to be younger. Not nearly as big though but it is in a high growth corridor of Round Rock. No mature trees or landscaping though, which I consider a negative. Lots are small.

As for the houston and Austin comparison, you might as well just throw that out the window. homes are more expensive here, for whatever reason.

[BijouBaby]

I live in Sun City, am 58 and I really love it. Very quiet and lots of wildlife, and very friendly neighbors. Contrary to popular belief, it's NOT an old fogie, waiting room for death, kind of place at all. Healthy mix of active retired/working people of 50 and up.

I will say that there's a LOT of lawn service noise during the week in the daytime. Sometimes when I'm sick and stay home from work, I hear it going on for hours (but not of the weekends). That may bother someone who wants to sleep during the day. Or you just kind of get used to it. If I'm home sick, I usually have the tv drowning them out, so it's not a problem. Although a lot of people do their own yard work, a whole lot of people hire lawn services to do it. I do both. Some of the yards are pretty big, like mine. And also have a lot of landscaping to maintain. So it can get burdensome to do it all yourself, especially if you work full time, or in the horrible summer heat. But that's really the only noise that goes on that may be bothersome for some. Some lawns are very small and need very little maintenance. The properties run the gamut in size and landscaping needs. Night are very, very quiet and dark. There are no street lights except for a few major thru-streets and in my neighborhood, no one turns on porch lights so you can do some great star gazing from your yard. The only sounds I hear are the hoot owls and occasional crickets. It's nice! The various neighborhood pockets in SC have very different "feels" to them, so there's a lot of variety in that regard.

So if you're worried about being surrounded by a lot of ancient, depressing, sickly old peeps in SC, it's not the case! Go drive around any day of the week and you'll see what I mean.

I've driven around Heritage Oaks and its very nice and good location. I would live there too. Can't speak to Berry Creek since I've never seen it. Everyone speaks well of it though. Worth checking out. You really need to go spend some time in each of the communities and get the feel of the place. You'll know when one just "clicks" for you.

[texas7]

Oh yeah I know it's more expensive there but hard to swallow sometimes when I see what you get. Even in regular master planned type neighborhoods the yards look smaller than the already small we have here. With the expanse of land still available there, you'd think they'd. Not be so stingy and give people an extra 10 feet in length. Wishful thinking. May have to check out some of the newer 55+ communities that have younger residents. Thanks for input.

[Trainwreck20]

If you are looking for an 'older' community that is not age restricted, Woodcreek (the 'city') is probably 80% retired? My in-laws live there and really like it; however, there are pluses and minuses, just like anywhere. Being on a private water provider is one of them :/.

[texas7]

Originally Posted by BijouBaby

I live in Sun City, am 58 and I really love it. Very quiet and lots of wildlife, and very friendly neighbors. Contrary to popular belief, it's NOT an old fogie, waiting room for death, kind of place at all. Healthy mix of active retired/working people of 50 and up.

I will say that there's a LOT of lawn service noise during the week in the daytime. Sometimes when I'm sick and stay home from work, I hear it going on for hours (but not of the weekends). That may bother someone who wants to sleep during the day. Or you just kind of get used to it. If I'm home sick, I usually have the tv drowning them out, so it's not a problem. Although a lot of people do their own yard work, a whole lot of people hire lawn services to do it. I do both. Some of the yards are pretty big, like mine. And also have a lot of landscaping to maintain. So it can get burdensome to do it all yourself, especially if you work full time, or in the horrible summer heat. But that's really the only noise that goes on that may be bothersome for some. Some lawns are very small and need very little maintenance. The properties run the gamut in size and landscaping needs. The various neighborhood pockets in SC have very different "feels" to them, so there's a lot of variety in that regard.

So if you're worried about being surrounded by a lot of ancient, depressing, sickly old peeps in SC, it's not the case! Go drive around any day of the week and you'll see what I mean.

I've driven around Heritage Oaks and its very nice and good location. I would live there too. Can't speak to Berry Creek since I've never seen it. Everyone speaks well of it though. Worth checking out. You really need to go spend some time in each of the communities and get the feel of the place. You'll know when one just "clicks" for you.

Thanks so much. Stopped by the original, Older fitness center in Saturday and it did look like the waiting room For assisted living. Perhaps it was just the time I stopped by or maybe because it was in the older part where original residents may be older as they've aged in place. HOA fees seem Affordable.

[BijouBaby]

Originally Posted by texas7

Thanks so much. Stopped by the original, Older fitness center in Saturday and it did look like the waiting room For assisted living. Perhaps it was just the time I stopped by or maybe because it was in the older part where original residents may be older as they've aged in place. HOA fees seem Affordable.

Yeah, I kinda got that vibe too (at the older fitness ctr), although most of them in there can kick my butt on those machines. I haven't been to the new fitness center yet but hear its got more of the younger crowd there as the newer builds surrounding it seem to be drawing a younger group of buyers. So you're right about the older sections being an older-age group of original owners who are aging in place. But those houses are quickly turning over to new Boomer buyers, so the landscape is changing in the older sections too.

That said, if I go, I am focused on my own workout and don't worry about who else is in there. Some people are rehabbing from a recent surgery or injury or are just doing what they can to stay in shape at their age. I kinda admire that determination!

[Thorndalian]

We have been here a little over a year. 57 and 59 ages. For the most part it is quiet like we wanted. We have a landscaped maintained home, they mow once a week and that is about the only noisy day. We don't do any of the activities because one of us is still working, so times do not work as it is usually during working hours.

SC has it pros and cons.

Thorndalian.