Youthful 55+ parks in Arizona

[Snowman9000]

My senior dad used to joke that the definition of “old” was always ten years older than he was. So if I ask a 75 year old if a park with an average age of 77 is full of old people, he’d probably say no. Where for me being 59, they’d be old. I know they’d still be friendly, fun, and fairly active, but they’re not of my generation.

Are there snowbird parks in the Phoenix or Tucson areas that are noticeably younger than others? There won’t be any with an average age in the 60’s, I’m guessing?

[mrflakey]

I am looking for a good place or group that rides motorcycles a small group around qarzstie az jan thu march any help I have 2017 indian roadmaster that I haul in outlaw toy hauler

[Me_Again]

Canyon Vistas has a very active crowd. We have a RC paved oval track, that just got re-paved this week. I fly RC planes at the Mesa bowls. Park still has way more RV vs Park Models. Happy hours three days a week. Dances most week-ends. Lots for side by sides and jeeps. Wood shop, wood craving, quilting, parades, etc etc.

Chris

[Snowman9000]

B.O. Plenty wrote:
I'm 72 and would like to find that place with younger people also. Lots of places have things that the old ladies like but not much for the guys. Not interested at all in a pot luck, square dancing, line dancing cards or going to the casino. I would enjoy, RC race cars, woodshop, Drones, off roading and even some interesting classes in computers or maybe ham radio. I'm old but not ready to quit. I keep looking but haven't had much luck yet..

B.O.

The Arizonian in Gold Canyon really fits your profile as far as RC, drones, and off roading. I don’t know if they have a wood shop or the tech stuff. Probably clubs for computers and ham..

Forum member “Me Again” has described Canyon Vistas in Gold Canyon or Apache Junction as having those interests too. In general, AJ and Gold Canyon attract off roaders.

[her_I]

B.O. Plenty wrote:
I'm 72 and would like to find that place with younger people also. Lots of places have things that the old ladies like but not much for the guys. Not interested at all in a pot luck, square dancing, line dancing cards or going to the casino. I would enjoy, RC race cars, woodshop, Drones, off roading and even some interesting classes in computers or maybe ham radio. I'm old but not ready to quit. I keep looking but haven't had much luck yet..

B.O.

You are describing Fun n Sun in San Benito, Texas.

[BarbaraOK]

RVcrazy wrote:
Responding to the comments by Barbara about Yuma:
We are at Fortuna de Oro (Cal-Am) for the second year. We have 2 potlucks in 6 months. In both cases, the turkey & ham are provided, along with live music for dancing after. We have a full service restaurant & bar, multiple newer sports courts, a golf course & happy hours and dances regularly. We have found similar facilities in Yuma at West Wind. I would agree that not all parks are equal...

It isn't that the park itself has pot-lucks all of the time, but from what we have seen in Yuma, and talking to friends that spend part of their time in Yuma, the cliques that arise all seem to spend inordinate amounts of time having potlucks. Most of the people we know that spend all or part of the winter in Yuma talk about their friends and all of the things they do with their friends at each other's rigs, never about any cultural activities, concerts, shopping, fine restaurants, etc.

[B_O__Plenty]

I'm 72 and would like to find that place with younger people also. Lots of places have things that the old ladies like but not much for the guys. Not interested at all in a pot luck, square dancing, line dancing cards or going to the casino. I would enjoy, RC race cars, woodshop, Drones, off roading and even some interesting classes in computers or maybe ham radio. I'm old but not ready to quit. I keep looking but haven't had much luck yet..

B.O.

[almcc]

I tend to agree with Barbara about Yuma. We use Yuma as a transit stop on the way to California although we have stayed there longer in the past, even renting a foothills RV pad property for a month. We stayed at Fortuna de Oro over this past Thanksgiving period (you can always get a site there regardless of the holiday season), it will be the last time we will stay there for a number of reasons. Be aware that Fortuna DOES NOT GIVE REFUNDS, the best they will do is give a credit on a future stay, in our case a loss of $$.

[RVcrazy]

Responding to the comments by Barbara about Yuma:
We are at Fortuna de Oro (Cal-Am) for the second year. We have 2 potlucks in 6 months. In both cases, the turkey & ham are provided, along with live music for dancing after. We have a full service restaurant & bar, multiple newer sports courts, a golf course & happy hours and dances regularly. We have found similar facilities in Yuma at West Wind. I would agree that not all parks are equal...

[Snowman9000]

Interesting thoughts!

I never stopped to consider that the parks could fall on hard times by not attracting the next wave of retirees. It seems like there is some sort of business opportunity here....

I think the regular Sun City type places are still attracting new retirees. Especially the newest developments.

[BarbaraOK]

Palm Springs is great if you have a LOT of money and like to either golf or play tennis (or both). We have always run out of things to do after 2 weeks. Like the Phoenix area better, especially for the active arts venues.

Yuma seems to just be a series of pot-luck dinners. We stayed there a week, once, which was about 4 days to long. YMMV

Barb

[Superbee_Jim]

I have been looking for a younger park or area also. I have spent 10 years on and off in AZ and in the Phoenix area it seems that most are in park models and the WWII generation. I have been in a park in So TX for 10 years. When I bought in, at 55 years of age, I was the youngest, now at 65, I still am the youngest. As the older crowd die off, I see no younger generation to fill in. My kids are to busy or don't want to play cards, shuffleboard, or like our park on this coming new years party will have a Big bands of the 40s playing. I have found that Lake Havasu has a much younger population and we enjoyed it there. I to have been looking for a younger park but like others have said, look for the area that interests you and your hobbys. If you find your utopia, let me know!

[John_Joey]

I didn't think Green Valley would fit your profile, but it is a very beautiful desert area with nice people.

This OP topic has come up every year about now, but I think it might have some bearing on your last statements. I believe that the new retiree's don't want to RV, just too much work with a certain amount of hardship thrown in for good measure.

Right now I'm hunkering down an extra day in upper TX just to let rain and high head winds pass. This morning when I left LA I fought heavy fog. The morning before that fog caused a huge pile up on I10 east of Lake Charles. So far I've had zero problems, knock on wood.

The nice park I'm in tonight is $54/night. The Comfort Suit with free breakfast in town is $67/night. I guess what I'm trying to say is the WWII "can do" but prior to the internet retirement lifestyle is a dying breed.

You may never find what you're looking for when it comes to RV parks because they are fading away with our parents and aunts/uncles. I don't think any of them ever heard the term all inclusive or Google search. Not many new retiree's that had nice homes care to live in a tin can on a 35 foot wide lot no matter how expensive the RV paint job is. That same money can be used in Google searching for adventures/experiences all over the world.

Like you I'm not trying to stir the pot, just trying to find the next fit. After 10 years of being a mobile RV snowbird, I'm ready for the next chapter and FOR ME it does not include bingo, cards, dulcimers, pickle ball, excessive drinking, or square dancing in a compound setting with clean bathrooms. So yes, I don't have a clue what I'll do when the RV tires need replacing.

Hope you find your park. Never been to Palm Springs, but I heard that was a good area from younger RV retiree's. What little I saw of Yuma looked like the WWII retiree lifestyle.

[BarbaraOK]

There is always a large turnover of park models each year in the park where we have ours. Often one of a couple will die and the other moves in with kids, etc. Sometimes they sell the units very cheaply (that's how we got ours) or the units are so old they are 'sold' to a removal outfit. Then the park has a new site for RVs for the coming year and that site may become a park model again or may not, just depends. The parks need to have a certain number of RV sites to remain under the taxing area of an RV park not a mobile home park.

We don't do a lot in the park because to us the 'reigning clique' is too old and inhospitable. But then we like jazz, not C&W, don't play cards, don't drink to excess and stagger around the park at 7:00 pm, etc. We do visit many of the arts centers in the valley, usually have 2 or 3 concerts at the Musical Instrument Museum, a couple at the Mesa Arts Center, or Scottsdale, or Chandler, etc. We have a lot of things to do during our time here, and then in the evening we come home for the night. This is our recharge time (including medical appointments, etc) before heading out each spring for more adventures. Really look at what you like to do and then find the area where those things will be available. For us it was the Phoenix area and there were many more choices of parks in Mesa than elsewhere in the Valley. We spent a couple of years doing a week or two in many of the parks to find the ones we liked, gradually increasing to 2, 3, 4 months before buying our park model for our winter recharge.

[Snowman9000]

Those are all good replies. Thank you. I’m glad no one took it the wrong way either. We have spent some time in a big park with a lot of park models. The “older” people were super nice. But we did miss having more people closer to our age. And we are not alone, because more than once at a function, a younger than 70 couple would sit by us and remark about how it was nice to meet someone younger at the park. I guess deep down I figure I want to put off aging, just like we all do. And hanging around with people a generation older makes me feel older.

I was struck by how many of the residents in their late 70s had been coming to the park for 15-20 years. So maybe back then it was a younger park. But it is hard to imagine much turnover now. Maybe a few percent every year? My guess is that any park model heavy park is always going to be mostly people who have been retired for quite a while.

Ben, what kinds of issues are coming up?

John &Joey, we think Green Valley is an entire town of 70+ folks. I’ve never seen anything quite like it, although The Villages must be like that except much bigger.