Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias | 
 enlarge | Author: Andrew D. Blechman
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
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Rating:  39 reviews
Sales Rank: 14837
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 320
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6.3 x 1.1
ISBN: 0871139812
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.3809759
EAN: 9780871139818
ASIN: 0871139812
Publication Date: May 13, 2008
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Product Description
When his next-door neighbors in a quaint New England town suddenly pick up and move to a gated retirement community in Florida, Andrew D. Blechman is astonished by their stories. Larger than Manhattan, with a golf course for every day of the month, two downtowns, its own newspaper, radio, and TV stations, The Villages is a city of nearly one hundred thousand (and growing), missing only one thing: children. More than twelve million people will soon live in these communities, and to get to the bottom of the trend, Blechman delves into life in the senior utopia. He offers a hilarious first-hand report on all its peculiarities, from ersatz nostalgia and golf-cart mania to manufactured history and the residents’ surprisingly active sex life, and introduces us to dozens of outrageous characters. Leisureville is also a serious look at a major and underreported trend, only to get bigger as the baby boomers retire. Blechman travels to Arizona to show what has happened after decades of segregation. He investigates the government of these “instant” cities, attends a builder’s conference, speaks with housing experts, and examines the implications of millions of Americans dropping out of society and closing the gates on kids.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 34 more reviews...
Some Good Points Get Buried Under the Author's Bias August 30, 2008
Bucky (Haunted Mansion, The Magic Kingdom)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Andrew Blechman is of the opinion that those who live in The Villages and other retirement communities are a bunch of selfish, exclusionary, societal drop-outs. He gets upset when his retired neighbors opt out of life in his northern town, which he specifically selected for its charming diversity so that his kids would grow up in a multi-culti paradise, and move to The Villages in Florida. So he decides to go check it out for himself. What he finds there appalls him: promiscuous seniors! drinking binges! lesbian softball players who fail to recognize his liberal credentials and own up to their true selves for the sake of an interview in his book! and an endless parade of golf carts!
But worst of all: these people don't want to live among families with children. They want to live in age-restricted communities, far away from screaming toddlers and self-involved teens on skateboards. And for this he deems them exclusionary, possibly bigoted, and definitely not doing their fair share.
Well, I'm not a retiree, but my parents are, and they plan on selling their house and moving to The Villages just as quickly as they can. And I support them in their decision. They've worked hard all their lives and if it makes them happy to live there, I'm happy for them. And if they are safer, I'll be even happier.
Because, in truth, Mr. Blechman, the way too many kids behave these days, I don't want to live with them either. And I don't blame our seniors for wanting to live in communities where they don't have to worry about being run down by some kid in heelies. Because if some boy skates into my mother and they both fall down, he gets up and gets on with his life. But my mother could easily wind up with broken hip.
We live in a time when kids do not get the attention and loving discipline from their parents that we got from ours. As a result, our communities are becoming less civilized with each generation. No small wonder people want to move to enclaves filled with like-minded people. Mr. Blechman should take a long hard look at the world outside retirement communities and ask himself just how solicitous it is of the needs and concerns of seniors before he condemns them for wanting their own communities.
That said, Leisureville does have its better points. Mr. Blechman provides a fascinating look at the history and development of retirement communities, starting with Sun City and Youngtown in the '60s and '70s and moving up to The Villages in Florida. His chapter on a peculiarity of Florida law that give the developers of communities almost total control over those communities is very insightful and merits careful reading. His description of The Villages' virtual takeover of Sumter County government, if accurate, is downright frightening. I've been to Sumter County and it's a lovely, bucolic county, quiet and very rural. The Villages are taking over the northern half of the county, and the consequences for longtime residents seem to be political disenfranchisement and the wholesale destruction of their way of life. These chapters alone make the book a worthy endeavor.
So if you can get past the author's sneering bias, the tales of Mr. Midnight and his loveless sex life, and the careening golf carts, you'll find an informative book about a kind of community that your parents, or you, might be moving to one day. It's worth a look.
A Must for Anyone Interested in Local Government August 25, 2008
Zach Peters (Bedford Falls, NY)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Blechman raises three issues that are of paramount importance, all of which make it worthwhile reading for anyone -- especially in the Northeast -- who is grappling with generational issues in local government; it should also be of interest to those who are concerned about the long-term physical and resource impact of age-restrictd communities.
First, if we do value our seniors, why aren't we doing more on a local level to encourage them to stay in integrated communities? The cost of public education, health and other benefits, and an aging infrastructure are clobbering the tax base, but we may need to find the extra money in strained municipal budget to better support programs that make life in the communities in which they've lived for decades easier and more rewarding for them. That said, seniors have hardly helped their cause -- it is tiresome to hear well-heeled retirees complain that they shouldn't shoulder some of the burden for the exact same municipal services that previous generations willingly provided them when they were raising children.
Second, what is going to happen to The Villages and Sun City as they decay? These are not particularly well-constructed or sustainable communities. If the people who live there do not invest in their future -- by repairing infrastructure and building a strong team of municipal employees -- the housing stock and streets will eventually decline. These seniors are fleeing that very problem, but it will follow them if they live long enough. Local communities may yet wind up paying for these developments.
Third, Florida and especially Arizona are already in serious trouble with water usage. These seniors may not be around when water shortages become a fact of daily life, but their children will be.
 Leisureville August 8, 2008
R. Lecarpentier (Summerfield, Fl)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Great book. We live in a community on the outskirts of The Villages. We're so glad we decided NOT to buy in the Villages 5 years ago. This book just reiterated what we thought at the time. Was great to read about all the places we're familiar with, but the behind the scenes info was an eye-opener.
Those looking to move into a "retirement" community should read this book before making any decisions.
Leisureville July 30, 2008
Karen Collings (E. Sandwich, Ma USA)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is very funny in some parts
and very enlightning in others.
This tells it like it is and has a history lesson to boot.
Raining on the parade of Golfer's Utopia! Hilarious! July 24, 2008
T. Bershad (Philadelphia, PA USA)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
I wasn't sure what to expect when I first picked up this book. However once I started reading I couldn't stop. Blechman's perspective and quirky humor made me laugh out loud. This book is funny and also sad but true. The premise of this book is that a large block our our aging population has opted to spend their remaing years in a high school version of Utopia. If you think spending the rest of your life on a golf course is a good idea, then you will hate this book! But if you care about other people and want to make a contribution to life and actually develop a conscience, then you will be appalled at what the "Leisurevillers" have chosen. I think this is an important book and would not be surprised if it becomes required reading at the college sociology level. This is a GOOD BOOK. I highly recommend it!
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