I'm 65. Where's my "Aging Hippie" retirement community?

My wife and I are starting to ponder our options when coping with our non-easy-care house on ten rural acres near Salem, Oregon gets to be too much of a chore for us.

Some days, I feel like that day already has arrived.

We've got a large early 1970's house; something regularly goes wrong. We've got a large yard in addition to the ten acres; something regularly needs attending to -- leaves, mowing, pruning, whatever.

But we're healthy (albeit with a few nagging problems).

And maintaining our house and property helps keep us that way. We just are looking ahead to the time when it seems right to reluctantly say "goodbye" to the pleasures and pains of our current lifestyle.

Last night we watched a DVD sent to us by folks at Panorama, a continuing care retirement community in Lacey, Washington. 

We like the Northwest, so were interested in Panorama. Lacey is adjacent to Olympia, Washington -- which strikes me as a much cooler state capital than Salem is.

Plus, Washington has two additional pluses: it has legalized marijuana and assisted suicide (if you have a terminal condition). Being baby boomers who came of age in the 1960's, and are now in our mid-60's, we aren't interested in living a golf course and bingo retirement.

Especially not in a right-wing state like Florida or Arizona. So the left coast likely is where we'll spend the rest of our days.

Watching the DVD made us realize that this won't be in a continuing care retirement community. At least, not until they pull my longboard/skateboard out of my land paddling senior citizen arms. 

This is not a dig against Panorama.

It appears to be a great retirement community for those who are attracted to having assisted living and skilled nursing facilities available, allowing them to smoothly transition from being independent to needing regular health care and other help.

The people interviewed in the Panorama DVD are not like us. Again, not a criticism. Just reality. This was evident from their clothes, home decor, manner of speaking, interests, and what they liked about Panorama.

Laurel and I don't think ourselves as old, even though we're 64 and 65. We damn sure don't enjoy acting like we're old. We dress as youthfully as Social Security recipients can get away with. We enjoy the MTV Video Music Awards. In short, we're aging ex-hippies who still embrace the Flower Child dream.

I'm sure marketing genuises in the 55+ community industry must recognize this. However, a bunch of Googling hasn't revealed any "active adult" developments aimed at the Aging Hippie demographic. 

I think there's an opportunity here. Give me a call, planned community developers. My wife and I would be happy to serve as consultants on what people like us are looking for when they decide to leave their current home and lifestyle.

Dog-friendly/dog park. Not only allow skateboarding; encourage it. Multi-use paths in natural settings. Coffee house. Brew pub. Movie theatre that does not show On Golden Pond. Tai Chi, Yoga, and meditation classes. Intellectual stimulation.

And a community bus that looks a lot more like Ken Kesey's than a retirement home's. 

Comments

[Barbara L Chambers]

I'm 66 and SO very far from retiring from life. Here we are in 2018 and I'm still looking for the old hippie commune. Anything? ANYwhere??

[Ted]

I've only just turned 55 but I'm beginning to look for a comfortable, hippy-esque (I think they call it 'progressive' now) community where I will be able to slowly wind down my work life (horticulturist or whatever) and gradually settle into a "retirement" life with the comfort of like-minded folks around me. That I can afford.

I love the Intentional Community movement ( ic.org ), I'm open to all sorts of creative ideas on the subject and I'm hoping that someone, somewhere, is thinking along the same lines. I'll gladly help with the groundwork now while I can to help build what it is we are all looking for.

[Pamela Greenewald]

Well, I am also so happy to have googled just the right words to land on this blog. Every post I relate to. We really are a tribe us baby boomers! So my husband and I are 65 and 67 living in Alachua, Fl, (near Gainesville) for 33 years on 10 acres which includes a private lake and all the trimmings. We have raised 4 happy kids here and we have lived a full organic permaculture style life. We have our place for sale because we did not pay off our mortgage when we could have and now we do not want to live with one. This place is paradise with a 2600 sf house.We would be able to build one more home on this property or split it and build another house. Instead of selling for $400,000, it would be nice to have some like minded folks buy into the place and we could share the main dwelling and build one more. This could be done with 3 other separate buyers investing $100,000 each. Let me know if anyone is interested. ([email protected]) I own and operate a commercial organic rose nursery and would be interested in taking on a partner as well. All things are possible. We have been building a beautiful tiny house (almost complete) with my son as my husband is a master builder as well. Most of these posts are 2 years old unless I haven't reached the end of them yet. We are ready and willing to make this happen. We have many exciting ideas for our place and it would make an excellent retreat center too. Please write if interested.

[Heather Harper]

Cooler care homes are needed for the baby boomers. We are not the Mares Eat Oats generation. That was our folks or grandfolks. I have a friend who is 69 and had a stroke. He can not help it. He is really a hip guy and lives in Kansas. Very intelligent and creative...loves cooking, gardening, and music. He went to look at very nice facility in our town. He freaked out. Everyone was 85 or 90 and they were just sitting in their wheelchairs staring around. He got really upset and scared by the whole thing. Plus the cost was 6,000 dollars per month. What.?.. We are going to hit these places like a grooving grey tsunami. These places are far from ready for us. I guess we had better get something going. Is there any place in Ka sar that cater to people .like us?

[Maray]

I am retired, child of the 60's.Lived the best yrs.of my life in S.F.
I've been living in Az. but will be relocating to N.J. Any 55+ communities where hippies live? I am vegan, into animal rights, liberal..need to find same.

[Deborah Kilgore Inaba]

Count me in when this place is situated. I'm all of the above, healthy, active, and dearly want others of like minds, hearts and bodies around.

[jo-]

I just turned 56, divorced, and settled in a 40 ish community. I am looking for the aging hippy relaxed ATMOSPHERE WHERE THERE ARE SINGLES of my age!!!!

[Mariette R]

Hello vegan family

I am available for live in help for disabled person's or seniors who are vegan. I can assist with just about Anything & would only require a small space to live . I am female age 29 I aspire to become a full plant based or fruitarian .I have been transitioning to fully plant based for 3 years .Currently I live alone in south east Louisiana. Please email me @[email protected]

[susan becker]

hey ----me too everyone that posted that they r looking for a old hippy place to live .y cant we all communicate together and get a place for our self's? susan Im really in a hurry to find what I need.

[SUSAN JULIE BECKER]

me too Im a 79 year old going on 40 hippie looking for a place to do my art . need to do this quickly .help susan

[Mary levine]

We live in Seattle, a great lifestyle. We would love to find a REAL feeling retirement community on the California coast. Seattle gloom for 6 months just isn’t meeting ourweather needs. We imagine hiking and biking NO GOLF, BOCCE, SHUFFLEBOARD. No hideous carpeted over decorated dining room, no bad food. Instead, conversation areas, coffee, weed, art, writing, animals, computer lab, games. Definite diversity.
Contact me if there is such a concept.

Mary
[email protected]

[Kenna]

I sold my little house 480 sq ft let go of my stuff bought a used little Casita and am doing a work gig for the summer ( not really my place) I am teaching yoga, do sound therapy and many other modalities that do not vibe here!!! l have no idea where I am going for the winter but l definitely lookng for my tribe I am currently n Rapid City South Dakota at Hart Ranch. Kenna

[Jack]

We laugh at’a what’s funny. We shit on the chests of the weird.
HST

[rebecca r]

hey I want the same thing. hippie retirement home. what sucks is I am a 68 yr old widow. so. hmm. also I am (lost) In Iowa, originally from ny, a jew and into it. wish Hippie Home near nyc but not too near. need greenspace nature culture and ppl to hang with. weed friendly. privacy and community. does it exist or will it ever? l m k oh also cat friendly. diverse. not only jews but I can't take white christian America anymore.....
home should have a rap room, poetry room jam room. own space w privacy. n'exists pas..

[Gwendolyn Allen]

It is so refreshing to see this community here I can relate to so many of the comments! I just happened to be thinking today if I won the lottery I would start and intentional Community with fun-loving people in their Golden Ages :-) please let me know if this exists anywhere! I even thought about moving to Jamaica! My number is 910-612-8167 I am cookie! I'm a widow my husband passed away with Lou Gehrig's Disease and I'm not ready to fold yet peace love and blessings!

[Buffy Weiss]

Check out Asheville, NC. Very eco-conscious. University town. Full of peace, love, and understanding.

[Dave R.]

This is a bit morbid but true, people may be dying to find a hippie place to retire!
In all this time I would have hoped this void had be noticed, causing a wave of beautiful places at affordable prices (many would be low-budget, hippie style anyway). Alas, choices are slim to none in most places.
There must be some true hippies out there that have a lot of money and are lonely for the lifestyle and friends that all of us on here miss? This is not a pitch but this should not be the way things are now or ever. We are hippies and we know how to cooperate and do things that are meaningful.
I am a 61 y/o, lifelong married hippie man on disability. My wife still works but must live with her mother now to care for her.
I live alone and we have no children, no one will care for us in the same way.
I live outside of Bellingham Washington, which has been called the most hippie city in the US. I have lived here a long time but could not testify to that. I don't really know many people that would like to be called a hippie.
Now you go downtown near the university at night on the weekends and you may find a lot of people about and may even hear howling at the moon! However, these seem to be "hipsters", simply cool, young partiers. I like them but I love hippies!
This thread is very old and some places need to be created!
I can provide info about this area (it is very beautiful) but you would most likely need to buy and create your own deal. I can not be involved with the money end of things so do not ask.
[email protected]

[Panorama bound]

Hey Brian: You said something about "looking ahead to the time when it seems right to reluctantly say 'goodbye' to the pleasures and pains of our current lifestyle."

Then: "Washington (State) has two additional pluses: it has legalized marijuana and assisted suicide (if you have a terminal condition).

So does Oregon (now). What's to stop you from heading up a group of like minded people and establishing your own retirement community - something that meets all the 'demands' and 'wants' described by you and wife and in all the comments?

[Kirstie]

I read almost every comment here with both refreshment and frustration that things have changed so little in terms of options for seniors with a different mindset than Those Who Plan Retirement Communities. However, after just having spent a ton of time doing research I have a couple things that might be helpful for all the people finding this site. Some things to Google: "senior co-housing" and "elder co-housing." You will get a lot of links to communities around the country that are doing things differently. Cohousing in general might be the solution you are looking for with a diversity of ages and a shared community mindset. This is all well and good until you are really incapacitated...after that, I haven't found any amazing long-term care options of any kind of place I wouldn't mind being in.

A lot of you mentioned Chapel Hill North Carolina as a possible area. I am actually from Chapel Hill so I can give you some personal input. We do have a number of really cool cohousing communities, probably a greater density than other areas of the country. they have things like a shared community garden, a common house with weekly meals together, walking trails, smaller-sized houses that are designed to be eco-friendly, etc. They're very colorful and unique and pleasing to the eye.

Another bonus is that we have UNC Chapel Hill and Duke, both top notch medical systems. We also have innovators in the slow medicine movement practicing here as well as a plethora of herbalists, functional medicine practitioners etc. Downtown Carrboro, which adjoins Chapel Hill and is really the most hippy sort of place in the region, is very walkable and we have a magnificent natural foods market (Weaver Street Market) with tons of outdoor seating with tall trees and all sorts of interesting characters running around or dancing or drinking wine and reading a book. There are a lot of really cool independent businesses and restaurants that cater to people that are into organic or vegan etc.

Another plus is the universities make it a very diverse and intellectually interesting area. UNC Chapel Hill has an amazing program for the public offering all kinds of talks and informal classes in pubs. also, I have to say the Chapel Hill public library is one of the best libraries of any town I have ever lived in.

Another big perk is the free bus system that goes all over town!

The weather is pretty mild, we have a lot of nice days in the middle of winter, and usually one or two snowfalls that last a few days and paralyze everything in the state because they aren't prepared to handle it. The summers, however, are not for the faint of heart. They are very hot and humid and there are mosquitoes. Everything is air-conditioned, but if you are an outdoors person you will likely feel more stir-crazy in the summer. The mountains are just a few hours away though, and much cooler and mosquito free. Asheville is indeed a really wonderful town, but I can't wax poetic on all its advantages because I have only been a few times.

We have a ton of people that have relocated here from the west coast to take advantage of our benefits and the far lower cost of living. However, if you are not from the West coast you may feel some sticker shock looking at the cost of living here. It's only going up, and if you're trying to buy property it can be a somewhat stressful experience competing with others. We saw our house and made a same-day decision and jumped with an offer to be able to get it. It's pretty easy to find rentals, though, since it is a university community.

Politically, this is a very liberal and progressive area, however, it is a bubble in the midst of a very conservative state. Lots of opportunities for lively conversations of varying perspective!

The Cat's Cradle and the Arts Center in Carrboro bring in a ton of great music. There are numerous musical festivals in the area and concerts put on by the universities.

The UNC botanical gardens and Duke gardens over in Durham are both free and wonderful.

And did I mention we have some really amazing thrift stores? A little too amazing if you are a book fiend like me.

I've made it all sound like Utopia, probably, but as with anywhere, it is what you make it. You need to get out and do the stuff and jump into community. You need to build those strong bonds of fellowship with others before you become incapacitated and end up in a nursing home, so they can bring life from the outside to you and hopefully redecorate your room for you to be livable and not institutional! There's endless opportunities for meeting people and forging relationships, but you have to go out your door and make it happen. People are incredibly friendly around here, so a little initiative on your part will go a long way.

I'm a part of a vibrant Anglican community that meets at the botanical gardens, and there are many other religious and spiritual communities in the area of all sorts here too!

I hope this has been helpful for all you great old hippies! Full disclosure: I'm still a 40 something spring chicken, but I'm the daughter of a couple of Haight hippies and half of you are probably old lost friends of my parents. They live here down the street from me! And they'd probably love to see you!

Blessings and best wishes on your journey to find the right spot to settle!

[Kirstie]

I forgot to mention one or two other Chapel Hill/Carrboro benefits probably everyone here would love. Farmers markets! (The Carrboro Farmers Market is famous!) Eco-farmers galore! CSAs! The locovore movement is going strong here. In Good Heart farm down the road in Pittsboro grows the best produce I've ever eaten. And so much good local produce year round! It's a foodie paradise around here. The restaurants scramble to get as many local farms on their menus as possible as a badge of honor, I think.

All hippy types visiting Chapel Hill would need to make a stop at the Oasis at Carr Mill, run by an old guy who sells his VW bus travel memoir along with coffee and every herbal tea you can imagine. The Honeysuckle tree house outside of town on an herb farm is another important stop for finding kindred spirits. And it's right by a group of folks that offer stuff like workshops building cob houses and healing the human-earth relationship. www.eco-institute.org.

Plus, if you check out Orange County Aging Services, you'll see that there are about a million class options for seniors at very cheap prices that include Tai Chi and yoga.