According to report, some 800 or 900 people move into the state of Florida every single day. On visits to central parts of the state one sees evidence of this influx everywhere. Some signs of growth make for worry: unbridled development threatens the well-being of the land. Esthetically, the natural beauty of the place is often compromised by ugly billboards and honky-tonk displays.
Retired people are by no means the only arrivals: many younger people are settling in Florida as well. The building of more schools, among other evidence, witnesses to the arrival of large numbers of families with children.
In certain parts of the state, however, retired people appear legion. Among those housed in retirement communities are lots of people who used to live up north. A visit two weeks ago to Gainesville introduced me to a community typical of those that offer the amenities many retirees want for their later years.
As an invited speaker, I had the pleasure of getting acquainted with some of the residents. They invited me to tour their newly built housing units and to eat dinner with them in their community dining room. It all made for a pleasant evening indeed: good food, enjoyable company, comfortable furnishings, and gracious hospitality.
Something bothers me about these living arrangements in Florida, however. Clearly they offer security and comfort in a predictably warm climate. No one has to worry about crime or daily tasks too difficult for people with physical disabilities. But in addition to the financial cost this kind of community exacts another price as well.
Though I do not begrudge such living arrangements to others, I find them personally unattractive and even disquieting. What bothers me most are three factors: segregation by age, physical isolation, and separation from personal roots.
Most of us elders, after all, need the stimulation of contact with younger people. Our juniors offer us their physical vitality and ways of thinking different from those in our own generation.
As Carolyn Heilbrun says of contact with youth (not without a touch of irony): “The secret, however, of successful – – and therefore continuing – – association with the young lies in knowing that they are more valuable as suppliers of intelligence than receivers of it.”
Later in the same book The Last Gift of Time, she speaks about what we give to those still young: “It is our very presence that is important to the young. They want us to be there: not in their homes, perhaps, not watching them with a baleful eye as they go about their daily work, but there. We assure them that life continues, and if we listen, we assure them that it matters to us that it continues.”
For me, easy access (on foot, ideally) to downtown can add spice to each day. Browsing the stores, eating lunch or snacks in favorite hangouts, finding performances of live music – – these and other pleasures of the marketplace and cultural centers can keep us interested in daily life around us.
In Florida those who wish to go anyplace seem thoroughly dependent upon automobiles. One afternoon I took a four-mile walk along the highway and did not encounter a single other pedestrian!
I also value my roots too dearly to pull them up voluntarily and go live in Florida, a place distant from my family members, friends, and familiar haunts. These roots provide continuity to my life and hence a special meaning.
Some other critics, looking at the current Florida retirement scene, even now foresee the need for different models. Larry Reimer, a thoughtful Presbyterian pastor in Gainsville, feels dissatisfied with current retirement residences.
Here’s what he told me: “I feel that people in my generation in the fifties are not going to be interested in moving to a rather barren community of like-minded people and like-aged people just because it’s warm. And for Florida to continue to benefit from the influx of retirees, it’s going to have to look at more integrated retirement communities where there’s the benefit of cross-cultural, cross-age experiences.”
Rev. Reimer already attempts to apply this thinking to his church. There he brings university students into contact with the other people of his parish so that old and young interact in the same community of faith.
My point of view about retirement living will almost surely displease some Florida friends. Many elders feel quite content with new surroundings there and point to the stimulus that comes from adapting to a new style of living. Only a curmudgeon would deny older people the right to choose what they judge best for themselves. Would that everyone could afford to do so. However, for me age integration, easy access to civic centers, and contact with my roots will continue to rank highest among my requirements for daily living in retirement.
Richard Griffin