Retirees attracted by the college lifestyle

Retirees who like living near college campuses say they enjoy the lifestyle that comes with having a higher education institution nearby. It brings new meaning to the term senior class. Older Americans drawn to campus life include alumni, retired faculty as well as seniors just looking for a university environment.

Sharon Matthews lives about 1½ miles from the University of Maryland in College Park. She moved to the neighborhood about 20 years ago to attend graduate school and decided to stay in the area. Her home is about a 15-minute walk from campus.

“Now I have more time to take advantage of the benefits and nonacademic activities,” Ms. Matthews says. As a senior, she qualifies for free courses. Her only cost is the registration fee.

She takes various art courses including sculpture, metal casting, art history, lithography and painting. “I also like the idea of being able to use the pool facilities,” Ms. Matthews says.

Housing developments for the 55-and-older population are sprouting up near colleges all over the country to satisfy those who don’t already own a home near a college campus.

“We do have more and more of that kind of housing,” says AARP’s Elinor Ginzler. “There are more people aging in this demographic and a lot more living options.”

Just minutes away from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville is the Colonnades, a senior housing community that gives residents an opportunity to participate in campus life by taking classes or attending sporting and cultural events.

In addition to putting its name on the project, the university donated the land and provided alumni lists for marketing purposes when the Colonnades opened in 1991.

Ms. Ginzler says the fascinating thing about university-based housing is that it helps to break down the myth that all seniors want to live in warm climates.

She says that there are some successful housing developments for older adults near Purdue University in Indiana, and there’s one based in New York near Ithaca College and Cornell University that she says is “wildly popular.”

The Kendal Corp. (www. kendal.org) offers college- related retirement communities, including the one in Ithaca. Kendal at Lexington is a retirement community in the Shenandoah Valley near Washington and Lee University and Virginia Military Institute. Residents attend campus lectures, take classes and enjoy performances by graduate students or world-renowned artists.

Campus Continuum (www. campuscontinuum.com) specializes in developing and operating university-branded 55-plus active adult housing developments. The Newton, Mass.-based company, founded two years ago, is conducting exploratory discussions with higher education institutions throughout the country.

Currently working on a housing project at Juniata College in Pennsylvania, Campus Continuum will have a dean of programs to coordinate relations between residents and the college. GerardBadler,Campus Continuum managing director, says most existing university-affiliated retirement communities have an average age of about 84 because they are continuing-care retirement communities. Residents at planned Campus Continuum projects will be younger, he says.

“The United States is about to enter a kind of energy crisis, in reverse. About 77 million baby boomers will soon be retiring, or semiretiring, and most are wondering what are they going to do with themselves,” Mr. Badler says.

“Many are in good health and are looking for a lifestyle that combines interesting intellectual, social and volunteer opportunities,” Mr. Badler says. “Living in a golf course community or lying on a beach doesn’t fit their needs over the long term.”

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