An Alternative To Aging In Place For Retirees

One of the main dilemmas people face as they get older is where to live. The common questions are:

• Should we stay in our home as long as we can?
• Since we don’t need as much space, should we “right size” to a smaller place?
• Is it time to move to a retirement community that has a range of long-term care options?

The question should be: how can I live better in this phase of life? In January, one of the articles I wrote was titled “Why Aging In Place May Not Be The Answer For Your Retirement.” During my research process, I discovered an alternative to these options: Amblebrook at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It is a unique active adult living community for many reasons. Interestingly, The National Association of Home Builders just recognized Amblebrook with a Gold award—“Best 55+ Detached Community of the Year”—which is the association’s grand award.

As baby boomers continue to retire, there is a trend for people to downsize often moving to retirement communities. Most 55+ communities are referred to as senior living communities that do not include a continuum of care and health services. But while there are many 55+ communities, Amblebrook’s magic formula is twofold. The community’s award-winning design, intentionally planned to foster connectivity and wellness, has made it a leading-edge community that encourages year-round activity for all residents.

A Special Model For Community

It is easy to talk about community, but Amblebrook is intentional about facilitating community and creating a sense of belonging. Amblebrook’s developer Crown Community Development went all-in on amenity offerings, building many of the facilities and amenities before many homes were even built. Having this “wellness campus” ready and available for residents to use much earlier than the industry norm helped Amblebrook’s residents to build and establish connections right from the beginning.

After interviewing Chris Naatz, the Director of Sales and Strategy for Crown Community Development, Amblebrook’s developer, I learned some specific reasons why this community has been so successful. When planning the Amblebrook community, Crown made informed, strategic decisions about the design and layout of Amblebrook’s wellness campus with the specific goal of stimulating social connections and promoting longevity.

The first thing you see at Amblebrook’s Welcome Center is not a salesperson, but a Café and Coffee Shop where both visitors and residents meet and connect. While the Welcome Center is the jumping off point within Amblebrook, it is just one of several hubs within the community. There is a Demonstration Kitchen called Nourish Interactive Kitchen, and an art room called Canvas Studio that even includes a kiln for ceramics. There is a theater space for watching TED talks, movies, and speakers. In collaboration with a local healthcare provider and other wellness experts, there is a state-of-the-art wellness facility offering spa programs, physical therapy, massages, and other wellness-related care options. For residents who want to be active, there are indoor and outdoor pools, a full gym, indoor and outdoor pickleball courts, a dog park, walking trails in nature, and more.

Amblebrook offers an organized community events calendar where residents participate in over 2,000 events per year, engaging with each other in ongoing learning on a breadth of topics. Residents have founded over 50 clubs, and there are ample volunteer opportunities and expansive amenities rooted in wellness that are all strategically designed to promote genuine human connections rooted in purpose and better health. Gettysburg is also close to several metropolitan areas, making it an attractive location for people who want to enjoy the countless activities that big cities offer.

With all these opportunities for activity and connection, those who have moved to Amblebrook are living a lifestyle that is more mentally, socially, and physically active and fulfilling than they ever imagined.

Naatz described the culture as an older version of the series “Friends” and “Seinfeld” because groups of friends have moved into the community as a group from their old neighborhoods. “There is so much wisdom in the community that is shared in a variety of ways,” he said. “We have a brain trust that we tap into for emotional, spiritual, and intellectual learning.” He explained how this community is a perfect example of life-long learning, but “it’s the relationships that keep people joyful and well.”

Those who have moved to Amblebrook have made more meaningful friendships than they’ve ever had before in their lives, and it’s their high level of activity and engagement with each other that forms these bonds. Residents attend lectures and community events, participate in clubs and organizations, take vacations together, and socialize daily. All this activity is naturally a prescription for better health (mental, physical and emotional) and a longer lifespan.

A Real Sense Of Belonging

To learn more, I interviewed some of the residents. According to one woman, “Everybody who lives at Amblebrook has a rich background. We have physicists, doctors, lawyers, and people with jobs that I didn’t even know existed. The life experience is phenomenal. Residents give lectures offering their expertise to each other.” Another man added, “We always find things to talk about with our neighbors and are always learning new things from them. Everybody has something different to add. I’ve been teaching people to play canasta and chess. We’ve got Civil War experts who take their friends over to Gettysburg for tours.”

Based on my extensive research about positive aging, it is important to stay relevant, engaged in life, and connected to others. While there is no one answer to where to live, communities such as Amblebrook facilitate what matters most. As Robert Waldinger concludes in his book “The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness, “strong, positive relationships are a key predictor of happiness, well-being, and even longevity, more so than factors like wealth or success.”

According to a 2023 report from the U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community, “evidence consistently shows that wider social networks and more frequent social engagements with friends and family are associated with better cognitive function and may protect against the risk of dementia.” At the same time, “Evidence across scientific disciplines converges on the conclusion that socially connected people live longer.”

Amblebrook represents a new approach to how an active adult community should be designed. This focus on wellness, regularly activity, and connection is on the cutting edge. Based on research trends about health and wellness, Amblebrook will likely be the direction for the industry that other developers will model. This type of community is not seen as a place to retire, but instead a place where someone can start a new stage of life. It raises the bar for what “retirement” means.

Aging in place –in your home—may still be the answer for some people. But we should remember that Robert Waldinger concluded that the good life is based on healthy relationships. “Loneliness kills. It’s as powerful as smoking and alcoholism.” He emphasizes taking care of our physical health, but relationships and social health is just as important for living the good life. Though creating and maintaining relationships is harder to do as people grow older, organizations such as Amblebrook remove the common obstacles to living a life full of community and strong social connections.