Finding community when retiring and relocating

    When relocating for work or retirement, we need to remember that community is based on a sense of belonging. It is more than just a group of individuals gathered in the same location. Rather, there is a common interest or a common bond; there is a sense of sharing, participation, and fellowship; there is something that leads to a shared sense of identity. Will you find community in a 50 home “active adult community”? Will you find community in a 50 home mixed-age neighborhood? Whether you experience an isolated sense of detachment or an open sense of “we-ness” will all depend.

Some clients have said “There is no way that I want to live in an adult community. They are way to cliquey.” And with that they just identified a key distinction among all groups, not just residential communities. Some groups get their sense of identity and cohesiveness from social  attraction, the extent to which groups members embody and are attracted to the group’s values, behaviors, and attitudes (Hogg & Hain, 1996, 1998). For example, graduates of Notre Dame University, alumni of Lucent Technologies, members of the Dallas Cowboys Fan Club. Other groups get their cohesiveness from interpersonal attraction or liking based on personal traits and characteristics - there is something about the individuals themselves holding the group together.

Now in plenty of instances, proximity may bring us together, but it’s not the glue that holds us together. Think of your time at college or work. There you were together with hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals. You may feel an affinity to all those Buckeyes or WEFA-ites, but that doesn’t mean that you’re friends with all of them. Instead, you developed friendships with those that you shared other aspects such as academic major, family circumstances, or personal tastes and values.

The same will hold true for whatever neighborhood or community that you move into. The difficulty with traditional neighborhoods is that you often won’t know who’s there until months after you’ve settled in.  Here’s where “active adult communities” may have an advantage … they often host visitor days, conduct tours, or offer “discovery packages.” Go, take a “test drive” of the residence as well as the RESIDENTS. Here’s your chance to discover whether you’ll have that great sense of belonging in your new location. If you don’t feel it, keep driving. You’ll know it when you do.

This entry was posted on 11. April 2010 at 05:53 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.