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Sunset
by Gip Plaster Finding a gay-friendly place to live out your golden years is becoming easier. Greer North, 59, and his partner Roger Robinson, 60, never imagined they would trade rugged, idiosyncratic and chilly Oregon for Florida - the Sunshine State, and the home of Disney World and the butterfly ballot. But that's exactly what the two men are in the process of doing. Like seniors everywhere, they are ready to resettle someplace warmer - and with more conveniences. So they have become pioneers: they bought a house in America's first gay and lesbian retirement community, The Palms at Manasota, about an hour from Tampa. "Rog and I have been together for 38 years and we never thought of retiring to Florida," says North, obviously surprised at their decision. "That was the farthest thing from our mind." The couple's new house is surrounded by manicured lawns and lush landscaping, and nestled inside The Palms' protecting gates. It was completed in January of this year. The pair are easing into their new home - and new climate - by spending a few months a year there until they are ready to move permanently. Unlike a lot of snowbirds who move to Florida for year-round golf under permanently sunny skies, North and Robinson say they were drawn to the community by the other residents. "It's a ready-made family. I feel like I could turn to each person here if I needed anything," North says. "I imagine you feel how a straight person would in a straight retirement community," he adds, as opposed to being the only gay couple in a "straight" retirement community full of possibly-unwelcoming strangers. North and Robinson first learned about The Palms from a report on television. They had heard there was going to be a segment on gay and lesbian retirement communities on the PBS program In The Life. "We taped it and put it in the back of our minds to watch later," North says. After watching the tape, they were so taken by the idea of moving to The Palms that they planned a visit the following Spring. "We came down, and we connected with Bill," North says, referring to Bill Laing, the founder of the community, who died in May 2000. "He was just one of those people you felt like you'd known all your life. I would think there'd be these retirement communities all around the country, but I think it takes a visionary like Bill," North says, to create one. VISION ABOUNDS What Laing accomplished at The Palms of Manasota has yet to be duplicated anywhere else. There are a couple of trailer parks in Arizona that have become quite popular with lesbians, but their development has been basically unplanned. Yet there is no shortage of self-proclaimed visionaries who want to be next Bill Laing. However, no one has been able to align property and investors with their vision and actually begin construction. In San Francisco, Peter Lundberg has emerged as the grand dame of gay retirement communities - speaking out and advocating vigorously about the needs of aging gays - but his status hasn't done him much tangible good. His vision is called Our Town and it includes homes, an assisted living facility and perhaps even a resort complex with townhouses and detached homes radiating from a central business area. It's been in the works for six years. The usual sources for gay money simply aren't interested in his project, he says. Yet Lundberg knows there is a market for a gay and lesbian retirement community. More than 1,700 people have registered at his Web site to stay informed about the project and 700 have completed extensive surveys. He is confident he'll eventually have something to report. "When the first community gets up that is like a major, mainstream type of product," he predicts, then "we know the money's going to flow in." David Aronstein is working on another gay retirement project. He is managing partner of Stonewall Communities, a group developing a community near Boston. "The idea is that this would be a place people would move to and not have to move again unless they needed extensive medical care," says Aronstein. The community has to be restricted to upscale clientele, Aronstein thinks, because of Boston's high land prices. Right now, however, he's still looking for investors. Fort Lauderdale developers Jeffrey Dillon and John DeLeo are planning an upscale gay and lesbian community called the Arbours near Cathedral City, California. Located just outside Palm Springs, DeLeo says he thinks his potential site is ideal; it has perfect weather and is only two hours from Los Angeles. His plans for the project include building retail spaces, a club, a 150-condo hotel, a 300-seat theater, and more. He's even set the date of the groundbreaking for November 3. But he doesn't own the land yet, and doesn't have investors lined up. Still, he hopes to create the California community and eventually open others in Seattle, Atlanta, Chicago, Boston and maybe even New York City. "There's nothing tangible I can point to, " DeLeo admits. "When you're developing something, you don't really see anything. But you don't know what's going on behind the scenes in this office every single day." It certainly isn't easy. He adds, "I've been at this full time for three years. I'm only suggesting that this is what it takes to get this done." Left out of most of the plans are gay men and lesbians with middle to low income. "There's not much middle-income housing overall," says Sandy Warshaw of New York City's Senior Action in a Gay Environment, a group that advocates for gay and lesbian seniors. "I think it will take a concerted effort by a developer to perhaps find out what government funding is available. Some kind of group of people has to form with planning funds or the tenacity to go after these funds to put together a proposal in realistic kind of way." HERE AND NOW Meanwhile, The Palms - a small and unassuming little community - is getting a lot of press attention because for now it is truly one-of-a-kind. Greer and Robinson are satisfied that their future is secure in a community of people they like - and that they are like. "I think sometimes you want to be with people you know," says Robinson. "I know the residents of 19 of the houses here. That kind of makes it a support group." According to John Goodwin, the current manager of The Palms, that feeling of community is true to the vision of its founder. "Bill's whole estate was put into a trust to make sure this dream is finished," says Goodwin, who was himself attracted to the job because of the same camaraderie. "I've never lived in a community before where I knew all my neighbors. At 44, he is the second-youngest resident of the community. Now, it's his job to make sure The Palms will be ready to serve members of his generation in the near future. In the works are a community center, a tennis court and new recreation buildings, as well as an assisted-living facility. "When Bill died, we spent just about a year recouping, so we're about eight to nine months behind schedule," Goodwin says, "but we're moving again." |