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Communities
Birds of a Feather
Gay retirement communities are growing in popularity across the nation
and are being developed in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Ft. Lauderdale and
other cities. Gay retirement communities, though, are more than
just a market -- they're part of a movement and are a hedge against
future discrimination, although some people worry that they could be a bigger target
for ugly homophobic violence. Older gays and lesbians are
ready to come out, though, and surveys find that older gays and lesbians
seeking community express high interest in GLBT-specific
retirement communities. Because many gays have grappled with
discrimination throughout their lives, they worry that the problem
will be even worse when they retire and grow more dependent on others.
Now with aging an undeniable reality, gays are determined to put
their own stamp on it.
Some gay retirement communities, such as the Palms, are restricted to
people 55+, but others, like RainbowVision, are marketed
more broadly to people wanting to plan ahead. Stonewall
Communities, a 14,000-square-foot, 55-unit apartment building planned
for Boston's Fenway neighborhood, will also be for mixed ages; one- and
two-bedroom units will be priced between $400,000 and $600,000.
With the steady increase of openly gay baby boomers in the market for housing, retirement communities catering
to their needs are suddenly trendy and will continue to pop up around
the country.
