Every morning I get up and say I should just bag it all and quit posting. I'll be the first to admit this site doesn't have nearly the reach I would like it to have. But the numbers are growing and I do know that word of mouth is the best medium for reaching people. Hopefully visitors will talk to neighbors and friends and keep the discussions alive beyond the readers we have here. There's a bigger issue at work as well; we know some board members and staff follow the site. While I suspect most of them view me as a pain in the ass, that's okay. Let me give you a practical application as to what I have said 20 times in 20 different ways. Think about it like this: What if we had only done what we needed to do to satisfy the state regarding Viewpoint Lake? Say the golf expenditures were only half of what we are dumping in them. By the end of year 2016, had we done all of the irrigation and wells and we had taken the rest of the money and used it to renovate Mountainview. Imagine we added a new pool, fitness area and awesome theater. Now ask yourself; which one is a better draw for selling homes in Sun City? We already have a reputation as a golf community. Who else boasts of playing a different course every day of the week, and especially at the prices we have? To be honest, our courses aren't championship caliber, and they never will be. We won't ever have water surrounded greens or mountain vistas looming above them. As one golfer told me, if I want one of those I jump in my car during the summer when I can play them for next to nothing. On the other hand, our entertainment venues are bursting at the seams. Both Sundial and the Sun Bowl have horrendous sound systems. People complain of uncomfortable chairs during performances and long for something better. I'll be the first to say it; just because I think it, doesn't make it right. I do know those kinds of decisions should be/should have been made by at least in part by the community. Getting six golfers on the board and then making it all golf all the time flies in the face of logic. What would be really interesting of any of those long gone board members actually ever thought we'd be looking at near on 35 million dollars as we approach 2018? So to sum it all up; yup, it's worth it. Sun City and its future is far too important to close my eyes and pretend these kinds of decisions shouldn't involve more than a handful of folks who may or may not know what they are doing.
Oh yes, even with the minor irritations of dealing with our non-existant government in Sun City, it is the place to live. I know many that just pay the annual assessment and never take advantage of any of the RCSC facilities. I am pleased that this forum has remained so civil and on point. It would be great to expand its participation but it seems there are many that read but never post.
Right on Bill and Aggie. From the viewpoint of a near future newcomer I would agree it is worth it. Sun City, despite the 9 golf courses attracted me anyway. The lifestyle is not for everyone, but I like it. What attracted my wife and I: Affordability, rec centers, activities & clubs, quality homes & well kept yards, and for me the weather. What didn't attract us: HOA board! There is good and bad regarding HOA boards, Sun City is currently experiencing the bad. The good: neighborhoods are kept nice and homes kept in good external shape which makes the neighborhood attractive. The bad: you get the typical politician running as board members because of the apathy of the typical resident. We see it in HOAs all the time all over the country, the typical resident thinks the board is a waste of time and doesn't affect them... how wrong they are. The typical politician as we all know runs for office on a platform of openness and listening and working for the people (aka community). However once in office they switch to the personal agenda they came in with and don't care what the community really thinks or needs. They drive only what they want for their time in office and go away thinking they did good. How wrong they are. Our HOA experience here in CO: A lady that lived along the open space wanted a rear gate to the open space, but rules did not allow for it. She got elected to the board because no one else wanted it. Once elected she drove her issue until it happened, then she became inactive as a board member as was dismissed. What a sad excuse for a human being. The good news is that board members come and go, however it is unfortunate that a few people can do so much damage in a few years. The even better news is that some will have served their time and will never be able to serve again and will be in a position of having no say in what happens. Meaning, the damage can be repaired if the right people are willing to serve their community. One of my favorite quotes: "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" JFK. Point being, as a future resident what do I want for my community? I figure I will live there for a good 20 years and I want it to remain attractive for generations to come. That means keeping all the rec centers in top shape, staying fit is a major industry these days and looks to be in the future. It means keeping homes looking good and yards looking great. It means having activities that are relevant to potential new residents. It means keeping Sun City as a place that a younger generation want to come and live in, something that other communities look at and are green with envy. Dang it Bill, you got me on that soap box again. Cheers
Not a day goes by that I don't talk to someone about Sun City. Not a single person has anything negative to say about it. Oh, sure we can talk about improving this or that but all in all residents are happy here. BTW. No body has mentioned how friendly everyone is in SC. I think the sunshine brings out the best in people. That's why the original smiley was the sun!
So true Peg, That is one of the things that helped my wife feel so welcome on our first visit. When we stopped by the visitor center the ladies there were so nice and friendly. My wife and our friend asked about negatives, the two ladies contemplated the question for a moment and then gave us a perplexed look and said they could not think of a thing. When we went back to the car some nice folks noticed our rental had an out of state license so they spurred a conversation. We can all grouse a bit about one thing or another or the way we think things should be, but Sun City is pretty darn nice place. I talk to folks all the time about retirement in a few years and where I am headed. To no surprise most folks either have never heard of Sun City or never thought about retiring to such a place.
No worries about the soapbox Bruce, it's all part of the fun. And peg is spot on, people living in Sun City love it. What's not to love. We always need to have something to moan about, and in Sun City it's usually the minutia we find buried well beneath the joy. Seems hard to believe any one place could be this good. Therein lay my compelling need to continue the discussions, to share our concerns as aggie said, in a positive way. While most don't understand, Sun City was born in adversity and tested the qualities of those early residents. They worked hard and worked together to battle through their differences and create something very special. While most talk about our incredible value, I find the "values" even more impressive. The "great social experiment" was supposed to fail. The experts said it couldn't possibly work. Sun City's first 5 years were a constant challenge, and in coming weeks and months i'll share more about that. Our resiliency was the key. Even as the community was torn apart by the division between Community Center (Oakmont) and Town Hall (Fairway), people tried to find common ground. While incorporation was a battle that lasted 25 plus years, the community leaders struggled through their differences. One man understood that if Sun City was to survive for the long haul, it would only happen if they could work together. John Meeker worked tirelessly to build a sense of community. His job was to build and sell homes for DEVCO, but he knew ultimately the company would be gone and then it would be up to those living here to make it work. Those values are what should inspire and keep us all pushing for a better Sun City. The status quo isn't option.
Maybe you talked to me. I volunteer at the Visitor Center. When talking to someone who is considering moving here, I am very, very enthusiastic. People are always very happy to get all the free literature, including maps, about our wonderful Sun City.
Similar experience for me. I have cousins in AZ and have been there many times, but never heard of Sun City. Yeah you hear about people retiring to Florida and Arizona to play golf and such, but since golf doesn't appeal to me I never looked. Besides that retirement communities seemed like they would be expensive with hidden costs, etc. In 2012 I started to explore inexpensive places to retire. We went to Vegas and drove to Pahrump to take a look. It didn't take long to know this was NOT for us. I looked at Kingman a bit and even started pricing houses. It was an OK choice, but something just didn't feel great about it. Here just north of us in CO there is Anthem, a Del Web community, but prices are out of reach for the normal person and taxes in CO are not the most friendly. So I wrote off retirement communities completely as an option for our meager means. Then I stumbled upon 55 places and my eyes were opened. For most people's perception places like Sun City are not affordable and have hidden costs, etc.. When I tell my friends where I am headed they say I must have a lot of $$ squirreled away. When I tell them what home prices are and the fees they are shocked and say they are going to look. Sun City is retirement's best kept secret IMHO.
Sun City has been a quiet story that few knew about and if they did, it was often steeped in being a bunch of old people waiting to die. 5years back the board agreed to allocate $100,000 a year towards promotion/marketing. It's been a bumpy ride with some hits and misses, but I think it's paid off. With the addition of the Visitor Center the potential is even better. We've seen lots of articles and interest from various media folks about the country. Visitors from around the world still come and study the how and why we are successful as we are. One only has to look at the pending CBS Sunday Morning show that will air in the next month to grasp the importance of our visibility in a market dominated by monster corporations with million dollar adverting budgets. And through it all, the one Meeker technique is still alive in age restricted marketing: Play and Stay works; it did in the 60's and 70's, it still does today. It was one of those issues I wanted to put before residents, but alas, boards tend to be conservative in nature, and suspect of community involvement. It's too bad because the upside of an engaged community is something that would only enhance our future, not detract from it.
The first time I ever heard the name Sun City was in 1978. I was on staff of the local union and we sent out our newsletter to members and retirees. We used an old fashioned addressograph machine to label them. We had just merged with the meat cutters and one of their retirees had an address in Sun City AZ. I was a sun freak back in those days and when I read the name I thought, wow, how cool is that? Little did I know or ever expect.
July 1976, our family took a driving trip across the country (well, we started in KY where I grew up). As the kid who ruled the "over the cab" bunk in the mini-home, I had a perfect view of everything. I remember eating "Kentucky Fried Chicken" in Arizona, and thinking that was neat. I also remember a billboard for "Sun City". I thought, who would want to live out here in the middle of nowhere? (Yes, July - my parents anniversary is July 14, so that was our family vacation time, no matter how hot the weather was)
At the Visitor Center I'm always hearing "How about the summer?". No snow to shovel or worrying about slipping on ice! We emphasize, AC, AC, AC!
Amen sister! We got about 6" of snow last Saturday, but it melted right away. The good news the mountains got a bunch of heavy wet snow, more water to send down the Colorado river.
What's snow? Goodness the memories of either shoveling the crap before I had a snow blower or how about when the dang thing clogged up because it was too wet? Of course there's nothing better to get your driveway cleared beautifully, only to have the snow plow drive buy and bury you deep.
Ug snow. We endured over a decade in the Sierras in northern CA. I hated skiing down to get my mail. We left in 04 and bought a new build in Vistancia and had some great times there, but the shoes were getting too tight with us being the old farts on the street. We did consider Trilogy and looked there at a smaller home but you could just about wash each others windows and the HOA fee was a no go for us. We love it here.
