Research Stories

by Melissa Olson-Petrie

When retirees started moving into the first homes in Youngtown and Sun City in 1954 and 1960, respectively, they likely thought that was it. They were there to stay, perhaps until they died. They were among the first to enjoy the age-restricted lifestyle–no kids, little crime, few responsibilities, and neighbors of their same great generation.

Decades passed. They lived what was labeled the "active adult lifestyle." The concept became so popular it grew like dandelions throughout Arizona and beyond. Things changed in 1998. Youngtown lost its age restrictions in a legal battle. Originally, all Youngtown residents had to be age 50 or older.

"Stability is chimerical," says Kevin McHugh, an associate professor in the School of Geographic Sciences at Arizona State University. "Societies change. Things move on. Youngtown is a perfect example."

When the age restrictions were dropped, Youngtown became younger, more working class, and increasingly Latino, says McHugh. He and graduate student Ann Fletchall have studied how longtime Youngtown residents have dealt with the changes. Some have adapted, but others have escaped to Sun City or similar age-restricted havens.

"I just look at it this way. You don't have long on this Earth. And when you're gone, you're going to have plenty of quiet," one longtime Youngtown resident told Fletchall. The woman's perspective on the kids who "yell and scream and run and holler" differed markedly from some of her former neighbors who had fled.

In an earlier study, one Sun City resident described the white cinderblock walls at the edges of the original Sun City as offering "splendid isolation."

"I guess as a group they feel as through they're aligned against the outside, and those white walls around the community mean a great deal to them," the woman said.

McHugh has also studied neighboring Arizona cities, such as Peoria, Surprise, and El Mirage. The ASU scholar has documented how Sun Citians have not been viewed as especially good neighbors. Starting in 1974, residents of the Sun Cities voted to de-annex from local school districts and avoid paying taxes. They "frayed the social compact," says McHugh.

At least one retiree McHugh interviewed acknowledged the hypocrisy in seniors saying, "I don't want to pay another dime. I want to get by as cheap as possible." After all, the results of poor educational systems, including crime and the dissolution of family and societal values, are among the reasons senior citizens give for moving to fortress-like retirement communities, McHugh explains.

He sees how the changes in Youngtown signal the "unraveling of an idea."

"Cultural views of aging are shifting, especially among baby boomers who do not recognize aging," says McHugh. "It's about anti-aging and agelessness, so why would you move to an age-restricted community?

"There will likely be continuing concentrations of ‘older' people but less defined by legal age restrictions than by lifestyle niche," he says.

McHugh's examination of Youngtown and its residents fits into his more than two decades of studies regarding mobility and place, especially as these concepts connect to aging. In the 1980s, he began studying retirees who had moved to Sun City and, with Robert Mings, who has since retired, snowbirds who gathered in Apache Junction recreational vehicle (RV) parks. Overall, McHugh is driven by the question of what these communities tell us about American society.

For more information, contact Kevin McHugh, Ph.D., School of Geographical Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, 480.965.3510. Send e-mail to kmchugh@asu.edu