Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Relocation Choice Two-My New Home

Today I managed to get outside for an hour. The air is crappy and you can't even see the mountains but I had to do it. Smoke smell or no smoke smell.
My larger search area, with daughter living where the 380 sign on the right is and north, my final decision right where the c in County is, community one where the words Little Elm areand the turuoise apartments a little off to the left
My initial criteria was simply that I was not going to purchase-for a bunch of reasons. I'm not in a position to pay cash. I expect to be living with my daughter in about five years. I literally don't want to expand any effort on a home other than cleaning the inside, and even in the best of scenarios that doesn't always work. And I would prefer the city of Denton

I wasn't sure I wanted a senior community as such, although I knew I need the zero step entry option. I ended up touring five locations. Two of which were not senior communities. My second round was only the three senior communities.  While the non senior communities had some no step apartments the amenties were not as nice. And I realized that I was just fine not having young kids around. I looked at online, but did not tour, the towhouse/apartment complex that was in the city next door just in the middle of shopping and restaurants and you name it. Yes, it has it's advantages, but I lived in a brownstone duplex with the same advantages for 20 plus years and it's no longer calling to me, although it was a great place when I lived there. 




I did not start out with a large list of requirements except the no steps and a couple other things-I operated on the theory that things will call to me or they won't and I had already ninety percent decided on the town itself. So there were three left. Note that all of these communities had common rooms and kitchens, pools, movie theaters, libraries, and exercise space.

Note: I toured these places on a cloudy February day. If the pictures are bright and sunny, they are stock pictures. Grey skies were taken by me.

Complex one (see 3 photos below) was very near a lake (they all are in half an hour driving from large lakes actually, again, it's Texas). I actually liked the way the apartment itself was laid out, especially the angled kitchen counter.  All the homes were single level, very close together with a little grassy area for walking a dog, but not much more . It had no walkability factor, and there was nothing right out the gates to call you. You'd have to drive awhile,  not just five minutes.  The apartment itself was lovely, but I felt that the general outdoor area could have been maintained a teeny bit better.  The inside and common rooms were well tended.  The community had wonderful ratings from residents and family members. It was a town over from Denton, though. This was not in my town of choice, it was very near to the lake it would have been a longer drive to my daughter and in much traffic. 

Very cose together and teeny tiny porches. The pointed roofs are because there are no basments and to hold big fans


I did really really like the kitchen/living/dining layout of this, but I thought the patio door swinging right into the island was tight. This was the only two and two I looked at. 


 Complex two ( 4 photos below)was probably considered at least a full step up money and quality wise than complex one and three-even though it had the worst ratings by far.  It was between three and hour hundred dollars a month more than the other places. It also had stainless steel instead of white appliances and newer stone counters. The big draw was a huge community room and a full set of "planned programs" almost everyday. On the other hand, the porch in the photo below was in the largest one in the full complex, and the green space you see, well most of the houses did not have that. These houses face right onto the street.  Last but not least, it was less than a mile (probably a half a mile) from the city landfill. And while the description includes walking to stores, those stores include things like the Home Depot shown on the map. Not an outdoor mall, or small shops or restaurants. I got the feeling that except for going to the store, a large number of folks allow said community to provide their entertainment and socializaiton. Which is fine if that's what you want. It was very pretty This was also in Denton, near the interestate, but not in an established community and such with nothing much around and tiny trees mainly when they existed. 



No porch except the tiny entry way, and lots of concrete

On the other side of that fence to the right are shrubs, a street and then nothing but fallow land, so I also might have had to deal with construction, and I could barely get a dining table or good chair or swing (this is a stock picture, mine were taken in Feb when the grass was brown


So the question is, were all these shiny things worth the extra four hundred dollars (no difference in size).

See the Home Improvement store and parking lot to the left and landfill tot he right

Complex three ( last three pictures) was stacked two level apartment homes, instead of the single level cabana style of the other two. Again, this area had VERY high ratings from both families and residents. The homes were at least as large, and the patios were big enough to put deep seating furniture on.  All the apartment homes were entered from the inside hall, where there were large elevators, and almost all the indoor doors were decorated, had chairs or seating next to them. On my first tour, I said to myself "But someone will live on top of me or underneath me". LIke all of the other apartment communities, it was gated. It had a movie theater, a common room, a dining room, and a library, a really nice pool (the pool itself and the ramps and such were much nicer than the other two). It also had a bus, that belonged to the complex, that took you where you wanted to go. It was a slightly older complex that had large trees as well as newer ones. It had some green space (less sprawl). And it had a park immediately next with a walking path. This senior community was in an older part of town and right near Texas Women's University. It was also on the main drag that goes pretty much from from interstate to another highway while going through quite a few towns. My daughter also lives off this main drag. 

See the teeny tree (seriously, there are big ones all over) See the grasss?  See that one person actually has a dining patio table on their patio?


This was actually built by the city, but it's immediately next to the apartments

This was taken in February and all the patio stuff and decor was taken away but it was by far the best pool in terms of size, depth, cleanliness, access and all the poolside stuff (chairs, grills, you name it).
The third tour was with my daughter. She would never attempt to make a decision for me as such. But I value her opinion and she knows what I want and need. Since community one was the furthest away, we went there first. And eliminated it pretty quickly. Then we went to community two. Daughter liked it very much, and adored the inside and the idea of all the events. She knows me too well though,  and did not like the idea of not having a full on patio or even a decent sized porch. She did not know at the time about the landfill. She also turned around in a circle and said "but there's nothing else here!".  

Finally we headed to the last one, closest to her home. (Note that we did the full tour in each of these places and of multiple apartments. Riding the golf carts, as I did the day before. Twas a day). To my two level concern she commented "You're all seniors and kids staying over will be special occasions, it's unlikely someone is going to pound on the floor all night or put a toy down the potty".  Then she smiled and said, "See, you don't even need to leave the gate to go walking".  We both loved the layout, and honestly, the staff were the nicest folks we had met. After we got home we discussed it some more-the layouts of the final two, the cost, the area around and everything else.

Finally she looked at me and said, "I know you. You'll go out to lunch, find your own quilting group, find your own kntting group, go to church, join a club. You will probably go to ten percent of the activity stuff. So is four hundred dollars a month for stainless steel worth it, especially when there's not the grass or patio you want?" 

And so a decision was made!

17 comments:

  1. Things inside can be tidied up, but if you want outdoor space, a patio, that can't really be added. Nice choice.

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    1. Exactly. I have serious plans for the kitchen but the things I really needed were at the third place.

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  2. I love the floor plan you posted. Not really sure which photo goes with the choice you ended up with but I'm sure you did your homework and will be very happy living with your choice.

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  3. I know you are looking forward to the move. Nice place!

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    1. I'm starting to get a bit stressed at all the money I'm spending but other than that....

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  4. I would choose the one with the best patio or porch. They day will come when you just don't want to leave and want to sit outside, so the last place is the only one that makes sense considering what you want. So, it appears to be a good fit for you. I would prefer the upstairs, but you might not.

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    1. I would prefer the first floor..I'm an urban living girl and not the nervous type. But whatever they have...

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  5. Ha, ha. Usually it's the daughter who has the best advice!

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  6. I like porches and patios also, to just sit outside and enjoy the breeze, crickets, birds, etc. Cindy in the South

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    1. Yes, it's funny. Not an athlete or physical in any way, but need that outside.

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  7. I'm with you and your daughter is correct, it's unlikely there will be much noise. I love the idea of a patio and walking path nearby.

    It's really happening isn't it? All the best as you continue to make your plans.

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  8. Marilyn in New YorkAugust 26, 2020 at 3:00 PM

    I really enjoyed the photos and your assessment of the pros and cons for each location. This gives me food for thought about what factors I might consider important when choosing a similar living situation. So thank you for all that.

    I do have a question. In one case you mentioned,the landfill and recycling center are half a mile away. Is that a plus or minus for you? Where I live the folks who bring their own garbage to the landfill/recycling center (rather than paying for private pick up) would consider the close proximity to be a plus. However, in another community near me living downwind from the landfill is a foul proposition during summer months. How would this apply to the property you referenced?

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    1. This is Texas. The digits ae triple, and so it's a minus. Many of the online reviews of the place mention the land fill, so that's what makes it a minus for me. It will be interesting, because I will have "valet" trash pickup weekly but this county does not offer on site recycling for muti dwellings, so instead of taing it to the big place I will take mine to my daughter. I have private pickup now. I would not be taking mine to a place, thats just part of my budget. sigh.

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    2. And yes, there are alot of factors involved. I guess you could say that I chose size and space over all the expensive addition type things. I may regret all those orgnizational activities but I think not.

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Thanks for stopping by! I love to hear from others, and I also love to hear all points of view.. Just leave the profanity and insults at home, OK? Thanks!!