Once Meccas of Retail Therapy, Now Homes to Elder Americans

Five years ago, George and Pat Ritzinger left their home of fifteen years and moved to a new community. Their new home, in the Folkestone senior community in Wayzata, Minnesota, is on the site of a shopping center that was razed in 2012. 

Mr. Ritzinger said that the neighbors in their former home were “unfriendly” and that they had a tough time organizing social gatherings. Mr. Ritzinger further stated, “Watching garage doors open was the main excitement.”

Life at Folkestone is very different. The Ritzinger are in walking distance to shopping and other amenities. Also, they are close to their family.

All though businesses and shopping centers are closing, especially during the current Covid-19 pandemic, upscale retirement complexes are not the typical usage for these spaces after they are emptied out. 

The Ritzinger are also able to keep up with their hobbies in their community. For example, Mr. Ritzinger enjoys doing woodwork, so the community wood shop is an amenity that allows him to keep up with his hobby. 

This particular section of Folkestone is run by Presbyterian Homes & Services, which applied the continuing-care communities model. 

Under this approach, “The home uses the continuing-care communities model, in which residents can move to assisted living or skilled nursing care as their needs change”

Folkestone is definitely not your average “retirement Mecca”, but it appears that community morale is high there. 

See John F. Wasik, Once Meccas of Retail Therapy, Now Homes to Elder Americans, N.Y. Times, October 24, 2020. 

Special thanks to Lewis Saret (Attorney, Washington, D.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.