Founded 25 Years Ago : Sun Cities Warm Retirees’ Lives
They come here from every state to live in this most famous of all planned retirement communities, but especially they come from California.
“It’s the security, it’s the economy, it’s the low taxes, it’s all the things to do,” said William McCreath, a retired Chevron Corp. employee from Clayton, Calif., about 35 miles east of San Francisco.
“It’s to get away from the congestion, high real estate prices and high taxes,” said retired Lockheed employee Ralph Turner, most recently of Santa Rosa.
“It’s to escape the humidity,” said David Broode, who moved to Sun City West last October after a year of retirement in San Diego. He’s originally from the Midwest.
Easier Adjustment
“I don’t know of any place in the world with comparable recreational facilities,” Turner said. “There are so many activities available that it would be hard not to get involved.
“If one spouse dies, the other will have an easier adjustment here than anywhere else, even with family, because everyone here has time to help and become involved.”
Like most of the 58,000 residents of the Sun Cities--Sun City and adjoining Sun City West--about 15 miles northwest of Phoenix, Turner, McCreath and Broode came here looking for an active way to spend retirement.
Active is the key word here. Developer Del E. Webb, a Phoenix contractor, founded the original Sun City 25 years ago, on the then-untried proposition that retirees would move to these former cotton fields if recreation facilities were built first. He reasoned that retired folk didn’t want to wait around for promises to be built.
Recreation Centers
His gamble paid off: 262 homes were sold the first weekend, more than 1,300 the first year. It’s been go go go every year since, except for the early 1980s when the real estate market dropped everywhere.
“Building the recreation centers first has been the key,” said Fred Kuentz, chairman of Del E. Webb Development Co. and one of the few people still with the company who were there in the beginning. Another plus was construction of 355-bed Walter O. Boswell Memorial Hospital, which attracted more than 200 practicing physicians to the area.
So successful has been the concept, that the Sun Cities now boast of 17 golf courses and 15 major recreational centers, including the new $14-million R.H. Johnson Center in Sun City West and the 7,169-seat Sundome Center for the Performing Arts, the largest single-level theater in the United States.
“More people move here from California than from any other state except Arizona,” Kuentz said. “Illinois is third.”
Pay Cash for Homes
Ken Plonski, Del Webb’s manager of public affairs, says he’s been told by many Californians that because of high real estate prices on the West Coast, they were able to sell their California home, use part of the profit to pay cash for a Sun City house, invest the remainder and live comfortably--in fact, affluently--off of their investment income, company pensions and Social Security.
“Sun City is affluent without being stuffy,” Turner said.
The average household income is $24,000 a year, according to the U.S. Census, and about 70% of all home sales are cash. Sun Cities’ 58,000 residents’ net worth is estimated at $5.8 billion, with deposits in local savings institutions surpassing $2 billion.
It’s also a clean place. If a scrap of litter should appear, it’s likely that one of the 500-plus members of PRIDES (Proud Residents Independently Donating Essential Services), a volunteer group, will pick it up.
Low Crime Rate
Should a stranger drive onto one of the many wide, gently curving streets, it’s likely he will find himself followed by one of Sun City’s volunteer posse members.
“It’s very effective in keeping the crime rate among the lowest in the U.S., Plonski says. “Burglars don’t feel at all comfortable with someone watching their activities, especially in a car that looks like a sheriff’s car.”
No crime and no children, either, except those who are visiting for a short time. Children under 18 by law are banned from living here. The R.H. Johnson Center, however, recognizing that grandparents like to have grandchildren visit from time to time, has a video game room.
Home buyers in the Sun Cities must be at least 50 years old, according to deed restrictions and county zoning codes.
Sun Citizens, as they call themselves, are quick to travel and visit their families--especially in the summer when residents who stay really find out what the Sun in Sun City stands for. Webb has provided a 3,500-space parking lot for recreational-vehicle storage.
Mobile Society
“Things have changed during the last 25 years,” Kuentz said. “It used to be that people grew up, worked and retired in the same place. No more. Today, we’re a mobile society. Families are spread all over the place, so there’s no longer any particular reason to stay put when you retire. One kid may live in Detroit, another in Los Angeles and another is Denver. And they all move around. So, moving to a place like Sun City West makes sense for us old folks.”
A recent survey found that 29% of Sun Cities residents worked, at least part time, for Webb Co. or one of its affiliates.
“For example, husband and wife teams work as ticket takers and ushers at the Sundome,” said Ann Loos, Webb Co. ombudswoman. “It’s part of the social fabric. They like being a part of something.”
Joining other people in a common interest is really the Sun City way of life. They like to joke that there are more clubs per capita here than anywhere. At last count, there were more than 155 chartered clubs and organizations. Travel clubs. Sports clubs. Civic clubs. And political clubs--mostly Republican, except for a group of retired union executives who formed the Union Club. There’s a General Motors Club--Sun City claims to have more retired GM executives than Detroit, or anywhere else.
Broode joined the woodworking club and is a member of a stained-glass club.
‘Not Enough Time’
McCreath has rekindled his golf game and taken up lawn bowling. Mrs. McCreath has joined a bridge club and is learning to weave. She’s also active in the American Assn. of University Women and one of the more than 47 different churches serving the area.
“There’s not enough time to do everything we want to do,” McCreath says. “Some people get too active and have to give up some activities.”
New houses range in price from about $64,000 to nearly $200,000 in 50 different floor plans and elevations. There are single-family residences, duplexes, garden homes and patio homes--all with two bedrooms and two, or 2 1/2 baths.
They all conform to a well-thought-out master plan. In 1984,, Webb sold 951 new units, down from a peak of 3,485 in 1977, but about a third more than 1983, and way up from 1982. Soon, Webb plans to unveil plans for its first luxury condominium with penthouses selling for up to $500,000.
“Our bread and butter is really in the lower-priced practical home,” Kuentz said. “We don’t want to stray too far away from what has made us successful in the first place.”
