Life in Leisure World: Another Dimension Is Explored

The May 3 Column One, “Age of Change” may have some basis in fact but is highly prejudicial and exaggerated in its approach and conclusions.

My wife and I moved into Leisure World of Laguna Hills in September, 1989, from Pennsylvania, with the understanding that we will live here for as long as we can, taking advantage of the facilities available to active retirees such as we.

We did not and do not now expect this community to take care of our physical (medical) needs. This is not the design or purpose of this community.

In the event that either of us becomes unable to sustain in this environment, there are other avenues of care that are available to us. We should no more expect Leisure World to provide care in perpetuity than we would have expected our neighbors in the high-rise condominium complex we left back East to have been responsible for our health care or welfare.

As you show in your chart, one must be financially responsible to be eligible for residence in Leisure World. The populace is well-educated and worldly and knows what is available to them in this community.

Living here is more economical than living in the general community. Low-cost maintenance charges are affordable to most. These monies allow the community to provide, at low or no cost, educational programs, craft facilities, entertainment, a myriad of recreational opportunities, beautifully maintained streets and gardens, swimming pools, concerts, social clubs, golf, tennis, boccie, shuffleboard, billiards, lawn bowls etc. etc., ad infinitum. There are nearly 200 organizations of every stripe.

One of the comparisons that is particularly odious is the one you make vis-a-vis the mortality rate in Leisure World and Irvine. Did you consider the demographics of both communities? What is the average age of the population in Irvine? In Leisure World it is 76. Wouldn’t it be horrible to contemplate a comparable rate of death in Irvine?

People living here should not expect to find a fountain of perpetual youth. What they do find is a beautiful, affordable community with a vast array of facilities and opportunities for enjoyment and pleasure within minutes of their homes.

SEYMOUR J. WELLIKSON, Laguna Hills