In Laguna Woods, Those Who Recall the Past Look to the Future

On March 2, residents of Leisure World, Palm Terrace, the Inn at Laguna and Rossmoor Regency voted to become the new city of Laguna Woods. For nearly three weeks, media from all over the world focused on this election.

Over the years, numerous committees have submitted the question of incorporation to their citizens. The idea of a gated community being the major portion of a city is not novel. Four other cities in California are essentially gated communities. What is unique is that the majority of the city is gated and the average age of its residents is 77.

Cityhood had been attempted and soundly rejected twice in the community’s history. What made this attempt at incorporation different? Everyone recognizes that at base all government deals with the local issues. We are concerned about police, traffic, zoning and pollution.

For the last five years, however, there has been one issue that has caused the residents of our community to unite. A few developers and a majority of the Board of Supervisors have tried to create a commercial cargo airport at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. Since the base is immediately adjacent to our community, we would be the last residential area before touchdown of a projected 480 airplanes a day--one landing every three minutes, 24 hours a day.

Leisure World has conducted studies indicating that noise from airplanes immediately overhead would reach the level of 95 decibels. A 1993 study by Meecham and Shaw in Los Angeles, in relation to LAX, indicated that seniors aged 74 and over who were unable to sleep on a regular basis had a two-year loss of life expectancy.

The exhaust from the airplanes as they begin their descent immediately over our houses would cause large amounts of pollution to fall. This creates a health problem because seniors have, on average, more respiratory problems than the public. The airport was the immediate cause that gave rise to the vote for cityhood.

Leisure World was designed and built upon the premise that its residents would move to a facility that provides health care when they were no longer able to be physically active. In reality, the residents of Leisure World, as well as similar communities, enjoyed the quality of life so much that they decided they wanted to age in place. They did not want to leave when they could no longer be active.

Leisure World residents are on-the-go people who participate energetically in life--in sports, fitness activities, classes, hobbies and special interests. More than 200 service clubs and organizations offer residents a wealth of leisure-time activities to suit just about every hobby and interest, from ballroom dancing to sculpturing to contract bridge.

The old concept of “three score and 10” as an average life span has long since changed. There are more than 20 centenarians in the community. Active people between the ages of 85 and 95 routinely participate in community activities. In a real sense, we’ve pushed back the age at which retirement from the real world occurs.

Almost all the social agencies and charitable organizations rely heavily on volunteers from our community. Saddleback Hospital, our immediate neighbor, was built as a result of this community and is still staffed by large numbers of volunteers from it. About 10% of our residents are still actively involved in careers and full-time employment.

My point is that Laguna Woods is a community of active people engaged in today’s world. The community approved cityhood March 2 and had the city up and running 3 1/2 weeks later, on March 24. Most new cities take three to six months to organize and become active. Laguna Woods illustrates the vigor of today’s seniors. The city will study and solve our local problems. It will remain a microcosm--a place where the world can see that seniors are not ready to call it a day when they reach 65. A place where people who are 85 successfully and routinely match their current achievements and contributions with those of people half their age.

Our City Council will deal with the airport and try to work effectively to stop it. It will also regulate the traffic flow. It will attempt to limit the pollution in the area and reduce the possibility of flood damage.

The philosopher George Santayana indicated that people who forget history are doomed to relive it. The advantage of this community is that most of us have experienced broad ranges of activities; we know the pitfalls. We look forward to our future as a challenge.