Ageing Snowbird Parks, Changing habits, preferences.

I'm sure the business plan is to get park models up to the max percentage allowable under zoning laws. I think it's 90% in Arizona?

DW and I are heading out soon for our second year of staying in one place. We decided to rent a park model. It's just a nicer living experience. When in Rome....

We are on the younger side. Our age difference is more noticeable at some parks. But there are definitely parks which have more active lifestyles, even among the older residents. Palm Creek in Casa Grande is very active.

When you think about it, the amount of amenities in some of the big parks might be more about marketing than about actual demand and usage by residents. You get enthused about the huge list of things you might do there, and you pay a lot for that proposition. But in reality, you hang around with your neighbors, do a few things, and that's it. Around Casa Grande it's not uncommon to run into people who say, "We used to stay at Palm Creek. Then we realized we weren't using all that stuff, so why pay for it? Now we are at XYZ."

pawatt wrote:

2oldman wrote:
Wifi that actually works.

From my experience Park WIFI rarely works, especially when park is busy. Best to have some type of cellular WIFI.

Yeah, no kidding.

Notice you left out the 1925-1945 generation and Generation X. They will also have an affect on how retirement is viewed.

You can't fight demographics. Years ago I was watching a show about the Greatest Generation. It said that WWII vets were dying at the rate of 10K a day. It is generally accepted that the last birth year of that generation is 1925. So, the youngest of them is 93. According to the Veterans Administration in 2016, there are only 620,000 WWII vets out of 16 million who served still living. That generation is the drying at the rate of 373 a day. That generation was responsible for the burgeoning retirement communities in AZ and FL we see today, as well as most of the RV parks we are using. Their tastes were the driving force behind RV design. When we first started RVing I used to comment that the interiors reminded me of my mother's house, all bright brass and froufrou.

Now, Boomers are turning 65 at the rate of 10K a day. Now, they are the driving force behind RV design and RV park amenities. Look at the new smaller RVs especially based on the Mercedes chassis. Instead of the usual golf cart parade in the late afternoon, we see a parade of walkers and bikers. The music in common areas in now 1970s rather than Big Band. We are also seeing many more vacant park models from the 1970s going for bargain prices.

So, lets fast forward. Millennials born between 1980 and 2000 number 83 million compared to the 75 million Boomers. When they start turning 65 at the rate of 10K per day, the RV industry, if there is still one, RV parks and retirement communities will have to undergo a dramatic change.

We hopefully have better than 10 years left on the road. Will be interesting to watch the changes.

We are just down the road from you pawatt. My DH calls our park "assisted living." My parents were among the first residents, before it was even totally built, some 30 years ago. They had a 5th wheel they hauled back and forth. Eventually they bought a park model. When we arrived and decided to spend our winters here to "eldersit" we were the youngest in the park. It is mostly park models now, but we still full time and live in our motorhome. We bought 2 lots behind Mom and Dad and put up a canopy, then a cart shed, then a 12 x 28 "Texas" room (actually an efficiency apartment). The older residents complain that the younger ones don't want to work and they lament what is going to happen to their park. This is not true. We will work just as hard, but we don't want to play shuffleboard, pitch horseshoes or bake cookies for a jam we don't attend because the singing is soooooooo bad. We are trying to get other activities, but get voted out every time by the old guard who have been doing the same things for 30 years and don't see why we need to change anything. But all that is changing. The "old guard" sadly is dying out. My dad is gone, my mother at 93 just quit going this year, so dozens of properties have sold in the last year. Younger people are moving in and things are changing. The crowd is younger and they all want to work, play and have fun. Still mostly park models and that won't change. The old guard is not Canadian friendly, but the younger crowd is, so things are looking up. At one point we had said when my folks were gone, we would sell. We are going to sell Mom's place this winter, but we are keeping ours for now.

On our way down there now. In Baton Rouge visiting family, then heading to the valley. Anxious to get there. This will be our first winter in 12 years we have been "free" to do as we please.

Dale

Being a newer retiree I know almost no one who snowbirds sitting in 1 campground. They are all traveling, maybe 2 weeks at a spot, then on to the next. Adventures seeing the country is more the idea as just avoiding the cold. AZ seems to be the biggest draw in the winter, some venture to Mexico. Public CG's, and boondocking are preferred. Many do Quartzsite for varying periods.

The folks I know travel in small trailers, that may have something to do with it. The big private southern campgrounds seem to cater to big semi permanent rigs.

Maybe when folks get even older and tire of traveling they will change to big RV's and opt for the sardine style private CG's.

We are now into the major flood of babyboomers retiring. I expect for the next 10yrs or so supply will struggle to keep up with demand. That will mean higher prices at well kept parks and marginally run parks turning a nice profit, so they won't have a lot of incentive to put time/money/effort into improvements.

After that with fewer new retirees coming into the system and babyboomers aging out of the more active life, you will likely see a glut as the newly expanded parks struggle to stay full. It will likely be turbulent at first as some parks react quickly and provide better services for less and other get run into the ground.

I think there is a transition to park models but it's not a new trend. New snowbirders tend to drive their RV down and stay for a shorter period to try it out. Once they get used to being away from home, as they age they are less comfortable driving the RV and find a park they like, they tend to stay longer and consider getting a park model which is more spacious and can stay put.

westernrvparkowner wrote:
I think the long term trend will be fewer full time RVers staying in one spot. Parks that are located near major cities and attractions will become more in favor. Winter destination areas like Southern Florida, Phoenix and Southern California will continue to be attractive. The losers are going to be South Texas and the Arizona Desert where the activities are concentrated within the parks themselves. Unless the parks in those type of areas offer major recreation like a golf course, a true fitness facility, resort style pools and an actual restaurant, they are probably going to struggle. I don't think a putting green, pot luck dinners, bingo, craft room and a pool table are going to be enough to draw the younger, active, mobile, and more affluent, future snowbirds.

As a potential first time snowbirder this winter (for just a month) I completely agree. I have friends at home. I have activities at home. My snowbirding is visiting a new place where I can see the attractions in the area. I'm not interested in being socially isolated from the rest of the world, with people older than me. Even if I stayed somewhere 4 months, and did somewhat socialize with people there, I'm not interested in the mainly sedentary activities for people old enough to be my parents. It might be nice to have a space where I could, for instance, set up my own sewing machine, or do some wood-working, but I don't need/want that planned for me.


And if I ever get bored enough to play bingo, just shoot me and put me out of my misery.

We do plan to spend a month in Arizona this winter, but have chosen a park that's in the desert and near hiking trails and national parks, not one in the city so we can sit around. Neither one of us has ever been to Arizona, so we plan to do a lot of day trips and maybe some overnights, using the RV park as home base.

I think the long term trend will be fewer full time RVers staying in one spot. Parks that are located near major cities and attractions will become more in favor. Winter destination areas like Southern Florida, Phoenix and Southern California will continue to be attractive. The losers are going to be South Texas and the Arizona Desert where the activities are concentrated within the parks themselves. Unless the parks in those type of areas offer major recreation like a golf course, a true fitness facility, resort style pools and an actual restaurant, they are probably going to struggle. I don't think a putting green, pot luck dinners, bingo, craft room and a pool table are going to be enough to draw the younger, active, mobile, and more affluent, future snowbirds.

As a younger person (fulltime) , we prefer smaller parks with space between the rvs. A few park models are ok, but don't like the parks that have so many of them it looks like a mobile home park. We also don't go to scheduled activities much, but would use facilities where there was a small shop to work on your motorcycle, okay to wash your rig, do an oil change or work on a remodel project you want to do. A woodshop, a doggie wash station with warm water and air conditioning. A nice laundry facility, a place that has the things for everyday life.