10 Most Popular Active Communities in the West
Category: Active adult communities
March 5, 2025 — There are a whole lot of people longing to retire in the Western half of the US. For those folks, the appeal of the sunshine, mountains, beaches, deserts, and outdoor life is strong. So to find out what kinds of communities they are interested in out there, we looked at our user logs to see which active adult communities in the West get visited the most at Topretirements. com. This data gives some insight into what type of communities, and their location, that have the most retirement appeal.
Results by State
This was not what we expected. The state with the most communities on our top 10 list is Washington, which had 3. Arizona and Texas had 2 each, followed by Utah, California, and Colorado with 1 apiece. Frankly, we thought Arizona and Colorado would top the list, but not so.
A mixed bag
Some of the winners were easier to predict than others. We are not even sure why some of these communities were so popular, perhaps word of mouth or different Google searches brought people to our website. Most of the winners were on the affordable side, with several manufactured home communities scoring high. At least one of the winners is an independent living facility, several offer golf, and 3 Springs is a very interesting Traditional Neighborhood Development. All in all, these communities provide some good examples of the wide range of places there are to retire.
The Top 10 Most Popular Active Communities in the West
Pine Canyon in Flagstaff, AZ. This private golf community has been a list topper here for years. It offers mountain living in a choice of two separate neighborhoods, with eithe single family or condominium homes. Amenities include a championship golf course
Palms RV Resort – St. George, UT. Very affordable, Palms RV Resort offers park model homes for sale and RV lots for rent. Each lot has cable and we have internet access in the clubhouse. There is also have an indoor spa and swimming pool.
Three Springs – Durango, CO. Founded on the principles of Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND), 3 Springs has walkable streets, open space, parks and recreation. The neighborhood concept is the fundamental building-block of development. Two Village Centers integrate commercial, residential, and civic uses for shopping, restaurants and offices.
Laurel Oaks – Lacey, WA. The centerpiece of this manufactured home community is the clubhouse with fitness center, entertaining area, library, game room and full kitchen. The two acre grounds and park provide a perfect area to walk your pet.
Solana – Sequim, WA. The community features craftsman homes grouped in a series of courtyards to keep a neighborly scale. Solana’s amenities include a clubhouse featuring a gathering room, exercise room, patio with fireplace, and outside, putting green. The affordable community has a clubhouse and pavilion.
Viking Park – Poulsbo, WA. a unique and beautiful wooded manufactured home park located in Poulsbo, WA, managed by Detente Management. We have 86 manufactured home pads (all with manufactured homes), and three apartments. We have a clubhouse, pavilion, and horseshoe area.
Independence Village at Stone Oak – San Antonio, TX. This 62 and over community offers full amenities amidst a country club setting. There are a variety of 1 and 2 bedroom plans with different refund options. Amenities include country club golf, tennis, and social.
Sunflower – Fort Collins, CO. This affordable active adult community in Fort Collins has 190 manufactured homes. They offer great views, many different home plans, pet friendly, 2 car garages, no renters, gated community, large and beautiful clubhouse. Age Restriction: 55+.
Green Valley, AZ is collectively one of the larger active adult communities in the world. Its many developments and communities are located in extreme southern Arizona. Surrounded by copper mines, and near the hiking and birding areas of the Santa Rita Mountains, Green Valley is an unincorporated retirement community composed of approximately 60 Homeowner Associations. Here is a link to the many active communities in the Green Valley area.
Lake of the Pines – Auburn, CA. This gated community is in the Sierra foothills, North of Sacramento. It offers lakefront living with golf, tennis, swimming, and 6 manicured lakefront parks. Many of the homes are either on a golf course or premium lakefront.
What communities in the west do you think should have won?
If you know of a great or interesting active adult or 55+ community in the West, please share it with us in the Comments section below.
Comments on "10 Most Popular Active Communities in the West"
Yolande says:
I would not live in any of these states or communities. I know too much about them politically, life styles and would just never do it. I left CA because everything was too costly and traffic is horrible. Would never go back to CA. I'm never in agreement with the places that win. I look for my own places, and states because I have too much knowledge about a lot of places. I don't consider them "desirable", just my opinions.
K Clifford says:
I'm a retiree living in Paradise Valley AZ. I'm shocked that the most popular retirement community in Arizona mentined in this article is an incredibly expensive golf community in Flagstaff. While Flagstaff has pleasant temperatures in the summer, winter can be an issue for seniors with snow removal and driving challenges. I know several people who have altitude sickness which can kick in at 6500 ft. Flagstaff is 7000 feet. It can take days of being at that altitude to acclimate even if you don't have altitude sickness. There are many age restricted communities in the Phoenix metro area. I'll mention a few because there are a lot of retirees here. First off, Del Webb pioneered retirement communities and the metro hosts 4, Sun City Grand (9550 homes), Sun City (27,731 homes), Sun City West (16,900 homes), Sun City Anthem (7200 homes). Sun Lakes (Chandler) has close to 10,000 homes. Vistancia Trilogy has 5450 age restricted homes. If you want to avail yourself of Scottsdale amenities, you can live in historic designated Villa Monterey near downtown or Golden Keys in S. Scottsdale. Each community has low HOA dues with community pools, spas and clubhouses. I honestly don't think most seniors want to buy into golf course memberships and expensive monthlies when they can play community golf courses like Continental or Silverado for reasonable rates, or public courses like McCormick Ranch and Grayhawk. Property taxes in 55+ communities don't pay school tax so already low Arizona property taxes are reduced further. Having lived in the Midwest and Florida, utility rates are reasonable and companies offer savings for those who upgrade appliances, hvac and even sprinkler irrigation controls to more efficient models. I owned a 3000 square foot house in Orlando in the late 1980s and my peak summer electric bill is the same as my energy efficient house of same size today. My water bills are similar too. I owned another house in Sarasota around 2012 and the water rates were significantly higher than my current bill watering citrus along with xeriscape plantings today. Arizona Prop 117 went into effect in 2015. Property tax increases based on limited market value increases are capped at 5% a year. My property taxes have gone up less than 5% over the past 5 years. This benefit is available to all, resident or non resident. New residents aren't stuck subsidizing long time residents who have Save Our Homes basis in place. Personal income tax is flat 2.5%. Gas is more expensive because it is piped in from California. Sales tax is over 8% but does not include food purchases at grocery stores or warehouse clubs. Summer heat is tough to bear but retirees can travel or head to the mountains. It's less of a hassle to close up a house in the desert than one in humid SE US. Insurance costs have gone up like everywhere but not an issue to get insurance if you live in a community not in a fire zone like some outside Prescott or Flagstaff. My homeowners insurance is one third of what my cousin in California pays for a not much different sized home. Maricopa County ranked number one in growth in absolute numbers in the country this past year for good reason. I wish property values would settle down some but that goes for the whole country post pandemic.
Admin says:
Thanks K, this is an incredibly helpful and interesting comment! We love it with someone with actual experience and shares their input. Here is the link to all the 100's of Arizona communities we have reviewed in our database, in case folks want to explore more you about the communities K mentioned.