Enjoy the lakeside lifestyle and championship golf.
The Cliffs at Keowee Springs, Six Mile, SC, announces the introduction of its Lake Breeze Cottages, a new collection of charming homes in a mountain-lake setting.
This limited offering of just six cottages offers maintenance-free living with floorplans ranging from 1,900 to 2,100 s.f. You'll be living within walking distance to The Cliffs' renowned International Institute of Golf.
Prices range from the high-$400,000s to mid-$600,000s. Click here for more details and to set up your Discovery Tour for this new opportunity. Or call toll-free, 1-888-750-4035.
The Cliffs at High Carolina, NC offers a Tiger Woods course.
The Cliffs at High Carolina, NC recently began offering a new cottage collection, Straus Lake Cottages. The Straus collection is adjacent to the eighth hole on the golf course, the site of Tiger Woods' first U.S. golf course design. Click here for more information about The Cliffs!
Brier Creek, NC debuts the Ellsworth II, a new floorplan. Priced from the mid-$400,000s, the Ellsworth II is a four-bedroom, 2.5-bath home with a two-car, side-entry garage. Additional benefits include a spacious gourmet kitchen with granite countertops and nine-foot first- and second-floor ceilings. Click here for more information about Brier Creek!
Homestead Preserve, VA announces that the Valley Conservation Council, a respected regional environmental council, has awarded the community the 2009 Better Models for Development Award for “Excellence in Historic Preservation” in recognition of its restoration and adaptive reuse of the historic Old Dairy in Warm Springs. The award spotlights projects that respect local character, create livable communities, complement historic resources, and conserve natural assets. Click here for more information about Homestead Preserve!
The Landings on Skidaway Island, GA has teamed up with the Skidaway Chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association to host an Inshore Fishing Program on On June 8 at 7 pm with Captain “Wild Bill” Jarrell, a well-known and successful inshore fishing guide. All are welcome to attend, and no reservations are needed. Click here for more information about The Landings!
NEWS SHORTS
Balsam Mountain Preserve, NC has been named a GolfCourseHome Green Golf Community at the Vanguard level, the highest designation. A 4,400-acre mountain community, 70 percent of it is preserved and will never be developed...Hampton Hall, SC is offering a Wednesday afternoon Ladies Only golf clinic with professional Bryan Rhame—all skill levels welcome... Teton Springs, ID has a brand-new golf shop installation and along with it a newly purchased fleet of Club Car golf carts, equipped with the latest high-tech features...Cummings Cove, NC, a mountain community, has been added to ClubWeddingReceptions.net and HealthandWellnessCommunities.net.
The Georgia Club, GA is just east of Atlanta.
The Georgia Club, GA has set dates for its Junior and Ladies Golf Clinics. Junior clinics focus on golf fundamentals and proper etiquette with lots of fun games and prizes. Ladies clinics for beginners focus on basic technique and on-course guidance. Junior Golf kicks off with a 5-session clinic from Feb. 24 to March 24. Cost is $100 for members and $125 for non-members—or attend single sessions for $25/$30. Ladies Clinics meet Wednesdays and are similarly priced. Click here for more information about The Georgia Club!
The Vineyards, FL has completed construction of the Firenze model, a two-bedroom with study, 3.5-bath luxury condominium home. The model features a large kitchen, a great room, a master suite and a view of Vineyards’ two 18-hole golf courses. The Firenze is located inside Vista Pointe, a gated community within Vineyards. Each home comes with a social membership to Vineyards Country Club. Click here for more information about The Vineyards!
Lakewood Ranch, FL recently announced joint-venture plans for construction of a $110-million Springbok Sports Club and Academy on Lakewood Ranch property. This complex would house tennis, golf, swimming and gymnastics academies, for use primarily by aspiring athletes paying $25,000 to $40,000 to train most of the year. Tennis champion Johan Kriek and golf pro Rick Smith are both attached to the effort already. Iowa Sports Management would run the facility, which is expected to open in 2010. Click here for more information about Lakewood Ranch!
NEWS SHORTS
See the 2009 Schedule of Pro Events at Golf Communities on the blog featuring PGA, LPGA, Champions and Nationwide Tour events....This month we are celebrating Women Entrepeneurs Whose Business Is a Catalyst for Social Change. Read about how they can make a difference in people's lives.... Creating a connection to amenities in the surrounding larger community via walking, biking and public transit is one of the trends we uncover in "Five Questions to Ask .... When Looking at a Health and Wellness Community." If wellness is important to you, check out the article and our newest Network site, HealthandWellnessCommunities.net. Enjoy!
The Bay Club, MA offers wellness facilities.
A new concept in living and aging is emerging across the American landscape-- health and wellness communities. These neighborhoods are designed so residents can not only get from place to place without dependence on automobiles, but can also enjoy a broad program supporting healthy living and the ability to age in the community.
By 2025, more than half of America's man-made environment will not have existed in 2000, giving planners an unprecedented opportunity to reshape the landscape. Furthermore, nearly 30 percent of households will include just one person. The household design realities of the 21st century will have to be different than in the past.
Neighborhood Design Affects Health
The health of your neighbors (and yourself) can in part be attributable to the design of your environment. Scientists have shown that people who live in walkable neighborhoods tend to weigh less than people who live in more isolated and car-dependent areas. Obesity is increasingly viewed by health professionals as a major factor in heart disease and diabetes.
A 2006 report entitled "Understanding the Relationship between Public Health and the Built Environment" (Ewing and Kreutzer) adds to a growing recognition of the importance of, and the links between, good health and good community design.
Areas covered in the study include respiratory and cardiovascular health; fatal and non-fatal injuries; physical fitness; social capital; mental health; and special populations. Developers are taking notice: good design can be a powerful influencer on quality of life.
Elder Care at Home
Another important health and lifestyle element is elder care which may soon surpass child care in importance to the American family. According to a recent study undertaken by Pew Research, 24 million Americans are caring for elder relatives in their homes while also caring for their children. The financial and psychological burden of this situation is just now being felt.
Living preferences and finances are key reasons for the growing movement away from nursing homes in favor of independent living. The latest U. S. Census data indicate about 7.4 percent of Americans age 75 and older lived in nursing homes in 2006 compared with 8.1 percent in 2000 and 10.2 per cent in 1990.
"They're moving to assisted living, or their well-off baby boomer children are taking care of them in other ways." (Frey-Brookings Institution) At-home care and assisted-living facilities have been a fast-growing segment of elder care in the past decade.
Given the high cost of nursing home care coupled with older adults' desire to age at home, communities will need to ramp up the availability of home and community-based service options.
The average nursing home patient runs out of money within six months and must go on Medicaid, which will not only bankrupt individuals but also the Medicaid system. (Markwood-National Association of Area Agencies on Aging.)
Elder care and stay-in-home aging, therefore, are other major issues that are shaping the look and feel of today's and tomorrow's homes and communities.
Five Questions to Ask
Taking into account the trends noted above, buyers should now be asking the following questions when deciding whether or not a community is a "health and wellness community" and if it is right for them. Builders and developers are now asking themselves the same questions as they create the communities and neighborhoods of the future.
1. Transit Connections. Is there a connection to amenities in the surrounding larger community via walking, biking and public transit?
2. Lifestyle Facilities. Did the developer facilitate lifestyle and socialization via physical facilities and staff?
3. Onsite Wellness Facilities. Is there broad, proactive health and wellness in evidence including fitness/wellness centers, on-site healthcare providers, proactive nutrition promotion, organic gardening, alternative wellness therapies and home-based care options?
4. Aging in Place. Do the home and community designs facilitate aging-in-place or aging-in-community with varied housing stock and universal design features?
5. Sense of Place. Did the developer create a sense of place by tapping into the area's history, culture and active outdoor lifestyle or by a focus on environmental sustainability?
Written by Rick Duke, CEcD, EDFP
Principal Research Associate
Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute
Designs and Technologies for Healthy Aging rick.dukeatinnovate.gatech.edu
Sample Health and Wellness Communities
(For a complete list go to
www.
The Cliffs at Keowee Springs, Sunset Beach, North Carolina
Barton Creek Resort & Spa, Austin, Texas
Rock Barn Golf & Spa, Conover, North Carolina
Suncadia, Roslyn, Washington
Amelia Island Plantation, Amelia Island, Florida
Rio Grande Club, South Fork, Colorado
The Bay Club, Mattapoissett, Massachusetts
River Strand, Bradenton, Florida
The Cliffs at Mountain Park, Travelers Rest, South Carolina
Running Y Ranch, Klamath Falls, Oregon
Del Webb at Lake Oconee, Greensboro, Georgia
The
Bay Club offers wellness facilities.
Health and Wellness, and the issues associated with this important area, is becoming a major consideration in today's communities. Whether it is universal design, accessibility to facilities, aging in place and other issues, health and wellness has moved up the ladder of priorities.
Thus, we are pleased to announce the launch of the 42nd Member Website in the GolfCourseHome Network: www.HealthandWellnessCommunities.net
The communities listed on the site have many of the key components cited in the article featured on the site, Five Questions to Ask ...When Looking at a Health and Wellness Community.
