Jan 19, 200608:13 AMThe Life

Life in a retirement community is a lot like being back in high school

The Boston Globe recently published an article entitled Fast Times at Brooksby High, and it sparked a debate at the local coffee shop. Some folks who are contemplating retirement think it's healthier to continue living in age-integrated communities, alongside young families with babies and people past ninety.

But I argued that age-restricted communities are a great idea. In fact, I can't believe it took this long for the wife and me to discover 'em. We snuck into a "55-or-better, active adult" development awhile back, circumventing the minimum age requirement by getting my 57-year-old buddy to co-sign the lease. We decided to buy one of those houses a year later, claiming that my mom had come to live with us.

As if. (Her broom is barred from the "no-fly" zone, which extends in a 500-mile radius from the Ocotillo cactus in our back yard.)

We had just moved from the L.A. area, and were attracted by the Zen-like silence surrounding our new home: no screaming brats, no vrooming hotrods. The noisiest event occurs twice a week, when our putter-obsessed neighbor jumps into his golf cart—loopy on Viagra—and peels out. He makes a very tiny squeak.

His golf cart does, too.