Before moving into retirement living or into a land lease community, ask about the residents committee and what do they do.
Teman Communities, which operates in Western Australia, New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, has thriving communities.
A swimming pool, clubhouse and landscaped gardens can all be built into a retirement village.
A social life cannot.
Residents at Highview by Teman in Forest Lake, an outer southwestern suburb of Brisbane, have provided an example of how village life can work when residents take matters into their own hands.
Members of the Highview Social Club wanted an affordable day out and settled on a bus trip to Toowoomba for the Carnival of Flowers.
They organised the outing themselves, including snack bags for the journey, while residents Marg and Loretta became the bus captains responsible for making sure everyone was accounted for.
The cost was also shared: one-third paid from Social Club funds, one-third by residents and one-third by Teman.
There was another reason for choosing Toowoomba.
Residents at Hilltop by Teman in Glenvale had been putting considerable effort into their gardens and entered them in the Carnival of Flowers Garden competition. Highview residents decided to add a visit to their sister community to the itinerary.
Highview village manager Hayden helped coordinate with Hilltop manager Darren, who arranged lunch for the visiting residents.
It might sound like a simple bus trip, but there is a wider retirement living story in it.
Operators can provide the buildings, facilities and opportunities for residents to meet. What happens after that can depend heavily on the residents themselves.
At Highview, they have formed a Social Club, raised their own funds, planned an outing and found a way to make it affordable.
Then they got on the bus.
The result was a day away from home, new experiences, time with friends and a chance to meet residents from another community.
For all the money retirement village operators spend creating spaces for social connection, sometimes the most important ingredient is residents deciding to use them — and each other.