If you’ve been undecided about moving to a senior living community in part because you think your grandchildren (or great-grandchildren) won’t want to visit, then take this to heart: Choose a community like Heron’s Key, where there are countless ways to spend time with them in the larger, surrounding community—in our case, Gig Harbor, Washington.

Not only has SmartAsset™ named Gig Harbor the best place in Washington to retire (and one of the top five places in the country). It’s also quite family friendly, as Martha Bien, one of our newer residents, can attest.

Wondering what to do in Gig Harbor, WA? Read on!

How Martha Chose Heron’s Key as Her New Home

Martha has lived at Heron’s Key for less than a year, so she’s still exploring all there is to do in our community. But she’s very familiar with Gig Harbor because her son and his family have lived in the stunning seaside village for the better part of a decade.

As you might imagine, having family living nearby helped Martha make her decision to move to Heron’s Key—and her grandson was instrumental in having Martha take a closer look at our community.

Before moving here, Martha had lived an hour away, on Bainbridge Island, for almost 30 years. She loved her home on the island, and her son would bring her two youngest grandchildren to visit her on most Sundays. Other times, she would come to stay with them in Gig Harbor for a few days.

Eventually, Martha and both of her sons (her other son lives in Oregon) began to talk about her future living arrangements. She looked into a senior living community that was being built on Bainbridge Island but “didn’t really care for that.”

During one of her weekend visits to Gig Harbor, which she describes as a “sweet town,” she and her son drove by Heron’s Key, and he mentioned that our community has a good reputation. At first, Martha said she didn’t think she would like it here, but her grandson, who was only about 6 years old at the time, piped up from the back seat and said, “Tutu, would you at least consider it?”

After a couple of visits to Heron’s Key, Martha changed her mind.

“Moving here was a really good decision,” she says. “People ask me, ‘Did you make the right choice?’ I really can say, ‘Yes.’ It’s such a lovely place, and the people are so welcoming and wonderful, right from the get-go.”

Where Is Gig Harbor?

Gig Harbor is nestled on the western side of the lower region of Puget Sound, in Pierce County, which is in western Washington. Part of the Olympic Peninsula, it’s across from Tacoma, which is about 12 miles away via the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

How far is Gig Harbor from Seattle? Less than an hour’s drive, which makes it a breeze to take trips to the dozens of intriguing, kid-friendly museums in the area, as well as the Seattle Aquarium and Woodland Park Zoo. You can also enjoy performances by the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and the Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle Mariners ballgames and a whole lot of other pastimes.

Getting there is even easier when someone else does the driving, like we do with our frequent group excursions.

Fun Things to Do in Gig Harbor

You don’t have to venture to Tacoma or Seattle unless you want to. There are plenty of things to do in Gig Harbor when your grandchildren visit.

If you want them to take a break from “screen time,” Gig Harbor has 21 city parks, many with trails for hiking and biking. The trails and the area’s wetlands are great for spotting wildlife while on nature walks. The preserved urban forest at Grandview Forest Park, where you’ll find local artwork on display along the trails, is an excellent example.

Harbor WildWatch offers guided beach walks, and the organization’s new Marine Life Center in downtown Gig Harbor is a fascinating place to learn all about plants and animals that call the Salish Sea their home.

You can also walk around the harbor (where you just might spy some porpoises, seals and seabirds) or take a sightseeing trip with Destiny Harbor Tours. If you’re up to it and your grandchildren are old enough, kayaking and paddleboarding are popular pastimes in Gig Harbor. Enjoy being on the water? You can access it from several parks in the area.

For a unique experience on the water, you could take the grandkids on an authentic Venetia gondola ride, provided by Gig Harbor Gondola.

During the summer, you can catch an outdoor concert on Tuesday evenings at Skansie Brothers Park or on Thursdays at Uptown Gig Harbor, the upscale outdoor shopping center that’s only about 15 minutes from Heron’s Key. By the way, Uptown Gig Harbor has an IMAX theater.

You can also plan to attend the Maritime Gig Festival in June, the Summer Art Festival in July and the Gig Harbor Film Festival in September.

If it happens to be raining when the grandchildren are visiting, there are lots of indoor activities to choose from, such as pottery painting at the Java and Clay Cafe. Or, you can check out Ocean5, which offers both 10-pin and duckpin bowling, a two-story laser arena and an arcade with the latest in modern gaming.

Kids of all ages can learn more about the local history and culture at the Harbor History Museum, located on the waterfront in downtown Gig Harbor.

If you don’t feel like driving, or to make any local outing more memorable, the Pierce Transit trolley runs during July and August, making numerous trips between downtown Gig Harbor and Uptown Gig Harbor shopping center. The trolley stops right at the entrance to Heron’s Key, so it’s especially convenient!

More About Martha and Her Grandchildren

Martha’s situation is a bit different from other Heron’s Key residents who may have grandchildren visiting them, since her grandkids live in Gig Harbor. She goes to events they’re involved in at school and can volunteer to watch them if their parents need an extra hand.

For instance, Martha’s 7-year-old granddaughter recently came over one afternoon for a couple of hours. Martha made dinner and they watched one of the “Minions” movies together. Martha said both her granddaughter and grandson like to eat at Spinnaker’s, our restaurant, and she sometimes orders takeout meals or ice cream if they want to eat in her apartment.

When the weather’s nice, they go for walks around the pond to get some fresh air.

Martha cherishes these times with her younger grandchildren and loves living close enough to see them while they’re growing up. When she’s not with the grandkids, Martha enjoys plenty of other ways to keep active—like walking with her friend, Janet, who also moved to Heron’s Key from Bainbridge Island. Three mornings a week, they walk between three and four miles in and around the community.

She also likes the variety of lectures and exercise classes available at Heron’s Key, which are a great option anytime and particularly when it rains.

“I’m much busier here than I was on Bainbridge,” she says, noting that she’s looking forward to helping with the planting project that’s planned for the newly resurfaced path around the pond.

She also intends to explore some of the hiking trails on upcoming group outings and may look into starting another book club here at Heron’s Key.

Would You and Your Grandchildren Like It Here?

The best way to find out is to come visit us. We’d love to show you around our community. While you’re at it, you can stroll around downtown Gig Harbor, which is less than 10 minutes away. Visitors and locals alike love to wander among the many shops, galleries and restaurants on or near the waterfront.

To arrange a visit to Heron’s Key, call (877) 892-7129 or contact us online.

Planning for your retirement years: the most thoughtful gift for families.

What Is a Waitlist?

A waitlist for a retirement community is similar to a waitlist at a restaurant. By adding your name to the list, you have a place in the queue as openings (homes) become available.

In addition to specifying what type of home you want — for example, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, with or without a den, apartment, cottage or patio home — you may be able to request other criteria, such as:

• A specific floor plan
• The location (on the ground floor, near the elevator, near the dining venue, overlooking a courtyard)
• A certain price range
• A general time frame

The criteria you can select will vary among senior living communities, and so will the deposit you’ll need to make when adding your name to the list.

How Does a Waitlist Work?

If you decide you want to be placed on a waitlist for a specific senior living community, you’ll need to fill out an application and make the required deposit. Waitlist deposit amounts vary from community to community.

If your application is accepted, your name will be added to the list. Then, as soon as a home becomes available that meets your specified criteria, the community will notify you to see if you are interested.

You can turn down the opportunity without losing your place in the queue. The community will simply notify the next person on the waitlist whose criteria meet those of the available home, and you’ll be notified the next time a similar home becomes available.

If you decide you no longer want to be on the list, you notify the community and ask to be removed. Typically, the community will refund your deposit except for an amount to pay for administrative fees.

The Most Important Reasons to Be on a Waitlist

Every person’s situation is different, so your reasons for wanting to be on a waitlist may be quite different from those of another person. Still, there are several reasons that are likely to pertain to most people who are eligible or nearing eligibility to live in a retirement community.

#1: The demand for senior living residences is expected to increase and outpace supply.

By 2030, all baby boomers will be over the age of 65. Most will be older than 70. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, baby boomers are the second-largest age group, at an estimated 73 million. (Millennials, the children from 1982 to 2000, are the largest.)

Additionally, life expectancy increased for baby boomers, thanks in part to improvements in health care. So, not only are there more seniors in the market for senior living, they’re also living longer — which means they have the opportunity to live in a retirement community longer.

Plus, after dipping somewhat during the pandemic, occupancy rates for senior housing are increasing again. Counting the third quarter of 2023, occupancy rates have increased for nine consecutive quarters, according to data compiled and analyzed by the National Investment Center (NIC).

That same NIC data, referred to in a separate blog post, indicates the demand for senior housing is outstripping the number of new homes being added to the market. This trend has also persisted for nine consecutive quarters.

One real estate investment services company estimates that between 25,000 and 40,000 additional housing units will be necessary from now until 2030 to meet the increasing demand for senior housing.

#2: You’ll have more flexibility and control over your future.

We all know life can change our plans in a split second. What we thought we could put off indefinitely can suddenly become quite urgent.

Having your name on a waitlist may make the difference between you selecting the home you’ll live in or someone else making that decision for you, should your circumstances change suddenly.

Being on a waitlist could also keep you from having to settle for a less-than-desirable home, should you have to move on short notice. Some senior living communities have dozens — and some have hundreds — of names on their waitlists. All of those people have priority over anyone who’s not on the list when it comes to accepting an available residence.

#3 Not all retirement communities have the option to expand their footprint.

If you have your eye on a specific senior living community, putting your name on the waitlist practically guarantees you the opportunity to live there at some point.

Some communities with long waitlists have expansion projects planned or underway. Others may not be able to expand, whether due to geographic restrictions, limitations imposed by the community’s governing board or even local regulatory restrictions.

Even communities that are in the process of adding new residences may not have any availability in the near future. Expansion projects can take years to implement and bring new residences to fruition. A lot can happen in the interim.

#4 There’s virtually no downside to getting on a waitlist.

Although you will be required to make a deposit when you add your name to a waitlist, nearly all retirement communities will refund the lion’s share of your deposit if you change your mind. Some may retain a percentage to cover the administrative costs of maintaining their waitlist.

Knowing you have a place in the queue and the ongoing right of refusal as residences in the community become available can provide tremendous peace of mind.

And, if you do move into the community, your deposit will be applied toward the entrance fee.

The Future Residents Program at Heron’s Key

After reaching an occupancy rate of over 90%, Heron’s Key recently decided it was time to begin a waitlist, which we call the Future Residents Program.

When our community was in the conceptual stages, development plans included the option to expand Heron’s Key in the future. We are actively considering this possibility but have not yet made any firm decisions.

The Heron’s Key waitlist, which we call the Future Residents Program, will help us manage demand for homes that become available while we work through the decision-making process regarding a potential expansion.

Our First Future Residents: Jill Guernsey and Tom Stanfield

Jill and Tom made it their mission to be the first participants in the Future Residents Program.

Tom, who was our director of sales and marketing from the time Heron’s Key was in conceptual development until he retired in 2019, had advocated for a waitlist for quite some time.

Jill was on Gig Harbor’s city council when Heron’s Key was in the development stages and then served as mayor of Gig Harbor for three years while Heron’s Key was under construction and preparing to open. She currently serves on the board of directors at Heron’s Key, Emerald Communities and Emerald Heights, our sister community in Redmond, Washington.

Both Jill and Tom had been in previous long-term marriages and lost their spouses to cancer. Their involvement with Heron’s Key was instrumental in bringing them together. They began their relationship in 2018 and were married the following year.

When asked about their decision to put their names on the waitlist, Jill pointed out that they are both in their 70s and one day will no longer be able to life in “this gorgeous house we built.”

“I don’t want my kids to pick where I’m going to live,” she said. “I’d rather pick it myself.”

During his career of 20-plus years in sales and marketing for senior living communities, Tom said he’d heard every possible excuse and argument about why someone would not choose to live in a continuing care retirement community — and he says he wasn’t going to let those affect his decision.

“Gig Harbor is where we choose to live, and Heron’s Key is the best solution available to seniors in our local market,” he said.

“Because of my extended experience with Heron’s Key, I know a good majority of the residents there, and they are my friends,” Tom noted. “I have an appreciation for the people who live there and an appreciation for the culture of the community. When it’s time for us to make the move, there won’t be any culture shock.

“The people who live there are very ambitious, they’re active and they want to be involved not only in Heron’s Key but also in the Gig Harbor community at large,” he said.

Jill reinforced Tom’s observations: “I love the fact that they are their own community,” she said, referring to Heron’s Key residents. “They shaped Heron’s Key, and they run it. And they’re actively involved in the Gig Harbor community in many ways. I think that’s fabulous.”

If you’d like to learn more about the Future Residents Program at Heron’s Key and the benefits of being on a waitlist, let’s get in touch! 

Featured Image: Drazen Zigic / Shutterstock

Senior living communities promote a lifestyle that appeals to active seniors, offering a profusion of activities designed to stimulate and engage residents socially, physically and mentally. This, in turn, helps residents maintain or even increase their level of activity — along with improving their quality of life.

Bill Sams, who moved to Heron’s Key in 2022 with his wife, Janet, can attest to the abundance of opportunities they’ve had to expand their social circle and become involved in the community.

Older adults choose to live in a retirement community for many other reasons, as well, such as convenience, access to care and a desire to make things easier for their family down the road.

Sometimes, they discover certain advantages of living in a community like Heron’s Key after the fact, like Bill did.

Bill says if they hadn’t moved to Heron’s Key when they did, he might not be around to share his story.

How Bill and Janet Came to Live at Heron’s Key

Before moving to our community, the couple lived on Bainbridge Island, about an hour away from Gig Harbor. So did Janet’s sister, Barbara.

Bill notes that their social network was dwindling. Some of their friends had moved to be closer to their grandkids. Others had found new homes in communities like ours. A few had passed away.

“We were losing friends faster than we were making friends,” Bill says.

Bill and Janet were also taking care of Barbara after she experienced medical events that left her less independent than before. They began looking into senior living options for her, which brought them to Heron’s Key.

“We looked around at all of the amenities here, and the amount of things going on every day is just mind-boggling,” Bill says. “Instead of a retirement community, it should be called a retirement resort. It’s like a cruise ship that doesn’t leave the dock!”

Bill and Janet decided not only would Heron’s Key be a good place for Barbara to live — it would be good for them, too. Within a few months, all three were settling into their new homes.

“Everything just dropped right into place,” Bill says, noting the timing worked out in their favor and they were able to get two apartments of the same model.

“It’s been a little over a year since we moved here, and we have a list of a hundred people we’ve had dinner with, some of them multiple times. Our social cohort has dramatically expanded,” he says.

Barbara is happy with her new home as well, according to Bill.

“She’s a very social person, so she’s like a duck in water here,” he says.

Bill, Janet and Barbara are typical of the active senior citizens you’ll find thriving in our community.

Why Bill Believes Living at Heron’s Key Saved His Life

One day, not so long ago, Bill began having upper chest pains. He called his doctor, who advised him to go the emergency room. At first, he was hesitant to go.

“We guys don’t always pay attention to what we’re told to do,” he admits with a chuckle.

When he started to feel faint, though, he took the situation more seriously and asked Barbara to drive him to the ER.

“The reason I was willing to do that is because Heron’s Key is about a mile and a half from the hospital,” he says, explaining that if they had still been living on Bainbridge, he would’ve had to call 911 and wait for the ambulance to show up. Then, the ambulance would have had to take the ferry back to the mainland and to a hospital in Seattle.

He says that would’ve been “enough of a hassle” to deter him from calling right away. Instead, he would have waited for additional symptoms; that decision, Bill later learned from his physicians, more than likely would have been fatal.

The medical team at St. Anthony Hospital found two blockages in the valves in his heart, one at 90% and the other at 99%, and Bill underwent double bypass surgery. Today, he’s recovering well.

“I feel like I dodged a major bullet by the fact that we were here at Heron’s key, with the ease of access to medical services,” he says.

Another Advantage Bill Discovered: Penrose Harbor

Bill notes that the staff at Penrose Harbor, the area on our campus that offers Assisted Living, Memory Care,  Skilled Nursing and Rehab, had access to his medical records at St. Anthony Hospital and kept track of his progress during his stay.

“They had a room reserved for me at Penrose Harbor so that if I needed any rehabilitation when I got out of the hospital, I’d have gone directly there,” he says, adding that Penrose Harbor is just a short walk from their apartment.

“Anybody who’s tried to find a skilled nursing bed on short notice will tell you there are almost none to be had, and certainly none that are a five-minute walk down the hallway. Another huge benefit is the care at Penrose Harbor has the highest ranking of all skilled nursing facilities in Gig Harbor, and has maintained four- and five-star rankings by the state of Washington throughout its history.”

“All of those things considered, we are tremendously glad we made the decision we did to move to Heron’s Key. In my case, I think it was a life or death decision.”

Living Here Will Help Bill in His Recovery, Too

“I’m now seeing that a lot of the exhaustion and other feelings I had over the last year, which I thought were just a matter of getting old, were really the heart problem,” Bill says.

When he completes the 12-week supervised cardio exercise program he’s in, Bill plans to make use of the fitness amenities available to him right here at home.

“Heron’s Key has everything I could want as far as exercise equipment, plus the two fitness specialists and the two full-time physical therapists at Penrose Harbor,” he says, noting that he has a prescription from his physician to work with the physical therapists when he wants.

There’s also a paved path around the ponds adjacent to our property, which Bill says is “ideal for walks.”

“I couldn’t be in a better place to rehab,” he says.

Staying Active and the Benefits of Exercise for Seniors

Bill’s story offers a compelling answer to the question, why is it important for older adults to stay active?

By today’s standards, independent living residents aren’t what most of us would consider elderly, but staying active will help many get the most out of their retirement years — and make it more likely they’ll remain active and independent as they age, like Bill and Janet.

Along with staying socially and intellectually active, maintaining a certain level of physical activity (whether you call it exercise or not) can increase your chances of enjoying life to the fullest as you get older.

A regular routine of moderate-intensity physical activity that includes aerobic, cardio and strength training can:

• Reduce your risk of chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease
• Improve your immune and digestive systems
• Help you manage your weight
• Increase your bone density and muscle mass, or at least prevent further loss
• Improve your strength and balance, which will lower your risk of falling
• Reduce stress and ward off depression
• Lower your blood pressure if you have hypertension
• Improve your sleep quality
• Boost your energy level
• Increase your flexibility
• Potentially improve cognitive function and lower the risk of dementia
• Broaden your social circles through shared classes

To be safe, check with your doctor for recommendations before you get started.

We Make Being Active Fun!

The variety of activities, classes and opportunities for socializing at Heron’s Key offers something for everyone. Come find out for yourself. Attend an upcoming event. Or, contact us to set up a visit.

Let us introduce you to an active lifestyle you’ll love.

Featured Image: Fizkes / Shutterstock