What's Right with Sun City, Parts 6 - 10

 By Bill Pearson

Originally posted on Talk of Sun City (Posted as written)

 4.21 Part 6

Over the years i have taken hundreds of visitors through the Museum. Whenever i start to tell the John Meeker salvation story, the question invariably becomes, "what did he do?" The challenge is, there isn't one thing. It was a paradigm shift in thinking that started with that policy of non-involvement. We read above how the members took ownership of the governance aspect, the reality was, much of the rest of it, needed a financial boost to get things moving.

For example, there were clubs in Sun City, but nowhere near what there were by 1970. In an ad hanging in the Freeman room, there were already more than 100 clubs alive and growing. That was more than double from 1965 and Meeker had a hand in it. It was one of the less expensive fixes he made, all it took was the largest color television he could buy. He had his PR guy give it away at small club gathering. Word spread about the lucky winner and club membership was on the rise.

Perhaps the most important change was when he fired the 50 person in-house advertising department at DEVCO. The ads were brilliant, but they had stopped working. Meeker understood just how special the community was and the solution was to get them here. The Play and Stay was born and it changed the course of history. Meeker claims that 50% of the 20,000 homes sold during his time came through the program. It was so successful, it's still the tool new communities use to this day.

Spending money was never an issue for John. In his memoirs is a yearly accounting of sales and profits. He understood that old adage about spending money to make money. He invested in dozens of different events all with an eye on bring the community together. He refused to leave it the membership and understood the more he invested in creating a sense of community, the more they became invested in selling Sun City.

While events were cool, spending money on the infrastructure was even more his thing. We know he started changing the size, shape and style of the homes, the amenities were even more spectacular. The Sun Bowl was the first, but was quickly followed by the third rec center in 1967 Town Hall South (Mountainview). By 1969, as sales exploded, they moved across the tracks, built Viewpoint lake, the hospital and Lakeview Rec Center. Next up was the Lakes Club quickly followed by the Sun Dial Rec Center, the Bell Center; all three were exceptional in their own way. All, very expensive as well.

Those of you who have followed anything i have written know my high regard for John Meeker. He's never gotten enough credit for Sun City's success. Del Webb was always the one getting the accolades; after all is was Del and Jim Boswell's money that made it happen. Countless others were the drivers, none more so than John.

Which brings me to the whole point of this exercise. In Meeker's memoirs and in his multiple interviews we have on file at the Museum, John was always quick to credit the huge team working for and with him at DEVCO. More importantly, John understood and more importantly acknowledged none of it would have happened without the people who came bought in Sun City and accepted it as their home.

What i've loved about this community and the history behind it, was those moving here embraced it as if it was their own. It's easy to love where you were born where you grew up and where you lived the majority of your life. The simple reality is, those coming to Sun City in the twilight of their years opened their hearts and minds and made this community just as important, if not more so than from where they came. It is a tradition too rich to ignore, and one that should be taught to every new buyer.

Someday maybe eh?

4.21 Part 7

Interesting. Yesterday i had coffee with my buddy Ben and we laughed about too many things to mention here, other than, some of the challenges when telling the history of Sun City. He pointed out some errors i had made, all-be-it minor. For those who don't know, my go to source is Jubilee, Sun City's 25th Anniversary book. Other sources are Meeker's journal, interviews and files from the Museum.

We've long known and accepted some of our collection and writings were based on "best memories" by those retelling the stories of from our founding. Jane Freeman, the consummate historian, left us an earmarked 25th anniversary book with corrections she came across since its writing in 1984. While perfection is an admirable goal, it's simply that, a goal. And to be clear, there aren't massive mistakes, just variations of actual events.

It's one of the reasons Ben Roloff's 5 year stint at the State Archives has been so important. He has been reading, detailing and chronicling the news of the day, as it happened in the newspapers from that era. It's been a monster undertaking. The stories he has collected are stunning and funny and illuminating. It's been a labor of love that has gone above and beyond.

It's yet another reason i love Sun City. Those coming here have taken the time and given so freely of themselves to insure our rich history lives on. So that we can tell and retell the stories of how and we we succeeded. So those moving to Sun City would, could and should understand it wasn't an accident we were successful, but because those who bought into a new active way of life did everything they could to make it work.

How does it get better than that?

4.21 Part 8

Staying the course of John Meeker and his amazing transformation of Sun City, his impact was felt early on. We know he came to run the project in 1965 and within the first year we saw him add a real flair to the housing styles. The Mediterranean home styles were a far cry from the models shown opening day. While the first 5 years targeted lower to moderate income retirees, John realized everyone loved a bargain. Adding square footage and more style to the architecture was an immediate hit.

It didn't end there. At coffee the other day, Ben told me more information about the Sun Bowl. The story has been told that Meeker got the idea when he flew over a sun bowl of sorts in a community in California. Ben said the discussions actually had been ongoing in Sun City for a theater to accommodate large crowds. The cost would have been substantial and DEVCO wasn't out of the woods yet on costs. John had crews on site and the land available. Ben told me he had read they claimed to have built the Sun Bowl for $30,000. A fraction of what an indoor venue would have cost.

The pressure continued and the third rec center was quickly added to the mix. Town Hall South (Mountainview) opened around the same time as the Sun Bowl. The beauty of that third center is it became the impetus to consolidate the community into a single organization. Community Center (Oakmont) still had owners not paying a yearly fee and even those that paid their fees could not use the other two centers. Meeker offered to spend some money on that first rec center if the residents voted to accept a "facilities agreement." It passed easily and the "mini Berlin Wall" had come down.

The stories from our history have shown us repeatedly those living here have always been willing to work through the problems and find solutions. It's just another in the long list of things i love about living in this incredibly unique community.

4.25 Part 9

What was that old political line? "It's the economy stupid." As much as i avoid the political discourse here, let me re-write this in a way to much better fit what i love about Sun City; "It's the hospital stupid." I mean that both literally and figuratively. So many folks over the years have just taken the fact they live within 15 minutes of a hospital as a given. It's not.

If you were to do some serious research of age restricted communities across the nation, finding a hospital next door to you in a senior community would be challenging. Sun City West has one, i suspect The Villages of Florida has several but then they should, the "community" is spread across three counties. It would be like comparing apples to elephants. There is no comparison.

All of the newer communities were built later than ours and all of them suffered from expensive land costs. Developers had to try and maximize profits. They did so by squeezing more homes unto less land space. Shopping centers, churches, hospitals and even amenities often were given short shrift. It was just economics. In the long run, those value added properties were put outside the community walls.

Sun City and Sun City West were different. Land was plentiful and the idea the community be self-contained was one buyers loved. Very large tracts of land were set aside to house the hospitals. Once DEVCO committed to moving north of Grand Ave, they understood the importance of a first class hospital being near the center of the community. Even more important, they knew that seniors would be needing care on a higher level than their younger counter-parts.

They turned the first shovel in January of 1969. Thankfully the tiny proposed hospital south of Grand Ave was dropped when Jim Boswell stepped up and offered 1.2 million dollars to get the project off the ground. It came with some conditions but all were well reasoned out and helped make the Walter O Boswell Memorial Hospital a first class operation. There were those from outside the walls who fought it, but Webb et al were not to be stopped.

When it opened in November of 1970, there was a massive turnout with some 5000 residents in attendance. The three circular wings were classic in design and over the years have been added to. Just last year, a sparkling new emergency center was opened. Having used the old one several times with both mom and dad, it was a welcome addition.

The hospital, as they were raising funds had received donations (large and small) from a majority of those living here. Better yet, once it opened, they quickly developed a volunteer base of more than 1000 Sun City residents. It truly was impressive.

The other thing people tend to overlook is how Sun City is evolving. There were 16 shopping centers/strip malls within our white walls. As brick and mortar have struggled to stay afloat against on-line buying, many of these centers have been purchased by medical delivery based businesses. It has been impressive to me to watch as doctors who were squeezed into tiny offices buy and expand into larger spaces. They have grown in ways that make visiting their offices a much more user friendly experience.

None of us like getting old, sick and in need of medical care. The reality it's better than the alternative, being put in the ground. There's so many reasons to like/love Sun City, and while it is easy to hope we don't need the medical facilities, the fact they are here only adds to the value and our uniqueness.

4.26 Part 10 

It's always easy for those buying and living in Sun City to state the obvious when it comes to talking about what they love. Most often it's the club(s) they belong to, the gym they work out at, the free music events at the Sun Bowl, the golf courses they enjoy or the pool they hang out at in the heat of summer. All of which are on point and key to enjoying the active new way of life DEVCO promised us.

Don't get me wrong, all are quite spectacular. The thing is, many/most other age restricted communities have some or all of those things. Over the years, as i have written volumes on Sun City, i have often described our uniqueness being akin to peeling back the skin of an onion. There is simply layer upon layer and the more you peel, the more you appreciate and enjoy the little things often over looked.

We know in Phase 1, once Meeker got going, his quest for more and better housing options grew. South of Grand there were single family homes, twins, the Fairway apartments and what he called vacation specials. Once he raced north of Grand Ave, he truly unleashed the beast. Single family homes were the rage, but he also expanded his horizons. He immediately built the Patio Homes, Patio Apartments, Garden Court Apartments, Gemini Twin Homes and the ever popular Quads. On top if all that, he had homes that were total solar, an indoor swimming pool and houses with 3000 plus square feet and more angles than one could imagine.

Realtors knew the variations, but most buyers were fixed on one style or model and paid little attention to all of the alternatives. Adding to the mix, the wild array of options were the lake lots, golf course lots and premium lots, usually situated on corners or a cul-de-sac. Then if you want to really go off the charts, stop down to Rancho Estates and look at the 1 to 5 acre lots. No more horses there these days but there are garages there that are spectacular.

I've had the good fortune over the years to tour a good number of the styles. The Museum has provided me a historical perspective from each of the openings via the original model home booklets. There's no shortage of fascinating exteriors and interiors to leave those who like different designs in awe. Then throw in square footage ranging from 800 sq to 3200 square and you truly have something in everyone's price range. Well almost as home prices these days are insane no matter what the size.

The point here, the way Sun City was built, the home styles and options are well beyond any other community. Just another in the long list of things i love about Sun City.