The Continental Retirement Community

Elevators had to be replaced this year… so residents who use walkers or wheelchairs are confined to their upper level floors, since they don’t have Maintanence elevators. All they can do is assist a resident up/down flights of stairs with who ever is available. These are senior living apartments that require residents to independently get their own groceries and are independent living. A letter posted said it would take 7 weeks to fix their floor’s elevator! They would bring up their meals from dining area down stairs. Ridiculous and they should provide a reduction in their rent on the weeks they are confined to their apartments then! Very disappointing because your apartments are very nice!

I have been a resident for about two years. I spent quite a long time investigating retirement communities, and this was my choice, for several reasons. I cannot imagine a more positive upbeat place, mainly because the staff is incredibly friendly, helpful, and kind. We residents feel very fortunate to have wound up in this place with such wonderful staff. The other residents are very friendly once you get to know them. Being such a small group makes us feel like a community, or even a family. There’s a great deal of shopping and restaurants in the immediate vicinity. The longer I live here the more I am amazed at how central this location is to almost every thing you could want to go to. The food is usually quite good and often very good. The chefs really care about our reaction to new recipes they try. When they try a new recipe, they come out of the kitchen to see what we think. . We have an excellent maintenance team, which is good because in addition to things needing constant repair, we also have lots of foxes, birds, squirrels, and raccoons. Bo, the maintenance director, keeps everything running, and is invariably upbeat - he literally whistles while he works :-) The building is old but attractive. The common areas furniture is pretty old and haphazardly arranged , which gives the impression that this is a tacky place but management seems to like things just like they are and does not respond to suggestions so we just focus on what we do have here . Management is in the process of updating the rooms with granite kitchens and vinyl wood floors. However, three of my four windows have broken seals, which make them hard to see out of. I was on the list to get the windows replaced, but I discovered that someone had taken my name off the list! Now, apparently they are not going to replace windows anymore. They are just gonna leave them like that.

Having lived at this place almost a year and a half after moving here from NYC, I would have to say it offers everything I was looking for and more. Tasty meals cooked by a professional chef, weekly housekeeping service by a caring and compassionate staff, calendar full of games and other social activities along with steady stream of live music, in which all residents are encouraged to participate to the level of their interest and abilities. The location of this spot is also super convenient within easy walking distance of Central Market, Regal Cinema and two yoga studios. There is also an on-site driver who provides free transportation for doctors office visits, shopping trips and other errands. Located just off two major highways, the only sounds you hear at night are from birds nesting in the adjacent woods. One drawback to living in a retirement community such however is that you make friends with people who sometimes don’t stick around very long, but some have lived here more than a decade. I hope to become one of them!