YOUNGTOWN, ARIZONA, U.S.A.

Youngtown,

Up until a couple of years ago-give or take a few months-Arizona didn't have quite everything. Now it has. Arizona now can boast of its Youngtown, a community of the young in heart, dedicated to the proposition that life can begin at fifty. Youngtown is a brand new village, 17 miles northwest of Phoenix, just south of U.S. Routes 60, 70, and 89, and is rapidly becoming populated with as happy a group of retired and semi-retired folks as one would wish to meet anywhere. One of the many nice features of Youngtown is that a person-or couple-of modest means can live here in an atmosphere of peace and quiet and still not feel the pressure of too many rules and regulations. Chief stipulation is that the home owners must be at least 50 years of age. Domesticated pets are allowed on the premises and children may visit and stay during vacations from school. But, by and large, Youngtown is void of confusion and noise usually associated with the very young. Youngtown is built around an artificial seven-acre lake which is kept well-stocked with fish. There is a community club house complete with lounge, dining room and kitchen, where Women's Club members meet once a week, where bingo and card parties are held, where the home owner can entertain guests if his own house proves too small.

The houses are small, too, but big enough. Surely, they are all that the average person of retirement age wishes to maintain. They are of the two-bedroom variety with living room, bath, kitchen, closets, carport and storage room. Each house is on a 60' x 100' lot so there is room to do a little gardening or landscaping. Needless to say, these hobbies are indulged by one and all and the net result is very easy on the eyes. The houses are priced from $6,800 to $6,950, aimed at the pensioner or the couple with a small income. Monthly payments-including principal and interest and insurance-are about $40. The down payment (F.H.A.) is $500. There is a flat charge of $4 per month for water. Gas and electricity are extra.

May we point out, lest the reader gets the idea that this is a realtor's publicity blurb, that we have chatted with Youngtown residents all of whom are proud and happy about their "community spirit." Take the Ralph E. Kruegers, formerly of Chicago, for example. Mr. Krueger was a salesman for Swift & Co. for 39 years. Says Mrs. Krueger: "We came here for Mr. Krueger's health, and he has felt just fine ever since. What we like about Youngtown is its wonderful community spirit. Everyone gets along so well, and there is no keeping up with the Joneses. "Why, there are several couples here who could buy and sell the whole lot of us, but you'd never know it. Their children have grown up and married, and they simply wanted to get away from the care of big homes and estates. "But, mostly we are a community of folks over fifty who have a lot in common. We are getting along in years, but are by no means decrepit. We live in an aura of serenity with a little excitement if and when we need it." "There is fishing in the lake; potluck supper Wednesday nights in the club house; there is shuffleboard and the swimming pool, and on Friday nights we play Bingo. The Women's Club meets every Tuesday, and the Social Club meets once a month. We had wonderful parties in the club house on Thanksgiving and Christmas Days."

That is just a sample. Equally enthusiastic residents of this remarkable little town include James Chapman, chairman of the Youngtown Social Club and former mayor of Aberdeen, Idaho; the Reverend John M. Hamilton, an Episcopal minister from Roanoke, Va.; Kenneth R. Crelin of Smallwood, N. Y., a retired Navy man, Francis L. Morgan of Hamilton, Ontario, a retired postal clerk; Fred Metzger, Chicago, who had spent 39 years with the Pennsylvania Railroad, and dozens of others from all parts of the nation and from all stratas of society.

Youngtown was the brainchild of "Big Ben" Schleifer who came to Phoenix from New York nine years ago and, in The Valley of The Sun's dry climate, recovered from a bad case of asthma.

"Big Ben" got the idea when he visited a friend in a home for the aged in the east.

"That was a place with just too many regulations and restrictions," says Ben. "Too much like an old folks' home-radios off at 10 p.m. Things like that. I thought how nice it would be to have a place where folks of fifty or over could lead their own lives, in their own way, without having to turn out lights at a certain time or otherwise know-tow to the whims of an overseer."

Ben outlined his plans for a community, devoted strictly to retired and semi-retired persons, to a group of Phoenix businessmen who in no time came through with the necessary financial backing. The project eventually will involve an investment of $1,000,000.

Present plans include 1,300 homes and a hospital. Since the project was started 189 homes have been built by Schleifer and twenty lots have been sold to persons who are building their own homes. Some of these latter are tiny replicas of the homes formerly occupied by their owners back east. A shopping center is now in operation.

Big Ben had plenty of statistics to prove his idea sound. In 1944, he learned, only 963,000 persons over 65 were receiving old age and survivors' Social Security benefits. By 1955 the number had grown to 7,200,000. In 1934 there were 7,693,000 persons over 65 in the United States. Again in 1955, there were 14,128,000.

Big Ben's Youngtown, Arizona, cannot take care of all of these, but it is making an awfully good start. Is Big Ben happy with the results of his experiment to date? "The many pats on the back, the interest shown when I am introduced as the man who created Youngtown, the phone calls I receive from people all over the country saying, 'bless your heart' these are just a few of the things that have made it all worth while."