I am moving
With my age and health issues my family and friends thought I had become too much of a hermit and that it would be a good idea to live where there is more of a ‘support system’ and other people around to be of assistance if/when needed.
After much searching and thinking I have decided upon a place and will go Friday to sign the necessary leasing papers.
It’s a senior citizen (65+) place with meals (if I want them); computer room; activity room; TV/theater room; library/reading room, planned outings to go shopping, to museums, etc. I saw one room with 3 huge billiard tables (I don’t play). Lots of stuff going on. It gets 4 plus stars out of 5 online. Lots of good reviews.
When I stopped to put in my application all the staff and residents I encountered had a smile and greeted me. (Or did they snicker?) That said, I tend to be a hermit. Maybe this will get me out of my shell more. I think I need to be in a place with more people around and more activity.
To be continued ......
= new reply since forum marked as read
the best, I hope your golden years get even better! From one hermit to another 
The female to male ratio in those places leans in your favor. Behave yourself - but not too much. 
I expect I'll eventually be in some sort of similar place. Right now I'm 72, in excellent health, and can manage my small two-bedroom, two bath, two skylight place for the present.
Several times in the past I've visited independent/assisted living places on behalf of someone else, and have almost always been very impressed with what's offered. Not always, but enough to make me feel confident moving forward that I'll be able to eventually settle into some sort of place for myself.
I've seen far too many stories of parents or grandparents insisting on staying in a place they can no longer maintain or manage, and are sometimes a long way from the services they desperately need. I'm determined not to let that happen to me.
My one son lives about 2,000 miles from me. He's in grad school, and when he's finally finished and has a permanent job, I will probably relocate to be a lot closer to him. For one thing, I simply want to be able to see him regularly. The other, semi-joking reason is that I want to make it easy for him to come to my nursing home and sign the DNR orders.
I recall what it was like when my mother was in what turned out to be her final illness, and how tricky it was to manage things. And I had five other siblings to help out. But that experience has left me determined to make it easy for my son.
Perhaps what I should have said at the top, is that every story I've seen or heard about going into some kind of place like yours, is that the people almost always regret only that they didn't go there sooner. I'm trying to figure out the correct balance for me in that aspect. 
She was 84 and moved to Western North Carolina from here in Northeastern New York. Previously, she'd spent the winters somewhere warmer, but after spending a few winters down there, she decided to make it permanent. She had an advantage in that her older long time friend who she used to travel with moved there first, so in the beginning they shared an apartment and so she already knew the place and a lot of people. And, unlike you, my grandmother was pretty outgoing.
I got to know the place, too, since I visited frequently. When she was first spending winters there, my uncle flew to NC and drove her home to New York and then I drove down with her in the fall and flew home. One of the requirements there was that, even though the apartments had full kitchens, residents had to take a number of meals in their dining hall so they weren't isolating. My grandmother wasn't a cook so that worked out for her and the food was quite good.
There were also lots of activities and my grandmother was a "joiner." She did everything from bingo to line dancing to prevent anything being canceled due to lack of interest. But the "activity" that she involved me with was a peace group she joined. The town where the community was located had a "sister town" in the USSR and she planned to go on the initial trip to visit the town and asked me to join her to "make up the numbers." This was in the late '80s, shortly before the USSR fell, there was a lot of hope during that time and it was one memorable visit. Many of the group who went lived in the retirement community while others lived in the NC town - it was a pretty amazing group and I got to know everyone well. 
Another advantage of living there was that there were safely precautions. There was a medical staff there at all times, a pull cord in every apartment if a resident was in trouble and there was a ring that residents put out on their doorknob every night and a volunteer from every hall checked each morning to make sure it was taken in - otherwise they'd knock to see if the resident was alright.
And there were also stages of living - condos, apartments, supervised living and a health care/nursing home part - with a medical staff, as I said. And even in the apartments it was possible to have supervised meds.
It really was a lovely place, I wouldn't have minded living there myself at the time. As I said, I made friends there. But I've only been there once since I lost my grandmother in 1998. And that was the service for my grandmother's "significant other," a wonderful man who I got to know well on the Russian trip who passed away 3 months after my grandmother - at age 101. They knew each other before the Russian trip, but he made his intentions known (he told me first, actually, LOL) while we were overseas.
Anyway, I hope that your residence turns out to be as supportive a place as my grandmother's.
