Apologies if this has been discussed... Tough to get caught up on thousands of posts/subjects.
Retiring at age 53 in 1989, without a lot of $$$, we sold our home and my business and made the move into Woodhaven. At the time, the campground had gone from Consortium ownership to resident ownership, and neither the resident council, nor the hired management knew about the 185 day restriction on recreation residency... This despite the fact that the campground was the largest family campground in the US... with (then) 6500 sites. The campground was advertised as not only for recreation, but as a retirement home for older persons. When the local tax assessor discovered that 38 children were living in the campground and going to school in the county (@ $7K per child, the threat was made to change the tax from recreation to permanent residency... which would increase the lot taxes by about 800%. In this campground you own your lot. Enforcement of the 185 day limit took five years in the courts, but saved the recreational tax rate. This by way of explanation why it is not possible to have permanent residency in a recreational facility (I think in all states).
As to the campground... 6100 sites, 7 small lakes, 43 miles of roads, 17 miles of trails, gated access, TruValue Hardware Store, Gas Station, two Olympic sized pools, very large general store. A dozen playgrounds, tennis courts, basketball courts, sand beach, propane station, multiple outdoor pavilions and concert venues, several indoor centers for activities, a sledding hill, snowmobile trails, and a year round program of activities for adults and children.
The campground is open summer and winter.
Camping of all sorts, from tent, to all classes of mobile RV's to Park models, with add a room. The maximum living space allowed on the owned lot is... 400s.f. park model, 400s.f. add a room, a 400 s.f. deck, and two 8X8 ft or 1 8X12 ft. wood storage sheds.
The campground has a 24/7 security staff of dozens of park police and aides. The current dues are approximately $1200/yr which includes water, sewer, snow plowing and leaf pic up. Taxes depend on the lot, non moveable structures and in particular on location, with lakeside/view being the highest. Taxes range from about $200 to $600.
Posting the website and a video to use as a basis for comparison to other major campgrounds.
http://woodhavenassociation.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWHLqeY0yNs
That's a starter to outline where we lived for half the year, from 1989 until 2004, when we bought a permanent home. We still own the property and use it in the summer, though not full time.
I hope to come back with more specifics on how we lived, the social life and community, pictures of our camp on the lake, and some details on costs, and thought about other campgrounds or retirement locations such as our snowbird community home in FL.
Living in a campground
Re: Living in a campground
The 185 day restriction for campground residency is interesting to know. Sounds like a fun place to live, now if you just had 2 campgrounds.. one for summer, one for winter. 
Re: Living in a campground
Volunteer.gov usually has many camp opportunities for hosts, maintenance, etc with free or reduced cost of living options in exchange for work.
Re: Living in a campground
Yes... our original plan upon ER, was to do exactly that. During my last years of work, when I was travelling the US as part of my job, whenever I had some free time, I'd go to Federal or State campgrounds and talk with the campground hosts. In most cases they were retired on a tight budget, and earned their way by overseeing campgrounds... then moving after 3 to 6 months to a different location. Great way to see the US.mfi wrote:Volunteer.gov usually has many camp opportunities for hosts, maintenance, etc with free or reduced cost of living options in exchange for work.
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James R...
As to 2 campgrounds. Exactly!!! my neighbors at Woodhaven (all retired young, in their 50's) would spend summer in IL, then go to the tip of Texas, Arizona, or Florida for the winter.... Here's one of the campgrounds that my next door neighbor lived in-- part-time.
http://www.cloud9ranch.com/