Sara and Aaron Pines

Sara and Aaron Pines

Sara and Aaron had lived in Ithaca, NY, since 1971, in a beautiful, historic house three blocks from Cornell University, and they were sure that, in retirement, they wanted to remain in this community. Because of its proximity to Cornell and Ithaca College and the incredible events that go on there, such as conferences, live music performances, dance recitals, and theater, it was as if the world was coming right to their door and they didn't want to give that up.

So when a friend announced that she was going to build an environmentally friendly community called Eco Village, where each person could have their own townhouse and there would be a community house as well, Sara realized, "That was exactly what I wanted to do; and by God, we did it!"

According to Aaron, "The thing that interested me about Eco Village, aside from my wife's enthusiasm about it of course, is that we've seen a number of retirement communities and ineffably you see the same thing, elderly people, and they miss the normal sharing of information and enthusiasm and views of different age levels and things." At Eco Village, Aaron and Sara are able to experience a lively, youthful community, while still enjoying the companionship of other older couples. Their options for involvement were unlimited; from communal cooking to collective gardening to volunteering at the local food bank, the Pines could not have found a larger wealth of resources for active, alternative senior living.