At Fairway Village, 70 can be par for the course.
So can 72.6.
It depends on whether you’re talking about the golf course or people who live in a portion of the residential community.
Linda Brooks, Elaine Saeed, Jim Mewhirter and Dave Mercer represented both aspects recently when they teed off on the nine-hole layout, which has a twice-around option with a par of 70.
The four golfers live in a community that is part of the oldest population group in Clark County. A U.S. Census block group that includes Fairway Village has a median age of 72.6 years.
It’s all by design, since Fairway Village is a 55-and-older community.
That appealed to Saeed when she and her husband, Iyaz, moved from Gresham, Ore., in 2007.
“I liked the 55-and-over concept,” she said. “It’s very, very quiet. You can relate to people who have gone through the same things you have. And living on a golf course was very appealing.”
The portion of Fairway Village just south of Southeast McGillivray Boulevard is the only Clark County census unit with a median age over 70. Half its residents are younger than 72.6, and half are older.
The second-oldest block group (64.0) is just west of Vancouver Mall. The third-oldest (62.2) includes the southern portion of Fairway Village, which has most of the golf layout.
The youngest of the county’s 240 block groups, with a median age of 23.9, is in the Orchards area, just north of Padden Parkway and east of state Highway 503. (About 49 percent of the households get food stamp/SNAP assistance, No. 4 among the 240 block groups.)
Age-restricted communities operate under guidelines set up by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. They exempt 55-and-older communities from certain provisions of the Fair Housing Act.
“One resident in each home has to be age 55 or better, and no permanent residents under the age of 18 are allowed,” said Jane McDowell, administrator of the Fairway Village Homeowners Association. That is the official name of the 188-acre development, which comprises 1,270 residents in 820 households.
“We have to maintain an age census in case HUD ever audits us,” McDowell said.
Her calculations show an average age of about 76.
Different generations
Ranging in age from their mid-50s to their 90s, Fairway Village residents represent a couple of distinct generations.
Brooks noticed it when she moved here from Seattle in 2010, following her husband’s death.
She was 55 1/2 . As she looked around, Brooks said she found herself thinking: “I’ve just moved in with my parents.
“I don’t have that feeling now,” Brooks said, adding that her neighbors have been wonderful. “It was a really good move for me.”
There are different cultural frames of reference, something Brooks experienced at a Christmas event. As a song was playing, everybody was urged to sing along.
Her reaction? “I’ve never heard this before in my life.”
As younger people move in, “There are different generations,” Brooks said. “I accept that someday, I’ll be that old generation.”
While these communities can be later-in-life transitions, many residents “have lived here longer than they have lived anywhere else in their lives — 30 years or more,” McDowell said. “A lot had mobile careers. One couple had moved 37 times.
“Many of our original homeowners are still here. The number of originals is declining, of course,” McDowell said, as residents die or move to assisted living.
Mewhirter and his wife, Martha, found Fairway Village in 1991 while he was a Delta Airlines pilot. They rented a condo.
“We were 15 minutes from Portland International Airport,” Mewhirter said. When he retired in 1997, one option was to settle in Texas.
“I looked around, particularly around Dallas,” Martha Mewhirter said. “Nothing had the climate and all the features this place has. It’s got the mountains, the ocean, the Columbia River, the city, good medical facilities.”
Mercer, president of the homeowner association’s board of directors, arrived in 2011.
“It’s probably the best decision we’ve made,” said Mercer, calling Fairway Village a friendly place as well as an active place.
“Stuff is going on all the time,” Mercer, 79, added. “There’s always something to do.”
“It takes a lot of volunteers,” said Jim Mewhirter, 80. The retired airline pilot (and former Marine helicopter pilot) is president of the travel club. Outings range from Portland excursions to Columbia River cruises to last year’s trip to Ireland.
“There are a ton of card groups,” said Saeed, 78.
Mary Van Sandt has helped organize events since arriving in 1990. She has been chairwoman or treasurer of the activities committee for much of that span.
Veterans Day has a prominent spot on her calendar. The Nov. 11 veterans’ honor guard included 100-year-old Jim Christian and Harry Van Sandt, Mary’s husband, in their World War II Navy uniforms.
Disaster assistance
Residents can remain engaged in the wider community. Van Sandt, 79, is part of a group that has organized annual clothing drives for children at several elementary schools for 15 years.
The Saeeds answer disaster calls as Federal Emergency Management Agency volunteers.
“Last year, I was gone for six months,” primarily in Florida and Louisiana, Elaine Saeed said. “My specialty is housing. People have been displaced, and we try get them into temporary shelters. It’s very rewarding work.”
That median age of 72.6 is based on the 2012-2016 American Community Survey. Clark County Block Group 2, Census Tract 413.10, comprises 910 residents in 610 households, most within Fairway Village.
However, the census boundary does include Touchmark at Fairway Village, a community of about 280 residents that has options for assisted living and memory care. The average age of its residents is in the low 80s, spokeswoman Jan Bellis-Squires said, boosting the overall age for that census block group.
Van Mall Retirement Center is part of another 80-and-older population pocket. Its 200 residents have an average age of 84 or 85, general manager Bill Hess said, and a couple of other senior-living centers are nearby. But those facilities have a lot of very young neighbors.
“With all the kids we see waiting for the (school) bus, you can see how the numbers get skewed down” for the area, Hess said.
Still, Van Mall Retirement Center’s block group is No. 2 on the seniority list, with a median age of 64.0.
‘Ahead of the curve’
Health care support isn’t among Fairway Village’s offerings, typical of how HUD describes 55-and-older communities.
“Residents typically lead an independent, active lifestyle in a country club setting. These communities are usually not equipped to provide increased care or health-related services,” the HUD’s website said.
By The Numbers
• The median age of Clark County’s residents is 37.8 years.
• At 72.6 years, a census block group consisting primarily of Fairway Village residents is the only one in Clark County with a median age in the 70s.
• Four have median ages in the 60s: one is near Vancouver Mall; one is in Fairway Village; the third is adjacent to Fairway Village; the fourth is in Salmon Creek.
• The youngest census block group has a median age of 23.9.
• About 26 percent of Clark County residents are 55 and older.
Source: 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
Amenities typically include a clubhouse, hobby centers, computer labs and a golf course, the HUD website said. The golf course is the only part of Fairway Village that is open to nonresidents.
“More than half our golfers are public,” said Nick Stoddard, assistant golf shop manager.
The layout is senior-friendly, Stoddard said: “If you’re accurate off the tee and can putt and chip, you can do well.” A lot of 55-and-older players bypass golf carts in favor of walking the course, he added.
“It’s surprising how good a shape the aggregate golfer is in,” Stoddard said.
He said he points that out when a senior golfer complains about losing distance off the tee.
“You’re not hitting it as far? You’re 87, and you’re walking nine holes,” Stoddard said. “You’re way ahead of the curve.”
