On any ordinary day, the rest of us share the roads in our neighborhoods with cars, bicycles, dog-walkers, and the occasional skateboard or street hockey game.
But at Spruce Creek near Daytona, Florida, vehicles and pedestrians always yield to planes.
That’s because at Spruce Creek, residents park their airplanes in their driveways. Residential roads double as taxiways to access a 4000-foot private runway. Here, seeing a Cessna rolling up the street is as commonplace as seeing someone pushing a stroller, and most houses on the block have a hangar or “airplane port” like anyone else might have a garage for their car.
With nearly 5,000 residents and 1,300 homes, Spruce Creek is considered the most famous residential airpark in the world. And while not exclusively a retirement community, it has long attracted retiring military, commercial, and hobby pilots with its flight-friendly amenities and regulations.
Not just a place where retired pilots can easily store and operate their planes, Spruce Creek is also a big neighborhood of flight nerds. Retired Air Force pilots can share their stories and experience with young flight enthusiasts eager to learn. Seniors here enjoy highly social and active retirements surrounded by people who share their interests.
The runway at Spruce Creek is totally private, so residents don’t have to worry about nonresidents clogging up the facilities or disobeying community guidelines. And despite the uniqueness of the community, you don’t need to be a millionaire to own a property there. Real estate can be as low as $163,000.
Best of all? You’ll never have to worry about upsetting the neighbors with noise. Living in an airpark, residents accept a little bit of racket for the ability to take off nearly right from their own yards.
If you’re a retired pilot or even thinking of getting your license during retirement, this is definitely worth checking out—extremely cool!
