Leisure World, California

Leisure World is a gated retirement community located in Seal Beach, Orange County, California.Construction on the approximately one square mile (2.5 km²) community was begun in 1960 with the first residents moving in on June 6, 1962. This was the first major planned retirement community of its type in the U.S. Today, Leisure World has 9,000 mostly older, retired residents.HistoryThe Leisure World in Seal Beach was developed by Ross W. Cortese's development company, the Rossmoor Corporation, which also developed the nearby community of Rossmoor. The same company developed several other Leisure Worlds around the United States, and started, but did not complete the Rossmoor gated retirement community in Walnut Creek, California.AmenitiesThe community has three guarded gates with a private security department that provides traffic enforcement, patrol service and gate control 24 hours a day. Housing consists of one and two bedroom apartments as well as condominiums. Recreation opportunities include a swimming pool and heated pool, a 9-hole par 3 golf course, a well-equipped weight room, six clubhouses, woodworking and art studios, a sewing room, lawn bowling courts, horseshoe pits, shuffleboard courts, ping-pong tables, pool tables and other amenities. There are also numerous planned activities for the residents, including regular dances with lessons. There is a very large number of clubs and organizations as well as religious groups that meet in Leisure World.