From the book βWelcome to the Villageβ. Short cards you can read in a minute.
The free Village bus, Easy Rider, runs about every 30 minutes around the Village and nearby. It connects to medical offices and shopping centers. Where the fixed routes do not reach, use the Plan-A-Ride door-to-door service. Residents 60 and over can also ride to the Irvine train station at low cost through a senior mobility program. Questions: 949-597-4659.
Saddleback Medical Center is about 10 minutes away by car and offers interpreter services. For same-day care that is not an emergency, use Urgent Care. For an emergency call 911; for non-emergency Village Security call 949-580-1400. The Village Social Services office (949-597-4267) offers free health counseling and dementia support.
The monthly fee - about $900 for a co-op and about $910 for a condo - includes water, trash pickup, basic cable TV, building fire insurance, landscaping, 24-hour security and the free bus. Electricity ($60-90) and internet are separate, together usually under $150 a month. Only some facilities, such as golf green fees or club room rental, cost extra.
Mornings start with a walk under the palms, then golf or a swim. Late morning brings the library or a club meeting; after lunch, tennis or choir practice. Evenings have shows, dances and music clubs. Residents from many countries live here, and many clubs and services work in several languages, so newcomers find their place quickly.
Carports in Laguna Woods currently have only 110-volt (Level 1) power, which adds only about 30-50 miles of range over a whole day. Carports are HOA common areas, so a 240-volt charger needs permits from both the HOA and the City, and the resident pays the cost. You can use public Level 2 chargers nearby, such as at the Laguna Hills mall, and if you drive short distances, slow 110-volt charging is enough. If you do not drive far each day, a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) is the most practical choice for life in Laguna Woods.
Every week Laguna Woods offers many free drop-in classes - yoga, tai chi, qigong, hula, line dancing, shuffleboard, lawn bowling and more - plus language classes such as Korean, French and Russian. For example, tai chi meets Tuesday and Thursday 8:30-10:00 a.m., and Korean class meets Wednesday 2:15-4:15 p.m. Some popular classes, such as cycling or aqua Zumba, have a small fee of about $3-$6 per session. Times and places can change with the instructor, so check with the Recreation office at (949) 597-4273 before you go.
Near the Village are Laguna Woods Pharmacy (949-586-7780, delivers if you have trouble getting out), CVS Pharmacy (949-588-0429, drive-through prescription pickup) and Woodbridge Pharmacy in Irvine (949-857-2141). Inside the Village is the Community Library with more than 30,000 items and large-print books, and right next door is the OC Public Library Laguna Woods branch (24266 El Toro Rd, 949-476-4600, Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.). If you take several prescriptions, use one pharmacy for all of them - it makes checking for drug interactions much easier.
Six months before: start sorting your belongings and talk with an experienced real estate agent. Four to five months before: prepare to sell your current home and visit the Village to see floor plans in person. Three months before: gather the HOA application and financial papers. Two months before: make an offer on a Village home, open escrow, and speed up donating and selling. One month before: pack room by room, book the movers and schedule utility transfers. Many residents say settling in takes 3 to 6 months - joining even one club in that time helps you adjust much faster.
Fees, rules and phone numbers can change. Check with the Village or your Mutual before you act.
