At dusk on one recent summer day, the sounds of a low-key poolside party waft across the tennis courts at the Foxboro apartment complex in Wheeling. Swimmers playfully splash each other, and half a dozen sun bathers sip beer and chat by the side of the pool. Jeff Puleo, 24, leans forward from his chaise lounge to recount the path that led him to Foxboro.
”I used to live in another complex, and they didn`t have a pool, didn`t have tennis or volleyball courts-not that that was my biggest priority,” he says. ”But I`d come over here for the pool parties, and it seemed like there were a lot more people my age, and they were more friendly.”
Since moving into the complex a year ago, Puleo has done more than his share of mixing and mingling. ”I work out with the guy across the street,”
he says. ”I play tennis with the girl in back. I date two girls in the corner building. And my downstairs neighbor will be driving me to work this entire week, because my car`s going in the shop. Some people do keep to themselves, but if you`re interested in meeting people here, it`s easy.”
The trend toward recreational perks in large apartment developments, popularized in the Chicago area during the early `70s by ”swinging singles” complexes such as International Village, continues into the `90s unabated. But these days apartment seekers are interested not only in socializing but also in keeping fit, and often the two go together.
Even in the city proper, where recreational amenities have traditionally been kept to a minimum, newer apartment buildings such as Burnham Park Plaza, the New York and Lake Shore Plaza now come fully equipped with health clubs that foster socializing.
Cleaner living
Michael Parke, president of the Chicagoland Apartment Association, a group of apartment owners and managers, says that ”a few years ago, the party-party theme was very popular, with ski clubs, T.G.I.F. beer parties and so forth. But I think there`s been a downturn, because people are not drinking as much and don`t want to be identified as swinging yuppies.”
He says that for those who are interested in making new friends, social mixing within an apartment complex minimizes the ”wild card” element of surprise that is part and parcel of a less controlled environment, such as a bar.
”You absolutely have part of the appeal being that you`re living in a homogeneous atmosphere with other people with the same social and economic background,” Parke says. ”It`s a less hectic way of meeting people without going through the night club-cabaret scene, which more people frown on these days.”
Instead, the extras offered by full-service apartment complexes are more likely to tie into some sort of fitness activity. ”In the last five years, fitness centers have become very important to people, and they`re definitely a big inducement to rent,” says Parke.
In the lower level of Foxboro`s main building, a sweaty John Gresham, 32, has just finished a solitary workout with weight-lifting gear. ”When I came up to Chicago three years ago from Atlanta, I looked at a lot of places. What I like about this situation is the people are friendly, plus there`s the convenience of having a fitness room on the property,” Gresham says. ”Also, because this is near where my office is, I can spend the time I save commuting working out, instead of being stuck an hour in traffic.”
From billiards to ball games
Some complexes offer an elaborate array of social activities. Elm Creek in Elmhurst boasts a lavish mezzanine complete with grand piano and billiard tables. Tenants receive a monthly schedule of events that include trips into the city to see plays and ball games.
But the most popular pastime is the aerobics room, according to manager Janice Jacobelli. ”It`s always packed,” she says. ”It`s not one of those amenities that you talk about but nobody ever uses.”
At Pembrook Club in Gurnee, even that most traditional of social occasions, the baby shower, is orchestrated by the development`s activities planner. ”We try to cater to everybody, families as well as singles,” says manager A.Z. Zubor. ”We`ve actually wound up being kind of a matchmaker, although not intentionally, where some of our tenants have become very close friends.”
In Hoffman Estates, Barrington Lakes Apartments offers indoor/outdoor pool, billiards, Hawaiian luaus, aerobics, a Margarita Night, wine and cheese parties, popcorn-and-video kids` parties, Sunday brunches, Spaghetti Night, Ladies` Night, Men`s Night, tennis tournaments, travel lectures and art shows, all coordinated by a full-time social director.
”Some people don`t care about the social aspect,” says Sharon Mangiameli, vice president of marketing for the Inland Group, which manages Barrington Lakes. ”Give them a great location and that`s it. But there`s definitely a segment who place a lot of value on the activities; they ask for that, and they`re willing to pay extra for it. A lot of people never wind up using the exercise equipment, but they want to know that it`s there.”
The older crowd
Twenty- and thirtysomething singles and young families are not the only ones interested in apartment complexes in which meeting people is easy. In the last few years, several apartment developments have sprung up in the city and suburbs that function as self-contained communities for senior citizens.
A typical evening at Senior Lifestyles` Breakers high-rise on Chicago`s North Side reveals a lively gathering of residents lingering over coffee in the main dining room and kibitzing in the lobby.
On the second floor, in between the crafts room and the aerobics space, a couple dozen residents gather for temple. Down the hall, several foursomes have gotten together to play cards. Taking a break from their bridge, one table of women, all in their 70s, explain the attraction of their apartment building.
”It`s quite easy to meet people here,” says Sade Manalan, ”because we have games, the movies, at the pool you meet a lot of people; there`s church, welcoming dinners for each new resident. All four of us have become friends since moving here.”
Harriet Hopp adds: ”This is family. We`re all sort of in the same boat. We`re all old, and we`re all ill. . . .” This statement is interrupted with protests from her card partners. ”No, not really,” Hopp laughs. ”But everyone seems to benefit-you`re not only not lonely, you seem to have a wild social life. I never watch TV anymore-the news, that`s it.”
Manalan, who moved to the Breakers from Arkansas last year, says that
”being new in town, I like doing things here because I have no friends outside. I don`t want to make them; I don`t try to. I am happy being right here. It`s for the privelege of being together, oh yes, otherwise we wouldn`t pay this kind of money for rent.
”There`s a certain safety here, so you can dispense with a lot of the measures you might take if you lived alone. You might have a fear, you don`t have it here. It disappears. Now, you gonna let us play bridge?”
