The Best Independent Living Communities in Putnam County, IN

"I have moved into Encore 55+ Boutique Apartments - Plainfield. They have activities. They meet three days a week and have chair yoga. They have events. For History Month, they have a speaker come in and talk about Martin Luther King. They make it where you have to get to know your neighbors and they check on you, which I did not know. I got sick, and then one of my neighbors came and said, 'We didn't see you. We're just coming down to check on you,' so that was very nice, and they didn't have to do that. It's a very friendly and very active community. They have gone to the casinos, they make trips, they have cook-ins where we all bring something, and we also have fellowship down in the community area. It's a very welcoming community, and I like that. I have a two-bedroom-two-bathroom. I have a guest bedroom, which I like because now I can have my mom come to visit instead of having a one-bedroom. It's very spacious. I have plenty of room. It's very accommodating, and I love it. I have a nice little balcony. I could put a little table and chair out there. It's beautiful. I have a view of the courtyard, the tennis courts, and the pond. We also have a koi pond with little koi fish. We have an outdoor kitchen, and you're more than welcome to use it. It's just beautiful. And I like that everyone decorates for the holidays. It's Valentine's Day, and people have their wedding pictures out, and it's just beautiful. I love it. It's wonderful. The staff members check on you. We cook our own meals here, but they have a service that comes in twice a month. We have everything. We have our own movie theater, a yoga studio, a full-scaled gym, a hair salon, and housekeeping. They offer us free wine and beer every day. So, if you drink, you can go down and socialize and have wine and beer. You don't have to leave if you don't want to. It's a little expensive, but it is what it is because you pretty much have everything. Utility-wise, the only thing you pay for is your electricity. The internet is free except if you upgrade it, it's $10. So it's really up to you, but everything is covered."

"I toured Woodland Terrace of Danville. The best part was that I would get an apartment that nobody had ever lived in before. So, everything was brand new. It would make a difference in the cleanliness and the newness of the appliances and all that. I did not like the layout of the apartment though. The staff was super nice. It was super clean. I felt very much at home. I was going to go with them right away until I had a chance to go to the apartment I'd be living in and then I realized that it was a lot smaller. It was just too hard to figure out the placement of my furniture where it would go."

"I'm living at Broadstone Pointe Apartments. I've been here for less than one year now. I love my apartment. It's a two-bedroom. I use one bedroom for my office. It's not huge, but it's got a balcony, which I love. The staff members are not that interactive. They try to be helpful, but yet they don't do a whole lot. It's hands-off most of the time. They cut corners with maintenance, too. The elevator was down for about a week, and I live on the third floor, so everybody had to take the stairs. So that's my biggest problem. I noticed there were mouse droppings in the stairwell, too. I reported that and they cleaned that up. It's not there any longer, but there was a lot of it. If a resident had not mentioned it, they would not have cleaned it up. They have a pay washer and dryer on the first floor. I have access to that, but I didn't want to. I bought my own washer and dryer. I have a refrigerator and an electric stove. Everything's electric here. They have a garage, but right now it's full, and there's a waiting list to get on to the garage, and I'm on a waiting list for that. They have an exercise room, which is below average. It's got an old recumbent bike. It looks like it's been donated, and it doesn't work well. They have a treadmill and some weights. They have a library, which is stocked with donated things from previous residents. They have a computer station, but it never works, so that's pretty useless. They have a kitchen and dining area that if you want to use it, you're welcome to You just have to go in and tell them that you're going to be cooking down there. You have to reserve it, which is no problem. And once a month, a vendor will come in and we will have bingo. I like the location."

"I toured Autumn Park of Ellettsville. What I really liked about it was the fact that it's a smaller facility, and it's a very new facility. I liked the fact that it's not in Bloomington so that when I need to go see my mother, it's less crowded. Traffic isn't as bad. The units themselves are very clean and spacious. They have a studio, which is what I think she needs. They have that available. It's a really good option because they have lots of things that make you feel like you've got your own kind of independence to a level that you can handle it, such as you have a microwave, you have a refrigerator/freezer, and you can bring in your own little appliance. They have lots of activity spaces there. They have indoor and outdoor recreational areas. They have a movie room where you can go watch movies with others if you want. The staff is very friendly, and very interested in working with me. They were very knowledgeable about what kinds of degrees of assisted living are available, and what needs to be done for those who require more assistance than others. So, all in all, I really, really liked it. The only possible downside would be while it's not in Bloomington, it's still a little bit out of my way, but that's just a very minor inconvenience, so I really couldn't think of anything major or negative. They did show me the menus that they had, which I thought was really good, because they have their basic food that they serve, but they also give you options if you don't want that. I got to talk to the cook and he also seemed incredibly knowledgeable and very energetic, so I think they've got a pretty good staff overall from the people I met."

"I'm in a three-story apartment building for people 55 and older on a fixed income and it's Thornbury Pointe. We have bible study once a week, we have cards a couple times a week, we have Friday night movies. There are activities. People just get together and talk. The staff is very good. Our manager loves to cook and so she'll fix lunch for everybody. We have a nice kitchen. It has a dishwasher, a nice stove, and a microwave. It's gas heat and gas hot water. The maintenance man here is very nice and very knowledgeable in how things go. That's the only two staff members we have. The people here all get along pretty well. We tend to help each other if somebody is down or sick. We try to take them down to dinner, or if they feel like they're closed in, we'll all go out to lunch or something like that. We help each other. And then besides the three-story building, they also have some cottages with garages. You can rent a garage there. In this building the mail comes to the first floor in our mailboxes. Packages are delivered to our door. We have trash bins at the end of the building. It's very well-maintained and clean. The layout is very good. You come in the main door and there's an elevator that takes you up to the second and third floor. And as you get off the elevator, there are signs to tell you which way the apartments are or whatever apartment you're looking for. The value for the money is pretty good, and we have just received Section 8 clearance."