By Abigail Jones for The New York Times
In 2007, Murry and Jerry Perlmutter left their Woodridge, Ill., home for a retirement community at Duke University in Durham, N.C. Their friends were baffled: the Perlmutters had no ties to the school, and they didn’t know a soul in Durham.
But the Chicago winters had made it difficult for the couple to stay socially active. And as they neared retirement (Mrs. Perlmutter, 73, had been a social worker; Mr. Perlmutter, 78, a psychologist), they were eager to pursue new interests — and to find a home where they could age in place.
Retirement communities, typically nestled near beaches or golf courses, are beginning to emerge somewhere else: on university campuses. University-based retirement communities offer the educational opportunities, cultural activities and other perks of college settings, and these attractions are luring many aging Americans back to school.
