Deciding where to retire used to be like deciding on a summer camp - there were day camps and sleep-away camps, but the activities were pretty much the same. 

But just as summer camps now cater to interests ranging from archery to zoology, retirement communities are springing up that let you grow old in the company of people with similar backgrounds or mutual passions that go far deeper than a shared interest in golf. 

They range from communities for gay men and lesbians to centers shaped for members of specific ethnic groups. Retired military officers have formed communities around the country. Sunset Hall in Los Angeles bills itself as a "home for free-thinking elders." Other examples include a residence for artists in the works in Manhattan, the ElderSpirit Center, a co-housing retirement community based on spiritual principles that is opening this summer at Abingdon, Va. and an assisted-living center in Gresham, Ore., for retirees who are deaf or blind, where the employees know sign language and there are rooms with door lights instead of bells.

Experts say that one force behind the trend is the lengthened lifespan of those retiring. Choosing where to live after work is no longer mostly a matter of deciding the best place to be when you fall apart. 

Decades ago, the most common kind of partnership for a retirement community was with health care companies, said Bill Silbert, the marketing director for the Kendal Corporation, which runs retirement centers operating "in the Quaker tradition" near Cornell, Dartmouth and Oberlin. Now the partnerships are often with universities. "Health care is an important part of the concept," Mr. Silbert said, "but it's not the reason to come."

Ron Manheimer, executive director of the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement in Asheville, N.C., said he expects to see more retirement communities in which older people can live among peers who share their specific interests and values. "These are pretty much the people you're going to end up living with for the rest of your life," he said. "People want to be with people they will be comfortable with and where there will be a high level of mutual trust."

"The whole idea that there's this homogenous group of elders is simply not true," he said. "There are cultures of aging, and there are more and more of them."

Jeanne Dolan, who bought land with her partner at Carefree Cove, a gated community for gay men and lesbians in Zionville, N.C., said, "I think most people would like to retire with at least somewhat like-minded people, especially now that we're living a lot longer and going to be retired a lot longer."
 
But living in a community aimed at a specific group has its pros and cons. Pei Yang Chang, 88, lives with his wife, Rose, at Aegis Gardens, an assisted-living center in Fremont, Calif., where everything from the food to the building design is Chinese. "The good thing," he said, "is there are so many old friends. The bad thing is we are out of touch with general public. We don't want to be too excluded."

Robert G. Kramer, executive director of the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing and Care Industries in Annapolis, Md., said the diversification is being driven in part by baby boomers seeking more options for their parents. This generation, he said, is used "to forcing the market to deliver what they want; they've done it all their life."

"What we see today," Mr. Kramer said, "will be absolutely nothing compared to what we'll see in 10 or 15 years."

Drew Leder, a professor at Loyola College in Maryland who has studied the spirituality of aging, agreed. "When the baby boomers were growing up there were three flavors of ice cream; now there are 1,000," he said. "Similarly, there are going to be 1,000 different flavors of retirement."

Here is a sampling of those flavors:

VILLAGE AT PENN STATE

The bar in the Village at Penn State's Cub Lounge is made from elm trees that once lined a campus walkway, the Penn State emblem is painted on the floor in the entry and the university's football coach, Joe Paterno, greets visitors to the village's Web site.

The Village at Penn State, which opened Aug. 1, is part of a boom in retirement communities linked - formally or informally - to universities. The communities draw retired faculty and alumni as well as older people seeking the intellectual stimulation and intergenerational relationships of a college community.

Village at Penn State residents can take one class a semester on campus. They get access to football and basketball tickets and to the university golf course. College students work as interns and in the dining hall.

Kent and Beverly Kiehl, who met as students at Penn State in the 1950's, moved to the village in November from Corning, N.Y. Both are 69.

"We were impressed by the fact that it was endorsed and seemed to be very closely associated with the university," Mr. Kiehl said. Cultural and entertainment activities were also a draw. Mr. Kiehl is not a big football fan - some apartments overlook the stadium - but said he does look forward to watching the marching band practice.

Most residents have some Penn State connection, but the marketing director, Jill Lillie, said the village had taken pains to make sure that others do not feel excluded. But Mrs. Lillie did note one important college connection: the village has a shop selling Penn State ice cream. 

CAREFREE COVE

Lorraine Carvalho dreamed of retiring in a community with other gay women. At 57, she learned about Carefree Cove, a gated community for gay men and lesbians in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains. "I was like, `Oh my God - there's my dream right there,' " Ms. Carvalho said.

Carefree Cove is not only for retirees, but its developers, Gina Razete and Cathy Groene, say many if not most people building houses have retirement in mind.

Gay retirement living is a concept on the edge of a boom. The Palms of Manasota in Palmetto, Fla., the first gay and lesbian retirement community, opened in 1998, and several others are being planned or close to breaking ground. Carefree Cove, in Zionville, N.C., began selling lots in 2001.

While Carefree Cove does not offer assisted-living services, Ms. Razete said she hopes the closeness of the community will allow residents to stay even if they are sick or infirm.

David Aronstein, president of Stonewall Communities, a nonprofit corporation developing a cooperative in Boston for gay men and lesbians, said, "Especially for gay men and women who have spent their lives as a minority, the security of living with people with like-minded values is very valuable."

AEGIS GARDENS 

The first street address assigned to the Aegis Gardens assisted-living center contained the number four. Chinese tradition associates the number with death, so Aegis Assisted Living petitioned for a change. Blue also connotes death, so the company's navy blue uniforms were changed to dark red, which means happiness. Brochures were printed in green, "a much more prosperous color," the president and chief executive, Dwayne J. Clark, said.

To build Aegis Gardens, a retirement center in Fremont, Calif., catering to Asian-Americans, Mr. Clark said the company sought help from an advisory group of Chinese-Americans on details down to the size of the guardian lions at the entrance. 

At Aegis Gardens, one of a small number of retirement centers catering to ethnic groups, the employees speak Mandarin or Cantonese. Activities include a daily tai chi exercise class, Chinese calligraphy and Chinese opera singing, as well as table tennis, mah jong and bingo.

Mr. Clark, whose company runs a dozen retirement centers in the Northwest, said a community aimed at Chinese retirees would not have been possible 10 or 15 years ago; tradition required adult children to care for their parents. "As people become more Americanized, that's changing," he said. "The wives of Asian-Americans are working just like Americans that are born here."

MARTHA FRANKS BAPTIST CENTER

Getting to church each week has gotten easier for Peggy Wills since she moved last fall to the Martha Franks Baptist Retirement Center in Laurens, S.C.
"One can become more faithful here in church attendance because they make it so convenient," said Ms. Wills, who is 75. Sunday school and church services are in the retirement center right after breakfast. 

Ms. Wills, whose older sister is also a resident, said faith was a crucial factor in her decision to retire to Martha Franks. "I don't have family that can support me," she said. "I feel like I need the support of Christian people."

Dr. Russell Dean, the center's part-time chaplain, holds a prayer service on Wednesday nights and a family prayer session on Monday afternoon. The weekday services attract 50 or more residents, said Dina Hair, director of resident services and community relations.

Sunday services are in the chapel and are broadcast by closed-circuit television. Many residents go to church in town; the local Baptist church sends a bus. About 60 percent of the 220 residents at Martha Franks are Baptist. The center is run by South Carolina Baptist Ministries for the Aging.

Three-quarters of the country's 2,100 continuing care retirement communities are run by faith-based organizations, according to the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. Those communities serve large numbers of residents not affiliated with the organization's denomination, and the degree to which religion affects daily life varies.

At Martha Franks, Dr. Dean also leads services in the three infirmary units, including one for residents with Alzheimer's. "Many of the folks in there cannot speak a sentence," he said, "but when I begin singing an old hymn they can respond and sing the words."