Country Clubs: Hot or Not? A Candid Review

I write to you with bias since I currently live in an exclusive country club in Boca Raton.  Let's just call it Cracked Sound so I don't get sued for using the actual name.  Aesthetically it's one of the most beautiful places I've been and that's what drew my family and I there.  But when you peal away the layers of this onion, it starts to smell bad.  I mean, really bad.  Let's forget about the money for a moment and just critique on other levels.  The club brags to have 250 kids living on property.  That number is really less than 60 kids.  How many trick or treaters you ask? Last year zero!  If you are retired its great but if you are a working professional?  No tennis after work.  No mix and mingles, no nighttime Round Robbins.  No night leagues.  If you are over the age of 65 and retired you will enjoy it.  I can go on about lawsuits within the club and increasing dues to pay lawyers fees to renovating the club when they haven't paid off the previous renovation.  I wish it was just a few bad actors out of the 1600 homes but it's too many to list.  So I am giving up my $60,000 membership (which we get zero back) to mover to a younger, vibrant and more kid friendly community.  I MUST add a note that their are a few clubs in the area that really try hard and work to accommodate young professionals.  These are the clubs that will survive and thrive.  I hope this helps and make sure you do your homework before jumping in with both feet.

I write to you with bias since I currently live in an exclusive country club in Boca Raton. Let's just call it Cracked Sound so I don't get sued for using the actual name. Aesthetically, it's one of the most beautiful places I've been, and that's what drew my family and me there. But when you peel away the layers of this onion, it starts to smell bad. I mean, really bad.

Let's forget about the money for a moment and just critique on other levels. The club brags about having 250 kids living on property. That number is really less than 60 kids. How many trick-or-treaters, you ask? Last year: zero. If you are retired, it's great. But if you are a working professional? No tennis after work. No mixers and mingles, no nighttime Round Robins. No night leagues. If you are over the age of 65 and retired, you will enjoy it.

I could go on about lawsuits within the club and increasing dues to pay lawyers' fees for renovating the club when they haven't paid off the previous renovation. I wish it was just a few bad actors out of the 1,600 homes, but there are too many to list. So I am giving up my $60,000 membership—which we get zero back—to move to a younger, vibrant, and more kid-friendly community.

I must add a note that there are a few clubs in the area that really try hard and work to accommodate young professionals. These are the clubs that will survive and thrive. I hope this helps, and make sure you do your homework before jumping in with both feet.