Leisure World

Though Leisure World’s bustling Clubhouse One and the nearby Aliso Creek Wilderness Park would appear at first glance to have little in common, they share this: Both meet an important need for the community.

Clubhouse One is a major social and recreational hub in Leisure World, a retirement community of 18,000. But when residents seek solitude and a chance to commune with nature, they go to the park.

The clubhouse, with its indoor shuffleboard court, boccie court, lawn bowling yard, table tennis room, billiards hall, computer room, drop-in meeting place, full-size swimming pool, volleyball and basketball courts, was recognized recently by UC Irvine and the American Institute of Architects as one of the best public places in Orange County.

It is also a transportation center for the buses that take seniors to nearby shopping areas and medical offices.

“It is very diversified,” clubhouse Supervisor Cynthia Alexander said.

“It’s a meeting place for the community.” Aliso Creek Wilderness Park is just a short distance away but a world apart.

For about two-thirds of a mile, Aliso Creek cuts through Leisure World on its way to the ocean, and the community has allowed nature to flourish along its banks.

Tom Jorde has lived about 100 feet from the creek for 14 years and has learned to recognize a change of seasons by the songs of frogs that appear in the spring and the annual appearance of migratory birds.

“It’s a wonderful place to walk,” Jorde said. “It’s like you’re getting away from Orange County and everything that is metropolitan.”

Many Leisure World residents don’t know about the nature area, Jorde said.

“I’d say about 80% of the people who live here have never heard about the place,” said Jorde, a former member of the community landscape committee that oversees Los Aliso Park. “If you want solitude and tranquillity, this the place.”

In addition to Clubhouse One and Aliso Creek Wilderness Park, UCI and the AIA also recognized Leisure World’s Serpentine Walk, a 1.2-mile trail that many residents use for daily strolls.

The judges wrote that the three areas in combination “exhibit unusual sensitivity to the basic needs of the community.”