I would call my parent’s community “patio homes”. Each house has an enclosed courtyard (maybe 15x35’ ) Homeowners are responsible for keeping up whatever they want in the courtyard. HOA takes care of all other landscaping. This is S CA, so most of the courtyards are large patios with trellises and nice outdoor furniture with a border of flower beds and large planters. It’s a nice compromise for folks who want to do some gardening but not heavy stuff.
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Well, H is turning 80 this year and just bought himself a new electric lawn mower. He seems to get satisfaction taking care of yard and house.
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Lots of patio homes/developments popped up around Charlotte before we moved to SC. They were being purchased NYers (LI and Brooklyn) moving to be closer to their kids/grandkids who relo’d to the area and lived in nearby, larger home developments. We had a lot of retired NYPD, NYFD and teachers.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2237-Lincolnshire-Ln-Waxhaw-NC-28173/2068550115_zpid/
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My grandmother cut her grass until she was 90. The only negative thing I ever her her say was “I should have never let your mom talk me into hiring someone to cut the grass”! 
My dad is 84 and still cuts his. He and my mom weed, plant, mulch etc. It is good they are keeping active, but I think it is getting a bit much for her.
I told her to do the stuff she likes - plant her veg garden and flower pots and hire someone to mulch and weed, etc.
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We had a one acre lawn growing up and the lawn was my brother’s and my responsibility. During the heat of summer, mowing the lawn was really unpleasant. I vowed that I wasn’t going to mow lawns when I grew up. When we bought our first house, we bought one with the smallest lawn imaginable (a couple of pieces of sod). When we bought a house with a real lawn, we hired someone to do the mowing.
I’ve never heard of a patio home. Maybe they don’t have them in New England. Seem pretty sensible for aging folks.
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In CT, my aunt used to live in a over-55 community. In that case it was condos, each with a garage. Also elevators (not sure if shared). She liked it, but many of her neighbors went to FL in winter.
In my area, a “patio home” is essentially a zero lot home. You basically have so little yard that all that remains after the house is built is a patio and maybe a little bit of grass to accommodate a dog (in terms of elimination, not running/playing) or a small flower bed.
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We have a family friend whose mother has recently passed. They are cleaning out her house so they can sell it. They got a company that comes and appraises everything, auctions off some of the stuff, and then take away the rest. It wasn’t cheap though.
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When buying a condo, besides being aware of a smoking neighbor, beware of those with small yappy dogs who don’t give a hoot that they are always yapping.
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My niece lives 5 mins away from her parents. Actually, she lives on the other end of a gated subdivision from her parents, so it’s about 3 mins as the crow flies. She sees her parents almost everyday and her mother (my SIL) thinks it’s weird if they go a week without seeing each other or talking to each other. That would be a little too much for me and my kids, but then again, I do see D a lot since she lives fairly close by.
My mother’s parents lived in Australia. So we saw them rarely. It was mostly letters and a short phone call. We did see them, but it certainly wasn’t all the time. My father’s mother moved closer to us, when I was in high school and we spent a lot of time with her.
H lived within an hour of both sets of grandparents growing up and saw them a lot. I do know that the relationship between my MIL (H’s mother) and her MIL could be tense sometimes.
H’s parents always lived near us, but his mom passed away when D was a toddler. She never met S. His dad always took us out to dinner and my kids saw him a lot. And we became quite close to the lady he became good friends with after my MIL passed away. She had to move closer to her daughter due to her declining health, and it really affected my FIL.
My father passed away when I was in college, so he never met my kids. 
My mom and my stepfather lived far away, but they used to come down and visit often. My mom would always come for my kid’s birthdays. And she and my stepdad, would come down at least a couple of other times. We also used to go visit them every summer.
I’d love to live close to my grandkids, but it’s not the end of the world if I don’t. My kids and I are close and I know they’d do everything to keep the grandparent/grandkid connection strong, no matter where we all live
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I live in the same neighborhood as my parents. We are under 2 miles apart…and we love it. Especially when my kids were younger and now that my parents are in their 80s.
We did not plan to live so close - I actually kept telling my spouse, we can’t live in that neighborhood, I grew up there. But here we are.
Of course, it helps that spouse and I get along so well with my parents! 
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The downsides of condos (loud noises, barking dogs) posted here have been instructive! I was thinking of all the pro-condo factors (no yard to maintain, less room for clutter, ability to lock the door and travel for months at a time, chance to meet people more easily).
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We lived in a condo when our kids were babies and toddlers and it was very quiet. But, then again we were probably the youngest people there. It really does depend on the condo complex. We did have a top floor unit on the end of the building so that may have helped…
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Yappy dogs are the worst! Oddly, enough the worst yappy dog we dealt with was when we lived in a single family home! The condo we lived in was very quiet. It really does depend on your neighbors.
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I’m not sure if smoking neighbors are any better! And that includes all sorts of smoking. Pot is the worst!! That stuff lingers.
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Ugh, pot would be bad. We’ve lived next door to smokers and it’s never affected us…
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Just griping. Pot smoker below us UGGGG. Started about 2 months ago, but now nearly every day. Definitely affecting our apartment. (Legal in WA, but against the lease). We have a good relationship with the landlord, and have alerted them , but also don’t want to become the “complainers”. We also recognize they really can’t do much without proof.
Fortunately the tenant lease is not being renewed, but we still have to live here another 2 months with it. Tried an air purifier, without much success. Tried air sprays (but don’t they really just add more chemicals to the air?). Opening the windows when the weather allows, but it still comes through the floor & walls. Any other suggestions (besides a 2 month vacation 
)?
Send them a large box of edibles so they would lay off the smoking? Kidding. You have my sympathy.
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We had a cigarette smoker living above us in our first condo building down here. Horrible! I am quite certain the ventilation system from that 1974 building would not have passed muster in any (bluer) states.
Thankfully, we wrote and taped a very polite note to their door and that helped tremendously. Running our bathroom vents 24/7 was not ideal.
No issues in our new place other than the guys who smoke cigars by the pool. boo.
In all seriousness, have you tried running a Winix or another air purifier? Our Winix was a champ during last summer when wildfire smoke drifted our way.