REVEALED! REVEALED

TIME CAPSULE CONTENTS

LW residents predicted what 2025 would be like, and some got it right

by Emma DiMaggio

Communications Manager

During Leisure World’s 2000 New Year celebration, residents marking the turn of the millenium were invited to share their predictions of what life would look like in 2025. Those forecasts, along with artifacts from that era, were sealed in a time capsule that lived in the LW Library until Oct. 13 of this year, when the Leisure World Historical Society unsealed the capsule at GRF’s annual Emergency Preparedness Expo.

Here is a selection of predictions from the time capsule: Technology and Discoveries:

• “Everyone in LW will have a computer and use the internet for everything: banking, shopping, travel, telephone book,” wrote Evelyn Hurn of Mutual 6. In 2000, retail trade represented a puny 0.9% of sales ($29 billion)—dwarfed by sales from manufacturing businesses ($777 billion) and merchant wholesalers ($213 billion), according to a 2002 report by the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2000, 94% of e-commerce was made up of businessto- business transactions, according to the same report. Since then, retail e-commerce has grown substantially, and it continues to expand. In 2024, e-commerce sales tallied $1.19 trillion, an increase of 8.1% from 2023, according to Census.gov. In 2024, e-commerce accounted for 16.1% of total retail sales in the United States.

Paperweight given in 1994 to residents who had lived in Leisure World for 30 years.

A woman's pin given to original Leisure World move-ins in 1962.

A man's tie-tack given to original Leisure World move-ins in 1962.

"I Love Leisure World” button by Leisure World Barracks #2860 of the Veterans of World War I. • “Everyone will be driving electric cars,” wrote Alma Reed, Mutual 4. Not everyone drives electric cars, but their popularity has skyrocketed since 2000. The Toyota Prius, a hybrid electric vehicle, was released globally in 2000, the first of its kind to be sold on a large scale. In 2000, only 9,350 hybrid electric vehicles were sold in the U.S.; and no fully electric vehicles were sold, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. At the end of 2023, there were approximately 3.3 million electric vehicles on U.S. roads—a 65% increase from 2022. Electric vehicles are particularly popular in California, where they accounted for one in four new car sales in the first half of 2025, according to a report by the California Energy Commission.

• “Internet will be the TV of today,” wrote one anonymous resident. Phil Ayars of Mutual 7 predicted something similar: “The internet will get more and more use once people find out what it is and how to use it.” The internet has found its way into every aspect of life in 2025: communicating with friends and loved ones, grocery and retail shopping, entertainment, travel, and even remote work. In terms of television, the use of internet streaming services dominate. According to a 2025 study by the Pew Research Center, 83% of Americans say they watch streaming services—with Netflix and Amazon Prime Video being the most common—while only 36% say they currently subscribe to cable or satellite TV at home.

• “Internet will be via the air waves like TV,” wrote Cony Simpson of Mutual 4. Internet technology has advanced rapidly since 2000. The most popular type of internet in 2000 was dial-up, a slow but widely accessible connection that used a telephone line. In the early 2000s, the first widely available commercial Wi-Fi services first started to appear. By 2021, 90% of U.S. households had a broadband internet subscription, according to a report by the U.S. Census Bureau. In recent years, the implementation of 5G, the fifth generation of cellular technology, offers users faster speeds, lower latency and greater capacity than its predecessor, 4G—both of which travel through the air using radio waves.

• “More families will own computers,” wrote Lisa Dickson, Mutual 1. Today, it’s very rare for a household not to own at least one computer: in 2021, 95% of U.S. households had at least one type of computer, according to a report by the U.S. Census Bureau.

• “I predict a cure for cancer will be found,” wrote Helene Goldberg, Mutual 14. Major advances have been made in cancer research and treatment, as well as scientific advances in understanding the causes of certain types of cancer. The U.S. cancer death rate has declined 33% since 1991, thanks largely to cancer research that has led to new treatments, gains in early cancer detection and a sharp decline in tobacco use, according to a 2023 report by the American Cancer Society.

• An unknown resident predicted that 2025 would bring “interplanetary travel for the lay person; don’t have to be an astronaut.” The lay person still doesn’t have access to interplanetary travel, nor do billionaires. However, anyone can purchase a suborbital flight from Virgin Atlantic if they have $450,000 to spare. Orbital trips to the International Space Station are also an option, with an estimated cost of $55 million per person for an eight-day stay.

The State of Leisure World:

• An anonymous resident predicted that LW residents would have “means to travel anywhere they want to go.”

Phone applications like Uber and Lyft—which gained popularity in the early to mid-2010s—can transport people anywhere they want via a private or shared car. LW residents can also access a wide range of free and low-cost transportation options, including the GRF on-call bus and a variety of buses offered by the City of Seal Beach and Orange County.

• “We’ll have day care for those in need,” wrote Mildred Tuttle, Mutual 1. Adult day care is offered in Leisure World through Alzheimer’s OC. Personalized care programs offer recreational and social activities, nutritious meals, convenient transportation and social workers to assist with personal, emotional or social needs. For more information about the program, call GRF Member Resources Liaison Robann Arshat at 562-431-6586, ext. 2317.

• “Leisure World will expand upward eventually,” wrote Evelyn Cole of Mutual 10—something predicted by many residents who submitted forms. Mutual 17 remains the only Mutual in Leisure World built more than one story high, and there is no indication that will change anytime soon.

• Marge Dodero of Mutual 9 predicted that residents would use “computer chip key card entrance passes.” Dodero was prescient: the Golden Rain Foundation is currently exploring the use of computer chip keycards for the community’s pedestrian gates.

The State of the World:

• “I have a feeling that the stock market will crash! I sincerely hope that I am wrong,” wrote Kate Pedigo, Mutual 5.

Pedigo was correct: the stock market has crashed several times since 2000. The dot-com bubble burst shortly after the turn of the millennium, when a speculative bubble in technology stocks burst, leading to a sharp market downturn. The Nasdaq lost nearly 80% of its value by its bottom in October 2002. The Global Financial Crisis came next, with a downturn from 2007-2009 sparked by the collapse of the U.S. housing market. In early 2020, the COVID- 19 pandemic triggered one of the sharpest market declines in history.

• “People of 2025 will find the concept of statehood and United States very archaic. We will have a totally regional division of the world,” wrote Mary Apte, Mutual 11. The United States and the concept of statehood remain strong. The regional makeup of the United States remains exactly as it was in 2000. On the world stage, there have been new additions. Since 2000, three new countries have gained international recognition: East Timor in 2002, Montenegro in 2006, and South Sudan in 2011. Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008, is also a newer state, though its status is still disputed by some nations.

• Ann Rosner of Mutual 1 predicted “peace all over the world.” World peace was a common theme among prediction forms. In 2025, several wars rage across the world, including the Russia-Ukraine War, the Israeli-Hamas conflict, the Sudanese civil war, and ongoing conflicts in Myanmar and the Sahel region in Africa, among others.

• “Clinton (Hillary) will be president,” wrote Theresa Griep, Mutual 10. Similarly, Carol Stevens of Mutual 1 predicted that the U.S. would see its first female president by 2025. Democrat Hillary Clinton became the first female presidential nominee in 2016. She was defeated by Republican nominee and current President Donald Trump. In 2024, when incumbent president Joe Biden withdrew his bid for reelection, Democrat Kamala Harris became the second-ever female presidential nominee. She was also defeated by Trump.

• “I predict that the greatest change will be the number of people turning to religion,” wrote Katherine Wiley, Mutual 9. The world’s population expanded from 2010 to 2020, and so did most religious groups, according to a Pew Research Center analysis. During that period, Christians remained the world’s biggest religious group, but the religion’s growth did not keep pace with global population growth. Despite this, the number of Christians rose by 122 million, reaching 2.3 billion. Yet, as a share of the world’s population, Christians fell 1.8 percentage points, according to the Pew analysis. Muslims, on the other hand, were the fastest-growing religious group over that decade. Its followers increased by 347 million, more than all other religions combined. Buddhists were the only major religious group that had fewer followers in 2020 than a decade earlier. People with no religious affiliation were the only category aside from Muslims that grew as a percentage of the world’s population.

People can view time capsule contents in person at the LW Library, open 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. on weekdays and until 3:30 p.m. on Saturdays.

All the other items from the time capsule can be viewed at the Leisure World Historical Society in Clubhouse 1, open every Thursday from 2-4 p.m., or by appointment.

The capsule contained 96 prediction forms—only some of which are printed here—and 150 photos of residents who wrote predictions and who attended the various Millennium New Year’s Eve parties on Dec. 31, 1999, that were held in the clubhouses.

Many of the residents who filled out the forms are still in the community.

A luncheon plate from the Leisure World china set.

Coaster to celebrate the opening of the Health Care Center in 1998.

The prediction card of Harry Dortch fromNew Year's Eve 1999.

Scan with the camera on yourphone to view the time capsuleopening video.