Rod Evans says there's plenty for a guy, 39, to like about a retirement community. No loud stereos, no rowdy parties, no crowds in the fitness room.

Evans reports he has plenty of friends at the Biscaya Four condominiums in Aventura, Fla., but the building elders don't want him to buy a unit, noting bylaws requiring owners to be 55 or older.

"I do feel discriminated against because of my age," says Evans, who has rented a Biscaya condo since 1994, two years before the condo association adopted a 55-and-over restriction. "It's not like I'm a young kid."

Evans is pushing to buy into one of South Florida's many seniors-only buildings just as the dynamics of retiree marketing are pushing them out of favor. While aging homebuyers once flocked to communities reserved for retirees, the new generation of retirees winces at the senior citizen label.

"How many shuffleboard courts do you see being built today?" asks Bradley Hunter, a housing analyst for American Metro Study Corp. "Anything that has a stigma to it - as far as being old and as far as being retired - I think will be a negative for them."

With the number of Americans older than 64 predicted to double within three decades to 70 million, retirement communities are one of the leading housing trends. While age-restricted communities will remain popular, some experts predict developers will increasingly favor projects designed for retirees without broadcasting age as the top criteria.

"Baby boomers ... are going to be the biggest retirement market we've ever had," says Lewis Goodkin, president of Goodkin Consulting in Miami. "That audience is very sensitive to age."

Evans says he doesn't mind the generation gap. And he adds, "I don't want to toot my own horn, but I've been told I'm well-liked here."

The Biscaya rules are based on a 1988 change in the national Fair Housing Act outlawing discrimination against families while carving out an exemption for elderly housing.

Communities could restrict themselves to seniors, provided at least 80 percent of their residents were older than 54.

After adopting the restriction, Biscaya agreed to honor Evans' lease for as long as he wanted to stay, but says letting him buy would make it impossible to turn other younger people away.