Where do you find the best lifestyle program in a master-planned community in Texas? Right here in the Happy-est Place in Texas, Santa Rita Ranch.
In fact, we can go bigger than that and say our lifestyle program is the best in the nation after winning a Gold Award at The Nationals, an awards program by the National Association of Home Builders that recognizes the housing industry’s best.
Creating Connection Through Our 2025 Award-Winning Lifestyle Program
Our 2025 award-winning lifestyle program includes more than 1,000+ annual events, but that rather impressive number isn’t what earned the program national recognition. Rather, it’s the heart behind the events.
“Our Ranch Code puts heart at the core of everything we do to bring people together to create community — after all, Get to Know Your Neighbors is Ranch Code No. 3,” says our busy lifestyle director, Kacie Nesby. “If we’re not helping people do that, then why are we even doing the event?”
Every resident event in Santa Rita Ranch — large or small — must pass the Ranch Code litmus test.
“Fitness classes create community,” she said, “with friendships made through exercise. Bingo nights and ladies’ wine nights give people the chance to get out of the house and socialize.”
Gatherings tied to special interests — a sourdough class was popular last year, and a new club formed in 2025 for families with children with special needs — naturally attract the community.
Kacie also finds ways for people to make natural connections at larger events.
“With 1,000+ people attending — our Lighting the Ranch draws 2,000 people — we have to get creative to provide moments that encourage people to chat and get to know others beyond their core group of friends,” she said.
Ways Kacie does this include entertainers who interact with people waiting in line, long-table seating, and children’s activities — such as writing letters to Santa — that give waiting parents the chance to chat.
“I task each entertainer and sponsors who might have a booth or are hosting an activity to engage with the attendees to get them talking,” Kacie said.
More Than Events — It’s a Hometown
Our 2025 award-winning lifestyle program also isn’t afraid to go big. One snow hill? Why not have two! Need to put out 10,000 Easter eggs? One year we did it from a helicopter! Time to light the Christmas tree? Let’s add Santa arriving on a carriage, elves, a live nativity scene, a petting zoo, inflatables, food trucks, take-home goodies, and so much more!
“Our signature events are on the level of what a town might host for their residents, which also creates community,” Kacie says. “Santa Rita Ranch is your hometown.”
One event particularly stands out for Kacie.
“I saw on social media that some of our new residents were anxious about school starting and their children not knowing anyone,” she said. “I hosted a back-to-school event that had kids participating in groups, which gave parents the chance to chit-chat. Everyone was so engaged that the event went over an hour and a half. It was a big sigh of relief from the parents, knowing their children would know someone on their first day at a new school.”
And that’s what the best lifestyle program in a master-planned community Texas — and the nation — looks like.
