Many Shades of Gray

Leslie Braunstein, writing for Urban Land, on the needs of retiring boomers:

A majority of older Americans want to age in their current homes, even when they need assistance, according to surveys cited in the report. Other people are remaining in their homes, at least for the time being, because of the difficulty of selling them in the current housing market. However, many who are able to move are choosing urban locations—both cities and suburban “town centers”—where they can be close to grown children, friends, work, public transportation, and health care. “Leading-edge boomers will not settle gracefully into quiet retirement and move into traditional senior housing communities for years, if they ever do,” McIlwain says. “This is not a generation that is looking forward to moving back into a dormitory or other institutional setting,” he adds.

[…]

Centrally located urban neighborhoods, including those in downtown cores as well as inner-ring areas, can provide services and amenities—such as public transit, health care, pedestrian-friendly streets, arts, cultural events and facilities, ongoing education opportunities, libraries, stores, and human interaction—that appeal to older and younger residents alike. To accommodate a higher proportion of seniors, however, cities may need to make a range of infrastructure improvements such as curb cuts, benches at transit stops, access to bathrooms, slower timing of traffic lights, well-maintained sidewalks, and zoning that allows people to rent out portions of their homes.

Regardless of your age or proximity to retirement, consider for a moment how you would like to age. I would imagine that the institutional “retirement center” or even the resort like “active adult” community are not high on the list. Our lives are built within the context of our towns and neighborhoods. There is no reason that retirement should change that. Yes the needs change, the desires change, and sometimes the means change. But retiring within the community you spent your life is so much preferred to being sequestered with a homogenous demographic of retirees. I believe that the world is truly better for everyone when we don’t have specialized neighborhoods and communities for any demographic. There is a richness and vitality to embracing the diversity around us.

As this report notes, traditional compact development patterns are better prepared to support aging in place than sprawling suburbia. These places are conducive to car free lifestyles and have a great mix of amenities for all ages. As a retiree, being able to choose to ditch the car and not compromise on living life to its fullest is a great freedom. It is much better than stubbornly clinging to a drivers license for fear of being institutionalized. I know that my grandmother continued driving well past the point it was safe for her to do so just because her lifestyle would have suffered without her car.