Consumer Newsletter – January 2020
US
Edition; By Elyse Umlauf-Garneau
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Cities Aren’t Prepared to Accommodate
an Aging Population
Take a
look around to see how well your city or town accommodates its older residents.
It’s unlikely that you’re living in a city that’s prepared to help you or
future generations to age in place well. So says a to a report, Age-Forward
Cities for 2030 (https://bit.ly/2M2J4YH), by the Milken Institute Center
for the Future of Aging, a Santa Monica, Calif., think tank.
After
all, most cities lack the housing, design, services, economic opportunity,
transit, and amenities to fully address seniors’ needs.
That’s
despite the fact that by 2030 those over the age of 60 will outnumber those
under the age of 10.
For its research, the Milken institute talked with
nearly 150 subject matter experts on aging, public health, urban planning, and
related issues to assess what cities and towns need in order to service an
aging population.
The report is a call to action to municipalities to
prepare, and it provides a prescription that cities can consult “to create a
better future for all residents, investing in solutions that deploy the human
and social capital of older adults as community assets, change agents, and
co-creators.”
Housing
challenges
One crucial element of aging well is housing, and there’s much to criticize about what’s currently available.
One crucial element of aging well is housing, and there’s much to criticize about what’s currently available.
For one, there aren’t enough properties that provide
for the affordability, accessibility, and social well-being necessary for
seniors’ quality of life.
Thus, developing housing that incorporates
universal design features -- no-step entries; bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchens
on the ground level; wide doorways and hallways; variable counter heights; and
lever-style handles.
The Milken report does point to several promising
lifestyle trends that address seniors’ needs, including:
·
Co-housing -- People live in their own homes but
have communal spaces like kitchens, living rooms, and dining areas where
residents come together for meals and socializing.
·
Student matches – Older homeowners rent rooms to
students, providing affordable housing for students and easing seniors’ housing
costs. In addition, homeowners can get help with household tasks and forge
deeper social connections.
·
Home sharing -- Adults living together bring
benefits similar to student matches – sharing household tasks and easing
housing costs and social isolation.
·
Multigenerational housing and granny units –
Seniors living with family members or in an on-site granny flat or accessible
dwelling unit (ADU) on the property can strengthen family relationships, keep
seniors out of institutional settings, and lower the costs of caregiving.
The built environment
The built environment also can add to or subtract
from a senior’s quality of life.
Thus, Milken recommends that cities embrace urban
planning strategies like New Urbanism (principles that promote quality of life
through things like walkability, mixed housing, interconnected street grids,
and mixed-use developments) and Complete Streets (a design in which the entire
right-of-way enables safety for all users – walkers, bikers, drivers and
transit riders – making it easy to cross streets, walk to shops, and bike to
work.)
Beyond removing physical barriers, cities also need
to address economic barriers to successful aging and develop solutions for
caregiving, employment, senior entrepreneurship, and social inclusion.
Some cities are making progress.
For example, Minneapolis changed its zoning to
allow for the wider development of ADUs on properties with one- or two-family
homes, and the city of Juneau, Alaska has given $6,000 grants to homeowners
looking to build backyard cottages or ADUs.
The Safe-at-Home program in Washington, D.C.,
provides grants for home modifications for qualifying older adults, and
DenverConnect connects Denver, Colo., seniors to local services.
The report isn’t just a call to action for cities,
but for you too. How does your city stack up? What can you do to advocate for
senior-friendly changes in your hometown?
And when you’re looking at places to retire, it may
be worth investigating a prospective town’s plan for its aging population.
Share your caregiving
experience
If
you’re in the thick of caregiving, you have a chance to lend your voice and
contribute to some research on the topic.
The
Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s MIT AgeLab is looking for an online
panel of caregivers who are willing to share their thoughts about the
caregiving experience.
The
AgeLab researches aging to understand the challenges of getting older and to
improve the quality of life of seniors and their caregivers.
The
caregiving panel will entail answering online surveys about every other month.
In addition, there may be opportunities to participate in interviews, focus
groups, and panel discussions.
Best footwear to
prevent winter falls
With
winter in full swing, it’s a good time to consider your footwear if you live in
a snowy, icy part of the country.
iDAPT,
the research arm of the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute – University
Health Network, has a footwear rating system, Rate My Treads (https://bit.ly/2O2ihgh).
In its
lab, it tests footwear for slip resistance in different winter conditions by
having real people walk back and forth on a floor made entirely of ice.
Check out this year’s rankings of various footwear, including
boots and over-shoe traction aids with metal cleats to find the safest shoes
for winter walking.
Real Estate Matters:
News & Issues for the Mature Market
Coldwell
Banker Premier Group
2203
S. Big Bend Blvd
St.
Louis, MO 63117
Matt
Wroughton – SRES, PSA
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