| It seems that lately there's another assisted living | | | | They've had a sneak peek while helping their parents, |
| community being built on just about every empty lot | | | | and want no part of it. Co-housing lets them rewrite |
| in town. What does this mean to the future? For the | | | | the future by coming full circle with their youthful |
| immediate future, it's great. We Boomers who have | | | | ideals. And, isn't that what all Boomers strive for - |
| no time, no desire, no call to welcome our elder | | | | forever young? |
| parents into our own homes have someplace to put | | | | Boomers are becoming as eco-friendly as Gen Y and |
| Mom and/or Dad as they need more and more | | | | the Millennials. No longer a luxury, building green is |
| assistance. But in the back of our minds, aren't we | | | | rapidly becoming necessary, and sustainable housing is |
| really thinking, "Gee, Mom and Dad are going to love | | | | the new wave. |
| it here. It has all the amenities they could ask for. But | | | | But that isn't the only reason Boomers are rejecting |
| there's no way in h&%# I'm ever going to live | | | | the current assisted living model. We are much too |
| here!" | | | | independent to ever accept a regimen of bingo on |
| Now be honest. Isn't that exactly what you're | | | | Monday, dry meatloaf every Wednesday night, and |
| thinking right now? Boomers absolutely do not accept | | | | sing-alongs on Sunday afternoon. We never were a |
| the idea of assisted living, and from recent studies, it | | | | group of one mind and I doubt if we ever will be. We |
| would appear that some form of communal living is | | | | see ourselves as individuals, not as part of the herd. |
| making its way back to the forefront. Be it condo, | | | | Therefore, living in a setting of regimented routine will |
| townhouse, duplex, or even a single family home in | | | | never be our style. |
| an adults-only community, isn't this where we're | | | | The solution |
| headed? | | | | My personal opinion is that those who are attempting |
| Way back when (in the 50s and 60s), communes | | | | to determine "what to do with all those Boomers," |
| were where all the hippies headed. This type of | | | | need to step back and reassess their ideas. Boomers |
| housing didn't die, it simply grew up to be co-housing | | | | want options, Boomers want choices, Boomers want |
| - a new type of participatory community that is | | | | to make life-style decisions based not only on their |
| attracting Boomers as they enter their 60s. | | | | financial health, but on their mental and physical health |
| Cohousing units are individually owned (like condos). | | | | as well. When the time comes that we are no longer |
| But residents of these eco-friendly communities share | | | | able to maintain our independent freedom, our |
| communal resources and facilities, all of which helps | | | | assistance may come in many sizes, shapes and |
| them be energy efficient. | | | | styles. They may be co-housing, a small adult |
| In 2003, there were 60 such communities across the | | | | community that sets aside one home to be paid for |
| U.S. By 2008, there were at least 100, with 300 more | | | | by community residents and "loaned" to a caregiver |
| in development (Columbia News Service, 5/11/08). | | | | couple. It could be several single elder Boomers |
| These properties range from the Songia Co-housing | | | | choosing to reside together under one roof - all with |
| Community's 11 acre site outside Seattle to the | | | | their own private space, but with communal areas to |
| two-block Eco-Village apartments in Los Angeles | | | | counteract isolation. |
| (source: Iconoculture, 8/12/08). | | | | There are many methods of solving that driving |
| What's ahead? | | | | question of, "What do we do with them?" Some |
| Assisted living communities, beware! The current | | | | currently exist, but leave it up to a Boomer to devise |
| senior housing model - from home to assisted living | | | | new methods of solving the problem - those |
| to nursing home - won't cut it for many Boomers. | | | | methods being desirable and convenient for them. |