No more ghettos: Time for intergenerational living

{"version":"0.3.0","atoms":[],"cards":[],"markups":[["a",["href","http:\/\/www.hcm2.com\/","target","_new"]],["strong"],["em"]],"sections":[[1,"h2",[[0,[],0,"\u201cWhy do you Americans insist on putting your seniors in ghettos?\u201d"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"That provocative question\nwas the first posed to me by a European after a 1994 presentation I gave on\nU.S. trends in senior living design. I was a featured speaker at a symposium\nsponsored by the Royal Surgical Aid Society in London at the invitation of\nBritish architect Martin Valins, who has long since been practicing in the U.S.,\nspecializing in senior living design."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Despite the grim\nconnotation the word \u201cghetto\u201devokes, I know that my inquisitor was referring\ninstead to the broader definition of the word: a place that defines its\noccupants by the homogeneous nature of its inhabitants; i.e., old folks living\nwith other old folks, isolated from the rest of the broader community."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"We Americans call it a \u201cCCRC,\u201d continuing care retirement community, or just a \u201csenior living community,\u201dor even \u201clife care community\u201d(remember that?). But when that attendee\nreferred to what Americans were designing for our older adults as a \u201cghetto,\u201dit touched a nerve and changed the course of my\nprofessional and personal life."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"My immediate response\nand that of my colleagues was to adapt the principles of \u201cNew\nUrbanism\u201d to the CCRC designs that followed. These\ndesigns mimicked the texture, look and feel of the planning trend to create\nenvironments that deemphasize vehicular traffic typical in suburbia. Instead,\nthese designs favored a more walkable, socially rich neighborhood, emblematic\nof traditional town planning. Since CCRCs contain multiple forms of residential\nliving and common service environments, it was a logical step to create a form\nof \u201cNew Urbanist Village\u201d with its commons, care centers and apartments\ncreating a \u201cTown Center,\u201d from the middle of which radiates a walkable\nneighborhood of cottages."]]],[1,"h3",[[0,[],0,"\u201cI don\u2019t think you are pushing this concept far enough!\u0022"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"This was another quote,\ndirected to me, that further changed my life. It tapped my instinct to explore\nthis concept well beyond the physical plan to the social mix of target\nresidents."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"The source of that quote\nwas a true visionary, David Green, former CEO of Evergreen, a CCRC in Oshkosh,\nWisconsin. He envisioned the concept of a \u201cNaturally Encouraged\nRetirement Community.\u201d His idea was to blend the need to expand the\nUniversity of Wisconsin at Oshkosh with the desire of the city to reclaim\nvaluable riverfront brownfield property. This was well over a decade ago.\n\n\n\n\b"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"The planned environment was\nto be a true extension of the residential fabric of the city. An eight-block\narea would include an array of purpose-built buildings for the university\u2019s use. All the area\u2019s housing would also be\nbuilt to accommodate the needs of older adults, including some providing higher\nlevels of care. The apartments would be located on upper floors above retail,\nservices and amenities consistent with any urban neighborhood. And its target\nmarket was adults of all ages, graduate students, faculty, and older people,\nwho could mentor, volunteer audit, and even teach university classes \u2014 truly intergenerational."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Unfortunately, the idea was\nbefore its time, but was indeed a stepping stone for much to follow."]]],[1,"h3",[[0,[],0,"\u201cWe should feature Community-Integrated Retirement Living\u201d"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"That quote from Leading\nAge\u2019s educational team was directed to me and my\ncolleagues as a possible subject for a half-day, pre-conference workshop to\nexplore alternatives to traditional, self-contained communities. The session\nwas the most highly attended pre-conference event to date. Obviously, there was\na high level of interest in this topic, which has garnered well-attended\neducation sessions for several years since."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"In fact, last year there\nwere three such sessions at the Leading Age annual meeting that explored the\nmarket\u2019s interest in \u201cintergenerational\u201dcommunities. Perhaps the steady growth of the \u201cVillage\u201dmodel is proof that the market vastly prefers\nstaying within one\u2019s intergenerational community.\n\n\n\n\b\u001c"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"But is staying at home\nalways the best answer? In my personal experience, which includes caring for an\nelderly aunt in my home, I learned that the traditional home can be fraught\nwith life-threatening perils. Regrettably, my aunt\u2019s life was shortened as the\nresult of a fall.\n\n\n\n\n\u0003"]]],[1,"h3",[[0,[],0,"\u201cWalking the Walk\u201d"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"At the same time as I was\nespousing the benefits of a community-integrated, intergenerational setting,\nand encouraging my clients to build in more dense urban settings, I lived the\nextreme opposite lifestyle. Until three years ago, I had a long commute to my\noffice and had to drive to town for shopping\u2014the exact opposite of what I proposed was best.\nI felt like a hypocrite."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Now I live in an\nintergenerational, market-rate apartment in the heart of Baltimore\u2019s most diverse, vital, walkable, and livable neighborhood. I\nwalk everywhere, including to work. Everything I need from grocery to pharmacy,\nfrom restaurants to gym, from hotel to bank and so on is within blocks of where\nI live. And my neighbors range from young adults to others well into their 70s.\nAdmittedly, there are fewer families in my building and neighborhood, mostly a\nreflection on urban educational systems, but every day I feel the energy and\nvitality that an intergenerational environment creates."]]],[1,"h3",[[0,[],0,"\u201cSo why not explore intergenerational living for older adults\u201d"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"My colleagues at HCM and I\nhave enjoyed working with The Shelter Group, whose Brightview Communities\nprovide independent living, assisted living and memory care. Increasingly they\nhave adopted the attitude that their target market wants to remain near where\nthey or their adult children live, and they\u2019ve set their sights on more\ndense urban sites for development."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"The leadership of\nShelter has visited sites where such communities have been successfully\ndeveloped and shared their findings. One of the most notable is Merrill Gardens\u2019s intergenerational community in Seattle, which pairs their\ncommunity for older adults with a separate market-rate multifamily building\nthey own in the same development. While Brightview has not explored this\nconcept, their newest settings are all surrounded by traditional\nintergenerational multifamily buildings developed by others."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\n\n\n\n\u0016One of the most innovative\nconcepts with which I have been involved is \u201cSmart Living 360.\u201d Its creator, Ryan Frederick, a 10-year veteran\nin the senior housing field, says there is a huge untapped market of buyers\ninterested in combining aspects of the village model, the CCRC, community\nintegration, and intergenerational living."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Ryan\u2019s\nconcept is to create an apartment building whose living units and selected\nin-building amenities are designed with an older adult in mind that also\ntargets the multigenerational market. The concept would be located in a vital,\nmixed use, walkable, urban setting and would offer a \u201csuper concierge\u201d(called a \u201clifestyle ambassador\u201d) whose services mimic that of the ideal Village model."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"I believe this new\nproduct will attract many older adults. Smart Living 360 offers a compelling\nvalue and lifestyle proposition. Its first community is under construction in\nRockville, Maryland, and is in partnership with Federal Realty, a public retail\nREIT."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Among other\nconsiderations for the next generation of this model are:"]]],[3,"ul",[[[0,[],0,"To assure a true\nintergenerational setting, offer smaller units and specific amenities that are\ndesigned with the traditional (millennial) renter in mind, along with an array\nof units and amenities as per above."]],[[0,[],0,"Targeting the younger\nsilent and early baby boomer generation with some form of continuing care.\nIncreasing interest is being shown by traditional providers that wish to\ndiversify their service and physical care offerings by exploring\nintergenerational living."]]]],[1,"h3",[[0,[],0,"\u201cRevisiting a not-so-new concept that captures the essence of intergenerational living\u201d"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"The concept of university-affiliated\nsenior living communities has been around for some time now. Taking the\nunrealized University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh vision as perhaps an extreme\nexample, many such communities have since been developed. The most successful\nof these capture the essence of creating a vital lifestyle for the resident in\na setting that promotes a form of intergenerational living. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"I would venture to say\nthat intergenerational aspect of university-affiliated life is a significant\nfactor in the older adult resident deciding to opt for such a lifestyle."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"Hord Coplan Macht"],[0,[],0," has on\nits boards a few variations of university-affiliated living for older adults,\neach indicative of the desire for an intergenerational lifestyle. Some are\napartments designed with the older adult in mind, located adjacent to the\ncollege campus in a mixed-use setting, similar to a \u201cSmart Living 360\u201dproject. Others feature a full CCRC located on\ncampus that intentionally brings students, faculty and residents together. All\nare an endorsement of the perceived and actual benefits of intergenerational\nliving."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Although this trend is in\nits early stages it offers huge promise for having an impact for the older\nadults arriving on the scene daily as our society ages. Stay tuned for many\nmore exciting forms of intergenerational living. That European gentleman who\nposed that initial question to me was on to something.\n\n\n\n "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[1],1,"About the Author"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"Glen\nTipton is a nationally recognized speaker at a variety of conventions and\nseminars on the subject of design and development of retirement communities. He\nchaired the AIA National Design for Aging Knowledge Community for four years,\nand in 2004 was elevated to the elite AIA College of Fellows in recognition of\nhis unique contributions to architecture for seniors. Glen received his bachelor\nof architecture degree from the University of Virginia and is a registered\narchitect in several states."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\n\n\n\n"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\n\n\n\n"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\n\n\n\n"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\n\n\n\n\n\n"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\n\n\n\n"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\n\n\n\n"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\n\n\n\n"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\n\n\n\n"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\n\n\n\n"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\n\n\n\n"]]]]}