Kaid Benfield, Director, Sustainable Communities, Washington, DC

 

If it takes a village to age in place, what happens if there is no village?  What happens if there is a sort of neo-village that doesn't function like a real one?  With the largest generation in American history now in our late 50s and 60s, this is not a small question:  the number of senior citizens is expected to double by 2030.  And shouldn't those of us who care about sustainability, about the way places affect our physical health, also be thinking about how they affect our mental health, our spirit?

We know that single-use subdivisions don't work for seniors beyond a certain point, particularly beyond their driving years - or, alarmingly, the years when they should no longer be driving but are, because it's the only way to meet needs and participate in society.

So we create "retirement communities" and "rest homes" and the like, leading up to assisted living and nursing homes.  As the son of a 92-year-old mother with serious health problems, it's a world I've come to know well.  In my mother's current condition, a better, mixed-age, walkable community wouldn't help.  But a decade ago, it ...

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