As is somewhat obvious, I've been thinking about retirement a lot lately--not mine, per se, but that of the Baby Boom generation, who are about to retire en masse. The geography of their retirement is spreading everywhere--from downtowns, to college campuses, to sports venues and even racetracks. Meanwhile, places formerly defined wholly by their concentrations of retirees--resort towns from Florida to Oregon--are maturing into actual places with broader age distributions. It seems foolish for architects and planners to ignore this, as the amount of space given over in a city or region to "retirement space" grows.
Maybe it's time to look at this generational shift a little more seriously, not just as a way for us subsequent generations to survive in their wake, but also as a source of innovation for the fabric that makes up our built environment. Maybe the salvation of our cities is not the Creative Class but those ubiquitous "Active Adults." (Maybe.)
The typically Baby Boomer quest for eternal youth and stimulus--the desire for unique choices, perhaps--is what's driving all this:
The choices boomers make—in everything from jobs to zip codes—will alter the country's future physical and financial landscape in substantial ways. "Fully situated in middle-age, boomers have become a serious economic as well as social force with which to be reckoned," says William H. Frey, a University of Michigan demographer and a leading researcher of age-migration trends. "And, as usual, all eyes are on them." Already, it's possible to discern certain trends.
Among those ages 45 to 54, only 4.7 percent—fewer than one out of 20—move across county lines each year, while even fewer move across state lines, according to Frey. So it's likely that the largest portion of this demographic will stay put. Why? Boomers "see their homes as legacies," explains Strauss. And since they tend to get along with their kids, they have no plans to get away from them.
Instead of moving to Boca, they will just move to the new slender tower overlooking the local speedway:
The sound of automobile traffic was deafening. Inside Jim and Muriel Dollar's two-bedroom penthouse condominium here, a party was going on, and the guests leaned in close in their theater-style leather chairs to make themselves heard, their drinks set in cup holders that occasionally vibrated ever so slightly.
But no one seemed to mind the noise or the tremors. In fact, some had binoculars in their hands to get a close-up view of what was going on nine stories below. That was because the apartment's floor-to-ceiling windows looked directly onto the racetrack of the Atlanta Motor Speedway, where cars were roaring by at speeds up to 190 miles per hour.
I wonder if future retirees' "ideal retirement locations" change over time, as societal values change? I remember that about 15 years ago, my mom said she wanted to buy a cabin on the wisconsin river and retire to the country. Now, she can't remember even saying that. She wants to stay put in their house as long as she can. Barring that, she wants to move downtown to be near the theater & opera scene.
Also, I think it's interesting that one of the largest retirement "communities" in Madison wasn't even planned or marketed. The apartments around Hilldale mall on Segoe and Midvale have naturally attracted older residents who enjoy being within walking distance of the post office, the supermarket, and the bank. (True, there is also a retirement home nearby). It seems to me that planners have a responsibility to ensure this more of this sort of "habitat" exists for the elderly.
Posted by: Sonia | 04/18/2006 at 12:11