Housing for the Over 50’s – a growing North American business proposition for retirement living developers, architects and designers of interior spaces, home care providers and builders of personal care homes. It’s one we should pay attention to if we want to have a say in the design or put in a hand to help build the kind of “home sweet home” we prefer.
In Canada 2011, about 34% of the population is the “over 50’s”. By 2016 this will be 38.5%, but what we blur in those statistics is the fact this demographic is not a lump sum. If we’re going to have foresight as we age from 50 through 60, 70 and beyond, then we know that our condition and our needs will change and evolve. And we should ask a broader question – what is adaptable, realistic community design in an aging world?
My suggestion is that we at least challenge the way we think about our current menu of options – gated retirement villas, segregated seniors residences, institutional long term care facilities; and consider how we still keep generational interaction centered within our aging communities. Pay attention to the conversation governments, urban planners and housing developers are having. Keep up with the trends. It’s our business.
The proactive thing we might do for ourselves is to lift our heads above the watershed year of 50 and start thinking about what we can do incrementally as we age to help design the home sweet home we really need.