How can seniors include younger
people in their day-to-day life while maintaining a separate cohousing
community?
Locating within a safe walking distance of retail shops is one way to
accomplish this.
Bob Wilson agrees and writes, "My father lives in a retirement community of 100 plus seniors. The average age there is over 80. I visit often and we usually eat with everyone else in the dining area. When I bring my toddling granddaughter along, she lights up the entire room."
How can seniors include younger people in their day-to-day life while maintaining separate cohousing communities?
Location, location, location.
1. Locate within (safe) walking distance of retail centers, parks, or community centers.
2. Locate near a day-care center where seniors can volunteer to be gramps or granny for the day. Everyone loves babies.
3. Locate near an urban/suburban central area or possible future suburban shopping area, even if retail is not there yet. A concentration of seniors who need places to shop and eat will eventually bring in some development. In turn, those storefronts will bring in all ages to shop and eat.
Rentals.
Rentals might also help.
1. Second-Story Housing Rentals: When senior cohousing is one story, build a few 1.5 story homes to include a small efficiency apartment for, possibly, a quiet college student.
2. First-Story Retail Rentals: When urban senior cohousing is in a multi-story building and in appropriate retail areas, leave the first-story available for rental.
3. Community Retail: Some general cohousing communities and other forms of housing such as urban apartments are including retail units in their plans. A small restaurant is particularly appealing to seniors.
4. The second story of a common house is also a potential location for rentals.
See more about rentals here.
Combine.
Combining senior cohousing with intergenerational cohousing probably makes sense. Two separate, but adjacent, cohousing communities, one with seniors, one for all ages, is certainly a possible solution, particularly if the two cohousing communities share some commonalities.
Senior Cohousing
Hidden Lake Ecovillage
Dallas-Fort Worth
Senior Cohousing Directory
Hidden-Lake
in DFW
Senior Cohousing
in Dallas
Active Lifestyle of Elder
Cohousing
Aging Gracefully in Elder Cohousing
Benefits of Senior Cohousing
Cars, Who Needs Them?
Common Areas in Senior
Cohousing
Costs of Elder Cohousing
Do Rentals Make Sense for Senior
Cohousing?
Ecohousing: Why
Build Green?
Features of Senior Cohousing
Finding a Senior Cohousing
Community
Good Neighbor Information
Hot Spots in Community Decisions
Individual Privacy in Senior Cohousing
Is Senior Cohousing Right for You?
Locate a Senior Cohousing
Community
Make Good Use of Your Common House
Meanwhile, Back at the
Common House
Outdoor Common Areas for Senior Cohousing
Therapeutic Community Gardens for
Seniors
What Kind of Housing Do Seniors Want?
Why Elder Housing?
Seniors and Loneliness
Where
Do Pre-Retirees Want to Live?
Younger Faces
in Senior Cohousing
Senior &
Intergenerational Cohousers Fit
Few Lonely Seniors
in Elder Cohousing
Deciding Where to Live