Outdoor common areas for seniors need
to be carefully planned for the future as well as for today. Even if the
wooden path below is suitable for today, it will not work in the future
for some elder residents.
Seniors also need to plan outdoor areas around the prevailing
temperatures in their area of the country so they will spend their cohousing
common-area money wisely.
1. Future Needs Outdoor common areas for seniors need careful planning so that they will be useful today and in the future. For example, the wooden plank path to the right might be suitable for all residents today. In the future, though, as some residents become more frail and some begin to use walkers and wheelchairs, this particular path would not be suitable.
2. Precipitation How much and what kind of moisture falls from the sky, where that moisture goes, and how long is stays will be great determining factors in what outdoor areas are planned for senior cohousing. Areas that have large and persistent snowfalls will have much different outdoor areas from the sunbelt. Ditto for rainfall, flooding, and wetlands.
3. Temperature Hot periods need ceiling fans and cold periods need fires. Is your area mostly cold or mostly hot? Spend your money where it counts.
4. Sunshine and Shade Hot areas of the country need shade--maybe even all year long. Colder areas need sunshine to make the outdoors habitable over more of the winter.
5. Insects Mosquitoes and other bugs are problematic in many areas of the country. That makes a screened enclosure valuable for outdoor living.
6. Pavement To pave or not to pave, that is the question.
- Paving is permanent and makes it easy to push a stroller/wheelchair or ride a bicycle/rollerblade.
- Paving is not kind to the environment or to the joints of people. It might be wise to consider another form of surfacing.
7. Water Water is very nice for an outdoor area. Even a small reflective pond is welcomed. A swimming pool is not necessary but it is also nice.
8. Meditation and Quiet Time A quiet and shaded outdoor meditation area will serve hot areas well whereas senior cohousing residents in a cooler part of the country might prefer a sunny area.
Senior Cohousing
Check out
Dallas-Fort Worth
Senior Cohousing Directory
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