Really interesting piece in the Washington Post:
"America is rapidly aging in a country built for the young"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonk...-aging-in-a-country-built-for-the-young/
Quote:
Although we seldom think about them this way, most American communities as they exist today were built for the spry and mobile. We've constructed millions of multi-story, single-family homes where the master bedroom is on the second floor, where the lawn outside requires weekly upkeep, where the mailbox is a stroll away. We've designed neighborhoods where everyday errands require a driver's license. We've planned whole cities where, if you don't have a car, it's not particularly easy to walk anywhere — especially not if you move gingerly.
This reality has been a fine one for a younger country. Those multi-story, single-family homes with broad lawns were great for Baby Boomers when they had young families. And car-dependent suburbs have been fine for residents with the means and mobility to drive everywhere. But as the Baby Boomers whose preferences drove a lot of these trends continue to age, it's becoming increasingly clear that the housing and communities we've built won't work very well for the old.
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I would argue Halifax has a similar policy challenge in the years ahead; we're a very suburban city. That is where the vast majority of growth and development has been, and will be. But at some point, those communities won't be fit for aging Boomers.
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