AS DEMAND TO AGE IN PLACE SOARS, SENIOR CITIZENS ARE SEEKING MORE WALKABILITY AND DIVERSE HOUSING TYPES

A TREND THAT ALSO SERVES PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES OF ALL AGES

Meg Walker is a Placemaking Consultant and Community Strategist and Professor at Pratt Institute.

She shared her insights when she was Senior Vice President of the New York-based planning non-profit Project for Public Spaces,

Walker has dedicated much of her career – as a planner, educator and elected official – to making streets and public spaces more walkable for human beings.

She said once the temporary need for social distancing has passed, planning for inclusive communities will be a key to supporting an aging population.

 

AS DEMAND TO AGE IN PLACE SOARS, SENIOR CITIZENS ARE SEEKING MORE WALKABILITY AND DIVERSE HOUSING TYPES

A TREND THAT ALSO SERVES PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES OF ALL AGES

Lindsay Goldman is the Chief Executive Officer at Grantmakers In Aging (GIA), said data is very important for cities to track needs. NYAM has created Age-Friendly NYC, an interactive online map that tracks aging in New York.

It is a tool for planning, public works, transit and other officials to best spend on resources for walkability, transit and other amenities that better serve concentrations of aging populations and people with disabilities.

PROUD TO BE A GUARDIAN OF GREEN GRASS AND LUSH TREES

I HAVE PROTECTED THE NATURE AT WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN PARK  FOR NEARLY A QUARTER OF A CENTURY

Honored to be part of the ribbon cutting to celebrate renovations of William Jennings Bryan Park under the leadership of Commissioner Ralph "Rafael" Rosado.

It was great to celebrate with the Commissioner and Mayor Eileen Higgins.

I created the covenant that conserves the west side of the park.

This perpetuates a perfect balance – tennis/pickleball, youth playground, exercise stations, right-sized community center and picnic area on the active side.

Green grass, shading trees and hundreds of uses for open space (a rarity in Miami) on the passive side of the two-acre city park in the Shenandoah part of Miami.

AS DEMAND TO AGE IN PLACE SOARS, SENIOR CITIZENS ARE SEEKING MORE WALKABILITY AND DIVERSE HOUSING TYPES

A TREND THAT ALSO SERVES PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES OF ALL AGES

Lindsay Goldman is the Chief Executive Officer at Grantmakers In Aging (GIA), said consumer demand will help drive the housing industry to create homes that are more accessible and adaptable.

Goldman said cities are adapting by creating online and 311-type call centers where residents can report broken sidewalks and other barriers to safe walkability.

 

AS DEMAND TO AGE IN PLACE SOARS, SENIOR CITIZENS ARE SEEKING MORE WALKABILITY AND DIVERSE HOUSING TYPES

A TREND THAT ALSO SERVES PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES OF ALL AGES

Lindsay Goldman is the Chief Executive Officer at Grantmakers In Aging (GIA), She shared insights when she was Director, Healthy Aging, New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM).

She said Realtors are specializing in finding housing for people who want to downsize while aging in place in their community. 

AS DEMAND TO AGE IN PLACE SOARS, SENIOR CITIZENS ARE SEEKING MORE WALKABILITY AND DIVERSE HOUSING TYPES

A TREND THAT ALSO SERVES PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES OF ALL AGES 

Jeff Speck, leader of Brookline, MA-based Speck Dempsey, emphasized the value of an ADU with an anecdote about an older woman who built a house with an ADU in Kentlands in Gaithersburg, MD.

“She lived in the granny flat (ADU), rented out the house and covered her mortgage with the house rent -- thus living for free,” Speck said.

AS DEMAND TO AGE IN PLACE SOARS, SENIOR CITIZENS ARE SEEKING MORE WALKABILITY AND DIVERSE HOUSING TYPES

A TREND THAT ALSO SERVES PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES OF ALL AGES 

An advocate of the ADU since the 1980s, Jeff Speck, leader of Brookline, MA-based Speck Dempsey,  predicts exponential growth of them.

They are solution to affordable housing, aging in place and adding gentle density to neighborhoods already served by urban amenities.