Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Green "Retirement Communities"?

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Oct 31, 2007, at 8:05 AM, Carol Gulyas wrote:

> Can "retirement communities" be sustainable?  I have published an  
> article
> over at Top Retirements which gives top mention to Cohousing as an  
> example
> of a truly sustainable community model, vs. age-segregated  
> communities.  I
> am trying to widen the circle of people who consider cohousing.    
> See if you
> think I've done you justice at this link:
>
> http://www.topretirements.com/tips/Green_Communities/ 
> Looking_for_Green_Retirement_Communities.html

This article raises the issues of green building that are hoped to  
build an environmentally sustainable community but does not address  
the issues of culture that create a sustainable community. I can't  
think of any reason that age-segregated communities cannot be  
sustainable both environmentally and culturally.

In one retirement community where a friend lives there is a very  
strong culture of committees that guides residents into and out of  
the community, helping spouses, for example, cope with the death or  
decline of a spouse or a new resident make new friends and find  
absorbing interests in a new place.

Another issue with age-segregation is that with an age range of  
50-100, the "segregation" is pretty broad. In fact, it is almost  
identical to the one at the beginning of the nineteenth century when  
the average age at death was 40 or 45. When social security was  
enacted the age of 65 was chosen because few people lived that long.

When you think about it that way, age-segregation when the span is 50  
years, becomes historically the most common way people have lived.

Objections (I can hear them coming) are often based on the idea that  
once you are an adult  you are "one age." While there are few studies  
of adult development after the age of 50 or 60, people who are 70 and  
80 will tell you that their world view and their understanding of  
life is very different than when they were 10 years younger.

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines
Sociocracy, a Deeper Democracy
http://www.sociocracy.info