Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Deep Aging (TM); And a Totally Different Subject

[R Philip Dowds (rpdowds]

A stimulating and beautifully crafted article.  As a cohouser and off-the-clock 
eldercare architect, I picked up on the part of  “Help the generations come 
together” (below).  Having designed and/or served many eldercare institutions, 
the conclusion I reached is that age-segregated housing is more curse than 
blessing … and this article explores the same view.  Deep aging within the 
cohousing culture may offer many advantages — but probably more so, in 
multi-generational communities.

Thanks,
Philip Dowds
Cornerstone Village Cohousing
Cambridge, MA

PS:  I typed in the word “cohouser”, but proofing the text, I discovered that 
the spellchecker auto-fixer had substituted the word “shouter”.  I really have 
to do something about this spellchecker thingy …

> On Dec 22, 2015, at 9:32 AM, miranda castro via Cohousing-L <cohousing-l [at] 
> cohousing.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> Here’s the Wall Street Journal article - it was a bit tricky to get without a 
> subscription … and seriously interesting 
> How to Make the Most of Longer Lives
> 
> …
> 
> Help the generations come together.
> 
> For half a century, we’ve done much to keep young and old apart, especially 
> in the realm of housing. Yet age-segregated housing for retirees runs against 
> the grain of everything we know about healthy development in the post-midlife 
> period, a time when connections with younger generations are linked to higher 
> rates of happiness for older people. What we need instead: housing strategies 
> that help to forge and solidify bonds among the generations.
> 
> One compelling example is Bridge Meadows. This housing development in 
> Portland, Ore., brings together families raising foster children with older 
> people of modest means, who receive reduced rents in return for volunteer 
> work with the adoptive families living in the community: everything from baby 
> sitting and playing catch with children to working on arts-and-crafts 
> projects and making meals. It’s an arrangement that makes both economic and 
> common sense, filling the fundamental human need for community and connection.
> 
> I’d like to see more housing development animated by that same compelling 
> vision—especially as more families show an interest in moving in together, 
> sometimes with three or four generations residing under the same roof. (A 
> 2011 study by the nonprofit Generations United found that approximately one 
> in six Americans resides in a multigenerational household, a 10% jump since 
> the start of the recession.) We now likewise have an expanding cohort of 
> individuals without children or grandchildren of their own, along with 
> millions who don’t live anywhere near their younger relatives. These 
> individuals might well be drawn to, and benefit from, such intergenerational 
> settings.
> 
> ...