Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Senior only vs intergenerational community living

[Dave Cortright (davecortright]

Yes, there is a lot of evidence that intergenerational communities help 
everyone live longer and healthier lives. The Blue Zones have been mentioned 
previously (communities where people statistically live the longest; see also 
the new CNN series Chasing Life) and all are intergenerational. In these 
communities, elders are not segregated to live out their days, but are instead 
integral and revered members of the community. That feeling of connectedness 
with the community and of purpose is critically important.

The Harvard Grant Study found that the biggest factor in happiness and health 
is quality relationships with others. And the only way to have true quality 
connections with others is daily and face to face.

Here's the crux of it all: we as a species evolved to survive and thrive in 
small-ish bands (30-50) where all generations lived and worked together daily. 
Our genes have been honed so that we operate optimally in that environment. I 
believe the closer aligned with the key aspects of that lifestyle we get, the 
better off we all will be.


·Dave

References:
https://bluezones.com/2016/11/power-9/
https://www.cnn.com/shows/chasing-life
https://www.ted.com/talks/robert_waldinger_what_makes_a_good_life_lessons_from_the_longest_study_on_happiness/transcript#t-357596
https://www.bakadesuyo.com/2017/02/how-to-make-friends-as-an-adult/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Band_society
https://www.kpao.org/2019/07/bowlbys-razor-gets-to-the-essence-of-how-we-humans-were-designed-to-thrive.html

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
On Thursday, August 15, 2019 7:06 AM, Fred H Olson <fholson [at] cohousing.org> 
wrote:

> Minnesota Public Radio just had a segment on
> "Developers see plenty of growth in senior housing market"
> https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/08/15/developers-see-plenty-of-growth-in-senior-housing-market
>
> Interestingly it opened by featuring a senior living cooperative.
> They are numerous Minnesota and resemble cohousing a bit.
> Senior Housing Coop directory
> http://seniorcoops.org/housing-list-2/
>
> In discussing of the segment, we noted that these are "senior only"
> developments and that there are few intergenerational, senior friendly
> developments which would be our preference. It is my impression that
> there are two clusters of opinion amongst seniors - those who prefer
> senior only vs those who prefer intergenerational communities but I
> have seen no survey data on this.
>
> During our discussion, Grace Kim's TED talk also came up:
> "How cohousing can make us happier (and live longer)"
> https://www.ted.com/talks/grace_kim_how_cohousing_can_make_us_happier_and_live_longer
>
> I wonder if a case could be made that intergenerational community
> living can make us happier (and live longer).
>
> Grace's community Capitol Hill Urban CoHousing
> https://capitolhillurbancohousing.org/
> is an "inter-generational urban community committed to sustainable
> living on Seattle's Capitol Hill". It was featured in the TED talk tho
> I don't recall Grace addressing senior only vs intergenerational
> community living explicitly.
>
> Fred Olson and Becca Brackett
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Fred H. Olson Minneapolis,MN 55411 USA (near north Mpls)
> Email: fholson at cohousing.org 612-588-9532
> My Link Pg: http://fholson.cohousing.org
>
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