"Hope I Die Before I Get Old": Challenges in Designing for an Aging Population

The impending surge in this country's older adult population presents many creative challenges and opportunities for all involved in the design of homes, products, and communities. As a generation famously resistant to the very idea of aging begins to experience its effects, new ideas for home, community, and product development will have to be found to adjust to their needs.

According to the U.S. Census (2006), there are now 78 million Americans between the ages of 44 to 62. Traditionally the age of retirement, 60 no longer marks the end of work for most people, even those with ample financial security. Economist Lowell Catlett, PhD, spoke to last month's AIA Knowledge Leadership Assembly about future trends in consumerism. According to Catlett, the "Baby Boomer" generation, generally defined as those born between 1946 and 1964, is the first mass-educated generation (with 30 percent achieving tertiary education), and as such has amassed 75 percent more income, adjusted for inflation, than their parents. Meanwhile, he says, those same parents, a generation of savers, will bequeath a total of $17 trillion to their children.

This is, however, a generation uninterested in fading away quietly from a lifetime of professional service. There are many reasons why this generation won't retire. Some must continue to work as long as they physically can: according to Catlett, 11 percent of this population (8,580,000) falls below the poverty line, defined as an annual income of $20,700. Others are not poverty-stricken but feel less secure in their financial status: 47 percent of women in this population (18,330,000) are single, and for a variety of reasons only 20 percent of these women (3,666,000) will be financially secure; 58 percent (10,631,400) have saved only $20,000. And there are those who are used to an energetic existence and see retirement as unwanted marginalization, driven in part by marketing campaigns that associate age with lesser social value.

Whether or not they continue to work, however, and against their very best efforts, this generation will age, and will require new or adapted housing. Many will choose to "age in place," which will necessitate eventual adaptations for physical infirmity; others will choose to downsize from exurban McMansions to smaller multi-unit dwellings in thriving urban areas. These developments will present both opportunities and challenges for architects and designers focused on design for aging, and the challenges will be greater when dealing with a generation of clients who agree with Mick Jagger's assertion about "what a drag it is getting old."

According to an AARP-commissioned survey conducted by Mathew Greenwald & Associates, 83 percent of Americans age 45 and older want to stay in their own home as they age. However, as it is difficult for people to predict their future needs when enmeshed in their current stage of life, only 60 percent of respondents had given a significant amount of thought to how they would go about this. Those who were most prepared for the future tended to be in the 45-54 age bracket and in the higher income bracket (more than $70,000 annually). This is unsurprising, given that these individuals are the most likely to be well-educated and, as wealthy, successful professionals, are therefore more likely to have at least dreamt about, if not actually planned for, an enjoyable retirement. Another substantial sector, with a higher percentage of unmarried, divorced, or widowed women, foresees aging in close proximity to, if not entirely reliant on, family members such as children. These individuals, whose annual incomes hover closer to $30,000, will likely age in their own homes until they can no longer live on their own, and then move in with a family member, whose residence may need to be altered to accommodate them.

This situation presents a series of challenges and, as such, opportunities for residential architects and designers as well as community developers. Those Boomers who persist with their plans to age in place will need to adapt their homes to accommodate for decreasing bodily strength and flexibility, but those adaptations may have to be cleverly disguised so as not to remind the homeowners of the cruel passage of time. Perhaps all new homes, in addition to being energy efficient, can be fitted with attractive grab bars, levered door and faucet handles, and no steps leading to the doorway. In this way, no units need be designated as "elder housing." This presents an opportunity to create special safety accoutrements that are sleeker and less medical in appearance. It also gives developers the ability to market these units to buyers at all stages of life, which will help foster age integration in neighborhoods and communities. "Opportunities for Creating Livable Communities," a report commissioned by the AARP's Public Policy Institute, features a program, proposed by Georgia-based coalition of homebuilders and advocates (including the AARP), called the "EasyLiving Home." Under this plan, all homes would be built with the following specs:

• A step-free entrance with a threshold not more than one-half inch rise from a driveway or sidewalk
• A minimum of 32 inches of clear passage space for every passage door on the ground floor
• At least one bedroom, kitchen, some entertainment area and one full bathroom all on the main or ground floor.

Another challenge is to make new housing units affordable for the Boomers who will not inherit the lion's, or any, share of the aforementioned $17 trillion. Some communities, such as Highland Park, Ill., have created new schemes that offer to waive many municipal permit fees for developers who designate as "affordable" 20 percent of the total number of units when constructing a new multi-unit residence. In these cases, "affordable" means "eligible to those earning an annual income of 80 percent or less of the area's median income." In practical terms, this does not meet most of the country's definition of "affordable;" therefore, communities that wish to retain or welcome older, wiser inhabitants (retired urban people, or 'Ruppies'), as well as the "gray" dollars they bring with them, will want to develop better, more inviting house-building programs.

In some cases, volunteer organizations such as Rebuilding Together are stepping in to help those older adults unable to afford "affordable" housing. A network comprising 245 nationwide affiliates, Rebuilding Together's work, involving more than 24 million volunteer hours, has resulted in repair and rehabilitation of more than 105,000 houses and nonprofit facilities.

Those Boomers less concerned with affordability issues may also wish to move to dynamic urban areas, or remain in those cities but move into a smaller, more manageable home, preferably where they won't have to shovel or do yard work; one of the South's main draws for retired northerners is, of course, the lack of snow. If developers and builders in bustling, energetic cities can create attractive, discreetly age-adapted housing units with covered parking and exterior maintenance services, many of these former snowbirds might decide to stay where they are, a decision made even more attractive by the fact that they will be close to their families.

Tens of millions of Americans across the economic spectrum facing similar decisions about the fall and winter of life will want to age as affordably as possible, without sacrificing the active, youthful lifestyles they've always led. For architects and designers, this challenge presents many new opportunities.

Resources:

"My Generation" (Townsend, 1965)

 "Facts for Features" (http://census.gov, January 2006)

Reynolds, Susan. The Everything Guide to Personal Finance for Single Mothers. Adams Media, 2007.

"Mother's Little Helper" (Richards and Jagger, 1965)

"These Four Walls…Americans 45+ Talk About Home and Community." Mathew Greenwald & Associates, Inc., on behalf of the AARP (2003)

"Opportunities for Creating Livable Communities." Mia Oberlink, Visiting Nurse Service of New York, on behalf of the AARP Public Policy Institute (2008).

Kelber, Steven. "Meet the Ruppies" (http://www.kbbonline.com/kbb/rss/index.jsp, July 2008)

Shaw Hubbard is a member of the AIA Knowledge Communities staff.