Livable Communities for Aging Populations: Urban Design for Longevity

It was in very good condition.

Appropriate for the intended purpose.

Let me stress, first, that this book is not aimed at people looking for a retirement center for themselves or a family member. This is a resource for urban planners and architects primarily, part of a trend about livability and communities. It is a comprehensive review of aging and urban planning, of the general-community context and the senior centers built to accommodate a growing part of the population.I had obtained this book because I am currently on the board of directors of a non-profit senior community of about 300 residents, a community that is undergoing renovation and a possible major expansion. I found it helpful in seeing how urban planners and city zoning officials might be thinking in this context, but even I found the book to be about a far greater picture. I did find its description of seniors' needs and retirement communities to be accurate and clearly-written.The senior centers themselves are the main focus of the book, and they indeed are communities in their own right. The book discusses how they've developed over the last couple of centuries and what they're like now, and it's a good introduction to them to planners and developers that deal with them. The book goes into some detail about the main model, Continuing Care Retirement Centers (CCRCs). A typical CCRC provides care for all levels of senior life, from independent living through assisted-living (assistance in day-to-day activity) to skilled-nursing care -- all of which suggests not just apartments but central dining and activity facilities, wellness facilities, a 24-hour nursing wing. Such a community will have considerable implications for the general community, and the book doesn't neglect what CCRCs and other centers will need from the community, and what the centers can do for it. The book is pleasingly-formatted, well-illustrated, and provides plenty in the way of market data and case studies.I very strongly recommend this work for planners, architects, developers, and city and county planning officials, who will find this book indispensable. Also recommend for those planning to launch a CCRC or senior-center project. The US population is aging, the proportion of seniors in society will increase and become more active than in the past, and this book fills a growing need.

Ball and colleagues have put together some research that helps those not familiar with planning concepts to think about developing communities for America's increasing population of elderly persons. Wiley, as an educational publisher, makes a good home for such a book since it seems most useful for intermediate planning courses. This book is not alone among its type in straddling a number of needs: the need to 'advertise' a planning partnership; the need to 'recognize' allies and like-thinkers; the need to educate new planners and planning board members about a set of tools and a set of issues. This volume begins to meet those needs.I come at this material as a person who taught undergraduate city planners, as a writer and editor of a regional development guide and as a director of a state legislative committee on housing and community development. As such, I have been 'generally' knowlegible but not expert in the field. I am more familiar with my late father-in-law's 15 years of living in an advanced Adult Living Community in Florida. This book referes to such places as CCRC's (Continuing Care Retirement Communities.) These communities provide what I found to be a complete set of life-enhancing experiences for seniors, including a strong emphasis on continuing social connections among people who are all facing age-related living changes. These changes limit the 'longevity' of tenure of an individual in single family homes or apartments.Mr. Ball and his associates begin their analysis by trying to find existing urbanized (again, a specialy word in their lexicon) structures that can be repurposed for senior living communities. They imply that people can live in the same community or neighborhood during various stages of their lives. This is a controversial assumption, verging on unrealistic. At one point, we were concerned about the 'overhousing' of an aging population (empty-nesters with empty bedrooms)in areas where space was needed for growing families. Where people can safely operate vehicles, market forces work against public transport but that transport will become vital for all of us if we live long enough. Ball and associates address the idea of 'cottage communities' as a way of housing seniors and they can be very attractive options if public transport is available. The economics of this transport may require that ridership be concentrated more than Ball's 'scattered site' paradigm would permit. This is just one area where a deeper consideration of gerontology would have made for a stronger book. Progressive living communities do concentrate an aging population while maximizing important social benefits that are not considered here. Active seniors have the chance to build relationships with less active seniors and can continue those relationships by an easy walk over to the setting where more medical services are povided. They can 'see ahead' to the reality of aging's processes. The idea of assisted living loses some of its fear-generating notions of helpless dependency through this type of exposure. A pool of new friends live within easy walking distance and the same is true of fitness facilities, dining room friendships and a rich schedule of entertainment. This book is not aimed at considering this type of social consequences in depth, where they are recognized at all.The book does include a very general overview of several 'case studies' but these are too general to be very informative to policy makers. Planners love maps and this book has glossy, multi-colored ones that are not very informative to outsiders. I would use this book as a 'straw man' to help frame a better discussion of requirements for housing seniors.

Well written book on the historical aspects of elderly living and care facilities of the past, but I didn't find much applicable to the types of communities or facilities the new generation of retiring persons are looking to find. Heavy emphasis on planned high density living facilities within large urban areas. Not much at all for smaller or even mid-size cities. It is a very scholarly, researched book with a lot of drawings, photographs, and charts showing what has been done. It would be an interesting read for anyone planning to put into service a remodeled facility without considering the needs of the currently retiring, or about to retire generation. Being in the age group anticipating moving to a less demanding residence than a private house with all it's needs physically and financially for upkeep, I was disappointed the book offered nothing new designed for more active, cognitively intact persons. People I know want a residential facility with a wide variety of activities and services, shopping, medical care, etc. available within the structure, on the grounds, or within a short travel distance year around.