Design Your Retirement
(updated 11/2023)
~ Retirement Formats Stand to Benefit From a Sustainable Mixed-use Model ~
Our entire lives are spent shuttling in and out of buildings.
Grand. Not so grand.
Some of these places have a significant impact on us. And, it is possible that some of these built places have influenced how we have lived our lives or had a hand in what course our lives may have taken.
We also have fuzzy memories from childhood related to phenomenal experiences within built places that we never forget (Art and science museums? Churches? Holiday’s or birthday’s at home? Game nights or potlucks with other neighborhood families? Etc.).
The built environment that we rush in and out of everyday, whether you have ever stopped to consider it or not, heavily influences your quality of your life. The quality of the built environment will determine who your customers are and who your neighbors may be; it’s size and location absolutely dictates your comfort.
Now - stop and really think about your Retirement.
What is an ideal environment for this major life event?
Even if your Retirement is 50 years away - you need to know what you are in for if you are not able to retire at home with your family. Today, most retirees want to Age in Place (stay home). Home is comfortable, you know where everything is (in and outside of your house). There are no surprises here.
What happens if you can not stay home and you have to move into Assisted Living?
We all know that these environments are currently designed for one generation. That is a huge Retirement buzz kill.
One generation planning will not create a long term, ideal living environment - ever - for any stage of life. Unfortunately, as it stands Retirement and Assisted Living communities adhere to a one generation format. These communities stand to learn a lot from true, Sustainable Mixed-use Environments. The purpose of Mixed-use is to encourage healthy communities that will thrive on a long term basis. Slapping a new coffee shop in an injured community will create a point of much needed relief and social interaction, however true Sustainable Mixed-use Planning goes far beyond a superficial presentation of public amenities.
To understand what a true Sustainable Mixed-use Model is, simply look at a healthy city neighborhood. Ideally, a healthy City neighborhood attracts a variety of cultures, generations, incomes and professions. There are retirees, emptynesters, students or young families with children living and working here. The working class, upper middle class and everything in between live or start businesses here.
Replicating this environment is not as simple as providing opportunities for public architecture within a residential community. For a Sustainable Mixed-use Neighborhood to be successful - whether you are planning in the suburbs, reworking an old city block or writing a business model for a Retirement Complex - you have to be ready to develop for Inclusion. This is “inclusion” on a broad spectrum and planning for this occurs long before you put pen to paper or hammer to nail.
Changing how we perceive “Assisted Living” and the concept of retirement communities could update the existing formats and in the process make these environments highly desirable. Changes such as this would provide a highly competitive option to Aging In Place.
Unfortunately, retirement communities and Assisted Living formats are what they are. If you need assistance reworking your current home to prepare for retirement, reach out to us and we can discuss your options with you.
NOTE:
For more information on perception, physiology/health and design - check out the article “Corridors of the Mind” from The Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture (ANFA).
Here is a brief excerpt from this article below:
“…in designing hospitals, schools, and homes for people with all manner of disabilities, (we could) create places that would support the development of premature babies, the treatment of children with autism, the fostering of learning abilities of students…. imagine an Alzheimer’s facility that could help its residents remember who they are.”
The full article is posted here: http://www.psmag.com/culture/corridors-of-the-mind-49051/ Compelling evidence for more research and thought on the designer’s end regarding health and designs impact on physiology.
____________________________
03/2013
Commonwealth Design and Accessibility Partnership
occoquan ~ richmond ~ williamsburg ~ tidewater
www.CDAPTidewater.com
CDAPTidewater@gmail.com
(804) 525-8450
~ Retirement Formats Stand to Benefit From a Sustainable Mixed-use Model ~
Our entire lives are spent shuttling in and out of buildings.
Grand. Not so grand.
Some of these places have a significant impact on us. And, it is possible that some of these built places have influenced how we have lived our lives or had a hand in what course our lives may have taken.
We also have fuzzy memories from childhood related to phenomenal experiences within built places that we never forget (Art and science museums? Churches? Holiday’s or birthday’s at home? Game nights or potlucks with other neighborhood families? Etc.).
The built environment that we rush in and out of everyday, whether you have ever stopped to consider it or not, heavily influences your quality of your life. The quality of the built environment will determine who your customers are and who your neighbors may be; it’s size and location absolutely dictates your comfort.
Now - stop and really think about your Retirement.
What is an ideal environment for this major life event?
Even if your Retirement is 50 years away - you need to know what you are in for if you are not able to retire at home with your family. Today, most retirees want to Age in Place (stay home). Home is comfortable, you know where everything is (in and outside of your house). There are no surprises here.
What happens if you can not stay home and you have to move into Assisted Living?
We all know that these environments are currently designed for one generation. That is a huge Retirement buzz kill.
One generation planning will not create a long term, ideal living environment - ever - for any stage of life. Unfortunately, as it stands Retirement and Assisted Living communities adhere to a one generation format. These communities stand to learn a lot from true, Sustainable Mixed-use Environments. The purpose of Mixed-use is to encourage healthy communities that will thrive on a long term basis. Slapping a new coffee shop in an injured community will create a point of much needed relief and social interaction, however true Sustainable Mixed-use Planning goes far beyond a superficial presentation of public amenities.
To understand what a true Sustainable Mixed-use Model is, simply look at a healthy city neighborhood. Ideally, a healthy City neighborhood attracts a variety of cultures, generations, incomes and professions. There are retirees, emptynesters, students or young families with children living and working here. The working class, upper middle class and everything in between live or start businesses here.
Replicating this environment is not as simple as providing opportunities for public architecture within a residential community. For a Sustainable Mixed-use Neighborhood to be successful - whether you are planning in the suburbs, reworking an old city block or writing a business model for a Retirement Complex - you have to be ready to develop for Inclusion. This is “inclusion” on a broad spectrum and planning for this occurs long before you put pen to paper or hammer to nail.
Changing how we perceive “Assisted Living” and the concept of retirement communities could update the existing formats and in the process make these environments highly desirable. Changes such as this would provide a highly competitive option to Aging In Place.
Unfortunately, retirement communities and Assisted Living formats are what they are. If you need assistance reworking your current home to prepare for retirement, reach out to us and we can discuss your options with you.
NOTE:
For more information on perception, physiology/health and design - check out the article “Corridors of the Mind” from The Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture (ANFA).
Here is a brief excerpt from this article below:
“…in designing hospitals, schools, and homes for people with all manner of disabilities, (we could) create places that would support the development of premature babies, the treatment of children with autism, the fostering of learning abilities of students…. imagine an Alzheimer’s facility that could help its residents remember who they are.”
The full article is posted here: http://www.psmag.com/culture/corridors-of-the-mind-49051/ Compelling evidence for more research and thought on the designer’s end regarding health and designs impact on physiology.
____________________________
03/2013
Commonwealth Design and Accessibility Partnership
occoquan ~ richmond ~ williamsburg ~ tidewater
www.CDAPTidewater.com
CDAPTidewater@gmail.com
(804) 525-8450
