Towns Aren't Suited
For Aging Populations

America's cities and neighborhoods aren't ready to handle the aging population with adequate housing, community services or transportation, a new study finds.

The research, which is being released today by AARP, is one of the first attempts to link the success or failure of communities' ability to accommodate older residents to their health.

"The degree to which your house and community meet your needs as you age determines whether you experience good aging or bad aging," said Elinor Ginzler, director of AARP's livable-communities initiative. "Staying connected is critical, and you can't stay connected if your community doesn't support you."

Older people who weren't involved in their communities said that they felt less equipped to deal with aging issues and reported poorer quality of life. Only 56% of those reporting low community engagement said that they were satisfied with their lives, compared with 87% of those who were highly engaged, according to a study done for AARP by Roper Public Affairs and Media, a unit of NOP World, which interviewed 1,005 people who were 50 or older last summer. The results have a three-percentage-point margin of error.

Despite the common perception, according to the study, of "a wave of retirees downsizing and moving to retirement villas in Sunbelt states," Census Bureau research has found that only about 5% of people who are 55 or older move each year, and half remain in the same county, compared with 17% of younger people.

"Almost everybody stays in their community. They age in place," Ms. Ginzler said. As a result, by 2030, the 65-plus population is expected to double in size in 26 states, according to a recent census report.

Still, 12% of the people surveyed said their homes wouldn't be able to meet their needs well as they grow older. And they were almost twice as likely to say they frequently feel isolated, when compared with individuals who think their homes would meet their needs.

When the study turned to transportation, people who said they didn't drive -- one out of eight people who are 50-plus -- ended up making less than half the number of trips that drivers make. The nondrivers were six times as likely to miss doing something because they had no transportation.

And their most common means of getting around was hitching a ride in someone else's car, not taking a bus or train. Walking accounted for more than three-quarters of all trips not made by personal vehicle.

"If my community isn't designed so I can walk safely, or there's nowhere for me to walk, then I'm in trouble," said Elizabeth Clemmer, associate director of AARP's Public Policy Institute.

To help older people assess where they live or plan moves, the group has posted a quiz on its Web site (aarp.org/livable_communities) that grades an area from A to F based on so-called livability factors.

Pat Puckett, a 54-year-old polio survivor who sometimes uses a wheelchair, helped evaluate the quiz and predicts it will open many eyes. As executive director of the Statewide Independent Living Council of Georgia, Ms. Puckett "talks to people every day with issues staying in their home and getting from point A to point B." Frustration among older adults is already apparent, she says. Her group tried and failed to persuade Georgia lawmakers to approve rules requiring home builders to make new homes more accessible.

Instead, her group has worked directly with builders to get houses built with entrances that have no steps, wider doorways and larger bathrooms.

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