Revolutionary Ideas Part 4 - Up With Seniors & Senior Co-housing

So I couldn't wait until tomorrow to pitch another idea, I think this one makes sense on many levels.

I'm also realizing that a lot of the ideas I have are already happening, if only in small ways for now. 

The Golden Girls (tv series 1985 - 1992)

 How about revitalizing rural Nova Scotian towns with a vision of providing housing for retirees and seniors.  I'm not just referring to senior homes run by a third party, but also to a concept called 'co-housing' that was pointed out to me by my friend Helen who is 79.5 and practicing to be a very old lady.

The thing is, all across Canada there are a slew of baby boomers reaching retirement age.  This is an article I found on the forecasted consequences.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/jobs/retiring-boomers-slowing-labour-force-growth-statscan/article595878/

There are two main reasons why I think rural towns in NS stand a good chance of attracting seniors. First, the climate here is relatively mild, second only to the climate of the lower mainland of BC.  Second, property taxes in many parts of rural NS are also low, with affordable land and buildings available within walking distance of small town centres.  After living in Mahone Bay, Helen chose to move to Annapolis Royal due in part to the presence of a transit system there, anticipating the day would come when she would no longer drive.  The town also offers retirees an abundance of culture within walking distance, and, it is very pretty.

Helen has discussed with me her concept of co-housing, where we've talked about a need for alternative housing for people for that period of time when a single family home may feel like too much to maintain, but a person may be too fit to want to go to a seniors home.  Her idea was to buy an existing structure such as a hotel and modify it so that seniors would have their own suites but also common areas, and that residents could pool resources to afford housekeeping and cooking services.

It seems to me that there is economic opportunity here for a good-hearted investor that would create alternative living arrangements for seniors, with the anticipation that there will soon be many more pensioners across Canada who either can't afford or don't want to maintain their own homes.     With the costs of buildings and land so affordable, it may be smart to build communities of bungalows or single level apartments.  In order to be truly attractive to seniors I think the finishes would have to be high quality, with senior-friendly bathrooms, and the location within walking distance to a town or with transit access.  Common areas would also be key.  Unlike suburban sprawl which has its own environmental drawbacks, tailoring these types of dwelling lends itself well to higher density villages.  Aside from Annapolis Royal surely there are other towns in Nova Scotia that would lend themselves to this type of development.  What would be ideal would be a reliable transit or even rail system linking these towns to larger city centers within the province.  The presence of clusters of seniors would lend itself to the creation of associated jobs to maintain these properties and provide health care and personal care.

Making Nova Scotia attractive to seniors goes hand in hand with making Nova Scotia a center for organic farming and organic food products, as many older people develop an interest in nutrition and healthy living. By having affordable access to local organic food, and decreased stress from a social life and the security of affordable long term housing, I'd assume that these things would decrease the burden on a health care system that might be seen in bigger city centres where seniors are more likely to be isolated.

In researching the idea more, I stumbled across this website called "Canadian Senior Co-housing" based out of Sooke, BC.  Here is the link to an interesting article on their website, which was published in June 2012 in the Globe and Mail:

"Better Aging With (Social) Chemistry"

If you scroll down to the bottom of the article, I find it interesting that the first comment is:

"Great ideas but is sounds like another type of living that’s reserved for the wealthy. Is anyone doing it in a way that can be approached by average or below average finances? If people want to share, there must be a way or ways. Certainly we each don’t need more than a large bed-sitting room if there is respect and a good amount of shared space and resources."

I think in rural Nova Scotia someone could come up with something that would be affordable for those living on a modest pension, perhaps this would involve privately operated rental buildings designed specifically for seniors, where seniors are given a great deal of autonomy, privacy and respect, and provided with good common areas, in order that they wouldn't have to invest the bulk of their personal funds in their accommodation.  By finding efficient ways to house seniors affordably, more of their income would be free to spend in the local economy (eg, going out for meals, participating in activities, travel, purchasing locally grown food).  Maybe one model would be for a senior with adequate resources to acquire and renovate a multifamily building and rent out the other units to other seniors; maybe leaving one unit vacant to serve as a common area.  This model could potentially lead to the restoration of an existing historic structure, creating work in the trades and real estate sector, and maintaining the character and tourism value of town.  Alternatively, a new structure could be built.

The other sad truth is that women do tend to outlive men, so as the ratio of seniors in society increases, this will mean more elderly ladies living alone.  With humans being social creatures, the concept of co-housing sounds like a compelling way to create some level of security and provide a social life for older folks.  That Nova Scotia already has attractive small towns in scenic locations waiting to be revitalized makes the province seem like a great fit. 

from the website, http://canadianseniorcohousing.com/?page_id=13

Cohousing Movement
Senior cohousing grows out of the broader cohousing movement. The Danes invented these “living communities” in the 1960s. There are hundreds in Denmark and across northern Europe. These are intentionally cooperative neighbourhoods where common facilities are creatively shared yet where each household owns their home and controls how involved they want to be with the community
 

 It seems to me that someone did try to develop a community like this near New Germany, but it never really took off.  In order to deal with the issue of energy, the units were to be off grid using solar.  My suspicion is that anyone desiring that sort of home was wary about buying into a community that hadn't seen completed construction, and that maybe the location wasn't quite right (not a big enough town, not walking distance to amenities).  perhaps if the project was completed in full and the units were rented at first, people would have caught on. 

This is another great link I found on the canadian senior cohousing site: Sharon Rempel, grass roots solutions.  I'm eager to look into this more! being of Slavic descent I love the word "Baba Yaga" and its folklore which my mom tried to scare me with.  "Baba Yaga" housing seems like a great idea to me,

http://www.grassrootsolutions.com/ 

http://www.babahousing.ca/index.html

Super awesome CBC radio interview about Baba Yaga Housing:
http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/The+Sunday+Edition/ID/2290287979/


I'll end this post with the following analysis in reference to the current boom of mink farms in the province. I love seniors so I'm just being a jackass writing this up, but there is some truth in it:

Mink-Farming versus Senior-Housing

While mink are generally furrier, many senior citizens are also quite cute and have the advantage of bringing their pension cheques with them to this province.  Unlike mink, seniors can communicate with other humans using language and have an abundance of stories and wisdom to share.   Unlike mink, seniors are willing to pay rent or property taxes, and contribute in other ways to the local economy.  While the profitability of mink farming is dependent on the fashion tastes of people in other countries, and could end abruptly at any time due to social factors, the abundance of seniors needing housing is a more stable economic factor to depend on.   In terms of branding Nova Scotia to the rest of this planet, making seniors welcome and cared-for in this province has more of a  "feel good" aspect to it than raising small animals in cages to be slaughtered for their pelts.  Unlike farmed mink, seniors are welcome to roam around freely throughout the landscape.  Unlike Mink, seniors are likely to have family members travel to Nova Scotia to visit them, which has economic benefits to travel and tourism industries in the province.