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All of us experience the process of aging as individuals. We tiptoe through the house so as not to disturb our grandmother who is living in the dining room. A stroke-paralyzed father means a desperate search to find adequate nursing care. The neighbor needs assistance getting up her steps since she hurt herself in a fall. And our own physical limitations begin to affect our lives.

Most people approach these challenges with a survivalist attitude, taking one day at a time. What we fail to do is compile our collective experiences in order to take a hard look at why aging is so often frustrating and heartbreaking. If we did, we would discover that many of the difficulties we face are caused by a built environment that poses innumerable obstacles to the continued independence of older adults.

As individuals, we have a vested interest in eliminating these obstacles. As a society, our interest is just as compelling. Consider the following:

One in eight Americans is above the age of 65. Within thirty years it will be almost one in five.

The fastest growing age group are 85 and older -- 48 percent of those in this age group need functional assistance in daily living -- compared to 14 percent in the 65 to 74 age range.

Only one in twenty adults 65 and older live in nursing homes and other institutions.

In 1980, 39 percent of those 65 and older lived in the suburbs -- this represented an increase from 26 percent in 1960.

The implications of these trends are profound. The proportional increase in older Americans will place considerable stress on family members, friends and neighbors who take on a care-giving role, but often need to balance this responsibility with their own careers and child rearing. It is not clear who will take care of the many seniors who cannot rely on this kind of assistance. Distant relatives will probably be called into service as will social service agencies. With fewer workers paying into the social security system, resources will be strapped.

Suburbs are notoriously dependent on the automobile for mobility. This combined with a preponderance of single family residences suggests that many older adults will have a difficult time adjusting to the aging process. In fact, older adults face a bleak future unless we begin reshaping our communities to be supportive of continued independence and well-being.

The Challenge for Planners

Planning for our aging society requires an understanding of the physical changes associated with the aging process and how these changes affect a person's ability to negotiate the built environment. For example, as one becomes older, the lens of the eye becomes less flexible. This loss of elasticity reduces the ability to see objects close at hand. In addition, increased sensitivity to glare can make it virtually impossible for an older person to see the steps in high gloss surfaces typical of shopping mall floors. Night driving is particularly difficult due to dim light, shadows, and glare. All of our other senses -- as well as our general physical capabilities -- are also affected by the aging process.

Perhaps the greatest challenge to planners is the fact that people are affected by aging in a variety of ways. Many very old people are quite capable of strenuous physical activity: witness an 87-year old I know who still goes mountain climbing! Others feel the physical changes of growing old at an earlier age, experiencing a variety of symptoms. The bottom line is that the environment must be designed in ways that accommodate people with a wide range of capabilities. In responding to one recognized need, it is also important to avoid creating problems for people with different limitations. For example, while a ramp may be essential for some to get into a building, the same ramp may present a problem to a person using a walker. For that person, a series of steps deep enough for the walker is a better solution.

Emphasis also needs to be placed on the idea of developing linkages. A "partially" accessible environment may well be totally inaccessible if key linkages are missing. For example, a state of the art bathroom facility in a senior center will be of little value if a person in a wheelchair cannot get into the building because of a gravel-topped parking lot. In order to identify linkages, it is necessary to put oneself in the place of a person who will use the environment. One must be able to "see" the bumps in the sidewalk, feel the heaviness of the door, and understand the difficulty reading the bus schedule.

Planning for an aging society also involves reexamining some important aspects, such as housing and transportation, from the perspective of the older adult. See Sidebar, "Older Adults & Planning."

Housing

It is widely believed that when people need an increased level of care the best solution is to have them move out of their house and into a facility where they can receive this care. The reality, however, is that older people prefer to stay put. They'd rather "age in place" than go through the trauma and expense of a move.

Remaining in a traditional single family house can be hard, however, because of the difficulties and cost of maintenance, as well as the physical barriers for those with limited mobility and strength. The creation of accessory apartments and the provision of shared housing are two ways of making use of excess space and generating income and/or services in lieu of rent.

But perhaps even more important is ensuring that houses are designed -- in the first place -- so that they can be used by those with physical limitations. This means doing things like minimizing the use of steps, incorporating reinforcement in bathroom walls to accommodate future installation of grab bars, allowing for a bedroom and full bath on the first floor, and making doorways wide enough for wheel chairs.

Older people who must move are often constrained by the lack of housing alternatives within their community. When such housing is found, it is frequently located on "left over" land at the edge of town, far from the services that seniors need and desire. Senior housing should be sited in the heart of a community within walking distance of stores, medical facilities, and other services such as libraries, banks, and senior centers. See Sidebar, "Adapting Schools & Historic Buildings for Senior Housing."

The character of the neighborhood should be considered, with specific attention to the crime rate and noise. Site planning should address the needs of an older population. Pathways should be made with non-slip and non-glare materials and ramps should be provided when the grade is greater than five percent (though the ramps themselves should have less than a five percent grade). Supplemental ground level lighting will increase visibility on pathways and steps. Benches should be placed at right angles so that people are not forced to turn uncomfortably in order to carry on a conversation.

Senior housing projects are often built for specific target groups such as those with limited medical needs. Experience has shown that people are reluctant to move as their needs change. As a consequence, many of these projects are facing expensive adaptations. This indicates that the aging in place phenomenon is not limited to single family housing. Thus, it is also important to incorporate the notion of flexibility in special needs housing. This might take the form of designating a certain area for expanded parking to accommodate a potential increase in the number of professional caregivers and ensuring that the design of the building and its grounds can be modified for wheelchair users.

Transportation

Mobility is critical to the continued independence of older adults. Most are dependent on the automobile, and are reluctant to use public transit for a variety of reasons, including poor scheduling, uncomfortable and unsafe transit stops, and difficulties in carrying large items aboard. Some older people simply cannot sit for the duration of a transit run.

We are faced with the reality that despite planners' best efforts, most older people will continue to rely on their cars. Recognizing this, it is important to find ways to make driving safer. This includes repainting edgelines, improving signage through increased luminance, reducing visual clutter, and better identifying cross streets. Increased use of left turn lanes would also help many older drivers, given their slower reaction times. Similarly, enlarging sight distance triangles at intersections improves visibility, thereby giving older drivers more time to make a decision when to turn into the cross street.

Decreased reliance on the car would be encouraged if there were a mix of land uses in a neighborhood. Just as important is the adequacy of the overall pedestrian system. This involves issues of safety and comfort. Older people need benches with backs and arms and space underneath to position the feet to help in getting up. Clean bathroom facilities and adequate lighting are also important. Pathways should be shaded and protected from excessive wind and cracks in the pavement repaired. Crosswalk signals should provide enough time for a safe crossing. Wide streets and highways can be provided with pedestrian refuge areas in the median. -- [Editor's Note: Richard Untermann discussed ways of improving our streets for pedestrians in his article, "Taming the Automobile," in Issue 1 of the Journal].

Making It Happen

Communities that are committed to addressing the needs of older people quickly realize that there need to be a significant number of changes in order to create a more supportive physical environment. It is impossible to make all these changes at once. What is needed is an incremental approach that takes advantage of opportunities as they arise.

Land use changes and development proposals that require permits are an appropriate time to require age-sensitive site plan modifications. Public improvements can be directed toward removing barriers and providing amenities. Education can be an important means for convincing land owners to make improvements on their own initiative, while consumers need educational opportunities to help them make informed choices as they address problems of aging in themselves or as caregivers.

Summing Up:

Planning for an aging society means planning for people. It means recognizing the diversity within our population and facilitating the development of a built environment that accommodates rather than confronts this diversity. Keeping in mind the needs of older Americans will help create vital communities that are good places in which to live and grow old.

Our Aging Population The aging of our society is occurring at a dramatic rate, and has major implications for planning. Average life expectancy in the United States has increased from 47 years in 1900, to 69.6 years in 1950, to 74.7 years in 1983. The number of persons 65 years and older is expected to rapidly grow over the coming decades. More detailed information is contained in a useful pamphlet, A Profile of Older Americans - 1991, available from the American Association of Retired Persons, AARP Fulfillment, 601 E Street NW, Washington, DC 20049. [Title of bar graph: Number of persons 65+ : 1900 to 2030. Caption at bottom of graph: Note that increments in years on the vertical scale are uneven. Based on data from U.S. Bureau of the Census. Copyright 1992, American Association of Retired Persons. Reprinted with permission.]

Older Adults & Planning There is no better way to ensure that the concerns of older adults are met -- and that local plans reflect their needs and perspectives -- than by having them actively participate in the local planning process. This will require scheduling meetings during the day so that night time travel can be avoided and choosing locations that are accessible. Sturdy chairs with arm rests and an adequately functioning sound system are a must. Handouts should be legible. Meetings should be limited in length to 1 1/2 to 2 hours with breaks or explicit freedom to move about during the meeting. An orientation to the facility should be included in the opening remarks. Of perhaps greatest importance is a relevant, interesting agenda that addresses issues that are of concern to seniors. More ideas are set out in the resource paper, "The Participation of Older Adults in Public Meetings." See the Resources sidebar for information on ordering this paper. Some communities have made strong efforts to involve older people. For example, the master plan for the Kensington-Wheaton area of Maryland contains a subsection focused on planning issues of especial interest to older residents, such as: improving pedestrian transportation (better walk signals; walking paths separated from bike paths); encouraging more senior housing; and dealing with aging in single-family homes.

Editor's Note: Adapting Schools & Historic Buildings for Senior Housing It is also worth noting that many older historic buildings, as well as unneeded school buildings, can be converted into senior housing. One of the benefits is that these buildings are often located in central areas, within walking distance of the kind of services Deborah Howe mentions. Retrofitting these buildings also makes sense in terms of historic preservation -- and can be less expensive than building new high-rise housing. For two good short articles, see "Old Buildings Come Alive," by Larry McNickle and Beverly Deacon (giving examples of historic preservation and senior housing) and Kirk Noyes' "Surplus Schools Can Serve the Community." Both articles can be found in -- Aging Magazine, No. 356 (1987), a publication of the United States Dept. of Health & Human Services.

Thanksgiving Dinner on the Moon by Perry Norton My community is clearly in that "greying" category of suburban towns. We have one senior housing facility (near "downtown") but many more seniors, such as ourselves, are long term empty nesters, living in houses which could easily be converted to two-family -- and the first floor easily remodeled to remove barriers. Having a second family in the house would increase the security of the premises and, of great importance, provide a rental income that would go a long way to meet property taxes. Like many people we're in that tenuous position of having fixed incomes, in the face of rising costs. A no win situation. The chances of our being allowed to convert our property to a two-family home are as remote as having next Thanksgiving Dinner on the Moon. What we have in this town is a "perception" barrier. It's almost a myth. It is certainly a deeply engrained image of single-family detached -- period. I'm getting carried away here. The point is that we have a community that is not committed to addressing the needs of old people. So while I say Amen to all of Professor Howe's points, we're not at that essential plateau upon which to build the new day. Alas. [Editor's Note: Perry Norton from time to time provides his perspectives on articles running in the Planning Commissioners Journal].