A a member of a group, today I attended an open house for people nearing retirement age at a Senior Living Community.
It was quite beautiful; nice buildings, well-kept grounds, lovely apartments that all opened into an indoor, two-story high, central promenade bright and sunny from the skylights, warmly carpeted for style and noise-reduction. The promenade was quite wide with a variety of dining areas and living-room-style areas along the center. Fireplaces, too, for those cozy winter evenings.
Meals were communally served in restaurant-style settings (tables of four), and everyone was encouraged to participate in the many activities offered daily. There was an exercise room among the specialty areas. I forget what else, but a lot of amenities. Financially, everything was included in the monthly fee. (I didn't ask what it was. Maybe I should have! :-) )
The thing that struck me about it was: segregation. All these elderly people were living in a segregated community. Yes, they got to go out on trips around town, and certainly went places for entertainment, but the center itself prided itself on having everything a person could need, so there wasn't much reason to go out. They also offered transportation options so that people usually found no need for a personal vehicle.
Thinking about it a bit more later, I realized we do a lot of segregating by age in our society. Kids are in school all day mostly with other kids, adults are in offices and other workplaces all day mostly with other adults, retired people are in retirement communities with mostly other retired people all day.
Where is the interaction?
Where is the opportunity for the youngsters to share youth with the elderly and the elderly to share wisdom with the youth?
I thought, what a wonderful thing it would be to open up the place and rent apartments to people of all ages. Buildings like this would make fine residences for the eco-community.
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