"If you look at it from an economic perspective no business would want a complex landscape like this because it's way too much maintenance, but what you have to do is turn the maintenance over to the residents, and then they do it: they get joy; it's an antidepressant; it's a way of creating food; it's a way of creating community; so you have to do it in a certain way, but it's definitely a lot more work than the typical grass and shrub landscape for sure."
Showing posts with label Community. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Community. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 16, 2022
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Community V Segregation
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)