America's Senior Boom: Where Will They Live?

Terry Simonette
President and CEO
NCB Development Corporation

Let's take a new and careful look at cooperatives--from the perspectives of seniors, those who study aging, and American public policy.

Housing cooperatives are the option of choice for many seniors wishing to remain independent. Several studies, including USDA's, have found an astonishing 98% approval rating by surveyed senior co-op owners. Approximately 70 senior co-ops exist in at least 10 states, ranging from ten units in rural towns to several thousand units in urban centers. Most were developed in the last 20 years, have long waiting lists, and their numbers are growing rapidly. Why are they so popular?

• More than almost anything, older people want to remain in control, and gerontologists agree that those who do are healthier. Cooperatives are created for the very purpose of empowering their members.
• Gerontologists also agree that seniors who remain socially active are happier and healthier. The structure of cooperatives creates opportunities for social interaction and support that are almost impossible to duplicate in other housing options.
• Economic security is a primary concern of seniors. Co-op owners preserve their resources through lower operating costs, growth of equity, and tax advantages. They decide what services they need and what they will pay.

Indeed, cooperatives seem almost perfectly designed for independent seniors. In 1981 testimony before the President's Housing Commission, gerontologist Gerald Glaser concluded:

"...the essential benefit of the cooperative is that it provides an economic structure and social framework that fosters self-reliance, self-control and determination, interdependence and cooperation among the resident members...factors (that) contribute directly to continued independent living, successful aging and the enhancement of longer life."

We need to look at this far more seriously, as individuals, as co-op leaders, and as policymakers. For decades, we have tended to stereotype older people as dependent on assistance, usually financial or medical, when in reality only a small minority of seniors qualify for subsidy or need supportive services; 5% of those age 65+ live in assisted living or skilled care facilities.

Dr. Judith Rodin, a prominent gerontologist and president of the University of Pennsylvania, believes the tendency to assume elders will become dependent "...represents a pernicious, systemic reality throughout the health care industry and relevant American public policy, as well." Carroll Estes, in his book The Long Term Care Crisis, agrees: "(American society) has simultaneously financed and institutionalized the medicalization of care...and fostered the dependency of elders."

Of course we cannot abandon the many older individuals who need support, and we must now also look realistically at who America's many new seniors are and what they really want. We need to carry the message-- that the vast majority of seniors are homeowners, want to remain homeowners (albeit with fewer maintenance tasks), and do not qualify for nor want subsidies and extensive services. And we need to catalyze further development by educating and providing support to potential consumers, project sponsors and developers.

In his testimony Mr. Glaser also stated, "Aging is a minority as distant as our parents and as personal as our own lives and children." This is not just an important policy issue. Co-ops can be our parents' homes--our homes. As we look to the mounting number of older people in this country and ask, "Where will they live?" we need look no further than the cooperative model we know so well.

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