What IS a Livable Community?

We have written several posts about aging in place, communities for a lifetime, or livable communities. But what exactly is a livable community. Is this one of those “in the eye of the beholder” (or more aptly, resident) kinds of analysis?

My colleague and dear friend Mark Bauer, sent me an article from The Atlantic by Sarah Goodyear, What Does ‘Livable’ Mean to Older Americans? (I digress  a moment: I previously mentioned Mark’s must-read article published in the U. of Ill. Elder Law J. , Peter Pan as Public Policy: Should Fifty-Five-Plus Age-Restricted Communities Continue to Be Exempt from Civil Rights Laws and Substantive Federal Regulation? ).

Back to my point on livable communities.  Ms. Goodyear’s article focuses on “aging in place” which she describes as “a common buzzword today. It describes the rising trend toward older people staying put, rather than moving away from the neighborhoods where they’ve spent their younger years… [and she asks that in doing so] … will [elders] be able to live safely and comfortably? And what will their lives be like as their needs and abilities change over time?”

She notes AARP’s work on answer what makes a community “livable”, through their in-progress  ”’livability index’ to measure whether the country’s neighborhoods are meeting the needs and desires of its older citizens.” (full report available here).  She references a new report from the AARP Public Policy Institute on livable communities.  (The full report is available here).

Ms. Goodyear concludes her article with these thoughts and quotes from experts:

The reality of the changing needs of older people should inform the way communities are planned and improved, says Harrell [one of the experts she interviewed for this story]. And the needs of an aging population dovetail with many of the trends seen among millennials, who are interested in living less auto-centric lifestyles. “We want policymakers to understand that we need to make communities that meet those needs,” Harrell says. “We need to start planning for all ages. A community that works for older people works for everyone.”