It’s not exactly cohousing, but the apartments described in this article are part of a growing trend of living spaces designed with community in mind — a trend we at Phoenix Commons are proud to be pioneering!
https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-coliving-development-20190106-story.html
The remedy to loneliness? Relationships!
#cohousing
https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/18/health/loneliness-peaks-study/index.html
The San Francisco Chronicle wrote a great article about our PC community. We think we’ve found the antidote to aging as well. Life is always buzzing around here, keeping us active and excited!
If you browse around Denmark’s official tourism website, you may come across an article on the art of hygge. The word (pronounced ‘hooga’) may seem strange to American ears, but the concept of hygge is very familiar to anyone who has ever spent time in a cohousing community, and certainly to the members of Phoenix Commons. It is roughly translated as ‘coziness’, but as the website explains, it’s actually more than that:
In essence, hygge means creating a warm atmosphere and enjoying the good things in life with good people. The warm glow of candlelight is hygge. Friends and family – that’s hygge too. There’s nothing more hygge than sitting round a table, discussing the big and small things in life. (VisitDenmark.com)
So hygge is basically the cozy feeling one gets from sharing good food and conversation with a supportive, trustworthy group of folks. This feeling can be found around the world, wherever lives are bonded tightly together through the habitual breaking of bread and meeting of minds. At our members’ gatherings, hygge frequently manifests itself as laughter, people doing nice things for each other, and time flying by much faster than usual. That’s a lot of meaning packed into a single 5-letter word!
Thanksgiving Day can bring out a lot of positive feelings and emotions in people, and they’re induced by much more than just turkey! In a recent article in LiveScience, Tia Ghose examines the wealth of scientific literature linking gratitude with improved health and wellbeing. Some of the benefits of expressing gratitude include:
An interesting caveat of this power of gratitude is that it works better when focused on others. In a recent paper published in the Journal of Positive Psychology, it was shown that keeping a diary of blessings boosted happiness significantly more than recalling a sense of pride in one’s own accomplishments. Acts of kindness and gratitude towards others tend to be reciprocated or passed on, providing fuel for a virtuous cycle of good vibrations. On behalf of all those affiliated with the Phoenix Commons community, we wish you a very happy Thanksgiving, and hope that everyone has the opportunity to pass on a whole lot of happiness with a little bit of gratitude.
A new report released by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, Housing America’s Older Adults, has found that the United States is facing a demographic shift for which it is not well prepared, especially so when it comes to housing.
At a public seminar titled Aging + Place: Designing Housing & Communities for Aging Populations, which was organized in conjunction with the recent release of this new report, presentations on the report’s findings as well as panel discussions with leading experts in senior housing were featured. Presentation slideshows from the seminar can be found on the event’s website.
The report’s authors call for urgent action at all levels – private, public, local, state and federal – to ensure an adequate supply of housing that meets the needs of our aging population. The main characteristics of such housing include financial sustainability, accessibility, social connection, and integration with health systems.
It’s good to know that Phoenix Commons was specifically designed with these characteristics in mind. Members of the Phoenix Commons community enjoy the peace of mind that comes with knowing they will be in a sustainable, supportive community as they age, enjoying all that the Bay Area has to offer and in a building that will accommodate their changing needs. Moreover, the community will be supported by AEC Living, a family-owned company with decades of experience in elder care, thus providing a health care link that the Harvard report acknowledges is very important yet usually lacking.
If this exciting, new alternative to institutional senior housing appeals to you, contact us now to learn more about Phoenix Commons. Our members are looking for a diverse group of mature and vibrant individuals who enjoy sharing their time and gifts with the community – could you be one of those?
Please call the Phoenix Commons office at 510-217-8527 or contact us at [email protected] for more information and to join now.At Phoenix Commons, we love to point out the superb walkability of our location. A new study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Assocation validates this enthusiasm for walking.
The authors of the study designed what is arguably the most ambitious experiment ever to measure the effects of exercise on seniors, using 1,635 subjects over a period of 2.6 years (on average). By the end of the experiment, seniors in the exercise group were 18 percent less likely to have experienced any episode of physical disability, compared to a control group which received health education only. The exercise group was also 28 percent less likely to have become permanently disabled. The authors claim that the contrast would have been even greater, if not for the fact that many seniors in the control group began exercising on their own as well.
Another important finding of the study is that the benefits of exercise extend beyond the physical. Participants in the experimental group were asked to exercise in a group setting, and the social benefits of this activity were not lost on the researchers, or the seniors themselves. Mildred Johnson, an 82-year old retired office worker, said:
“Exercising has changed my whole aspect on what aging means. It’s not about how much help you need from other people now. It’s more about what I can do for myself.” Besides, she said, gossiping during her group walks “really keeps you engaged with life.”
So get out of the house, connect with a group of local seniors, and start walking together regularly. It’s one of the best things you can do for your health, happiness, and independence.
For anyone involved in the senior housing industry, the recent uptick in media coverage has been remarkable. From the PBS NewsHour segment on senior homesharing, to the New York Times article on elderly New Yorkers being priced out of the city, there is clearly a growing awareness of the insufficiency of our nation’s senior housing stock.
A recurring theme in most of these articles is the emerging preference for an urban retirement, especially among the Baby Boomer generation. This new generation of seniors is finding that the traditional approach to retirement – epitomized by sprawling suburban developments centered around golf courses – just doesn’t meet their needs. Aging Boomers want to remain active and engaged in retirement, and they want to be immersed in the cultural vibrancy and diversity of the city.
For anyone planning a sustainable retirement lifestyle in the Bay Area, Oakland and Phoenix Commons have a lot to offer. The New York Times recently recognized Oakland as “Brooklyn by the Bay,” with a creative energy unmatched anywhere else in the region. Jingletown, the neighborhood where Phoenix Commons is being built, is a great example of this renaissance, with its walkable waterfront location, quirky art studios, new residential developments, and easy access to surrounding areas.
But don’t just take our word for it! Come visit Jingletown, take a stroll along the estuary, and talk to the people who live there. Walk across the Park Street Bridge into Alameda, and see how close you are to hundreds of shops and restaurants. You’ll quickly discover why so many older adults are choosing Oakland for a new approach to retirement living.
How important is wisdom as we become older? In her recent New York Times article, Phyllis Korkki writes that wisdom is the most important quality we can possess to age successfully and be able to confront the issues of physical decline and death. Facing those challenges armed with the positive well being and kindness that define wisdom is essential. Korkki cited an analysis by geriatric neuro-psychologist Vivian Clayton which determined the three components of wisdom are cognition, reflection and compassion. While our cognition is slowed by aging, our wisdom can be enhanced by the broader life experience from which we, as elders, can draw.
“Wise people learn to accept reality as it is with equanimity and when they do, they enjoy a greater sense of well-being,” according to University of Florida- Gainesville associate sociology Professor Monika Ardelt. Psychologist Erik Ercikson, Korkki says, coined the term “Generativity” or giving back without needing anything in return, whether that giving is creative, social, personal or financial as one of the most important signs of wisdom.
Whatever the nature of one’s limitations, simplifying one’s life is also a sign of wisdom, Dr. Clayton said, for example, by giving your things away while you are still alive. Some people have trouble with the idea of settling for less — “they have gotten so used to the game of acquiring more,” she said.
The acceptance, reflection, kindness, selflessness, simplification, that help us bring wisdom to our aging can become the key to facing the downside with grace. To read the entire New York Times article, “The Science of Older & Wiser” go here or paste http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/13/business/retirementspecial/the-science-of-older-and-wiser.html?_r=0 in your browser.