Our community members, most of whom still work full-time or part-time, are living proof that mature professionals can still make valuable contributions in any number of fields!
https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/464163-we-need-a-social-justice-movement-for-older-workers
Even with limited gardening space, we are producing more and more of our organic salad bar ingredients in-house, tended lovingly by members of the Landscape and Gardening Team.
#cohousing #UrbanAgriculture #ConsciousEating
The sooner you start planning for the future, the greater your chances of remaining happy and independent through your golden years!
#cohousing #aging
The amount of social capital being created and exchanged is a great barometer of a community’s health! Examples of items recently shared by neighbors at Phoenix Commons include: umbrellas, batteries, books, dogs, movies, kitchen gadgets, sweatshirts, rides, and yes, even the occasional cup of sugar!
#cohousing #WeLoveToShare
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!
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.
At our groundbreaking ceremony, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan spoke about the numerous development projects underway along the waterfront of the Oakland/Alameda Estuary. Ambitious projects such as the logistics and warehousing center on the former Oakland Army Base, and the 3,100-unit Brooklyn Basin project which just broke ground, are symbols of Oakland’s resurgence as a great place to live, work, and play.
Phoenix Commons is proud to be an early pioneer in this waterfront renaissance, located in the heart of a save, vibrant, and walkable neighborhood that provides easy access to all the great things Oakland and Alameda have to offer. With so many activities just a short walk or bus ride away, each day will hold the promise of adventure for our members.
Come and see what all the hype is about! Meet the current members of Phoenix Commons at one of their gatherings, and explore the many benefits of aging together with other active and caring seniors. For more information, contact Cheryl Champ at (510) 217-8527.
Some rather startling results emerged from a recent survey of older adults:
Combined with the fact that 43% of the 55+ crowd has less than $25,000 saved for retirement, it’s quite clear that we are not prepared as a society for the enormous task of taking care of our seniors in the years ahead. The article mentions aging in place as a preferred option, but few homes are adequately constructed for the special needs of seniors, not to mention the resulting social isolation that can destroy one’s health as severely as any physical disease.
Yet there is an alternative to aging in either an institutional setting or alone in a big, empty home. This third way, enormously popular in Scandinavia and now just starting to gain a foothold in the U.S., is to age in an intentional community. The benefits for older adults of having a solid social support system nearby have been documented in numerous studies, yet continue to be underestimated by most traditional retirement planners.
Senior cohousers are not immune from the natural aging process, but the daily adventures that are possible with their neighbors make them a more vivacious and optimistic bunch than your typical group of seniors. By tapping into and sharing their own knowledge and skills, cohousers can enjoy a wide variety of services and experiences at much lower cost than they would in an institutional, consumer-driven model. It may not keep you out of the nursing home forever, but senior cohousing can prolong the active stage of your elderhood and help you conserve your financial resources in the process.
Adding life to years is the concluding message of this great little video commissioned by the United Nations’ World Health Organization (WHO). It was released back in 2012 to coincide with World Health Day, but our society’s need to hear this message is more urgent than ever. The video addresses the many stereotypes that hold back seniors and limit their opportunities, and provides a blueprint for better integration of seniors into our communities.
One of the best features of the video is its positive, uplifting tone. Your attitude is a primary factor in determining how you age, so it’s important to affirm older adults’ potential for both learning and action. Instead of waiting passively for what the future brings, you can be proactive and find out how to shape your own future, like the participants at the Successful Aging workshop series presented by Elders Village (www.eldersvillage.com). Instead of settling for an institutional retirement home designed for your parents’ generation, you can create your own community and determine its features, like the steadily growing core group of future Phoenix Commons members is now doing. The possibilities for your Third Age are endless – all you need is a group of caring and sympathetic companions for the journey.