‘We Need Each Other’: Older Americans Are Drawn to New Housing Arrangements

The New York Times is reporting that more and more older Americans are exploring housing alternatives, such as villages and home-sharing. Cohousing, shared housing, and village organizations appeal to those seniors hoping to avoid the costs of nursing care or at least stave them off for as long as possible. These approaches date back years, of course. But "we are seeing a resurgence of people wanting different models of housing," observes Kirby Dunn, executive director of HomeShare Vermont. Shared housing matches people who have unused space with people who are in need of housing. Typically in such scenarios, at least one party is age 60 or older. Cohousing functions quite differently. A like-minded community forms, then looks into buying land and building a housing complex — or converting an existing building — where members can live together. The newest innovation, though, is the village movement. It currently comprises 280 organizations in cities, towns, neighborhoods, and even apartment communities and is growing by 20 percent annually, observes Barbara Hughes Sullivan, national director of the Village to Village Network.