[SustainableTompkins] "Livable Communities and Aging" Conference downtown on September 21

[Marian Brown]

You're invited!

The Ithaca College Gerontology Institute (ICGI) will host a conference 
on "Livable Communities and Aging" in downtown Ithaca, at the Hilton 
Garden Inn, on Thursday, September 21 from 8:00 - 4:30pm. Below is more 
information on the intent of this important forum, and the website has 
more info about the day's schedule, the lineup of expert speakers who 
will present on "livable communities", and information on how to 
register for the conference. http://www.ithaca.edu/agingconference/

- - - - - - -

Community is one of the elements critical to maximizing health and 
well-being in old age. Community includes physical features such as the 
natural environment, man-made features such as housing and roads, social 
institutions (e.g. health and social services, education, recreation) 
and social relationships. Recently, a wide variety of professionals and 
nonprofessional have begun to examine how communities can consciously be 
designed or retrofitted to better meet the needs of older persons. 
Almost always, the features of "elder friendly" communities benefit 
persons of all ages and abilities. One term that has emerged to describe 
these efforts is "livable" community. Livable communities have been 
defined in a variety of ways but one description from a 2005 AARP, 
Global Report on Aging seems to capture their essence well. According to 
this report, a livable community has "appropriate and affordable 
housing, adequate options for mobility, and the community features and 
services that can facilitate personal independence and continued 
engagement in civic and social life."

By and large, America’s communities are not well suited to livability. 
Some of the factors underlying this include: single-land use zoning 
(i.e. physical separation of residences from services); reliance on 
private vehicles and lack of intra-community public transportation; 
residential segregation based on income, race, and age; a paucity of 
government subsidized housing; a lack of attention to universal design 
in home construction; a focus on institutional as opposed to residential 
(community) based long-term care; and a youth glorifying culture that 
leads to generational separation as opposed to integration. The irony is 
that survey after survey has documented that older adults in America 
want to "age in place" and live in the "community."

Fundamental to the concept of aging and livable communities is the idea 
that transportation, housing, health and social services, etc., support 
the goals of helping older people remain healthy and be part of the 
community. Features that support this goal include:

    * public transportation that is easily accessed by people with
      mobility or other impairments;
    * pedestrian–friendly environments that encourage walking;
    * neighborhood based health and recreational programs that
      incorporate intergenerational interaction and support;
    * consumer-directed care that allows elders to hire neighbors,
      friends and relatives to provide services;
    * home-sharing and other intergenerational housing arrangements;
    * mixed residential and retail business land use; and
    * social, educational, health and cultural programs aimed at
      promoting social engagement and healthy lifestyles among elders.

Improving the livability of America’s communities will require the 
cooperation and collaboration of planners, architects, public officials, 
developers, community groups, health and social service providers, older 
adults and their advocates and educational institutions. In September, 
2006 the Ithaca College Gerontology Institute will hold a one day 
conference to examine the relationships between livable communities and 
aging and how aspects of livable communities can be introduced into both 
new and existing neighborhoods. In addition, we will examine market 
research on the housing preferences of older adults and how the findings 
translate to a livable community for older citizens. Experienced 
planners/developers will share their experiences on how an existing 
community/neighborhood can change to meet the needs of older adults. We 
will also learn how new development can be planned and built to 
encompass the necessary components for a livable community.