We’ve toured several places and just turned 63. I think your timing is perfect.
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In MA a stranger can tell the state that you should not be driving, and you will get your license suspended. I know a driving school owner and he sometimes has older customers who he helps get their license back (if he thinks they are still capable of driving). I think this law is wrong, but I think that a family member should intercede when their relative should no longer be driving. That could mean working with a doctor or lawyer to get the license revoked (if doing it by yourself would be an issue).
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My 94 year old mother started using a walker after an illness this spring. She now has a rollator as she has portable oxygen and it rests on the seat. Before using the walker, she would always complain about these “old” people being in the way with their walkers. I reminded her that she was older than almost all of them as most are in their 80s!
More and more women are moving into her IL over the last year that are in their late 70s and early 80s; most are widows. She is friendly with a few married couples, some of which moved to the area as they had adult children locally.
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Average ages in places can vary significantly. I am in an age restricted apartment building (just age restricted not a CCR by any means), where the entry age is 55. There are mostly 80-90 year old people in the building!
I have seen more age-restricted housing being built. Communities like them because it provides new housing without adding kids to the local school system.
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Anyone know of something like this in Boston or NYC?! Looks perfect. I have lived in Philly so might consider it. I went to Quaker school when very young and worked with the American Friends Service Committee at 17 down South, helping a community of shanties. I admire the Quakers. But any city residence to age in would interest me!
One thing I’m definitely going to be looking for/considering when it comes time later on to find senior housing is proximity to ride services & ability to get groceries delivered.
For the last ~ 3 yr of her life, MIL didn’t drive. She lived in a big suburban housing development in a single family home. BUT the nearest grocery store was a 15-20 min drive away and NO grocery delivery was available. At all. On top of it, the development was enough on the outskirts of town that there was no ride service available. A taxi ride to a doctor’s office would cost upwards of $75. We tried to encourage her to move to a senior apartment complex, a CCRC or assisted living facility of some type. She always refused and found a friend who was willing to pretty much spend all of her waking hours with my MIL. Like, the friend would pick her up mid-morning and they’d spend all day together doing stuff.
Where we currently live, the grocery store is about 1.5 miles away. Convenience store is 1 mile away. Local grocery store does deliveries that you can schedule online. And our doctor offices are all about 15-20 min away from where we currently live.
Definitely when I’m retired, I don’t think that I want to live on the outskirts of town. Also don’t want to live in a rural area. And when I’m older & to the point where mobility is more limited, I think it would be wise for me to live near one of my kids. In the last couple of months of my MIL’s life when she was in the hospital for weeks and dealing with cancer (and then in hospice care), the 1.5 hr 1-way drive from our home to where she was became really really hard on our immediate family. I don’t want to make my kids go through that.
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Many suburban communities offer senior ride services through their aging council/senior center. You can inquire about those services when you check out a town. They will most likely have a senior page on their town website.
My town has a very active aging council, with dozens of programs in house (from chair yoga, to flower arranging, to Mah Jong, to ukulele lesson, etc.) They offer a ride service which is free but you must make reservations for. There is also another group that offers rides to doctor’s appointments which other citizens do for free.
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NYC offers a free ride service to those with a referral from a doctor/PA/NP. Reservations required I think the day before. Of course there is extensive NYC bus service including buses that go from various neighborhoods directly to lower and midtown Manhattan with limited stops, and increasing number of subway stations with elevators. The fare for seniors, disabled people, and those on Medicaid just went up to $1.50, double for express buses.
ETA those eligible can use the door-to-door service to go anywhere in NYC–an airport, the beach, wherever.
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When my father was in an assisted living facility in Brooklyn, he used the city’s free ride service to do some shopping and for doctor’s appointments. They did have a disability vehicle which could accommodate a wheelchair.
MIL’s part of town didn’t have anything like that. Nada. No bus service either. Not even dial-a-ride. Using Uber or Lyft was extra $$ and there weren’t a whole lot of drivers available…and my MIL refused to consider Uber or Lyft at all.
It was a neighborhood that worked fine for many years when she was driving. But she should have relocated once the driving stopped.
Every once in awhile, Spousal Unit will say, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could buy a house on a bunch of land?” NO. 
SMALLER home, NOT BIGGER! Meanwhile, the ideal place I would prefer would be a single story 2 BR condo. Doesn’t have to be in a 55+ community. But does have to be on 1st floor with no stairs. I don’t have issues with stairs now, but you never know what can happen down the road.
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Well, we bought a condo that is 2 bedrooms, one story but on 22nd floor. There is a bank of 4 or 6 elevators and all are pretty quick, so you are never waiting long. That’s my backup plan for if/when we decide having a house is just too much.
It’s currently being rented out—it only has appliances. I figure I can order food delivery and there’s a lot of restaurants right outside the condo as well as a HMart & health food store.
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@compmom I talked to my mom today.
One thing she doesn’t like at her new CCRC is the food and the waitstaff. At her first CCRC, the food was great, the waitstaff was friendly. It might be something to look into if there is a kitchen and dining room manager. She claims there isn’t at this place and that turnover is great.
Other than that, she has no complaints but food that you are paying for should be good
Wasn’t sure if that was on your list, I thought I’d mention it since it seems to be the big difference between the 2 places she’s been
Thanks @deb922! A lot of times I/we get a sample meal and sometimes the waitstaff is not attentive or a bit surly (can’t really blame them I guess). At my mother’s assisted living I was very friendly with the waitstaff and the guys in the kitchen. When she was bedbound I had further interactions but when she was in the dining room the waitstaff was so friendly.
I remember one time: My mother asked “What is the soup today?” The waitress said “You’re eating it!” She enjoyed the residents.
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A friend who lives in a multilevel CCRC (although some of it is just short term care or rentals, so no big buy in) invited me to play bridge and to have lunch a few times. The lunch was good and had several choices (sandwiches, salads, a special, entrees) and the servers were great, friendly, kids of about 18-22 years old. Friend said several were in college and would return for the summer and during breaks. They had a system where they get tips once or twice a year and split them based on the number of hours they worked. I was very very impressed by how friendly and accommodating they were (bringing extra sauces or silverware when asked, helping residents maneuver their wheelchairs, just chatting with someone who needed it).
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At my parents CCRC, it is very difficult for HS kids to get a job there - in a good way. The kids there are servers, don’t get tips, do get paid, and get scholarships. There is a big scholarship fund at the CCRC. I don’t know how it all works, but a shuttle bus will pick them up at the HS and take them to the CCRC. They are all very friendly and do a great job.
The CCRC’s “program”, for lack of a better word, has a long-standing, good reputation. When you hear of a kid working/or has worked there, it gives that kid credibility.
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My nephews worked at their grandmother’s CCRC while in HS. It was so sweet.
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Wrong thread!
Visited several CCRC’s and senior communities. Wide range of amenities/services
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