<p>The 91 year old lawyer can take the bus or a cab to his work.</p>
<p>I lived in Manhattan before my kids were born, I work there and I would love to live there again. However, if I were to do so, it would have to be without my husband, who refuses to live in the city ever.</p>
<p>We own a large house in the suburbs (with 5 kids, it had to be large). We also own a small bungalow in our town and will inherit MIL’s home when she no longer has need of it.</p>
<p>My fantasy would be to sell this house when youngest is out of school (middle school now) and move to either the bungalow or MIL’s house. If I am still working, I’d prefer MIL’s because it’s half the commute and a cheaper train ticket. In the bungalow, I’d have a longer commute to the train and would have to rely on H to drive me to or from or pay an exorbitant amount to park.</p>
<p>We live near the beach now and never go because I hate sand. I want to spend my winters in a place where there is never snow - I hate snow more than I hate sand. Lately, I have fantasized about renting a house or apartment in a different place every winter and keeping either MIL’s house or the bungalow for the rest of the year. I don’t mind summer in NY and expect that it would be even less bothersome if I was retired and didn’t have to commute with the crowds. I like spring and fall here, I just despise winter and anything related to it.</p>
<p>I can only have this fantasy because MIL is leaving us her house.</p>
<p>I would prefer to be on one floor (4 now including unfinished basement and unusable attic) and in walking distance of shopping, etc.</p>
<p>" With that in mind, we will probably make the phone booth sized shower a little bigger when we remodel. There’s room to do so, we just missed that detail when the builder adjusted the plans to make the bathroom larger. We also want to add grab bars. The plan is on hold…bathroom remodeling is even more expensive than we had imagined."</p>
<p>We did the grab bar thing in both our recent remodels. Supposedly for our parents, but also in case we stay here. Wish we had room for the shower my Mom’s friend has…huge and no ledge - they could roll in there in side by side wheelchairs if it comes to that, but the overall feel is luxury spa, not a whiff of nursing home.</p>
<p>We recently remodeled our bath and did this exactly (though 2 wheelchairs would be tight). No ledge, a shower bench covered in the same tile as the rest of the shower and we had them reinforce the wall so we could add a grab bar later if we need it. I also had a separate hand-held shower installed near the bench so you can sit on it and shower. It really has a spa feel. I was concerned that without a ledge the water might creep out from under the glass but we’ve had zero problems with that.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus I think the doctor advised against the use of stairs due to the possibility of falling again. I heard recently that falls are a huge factor in health decline of the elderly. My other grandmother had a bad fall (not sure of her age at the time) which caused her to have to move into a nursing home. Her health deteriorated fairly quickly and she passed away not too long after.</p>
<p>The stair issue isn’t the going up. It’s the risk of losing balance coming down.<br>
For some cardiac patients, it’s too much stress to climb. And, it’s only aerobic exercise when done for x minutes. I suppose the benefit is for the joints and the muscles that lift you from one step to the next.</p>
<p>He takes a taxi. He does sometimes still use the city buses, but getting to work for him involves going both downtown and crosstown, so he’d have to take two different buses.</p>
<p>I would never want to live in a community where the minimum age is 80 ! I love to see babies in strollers ! I want to see kids on bikes . I want the Girl Scouts to sell me Thin Mint cookies .</p>
<p>We did just put in a grab bar in the shower- its great to put my foot on when I shave my legs.
My balance is not great- so I empathize with people who don’t like to go down stairs- I started taking tai chi though which will help if I stick with it.
Otherwise, I am not so motivated to stand on one foot and kick out with the other.</p>