An item recommended by the Durning from mother nature network:
It won’t be pretty when boomers lose their cars
It’s already a problem with seniors in the suburbs, and it’s going to explode in coming years.
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The oldest boomers are now just 68. But there are 78 million of them, and as they get older, the impact on suburbia will be profound. More and more of municipalities’ taxes will be going to support them instead of schools and parks — Why? Because they vote a lot — while property values, and the tax base will decline as whole neighborhoods turn into senior citizens districts, with old Saturns rusting in the driveway like at my mother-in-law’s house. Transit costs will go through the roof as seniors demand services in low-density areas that cannot support it.
The fact is, there is a major urban planning disaster staring us all in the face, which is going to seriously hit everyone young and old in about 10 years when the oldest boomers are 78. We have to prepare for it now.
Durning: “Too bad this couldn’t have been pointed out more vigorously before the recent plebiscite.”
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And an example of adaptive change seen in front of a 1950s building in the West End at Barclay and Chilco:
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To be fair, if suburban seniors are riding transit more often, then the density necessary for economical transit service will fall. Recall that when transit had a 100% mode share, that trams to chilliwack were regarded as economically viable.
Hi Brendan, remember that at that time, we also built housing with the idea in mind that one would need to be within walking distance to tram station. Since the car, we dropped that idea and built wherever we pleased because, you know, roads are free and all that. So there are going to be millions of people across the country who live in areas where transit doesn’t make sense. To really be fair, if we stopped subsidizing the automobile in those areas with free roads and services, cars wouldn’t make sense either.
Isn’t this exploding market why Google is developing the driverless car?
If the roads continue to be free then yes SOV will still exist. Driverless or with regular drivers.
“We have to prepare for it now.”
Yes. Best get organized with a massive increase in door-to-door mini buses for all suburbia. That’s where TransLink needs to concentrate its efforts. That’s where the votes are.
Or maybe seniors will move to areas with better transit service (empty nesters moving downtown)?
– or is it that seniors don’t like change?
Change will happen to us all whether we’re ready or not for it.
Agree. Why does this article assume suburban seniors won’t cash out on their huge property windfalls and downsize to a more urban area?
who’s going to buy them? There’s no baby boom of young people coming up to buy those suburban homes – or certainly not in the numbers that exist in the previous generation. Not to mention that younger people tend to prefer urban areas to suburban. Vancouver might have a hot enough real estate market for seniors to get out lucky, but I doubt that will be the case in most North American cities where this is a problem.
Agree. Most other cities might not let seniors cash out. But, Vancouver is expecting another 1,000,000 people, and they’re not building more land.
1,000,000? Kirk where on earth did you get that nonsensicle figure. Jeeezless, you still drinking the Kool-aid?
For many reasons I will not go into, the myth of growth growth growth has bunged down the rabbit hole! Mind there’s money in it for planners and Chinses speculators: for the time being! And it keep PT cossipers from doing more harm!
As for oldies in the suburbs I am a post-boomer boomer and got out of the suburbs decades ago. In my fifties I had what, at the time, appeared to be a professional disaster but on reflection it was the best thing that ever happened: Disaster NOT!
Looking at the current bungle I want nothing to do with it!
I attended SCARP, travelled Canada on a CC grant, wrote a book, lived in Mexico City. Return to Canada a couple of years later, perched myself on the sea shore and sailed the Salish Sea until I got too old.
Now I enjoy chuckling over PT’s irrelevant gossipers: all the hopefuls about to go down that rabbit hole too. I hope they are as lucky as I was!
The idea that someone can downsize from a suburban house to an urban condo and use a “huge property windfall” to finance 25 years of retirement is simply not realistic.
My in-laws have a house in a very desirable suburban neighbourhood. They will be moving to a seniors complex in a more distant suburb either this year or next. Initially the cost will be reasonable because they require minimal care, but as nurses are increasingly needed for daily living the bill will skyrocket. If they live another 10 years they’ll be completely out of money.
That’s right dear, we have to die now because the money’s all gone.