At an afternoon breakout, planning directors from Los Angeles and San Diego focused on California's Sustainable Communities Strategy and its implications for senior citizens.
Walkable urban neighborhoods are becoming more important for Boomers as they age; and the same dense urban lifestyle is preferred by Millennials. This makes the demand for such housing strong, but creates vocal opposition in neighborhoods with strong activists. As a result, panelists noted that politicians are happy to cut the ribbon on a new transit line, but not at all happy to be known for promoting high-density, transit-oriented residential development.
The challenges for urban designers: taking advantage of a demand for sustainable lifestyles, leveraging political will, and designing communities, transportation, and information technology to serve a growing senior population.
Elise Kalfayan, Editorial Director, Industry Speaks™. Elise Kalfayan blogs about transportation, development, and regional issues facing Southern California on her community news blog SunroomDesk.com. She can be reached at ekalfayan@industryspeaks.com.
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