Age-friendly cities: what factors should you consider if you’re planning to move?
The decision to pick up and move in one’s later years is a difficult one, requiring a great deal of forethought and research. While some choose more insular retirement communities and homes, others prefer to maintain more independence, living in areas that may not be designed specifically for older adults. If the latter sounds like you or a loved one, it is important to consider the “age friendliness” of the location you’re considering.
According to the World Health Organization, an age-friendly city “enables people of all ages to actively participate in community activities and treats everyone with respect, regardless of their age. It is a place that makes it easy for older people to stay connected to those that are important to them.” Unfortunately, many cities and towns in the present-day United States do not fit this definition.
To ensure the best fit for you or your loved one, it’s a good idea to perform an age-friendliness assessment of the cities under consideration. Luckily, the WHO has streamlined this process in its Guide to Global Age Friendly Cities, where it outlines the most important facets of city (or town life) for the aging population.
Screenshot from the WHO Guide to Global Age-Friendly Cities
Here are the categories it outlines, as well as the most important aspects you’ll want to assess in each category:
Transportation
Affordability of public transit
Reliability and frequency of public transit
Convenient transit stops for both origins and destinations
Accessible information
Affordable and priority parking options
Housing
Affordable housing
Accessible housing
Proximity of housing to essential services (medical, shopping, etc.)
Social participation
Accessibility of events and activities
Wide range of events and activities
Clear efforts by the city or town to address isolation
Active community integration efforts
Respect and social inclusion
Inclusive non-profit and for-profit services
Community and economic inclusion
Accurate and positive public images of aging
Civic participation and employment
Volunteering options
Employment and training options with fair pay
Valued contributions
Communication and information
Accessible information about events and services (billboards, posters, television, radio, etc.)
Access to computers and the internet
Community support and health services
Emergency planning and care
Access to health and social services by public transit or within walking distance of residence
Adequate range of services offered to older adults
Outdoor spaces and buildings
Clean and quiet outdoor spaces
Access to nature and green spaces
Public toilets
Outdoor seating in parks and sidewalks
Smooth, wide pavements without obstructions
By doing a few minutes of research on each category listed above, you'll be able to get a pretty good sense of what type of place you or your loved one may be entering into. From there, you can evaluate the different destinations based on your own priorities and preferences.
While it may seem overwhelming at first, once you get the hang of researching one category, it is a pretty easy process to replicate for the others. Remember also that this is meant to help you: Do what you find useful, whether that means evaluating all of the categories listed above, or just the few that you find most important.
In terms of where to look for information, there are a multitude of options. If you live close to the destination you’re considering, it may be easiest to make a day trip out of it, walking around and recording any observations you find significant. If you do not live close but know someone who does, it may be worth asking if they can do it for you.
If neither of these apply (which is often the case), it is fairly easy to find most of the information online. You might start by visiting the city’s government website, doing an online search of age friendliness in the area, or looking through a Maps app (like Google Maps/Google Earth) in pedestrian view to virtually “walk” through the area you are considering. While none of these methods is perfect, each will provide some of the insight you will need for this activity.
There are also different ways you can keep track of such information. You may make a spreadsheet on your computer, a chart on paper, or simply a pros and cons list for each place and each category. However you choose to record your information is totally up to you.
Once you’ve collected and thought more about each aspect of age-friendliness, the decision may be easy, or it may not. While weighing the pros and cons of each place, it may be helpful to discuss your findings with your friends and family, especially if you are having a hard time deciding what’s best for you.
And if this process proves a little too daunting, here’s a list of cities that grade out well according to all of the above metrics:
Boston, MA
New Orleans, LA
Charlotte, NC
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Santa Barbara, CA
Indianapolis, IN
New York City, NY
Austin, TX
Denver, CO
Atlanta, GA
Columbus, OH
Phoenix, AZ