Finding Walkable Towns for Retirement (gift, movies, chores, milk)
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Sometimes when I visit South Florida for a week or two and I do not feel like renting a car I stay in a motel in downtown Hollywood, Florida. What a wonderful downtown area it has ... a big supermarket (Publix) and oversized drug store (Walgreen's), but more importantly, there are dozens of great restaurants of many cuisines and price ranges and several pubs and night clubs. There are regular buses to Hollywood Beach, just two miles to the east, and buses to take you to either downtown Miami or Fort Lauderdale, both less than a half hour away.
Most of the "Gold Coast" - Miami, Coral Gables, Hialeah, Hallendale, Dania Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Sunrise, Lauderhill, Pembroke Pines, Deerfield Beach, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, West Palm Beach - have a very spread out suburban layout and getting around by car is almost the only option (public transportation is poor to non-existant in many of the residential neighborhoods. It's miserable if you don't have a car ; if you miss the hourly bus, you're sitting in the scorching humid South Florida heat.)
One other small city on the Gold Coast I would consider walkable is Lake Worth, Florida. A lady I know from college - she is in her early 60's - lives there with her life partner and although their income is modest they are living a very comfortable lifestyle in their smallish but very attractive ranch house near the downtown area. My impression is not only is that town much more affordable than others in Palm Beach County, but safe, attractive, historic, and very "artsy-craftsy."
I have been impressing upon my parents (in their mid-60s) that they need to think about moving to a more walkable area. My grandmother, and other family members, lived in car-dependence well past the time they were safely able to drive. This meant a few years of unsafe driving, followed by burdening other family members for driving errands which would have been easy to do independently in a walkable neighborhood.
To me, walkable means roughly that you can walk out your front door to get your basics (plus), in roughly the distance it would take to walk from your car in a mall parking lot to stores within the mall. It also implies not having to walk on or across dangerous roads, and ideally (for a city) includes access to decent transit within, say, a quarter mile of your front door.
Walking as part of your daily routine keeps you in better shape longer, and keeps you independent longer. It can also save quite a lot of money, which is great for someone on a fixed income.
To me, walkable means roughly that you can walk out your front door to get your basics (plus), in roughly the distance it would take to walk from your car in a mall parking lot to stores within the mall. It also implies not having to walk on or across dangerous roads, and ideally (for a city) includes access to decent transit within, say, a quarter mile of your front door.
When you talk to your parents about this, are you also making specific suggestions of places they can live that meet this criteria? In other words, are you certain such places exist, and have you been to these places and checked them out to make sure they are suitable for your parents?
The reason I ask is I've lived in quite a few cities and going by the ones I've lived in, it might be more difficult to find a place that meets your list than you think. Of course, maybe your city is different--not sure where you live. But make sure you think about the reality of walking to the store. Even if you find a place with stores that are that close, are the stores selling the items your parents need? And can your parents carry bags of groceries any more? Even such basics as a carton of milk or cans of tomato sauce can be difficult to carry if you're walking. Also, how are the prices in these nearby stores? If they are charging a lot more, your parents may need to drive to the budget store anyway. Most retirees are on a tight budget and have to be careful about things like that.
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The truly Walkable neighborhoods also have ways of meeting the special needs of elderly. I do like the story of the High School kid in MN who had grown up with grandparents in a small town (as did I) & he bought the closed down Grocery with a loan from the city. He was committed to serving the seniors and he provided delivery services 1 afternoon / week + as needed for emergencies. (and ordered their special need items he did not stock.) Last I heard he has 3 stores in different towns in the region. He is NOT getting rich, but being richly rewarded in life.
We have all kinds of services for seniors and our town is far from senior centric. Getting groceries delivered and getting rides daily to senior meal and exercise program + appointments (all free) has been happening for over 30 yrs. I have been joining the 1/month breakfast for seniors since I was age 40. We have a great time. We have recently added an underpass @ State Highway to access Columbia River and parks, and sidewalks at all intersections in downtown have been redone with 270 degrees of ramps. This stuff all paid for with YOUR infrastructure $$ / federal grants.
U 2 can participate and make your favorite community more walkable / accessible. (volunteer to drive / help serve or locate and write grants). Spend some time volunteering with the elderly and blind / handicapped and you will soon recognizer barriers and hopefully bring some solutions to the table.
In my rural places we consider 'walkable', adding a gate or Style (steps over fence) between houses / properties so you can get next door (to borrow food, W&D, tools, bath, put the neighbor's cows away...) without using the road. Some of us share keys so we can access each others houses if we need something and they're gone. We share cars and equip on an as needed basis, and we are always helpful to each other when asked. We are VERY lucky.
For most... Walkable is being able to survive without a car, for others (who are stuck in the boonies) we depend on neighbors, and it has worked for centuries. (but I am not anxious to go back to horses... BTDT, so I can if necessary). I still have my saddles and tack.
When you talk to your parents about this, are you also making specific suggestions of places they can live that meet this criteria? In other words, are you certain such places exist, and have you been to these places and checked them out to make sure they are suitable for your parents?
The reason I ask is I've lived in quite a few cities and going by the ones I've lived in, it might be more difficult to find a place that meets your list than you think. Of course, maybe your city is different--not sure where you live. But make sure you think about the reality of walking to the store. Even if you find a place with stores that are that close, are the stores selling the items your parents need? And can your parents carry bags of groceries any more? Even such basics as a carton of milk or cans of tomato sauce can be difficult to carry if you're walking. Also, how are the prices in these nearby stores? If they are charging a lot more, your parents may need to drive to the budget store anyway. Most retirees are on a tight budget and have to be careful about things like that.
My mother is from Switzerland and I can remember when visiting, going with my grandmother to the local butcher and small grocery store to purchase a few groceries for the day. She used a small "shopping cart on wheels" to carry the few groceries, sometimes going twice a day. When I went back several years later, my aunts were doing the same thing (those living in smaller villages outside of the larger cities).
My mother is from Switzerland and I can remember when visiting, going with my grandmother to the local butcher and small grocery store to purchase a few groceries for the day. She used a small "shopping cart on wheels" to carry the few groceries, sometimes going twice a day. When I went back several years later, my aunts were doing the same thing (those living in smaller villages outside of the larger cities).
We have a senior coop about 4 blocks from the main grocery store and it's not unusual to see this. I have one that I use for carrying things around my yard -- it's something I intend to take with me when I move "for future use".
If you're going to wheel a cart, then you need to consider the condition of the sidewalks. Are there numerous curbs that she'd need to lift the cart over? Does the store have some sort of smooth walking path she can push the cart on? Pushing a cart through a parking lot can be fine, but getting from the lot to the street is sometimes a challenge if the only entrance is a busy driveway.
I'm just pointing these things out as a person who walked to work and occasionally tried to stop at the store that was along the way to bring home groceries. It was easier said than done.
you can walk out your front door to get your basics (plus)
I agree with Caladium, this type of "walkable" neighborhood for the elderly population (or maybe hardly any age group) really doesn't exist in America anymore, at least it is very rare. I do live in an area where I could walk to just about any store/restaurant/drug store, etc. that I could ever need, but the people I ever see actually walking to do errands are mostly Hispanic people, not sure why that is. I doubt I could do it in another 10-15 years. All the elderly people that live around me don't walk to do errands. I just see them walking around the complex. It's unrealistic because of poor sidewalk conditions, even small hills can be a challenge, carrying bags of groceries and a handbag, etc or trying to pull a carrier, crossing roads....I can see where young families might want this, but for older folks I'm think it's just not realistic. I really don't ever hear the elderly that I know even express any desire to get out and walk to do their own errands.
For some reason this "walkable" neighborhood thing has become a real fad but towns that exist now weren't built for it. Now I know there are exceptions, but I still think it's a waste of time thinking that everybody's elderly parents,or themselves, are going to be out there doing their own chores, after they quit driving.
I've seen employees at Walmart drive scooters out to cars where people get on them and ride them into the store. I've seen the reverse as employees push a cart of groceries when the customer rides a scooter back to the car. I believe that our local Albertson's does the same. So as long as someone drives "walkability" isn't a problem if the customer is able to get the groceries into the house. I've seen some of these people, mostly elderly, really struggle moving from from car to scooter. I really think Walmart goes above and beyond on this and it really makes me happy as I could easily become one of the scooter folks.
To me, the most important trip is the grocery trip. That's the only store I must visit because Amazon doesn't have everything. With the exception of medical trips everything else is usually optional.
I've read lots and lots of posts on CD in many forums about people looking for a walkable town or city to move to, whether for retirement or not. (Walkable meaning the ability to live within walking distance of some services or amenities in a given location, not just restaurants and cute shops.) I'm wondering if retirees, in particular, find this important, and if so, what cities and towns they have found that fit this criteria (besides NYC and Boston, both of which are a long way from my price range, and probably the price range of most CD posters on the retirement forum ). And if walkability is not important to you now, what are your plans for managing your transportation needs as you grow older and have less ability/desire to drive.
I'm in Chicago. It's a very walkable city. In my neighborhood I frequently, daily, observe seniors walking. Couples, almost always. They walk a retangular route by my building that, if traveled once, is probably about 1 mile in length or a little longer. Good length. Good, level sidewalk route. The city is full of similar opportunities. Especially so along 20+ of lakefront parkland. People are walking beause their physicians have suggested it, to minimize and/or prevent health problems. I can walk 1/2 mile in either direction of my condo and get to major supermarkets, 2 different ones. 1/4 mile away is a shopping center. Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Mc Donalds ... are a 5 minute walk from my front door. A dry cleaner and Thai restaurant are also 5 min away, as is a health club and bank. Someone could buy a nice 1 BR condominium in my neighborhood for $50,000, 2 BR for $75,000 and a 2,000 sq. ft 3 BR for about $125,000. The real estate market was hit hard in many parts of Chicago. Of course, walking in the snow and ice of Winter can be a challenge.. This year, though, we've yet to have much in the way of negative weather.
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you can walk out your front door to get your basics (plus)
). And if walkability is not important to you now, what are your plans for managing your transportation needs as you grow older and have less ability/desire to drive.
