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You need groceries?
You need to go to the Doctor?
You need to go to the bank?
You want to go to the store?
How will you deal with that?
The same way I have been dealing with those things my entire life. I am 69 and have never either owned or driven a car. I have lived in some very nice city or suburban areas where public transportation was good and grocery stores, bank, and other necessities were within walking distance. Only on very, very rare occasion would I ever take a ride from a friend and then it was usually because I was offered one.
Now that I am older, I find it a bit more stressful to deal with buses and light rail transit but there is transport for seniors in my city that offers rides for medical appointments, grocery shopping and things of that nature for a small fee. The public transportation system has that service as well although I don't know the criteria for eligibility to take advantage of that. The senior transport only requires one has to be old.
Wherever I lived I have always planned around my life necessities. Sure I couldn't live in a rural area but I never wanted to. Or maybe I could have but I didn't try to figure out whether or not it was possible. I have lived in quiet city neighborhoods and a couple of suburbs and that was fine. My point is you don't have to live in a heavily populated urban downtown environment in a large city if you don't drive as some people believe.
These days it's even easier. You can shop for groceries in the store and have them delivered at more and more supermarkets. You can even order online without going to the store. Amazon is my friend. There isn't anything I can't order from them.
It's been an easy lifestyle for me. I don't think I ever missed a thing not owning a car.
Excellent point Minervah. About grocery stores and Amazon delivering. And of course UPS and FedEx are everywhere. Modern conveniences make life easier for those mainly at home. And senior transportation to and from doctors is a great idea.
The cost of such transportation and delivery is still lower in cities than in rural places.
You need groceries?
You need to go to the Doctor?
You need to go to the bank?
You want to go to the store?
How will you deal with that?
What makes you think I'll reach a point in my life that I can no longer drive? My grandfather drove himself everywhere until the day he died. Good genes and leading a healthy lifestyle well into your senior years can help you avoid any mobility issues you may otherwise begin to develop.
I've watched a very dear friend of mine age over the past 15 years and she still drives, but she could never walk to a bus stop now. She's 85 and her walking ability has lessened significantly over the past 2 years. So planning to take buses might not be option because people lose their ability to walk very far, no less walk to grocery stores, etc.
Thank you for pointing this out! It takes far more stamina and physical function to walk to the bus stop, to wait for the bus, to exit the bus in a timely manner, etc., than it does to drive. Public transportation is a great solution for people whose eyesight has failed, and who accordingly can't drive anymore, but who are otherwise healthy and vigorous. It's exactly the wrong solution for people who are physically frail. For them a car is more comfortable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Minervah
These days it's even easier. You can shop for groceries in the store and have them delivered at more and more supermarkets. You can even order online without going to the store. Amazon is my friend. There isn't anything I can't order from them.
I marvel at the ubiquitous testaments of elderly people espousing digital technology as replacement for the old manual way of doing things. How can this be? By way of example, my late mother drove a manual-transmission car until her late 60s. She regularly checked the oil, and could pinpoint with fair accuracy the mechanical cause of some rumble or tick in the car. A chemical engineer by profession, she had a passable understanding of carpentry and mechanics, air conditioning and irrigation and all sorts of technological things around the house. She studied up on law, hand-writing an elegant and legally unimpeachable will – all by herself. But she never figured out the internet. She never owned a cell phone, or ordered anything online. She used a rotary-dial phone until around 5 years ago. She never had cable TV, or Skype, or even rented a video tape from the video store. If it was 1970 technology or earlier, she'd comprehend it with flair and aplomb. But anything with an integrated circuit scared her. Vacuum tubes – that she understood. But ordering books from amazon.com? Forget it.
My point is: how can we expect the elderly who are no longer able to drive, to suddenly adopt the manners and methods of the Millennials, living comfortably the digital life?
One of the reasons I've shunned the idea of living in one of these Del Webb 55+ senior communities, is they're too car centric for me. More than likely, these communities have some sort of in-house transportation services for the those who can't drive anymore, but I'm too much of a convenience junkie to live in them.
Even right now, I'm a long block to a bus stop, 4 blocks to 2 major grocery stores, 2 blocks to a 7/11, and if I want a nightcap at night, without driving and risking a DUI, there's a bar right up the street, and 2 more 2 blocks from there!
In what 55+ Del Webb senior community can you have those kinds of conveniences?
There are several locations in the original Sun City. Not all of Sun City but several that have most things you need within walking distance.
Where I live in SWTN, there is no bus service, no taxi, and not even senior bus/transport. If I reach the point where I can no longer drive - and my husband is unable as well - we will have to move. To where? probably one of the towns nearby that has those services. If that day should arrive, we will sell our home and move. My grandmother drove into her 80s; my mother the same. I'm 65, have already had cataract surgery so I think I'm good for a while.
My point is: how can we expect the elderly who are no longer able to drive, to suddenly adopt the manners and methods of the Millennials, living comfortably the digital life?
Meh. My 82-year-old mother can't remember what year it is or what she did an hour ago but she has no problem buying things on the internet. The UPS truck in the driveway is a daily occurrence. Her computer literacy ends at a web browser and email but that allows her to buy pretty much anything she needs. She's still able to drive so she hasn't needed to resort to Peapod internet grocery delivery service yet but she's not going to starve when that day happens.
At age 56, it's easy to imagine that my car 20 years from now will be able to self-drive. I doubt I'll ever face that problem seniors face now where they can no longer drive. I just bought a Subaru Outback a couple of weeks ago. Their Eyesight system has an amazing adaptive cruise control. It ******* at me if I lane wander. It will panic brake for me.
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