Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
There are 'boarding houses' and 'residential halls' in my location. I've met one or two older single people who resided in these types of places.
Are they decent, like for normal people? There are boarding houses (also known as SROs, which I think stands for single room occupancy hotels) in some cities, that are basically flophouses, filled with addicts and dangerous element. I am not talking about that, but about nice safe buildings that would be designed like dorms, with individual rooms that have a small en-suite bathroom, where a person could buy or rent one tiny unit.
Lifelong Learning, a University Retirement Community Can Get Them Back on Campus
(LIVING ON CAMPUS)
Last updated February 24, 2022
Seniors starting a new chapter in life are choosing to have the college experience as part of their retirement — but they’re not moving into the dorms. Designed just for seniors, university retirement communities, or university-based retirement communities (UBRCs), are gaining popularity for their myriad opportunities.
Thank you for that info. That is pretty cool. I don't like the idea of CCRC (at least not yet) because I don't want to eat the institutional menu (even if it is very good), plus I travel all the time so it is kind of pointless to be based in an expensive CCRC housing while not being there half of the time. But with some modifications (like living on a school campus & not having to pay for the CCRC food, or eat it), it could be interesting.
PS- actually, after taking a second look at the article, these communities are NOT what I meant. They are still full apartments (with the main offender, the full kitchen), just located close to the campus & include a possibility of taking free or discounted classes. But that is not the dorm-like or hotel-like living which I have in mind. I am wondering about housing that would consist of small rooms with small baths but without kitchens. And not flophouses, but something safe and pleasant.
Life On A College Or University Campus – An Alternative Retirement Destination
Housing (LIVING ON CAMPUS or very close-by walking distance)
If you’re thinking that living on a college campus means going back to dorm life, the good news is that college retirement communities include individual housing units specifically for seniors. Each UBRC (University Based Retirement Community) is different, so some may have apartment-style living, while others have small neighborhoods with townhomes, duplexes, or single-family homes near campus.
Features of university-based retirement communities (UBRC)
• Single-family homes, condos, townhouses, or apartment living options that are on a college campus or nearby (often within walking distance)
• Communities designed with walkability in mind, allowing you access to most of your daily activities without driving
• Access to all the amenities available on a college campus, including top-notch fitness centers, recreation centers, pools, sports venues, sports teams, and more
• Access to performing arts and cultural communities, including music venues, theater performances, art galleries, and a world-class library
• Opportunity to enroll in non-credit college courses to provide intellectual stimulation (many colleges and universities also allow retirees who want to earn a college degree to enroll in courses for credit, although this usually costs more)
• A diverse population and interactions with college-age students, professors, university staff, and other retirees in your community
I might even put up with snow for all that! I'm thinking Chapel Hill or someplace comparable.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,585 posts, read 81,260,275 times
Reputation: 57826
Not exactly, but both my late mother-in-law and now my mother age 93 lived in apartments for seniors. They had small kitchens but the building management provides one meal a day, that can be eaten in the communal dining room or be delivered to their apartment. The rooms have those cords to pull if you need help. Both facilities in different cities have a maximum income limit and waiting lists.
Elder cohousing consists of private homes built around some shared spaces such as greenery and clubhouses. Each of the community members is financially independent, but they share responsibility for running the neighborhood and are all engaged in decision-making.
There is often a common space –– a separate house or apartment that includes a kitchen, laundry facilities, dining room, and game room –– where the residents could meet to share meals or discuss community issues. Sociability and shared community responsibilities characterize this arrangement, and it frequently has a strong ecological (eco-housing) ethos.
There are three elder co-housing projects that have been completed in the US. The three lucky states are Virginia, California, and Colorado. To date, there are eight elder co-housing projects actively underway according to Elder co-housing.org. Some communities are spearheaded by a group of friends or neighbors; others are formed by a few members who then recruit other future “neighbors” for investment and participation.
Co-housing fits this prescription perfectly as each member of a co-housing project has duties and contributions they are expected to provide.
The typical cohousing model consists of a common house where members work together and share cooking, eating, laundry duties. There are usually leisure and meeting facilities on “campus” as well.
The majority of cohousing communities are 15 to 35 private and individual homes built around a common area that encourages interaction. These “intentional neighborhoods” invite residents to be “neighborly” and stay socially active. Residents regularly and collaboratively plan community activities, meals and shared spaces.
Elder cohousing consists of private homes built around some shared spaces such as greenery and clubhouses. Each of the community members is financially independent, but they share responsibility for running the neighborhood and are all engaged in decision-making.
There is often a common space –– a separate house or apartment that includes a kitchen, laundry facilities, dining room, and game room –– where the residents could meet to share meals or discuss community issues. Sociability and shared community responsibilities characterize this arrangement, and it frequently has a strong ecological (eco-housing) ethos.
Green Housing
The term, coined by age care specialist Bill Thomas some 16 years ago, refers to a new model of nursing home or memory care unit that is anything but a warehouse. Instead, each Green House allows only a few residents, who share a home-like atmosphere, hindered by as few restrictions as practicable.
As a result, the residents get the personal attention they each need while reducing the stress for their healthcare providers. Ultimately, a happier and healthier atmosphere is generated, and all feel respected.
Micro-Communities
These communities are a form of homelike residential/assisted living care. As the name suggests, these are small communities that are suitable for those who wish to avoid a larger, more crowded assisted living facility. This would also be an appropriate choice for a resident whose personality or medical condition requires special attention.
Multi-gen Housing
This type of living situation involves a minimum of three generations of family members all living under the same roof or on the same property. As of 2019, about 20 percent of Americans, approximately 64 million people, were sharing a home with family, and those numbers are on the rise. Historically, this style of housing can be achieved when:
The living space in the main house that is augmented by adding onto or converting existing space.
An “in-law” apartment is added over the garage.
A separate tiny home has been built on the property.
Niche Senior Retirement Communities
This type of senior housing consists of a niche community composed of seniors, or sometimes a broader age range. The members occupy separate or attached homes, or even an apartment building. The binding factor is a shared interest or trait. It could be birdwatching or carpentry, music or cooking, sexual orientation or shared religion, golfing or bridge. You name it, and it may already exist or is simply waiting for someone to initiate it.
The amount of assistance available for seniors will vary from one community to another, though generally, once one loses one’s mobility or develops a serious condition, that person will need to move to a place that offers the appropriate medical care.
Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORC)
Dr. Michael Hunt of the University of Wisconsin-Madison coined the term NORC in 1984. To qualify, a community must contain at least 40 percent of residents who are 60+ years of age. All of them must still live in their own homes, and not require home nursing treatment. At the very best, this type of senior housing breeds camaraderie, activity, and positive social interaction that benefits all.
University-Based Retirement Communities (UBRC)
More college and university campuses are offering housing for seniors, ranging from independent to assisted living. This is often an attempt to shore up income due to inconsistent enrollment and budgeting cuts. As strange as it sounds, retiring on a college campus definitely has its perks.
Depending on the campus, seniors might have separate housing or share an apartment building with college students. Enticements include free or discounted classes, access to first-rate medical care, and a vibrant, stimulating, and safe atmosphere.
Village Movement
This type of senior housing is another means of achieving aging in place for retirees, while also positively impacting their neighbors. Neighbors form a village when they agree to take on the responsibility of assessing, coordinating, and ultimately delivering the necessary services to each member of the village.
These include medical, home repair, grocery shopping, pet walking, and so on. A board of directors, chosen from the village, manages the non-profit organization. Each member pays membership fees. These are based on how many services that person is using and go back into running the village.
Villages make it possible for a senior to remain in their own home. Furthermore, this approach relies heavily on volunteerism and seems to engender a sense of community, drawing all involved closer. There are reportedly more than 200 villages in the United States today.
Are they decent, like for normal people? There are boarding houses (also known as SROs, which I think stands for single room occupancy hotels) in some cities, that are basically flophouses, filled with addicts and dangerous element. I am not talking about that, but about nice safe buildings that would be designed like dorms, with individual rooms that have a small en-suite bathroom, where a person could buy or rent one tiny unit.
An older lady I met a few years ago described her living arrangement as a 'boarding house,' and said it was a large, old renovated house on the outskirts of a local university that had multiple bedrooms and a kitchen and living room that everyone was free to use but that many of the people living in that house used hotplates etc. in their individual rooms. I didn't ask about the bathroom situation. She seemed like a fairly normal, respectable person so I don't think it was a flop house she was staying in, and she had a small dog (we would run into each other while at a popular hiking place). But I never visited her boarding house.
The residential hall I did visit. It was quite nice and owned/run by a local church. It was (is) 6 stories or so of long hallways with individual rooms where single people (this hall was female only) could rent a nice little room. The one I visited with my SO at that time was about 400-500 sq feet, hardwood floors. There were multiple large bathrooms on each floor and very nice communal areas with a kitchen downstairs. It reminded me of a small college dorm or a sorority house.
And no, I didn't ask either person questions about $/rent.
Here's another interesting approach. I kinda like the idea of leaving your apt, going downstairs and "going out" to dinner, all under one roof:
When it was built 188 years ago, the Arcade Providence was America's first shopping mall, hosting boutiques on all three floors. Now those shops have been transformed into 48 tiny apartments and a mix of businesses, including restaurants, a coffee shop, and a new hair salon.
Yes, I did some research on this place! I'd love to live there as long as I was alone.
There's one woman in particular, an entrepreneur, who runs her business out of her micro apartment.
Not exactly, but both my late mother-in-law and now my mother age 93 lived in apartments for seniors. They had small kitchens but the building management provides one meal a day, that can be eaten in the communal dining room or be delivered to their apartment. The rooms have those cords to pull if you need help. Both facilities in different cities have a maximum income limit and waiting lists.
You can find them if you search senior independent living. They vary widely in detail.
So I was just watching a video on You Tube on the subject of seniors seeking to split a home with roommates (they call it "Boommates" ) for financial reasons, with also benefits of having a company.
I was wondering: has anyone ever heard of senior housing on a principle of student dorms? A group housing with individual rooms, like a hotel, ie, single rooms with their own bathrooms but no kitchens (just an option of having a mini-fridge, microwave and hotplate - the way you can have in some hotel rooms)? It seems to me like a very economical solution that would interest a lot of people, but I have never heard of large-capacity senior housing like that.
I am not talking about nursing homes or assisted facilities, just regular housing for independent seniors, particularly single seniors (or not even seniors but single people who want to live alone economically, and do not care to do any real cooking).
I'm sure it would work for many. I could not stand it. I'm a stickler for my privacy.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
) for financial reasons, with also benefits of having a company. 
