In summary, what have we learned? Our evolving longevity, demographics, transportation, and technology have brought us from the twentieth to the twenty-first century.
Across America, neighborhood development and planning focuses on starter and tract homes, as well as, custom homes, providing for the needs of adults 25-50. As a consequence, seniors aged 75-90+ are not seeing enough accommodations built to their unique requirements. Care facilities and aging in place homes now appear to be appropriate for seniors, 75 to 90+ (Ref 6: Harvard). We have seen how demographics of these age groups have changed in the twenty-first century and now it is time to address these changes through our city planning. Clearly, city planners need to look more
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closely at the percentage of heads of households in each group and model needs based on these percentages. Future growth needs should be based on the numbers of adults within these age groups. If there is 50% in the adult group (25 to 50), 35% in the mature group (50-75) and 15% in the senior group (75-90+), then future growth needs should reflect this. Let’s consider an example, where America’s adult population (25-90+) numbers 80,000. Based on future growth needs, 40,000 homes should be built for the 25-50 group. Following this logic, the 50-75 group will be accommodated for future growth through 28,000 new specific housing units, while the senior group needs 12,000. This plan will fit the needs of everyone in the community. While this example uses a fictitious population size, the proportion of adults in each group reflects true demographic statistics about the United States. Because existing homes are not being built to these ratios, it will probably be necessary to add a disproportionate number of homes for mature and senior needs. City Demographics: Most cities have been the victims of sprawl caused by continuing emphasis on city perimeter expansion.
This has lead to a greater reliance on new roads, new utilities, new fire stations, police stations, and parks. While the city benefits in the short term from “bubble profits” paid by the developer for all the city fees collected through the short term, the city later assumes a dual role: A caretaker and banker to maintain new development after the developer builds out the roads, utilities and supporting infrastructure required by the city. However, there are no deferred payments to pay for all the future obligations. The only benefit the city receives after completion is the parcel tax that is paid to the county and city. How can this change? Perhaps a “sinking fund” from the developer might be a solution. Otherwise the future costs fall on the community as a whole. It would seem that the city planning should evaluate both the initial costs of the development as well as all future costs and decide how much of this is the developers’ responsibility. Today, cities need to know, just as a condominium project does, what deferred maintenance and common replacement costs will be needed 5, 10, 25 and even 50 years into the life of the development. This could and should be a “sinking fund” obligation for all new perimeter …show more content…
development. As population grows, new development requires new road development within and well as connecting to other arteries of the city. Expansion creates the need for more and wider roads. Adding more and better road systems encourage additional development expansion. And so the process continues until we have cities like Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. The alternative is to look inward where roadways already exist. Thus, cities need to grow up…not out. Vertical growth has worked for centuries in Europe, older U.S. cities and other areas of the world. Perhaps it is time for cities in the United States to look at how younger cities can change direction in their planning, Technology Benefits: Everyone recognizes the advances that have been made by the cell phone, lap top computers, television, and many other inventions during the 20th century. However not everyone understands that these advances have changed how we live. Today people, especially those in college or during the ten years after seem to be more inquisitive and more independent. Many are living, dining and relaxing through movies, travel or parties in groups. Work is becoming either something we all our waking hours or not at all. The “nerd” with the computer awakens in the morning to process information on the computer and continues throughout the day. While this effort is considered work, he views as instant entertainment. Thus, an active and creative mind develops new ideas or concepts. Thousands of “apps” are created over time, each offering millions new ways to simplify their day. Chapter 14 A better and enhanced city if we accept the challenge If we were to apply all of the items discussed in the previous chapters we could then begin to insure that inner cities might begin to improve. The lessons learned would be: 1) Allow growth of housing in the central areas through the addition of low rise (5-10 story apartment and condominium buildings. 2) Include underground parking where possible as well as providing through bonuses of 25 to 50% increased densities. 3) Encourage alley access to the underground or mid level parking to eliminate traffic turning in or out from mid block access points. Thus access would be on side streets rather than major street arteries. 4) Readjust fee schedules such as major project fees and public work improvements for in fill projects. This would lower unit costs for in fill projects in comparison to major subdivision development on the perimeter. New streets, traffic signals and other lighting occurs primary in the area of the perimeter development. 5) Insure that for the additional parking necessary for the downtown caused by the increased subdivisions population, that the new sub divisions are accessed proportionately for new parking that will be needed to maintain parity for the increased subdivision population. 6) Program planning forecasts for housing to reflect: A) Age 25-50 percentage of population for starter homes, tract housing and custom homes/lots.
B) Age 50 to 75 percentage of population for one story cluster homes and condominium flats
C) Age 75-100 percentage of population for care facilities and senior assisted housing.
7) Increase downtown housing densities from the existing to 75 to 100 units per acre. This will add to the number of shoppers within the central area thereby improving sales for the downtown retailers. The addition of low rise condos in the area will help to add to the number of owner/occupants in the surrounding neighborhoods. This will help to stabilize these neighborhoods and help to reverse the flight of the population to the suburbs.
8) Encourage low rise condominiums were possible as typically they have home owner associations which police their own home owners rather than relying on the city police force. This is not true of apartment building which rely on an apartment manager.
9) For cities fees which are collected by the city, insure that these fees do not go into a general fund but are spent in improvements to the downtown. This might be alley way repaving, lighting, landscaping or other
improvements.
There are many examples of cities reforming itself over time, one significant example is Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. More than a hundred years after the discovery of gold that drew thousands of migrants to Vancouver, the city has changed a lot, and so does one of its oldest community: Downtown Eastside. Began as a small town for workers that migrants frequently, after these workers moved away with all the money they have made, Downtown Eastside faced many hardships and changes. As a city, Vancouver gave much support to improve the area’s living quality and economics, known as a process called gentrification. But is this process really benefiting everyone living in Downtown Eastside? The answer is no. Gentrification towards DTES(Downtown Eastside) did not benefit the all the inhabitants of the area. Reasons are the new rent price of the area is much higher than before the gentrification, new businesses are not community-minded, and the old culture and lifestyle of the DTES is getting erased by the new residents.
The arrival of immigrants triggered a rapid urbanization of the major cities in the United States. New buildings were built to keep up with the city’s population increase, new modes of transportation were built in order to get across the city faster, and settlement house were created The immigrants rushed into cities causing skyscrapers and tenements to be build. As a result of limited land, businesses decide to build the business up instead of out. In addition, many of the immigrants were poor, so the tenement was invented. A tenement is a building full of small apartments that would house many families. Document two shows an immigrant family living in one of these tenements. In addition, to changes in building there were also changes
... them enough to care how they live. Once that was done you could take the care they discovered for those people and use it to better their homes. And the city would well be on it’s way to improvement.
In contrast to the negatives of gentrification, some people view gentrification as a the only effective way to “revitalize” low-income urban communities. In the article, “Gentrification: A Positive Good For Communities” Turman situates the piece around the opinion that gentrification is not as awful as the negative connotation surrounding it. Furthermore, he attempts to dispel the negative aspects of gentrification by pointing out how some of them are nonexistent. To accomplish this, Turman exemplifies how gentrification could positively impact neighborhoods like Third Ward (a ‘dangerous’ neighborhood in Houston, Texas).Throughout the article, Turman provides copious examples of how gentrification can positively change urban communities, expressing that “gentrification can produce desirable effects upon a community such as a reduced crime rate, investment in the infrastructure of an area and increased economic activity in neighborhoods which gentrify”. Furthermore, he opportunistically uses the Third Ward as an example, which he describes as “the 15th most dangerous neighborhood in the country” and “synonymous with crime”, as an example of an area that could “need the change that gentrification provides”. Consequently, he argues with
It is a well-known fact most Americans seniors would prefer to age in their own homes instead of moving into senior living communities. Meeting seniors where they are is a trend that will most likely affect assisted living facilites in the future. One of the main focuses from providers is being patient centerd. Meaning working with the patient to ensure that the best possible care is given. Providers are working with patients and offereing more services within their homes. Another trend that we will see in assisted living facilites is a competive pressure. According to the National Investment Center for Senior Housing and Care, competition housing is an increasing trend that is affecting living situtions for the elderly
Baltimore City is a diverse and culturally vibrant city. It’s a city with unique charm, made up of dozens of individual neighborhoods, each with their own distinct style and personality. It does however have its fair share of planning issues. Many of these problems are the result of a history of poor decisions made by government officials. Only through a thorough examination of the issues and a look at sustainable solutions that might improve the city can a planner help Baltimore be the vibrant, secure, and prosperous city it has the potential to be.
In California, the finance structure of local government gives them more incentives to approve commercial (non-residential) housing development. Cities and counties find fiscal benefits come primarily from the commercial development, such as hotels, restaurants, and retail establishments. The tax revenue received from these establishments could often offset the cost for a local government to provide public services. On the contrary, the affordable housing developments cause more local costs than yielding high tax revenues. Therefore, local governments have the motivation to develop commercial establishments by zoning considerable lands for such purposes. Consequently, many cities and counties have approved their land use planning disproportionately towards commercial
The Canadian population is graying at a steady pace, adding thousands of seniors above the age of 65 in the population charts year after year. This segment of the population needs special attention due to its social, emotional, health, and dwelling needs. Continued growth in the size of aging population is putting pressure on the economy, health care system, and living space for seniors. Planners and policy makers need to pay immediate attention to the issue as it is going to affect all Canadians in the years to come.
Gentrification is described as the renovation of certain neighborhoods in order to accommodate to young workers and the middle-class. For an area to be considered gentrified, a neighborhood must meet a certain median home value and hold a percentage of adults earning Bachelor’s degree. Philadelphia’s gentrification rate is among the top in the nation; different neighborhoods have pushed for gentrification and have seen immense changes as a result. However, deciding on whether or not gentrification is a beneficial process can become complicated. Various groups of people believe that cities should implementing policy on advancing gentrification, and others believe that this process shouldn’t executed. Both sides are impacted by the decision to progress gentrification; it is unclear of the true implications of completely renovating impoverished urban areas; gentrification surely doesn’t solve all of a community’s issues. I personally believe that gentrification is not necessarily a good or bad process; gentrification should occur as a natural progression of innovative economies and novel lifestyles collide within certain areas. Policy involving gentrification should not support the removal of people out of their neighborhood for the sake of advancement.
For example, new buildings may be established while old ones are either rehabilitated or brought down. Additionally, public pressure may force the city authorities to make the much needed investment in the cities infrastructure. Thus, investments may go into construction and rehabilitation of parks, roads, health facilities, schools and streets. Writers with the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) show that changes may also occur in terms of the codification of new standards related to historic preservation, nuisance laws, and aesthetic nature of the districts (Pbs.org).
The swinging sixties were a time of change, people began to think differently they were no longer living in a Great Depression. Middle class families began to move their families to the suburbs to find the great American dream. John Cheever examines suburban life and peels back the clean cut image and exposes its deep, dark secrets in many of his short stories. In “The Swimmer“, John Cheever’s short story explores the dissatisfaction and secrets among the middle class white Americans who live in suburbia .
Gentrification is the keystone for the progression of the basic standards of living in urban environments. A prerequisite for the advancement of urban areas is an improvement of housing, dining, and general social services. One of the most revered and illustrious examples of gentrification in an urban setting is New York City. New York City’s gentrification projects are seen as a model for gentrification for not only America, but also the rest of the world. Gentrification in an urban setting is much more complex and has deeper ramifications than seen at face value. With changes in housing, modifications to the quality of life in the surrounding area must be considered as well. Constant lifestyle changes in a community can push out life-time
One major example of the help that was put into areas of Toronto is prominent is Regent Park, Toronto before gentrification. Regent Park showed that there are 65% apartments and houses that are market price but then there are 35% of the properties that are rent geared to income (Williams, 2009). Even though this was not a high percentage and was still beneficial to people who worked near the location of Regent Park in Toronto. Making it easier to access everyday necessities can make a lot of other expenses in life go down as well, when you do not have to worry about paying more than 30% of your income. Regent Park had a revitalization project to help turn this area from an area with high poverty rates to a nicer area by demolishing most of the public housing pushing the poorer people out of the area.
The checklist of essential features of age-friendly cities is based on the results of a Global project organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) that took place in 33 cities all over 22 various countries. The age-friendly checklist is a useful tool for independent cities to self-assess possible deficiencies and chart progress in improving the overall environment for elder citizens. The 8 major categories featured in the checklist are: (1) Respect and social inclusion Outdoor space and buildings, (2) Communication and information transportation (3) Civic Participation and Employment (4) Social participation, (5) Housing (6) Transportation (7) Outdoor spaces and buildings (8) Community and Health services. The age-friendly checklist
Problem exists within the urban areas of cities on the focus of the elderly. These issues can make it difficult for specific members of society to live a normal life especially as they grow older and become frail. Problem solving devices needs to be implemented to look at how it can be made easier for them to live better. A considerable amount of people retire yearly and thus the statistics surrounding these dilemmas only grow and become more problematic. In this discussion the various concerns will be addressed and solutions will be suggested to give them a better life or rather a better ending to their life. One of the biggest plights is building design and how this influences the well being of the elderly and the restrictions it places on immovability and their integration into society. The main focus in this debate will be considerations that need to be made to make it easier for the housing of elders and emphasis will be placed on this at the design stage. The Western Cape and cities within will be used as precedent to argue this point.