By John G. Kelly
B.Com., D.PIR., LL.B.,M.S.Sc., M.A. (Jud.Admin.), F.CIS.
john@activeretirement.ca, www.johngkelly.ca
It’s time for a new paradigm. Rather than aging in place, more should aspire to live in community. “Living in community” has several advantages.
First, it swaps the passive word “aging” for the active word “living”.
Second, it exchanges “place” for “community”.[1]
Canada and the U.S. are allegedly aging societies. That’s frequently the introduction to all sorts of reports and studies that survey the existing socio-economic landscape. And its supposedly not open to argument. It’s common knowledge that average life expectancy is on the rise and life expectancy is arguably synonymous with aging. In the application of conventional paradigm logic aging has traditionally been linked with notions such as “aged” and the pejorative association to the discriminatory bias of “ageism.
However, to build on a key word in the above quote, there is already a new paradigm in place. What is still in the early stages of realization is that Canada and comparable countries are being transformed into “longevity” societies. Yes, the average lifespan of the Canadian population is now on the verge of surpassing the 70’s and approaching 80+ years. However, boomers, who dominate the 70’s population category are not “aged”. They are creating a new population category that is much better defined and articulated in the context of “longevity”. The majority of boomers are alive and thriving in variations of boomer lifestyles.
“Health is wealth” in the “longevity” paradigm. And boomers are maximizing their “longevity” potential by embracing innovative combinations of health care that they are integrating with complementary alternative medicine (CAM). Massage therapy is an example of how the rapid growth of what not so long ago was a health remedy utilized to heal and strengthen the muscles of athletes in their prime is now in the mainstream of the longevity economy as boomers subscribe to massage therapy to tone their muscles to participate in active living.
What Ryan Frederick the author is referring to is the urban/suburban lifestyle trap that many in the “55+” category find themselves caught up in as they transition from career/family – oriented living into “longevity”. They purchased a home in the “burbs” in the career stage of life as a young couple starting a family. Ideally, it was within a walk or short school bus ride of a modern school. There was a nearby recreation centre with a basketball/volleyball court, skating rink, and outdoor sports field. The combination of work, albeit with its dreaded commute, and a robust family life kept them busy.
The children are now young adults leading their own lives, even if they’re temporarily trapped in an apartment in the basement. The neighbourhood school in this mature neighbourhood has a declining enrolment and the recreation centre is becoming dormant. In short, the neighbourhood is no longer a community. It’s a residential enclave of dead-end streets and cul-de-sacs.
Residential millennials and boomers who populate this residential enclave are now retired or in a position to opt for an “encore career”. They’re not “aged”. They’re bored and stuck in a lifestyle in a place that they don’t enjoy. They want to live life to the fullest in their “longevity” phase of life. They need to opt into active community living.
NORCs (naturally occurring retirement communities) are ideal communities for boomers and mature millennials to engage in active community living. A NORC IS an unplanned “naturally occurring” community that had a large proportion of residents over 60. NORCs are retirement anchors. NORCs can be small towns with single family homes and “15-minute” walkable neighbourhoods, “pocket communities” in urban areas or apartment complexes.
Go to my website at www.johngkelly.ca and scroll into the NORCs & ARCs – Retirement Communities page for a readable informative guide on what NORCs are all about and how to identify an ideal NORC that fits with the “longevity” phase of your live and get started on “living life to the fullest” in your personalized longevity phase of life.
Hint: my ideal NORC is in the idyllic heritage small town of historic Saint Andrews by the Sea on the Bay of Fundy. Check it out and become one of the increasing number of boomers and millennials who come for a visit and opt into making this their idyllic active community.
[1] Ryan Frederick, Right Place- Right Time. Johns Hopkins University Press. 2021. At P.54.