Well-designed Independent Living Facilities Are Key to Addressing the Housing Crisis
Affordable, low-maintenance residences with amenities that support social connections and healthy living can empower older homeowners to downsize.
Experts have predicted a “silver tsunami” that would bring much-needed relief to the strained housing market. This theory suggested that over the course of 2024 and 2025, a wave of baby boomers would downsize, placing their too-large homes on the market for younger growing families who’ve struggled to break into homeownership. Yet, as 2024 came to a close, this prediction didn’t quite pan out. Why? Often, it isn’t cost-effective for older Americans to downsize, even if they want to.
As reported by The New York Times, it was traditionally assumed that older adults would sell their houses (mortgages paid off) to fund their retirements. But a historic housing shortage is pinching that notion. Often, a smaller home today just isn’t cost-effective: An NPR report citing Redfin data found that most baby boomers with mortgages have low interest rates — meaning it wouldn’t make financial sense to take out a new mortgage when rates are now about seven percent.
This leaves the housing market in a stalemate. Young families needing homes with multiple rooms can’t afford the few on the market, while older Americans are finding it cost-prohibitive to find smaller homes and vacate their “family-friendly” houses, which would bring relief to inventory and prices.
Quality, Affordable Homes for Aging Americans
One solution to this problem is to create new, affordable properties that address what an older population is looking for in a home: a high-quality, low-maintenance residence that offers amenities for social connections and utilizes universal design. Independent living (IL) residences, which are often age-restricted, are one such option. These properties are ideal for older adults in relatively good health as they do not provide the same on-site personal care or medical services found in assisted living or nursing homes.
This is not to say that these communities don’t keep wellness in mind. In fact, when thoughtfully designed, IL residences offer spaces for a variety of activities — yoga, pickleball, and gardening, to name just a few — as well as built-in community, which can fight loneliness, one of the biggest health concerns for many older Americans.
Independent Living communities are just that — residential communities that offer a variety of amenities to support a variety of interests. From gym facilities, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, space for woodworking and crafts, and gardening areas, to “pubs,” gaming rooms, movie theaters, social areas, walking trails, and even dog parks.
IL properties can be a more affordable option for a number of reasons, often purely as a result of being focused on older residents. And when the properties are mixed-income, this allows for subsidies via federal, state, and local sources (and not via cheaper construction or finishes). These programs provide subsidies for rental rates based on the area median income. That means IL properties that welcome people with diverse economic backgrounds can provide greater economic accessibility to everyone.
Once the affordability piece is met, the focus can be on other features that meet residents’ needs, such as designing a homey (albeit smaller!) atmosphere, adding in communal spaces, and ensuring universally accommodating facilities.
Bridging the Gap
Many new residents to IL communities have lived in their previous homes for decades, so for the transition to a multifamily unit to be smooth — and appealing — it has to feel as personalized and cared for as their former home. Each residential space should be considered a scaled-down version of a full house, with many of the amenities a person has grown accustomed to — but in a smaller space. As we know, bigger doesn’t always equate to higher quality.
While moving into a communal setting can feel like reverting back to college dorm days, elevated finishes such as solid surface countertops and luxury flooring help make the transition more appealing and sophisticated. This attention to quality acknowledges that residents have put in a lifetime of work, and they deserve a great space that reflects this fact.
Additionally, the pandemic taught us, or maybe spotlighted, how much people appreciate having access to personal outdoor space. In an effort to give residents a place to relax that is exclusively theirs, units should be optimally designed to include a balcony or other private outdoor area whenever possible. The ability to move freely from inside to the outside without needing to share that space (or run into any neighbors) is something anyone can appreciate.
Downsizing can mean that the ability to host guests changes, however. But even here, common spaces can be incorporated with kitchens and lounge areas that can be booked in advance to serve meals to friends or family, just as you might in your own home.
An Opportunity for Stronger Community
One of the most exciting benefits of IL communities is the chance to live among other individuals in a similar life stage. But, of course not everyone is necessarily interested in doing the same activities or engaging in the same pastimes. IL communities are equipped with amenity spaces that can provide opportunities for solitude or quiet activities (libraries, reading rooms, raised garden beds), creative activities (game rooms, craft rooms, wood shops), physical activities (fitness rooms, yoga studios, pickleball or tennis courts), or entertainment (theaters, internet cafes, adult lounges and pubs).
Because planners can’t assume what everyone will want to do on any given day, rooms should be designed with flexibility in mind. An ideal and agile community/amenity space could be used for a quilting club one afternoon, and then as a potluck space the following evening, for example. A yoga studio could also be used for mediation classes, Pilates, or any number of activities.
These types of amenity spaces can also be a tool to fight loneliness. In 2023, a national poll found that about 37% of U.S. adults aged 50-80 years experienced loneliness, and 34% reported feeling socially isolated. This can have enormous negative repercussions, as loneliness is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, dementia, stroke, anxiety, and depression.
By designing spaces that allow for a multitude of ways to find and engage in community, residents can keep their independence longer by harnessing positive wellness attributes that come from socialization.
Universal Design for Safety and Inclusion
The concept of universal design is one of inclusion. If the spectrum of accessibility is considered in all aspects of functionality and use, those things become more functional and easy to use for everyone.
For someone debating the move to an IL community for the purpose of accessibility, consider that the cost of retrofitting your own home can be steep. Adjusting kitchen and bath countertops; adding ramps, elevators, or stair lifts; installing nonslip flooring, roll-in showers, grab bars, and structural backing; and increasing door widths can add up to tens of thousands of dollars in construction costs, not to mention the time and disruption of in-home construction.
With a well-designed IL community, those universal design elements are built in — and without those elements feeling like disjointed hospital elements brought into a family home. Instead, these features are thoughtfully designed to meld into the residences and shared spaces, even before you know you’ll need them.
When building IL communities, some of the typical accessible design features included are: multiple elevators to get residents as close to their units as possible; an H-shape design for ease of circulation; shared amenity spaces located in the middle with residences in the wings; simplified paths that make most trips a straight line with a single turn and minimal overall travel; and covered walkways that reduce slipping during inclement weather.
When designed well and made affordable, IL communities can solve myriad problems, not the least of which include easing the housing crisis and reducing concerns that come with aging. IL communities filled with a diverse population of older adults lower everyone’s cost of living — lifting a burden from Americans of all ages.
