In Focus | Aging, Community & Cities

Even the name “seniors” is becoming outmoded. “The term I’ve heard more recently is ‘perennials’—the idea of always blooming,’” says Ryan Frederick, Founder of Smart Living 360. Leave it to Baby Boomers—10,000 of whom are turning 65 every day—to find a way to become perpetually relevant, but this isn’t mere hubris. Older people are living longer, healthier, more productive lives. The challenge, particularly for urban areas, where labor is tight and housing expensive, is to build the kind supportive spaces that help seniors continue to contribute. Here Frederick and Sharon Geno, chief operating officer for Volunteers of America, talk with Uwe Brandes, faculty director of Georgetown’s Master's in Urban & Regional Planning program, about building the multigenerational cities of the future.

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