Today I have mostly questions. Here are just a few...
- Today's new retirees, now age 65, are baby boomers. Will they become the next generation of residents moving into CCRC's? (I bet that enough of them will want a very different kind of long-term community to support some very interesting niche-markets in the near future.)
- Who is serving the 'cultural creatives' - the boomers who shop at Whole Foods or listen to NPR?
- Who is positioned to serve the over-65's who want to live in eco-villages, or who might prefer a more age-integrated community (not just over 55), but will also eventually need continuing care?
- Will baby boomers even move into CCRC's or are their tastes and needs so different from their parents that the CCRC industry faces decline in 10 or 15 years?
- Are CCRCs essentially a North American phenomenon, and mostly in the U.S.?
- Is there a CCRC industry in Europe or Asia and what does it look like? Can we learn from them or can they learn from what's been done in the U.S.?
- What does the global trend toward urbanization mean for senior living and CCRCs in particular?
- And is urbanization relevant to senior living and retirement communities in the U.S. and other developed countries?
One more question: How will the internet affect retirement for a generation of retirees more familiar with the web? (I don't have a proposed answer...)
ReplyDeleteOne idea: They are likely to be better informed as consumers, more aware of their choices, less willing to blindly accept the prescription of an 'authority'. Word-of-mouth may become even more powerful as web-savvy seniors become more active on blogs and social networks.
ReplyDelete