Brookfield Senior Housing Need

I found this article on Brookfield's senior housing and assisted living facilities by Tom Daykin interesting.  It refers to an article on Brookfield NOW by Aaron Martin.  It is true that as baby boomers age, there is an increasing demand for housing serving older people.

However, I was recently at a forum and spoke to someone about this issue.  I was surprised to learn that only 5% of the aging population actually live in those buildings targeted for older residents.  It is much preferred that people stay at home as it is much cheaper for them and services are less expensive in-home than at specialized facilities.  The question then is, can the homes be modified to meet their increasing accessibility needs?  Often it can be, so most will likely remain in their homes.

I'd like to point to the statistics for the graying population in Brookfield and Elm Grove.  It could be because the two communities are such a great place to live that people stay longer and eventually age in place.  Or it could be that with the housing costs, it's more likely that people with more earning power (in other words, older people) can afford to move into the community where they soon reach their 60s. 

Regardless, when nearly one in four of your residents are, or will be, elderly and less likely to spend money, that does not bode well for your local businesses.  If only the caregivers that work with them live locally and spend locally.  But Brookfield and Elm Grove can't have that, can they?

I know that sounds like a slam at Brookfield and Elm Grove, and perhaps it is.  But this kind of issues are a result of deliberate housing and zoning policies that they have pursued for a long time, and now they're starting to see the consequences of that.