asu in the news 02-06-08 to - ASU News - Arizona State University

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Source: USATODAY.com
Title: ASU prof comments on multi-generational communi...
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Full Text: DeLAND, Fla. - Something is out of place in one of the freshly painted, tastefully appointed
model homes in Victoria Gardens, an upscale development for the 55-plus set not far from Orlando.
One of the guest rooms sports children’s furniture, pink bedding and toys.
A kid’s room? In an active-adult community?
It has become a common sight in a growing number of residential developments that try to fulfill
families’ desire to live close to parents, children and grandchildren. As the oldest of the nation’s 79
million baby boomers turns 62 this year, extended families are extending. Their parents may still be
alive, and their kids are having children and grandchildren. These ’multigenerational’ communities
stop short of putting several generations under one roof, the way many families lived in earlier times.
Instead, they build close but separate sections for active adults, families and younger couples:
one-story houses and golf courses down the street from larger, single-family homes near playgrounds
and schools. ’They are close but not too close,’ says Jimmy Dundon, 38, of his in-laws. ’It’s easier
getting together for Sunday dinners, birthdays and holidays. & It’s much easier for babysitting.’ The
emerging niche for home buyers and builders has roots from long ago. ’This is historically how we
lived 200 years ago or even 100 years ago,’ says Sherry Ahrentzen, an architectural researcher at
Arizona State University. ’It’s just sort of coming back because of demographics, the transportation
crunch and taking care of kids.’ Germany, a nation like many others in Europe struggling with an
aging population and low fertility, has turned to multigenerational developments to help support the
elderly. Older people live next to young families who are not necessarily related to them. The two
groups often help each other out.
In the USA, longer life spans and delayed childbirth create more multigenerational families. Housing
for them is particularly popular with large subdivision developers who appeal to more affluent buyers.
Pulte Homes’ Del Webb, a developer best known for its ’Sun City’ communities for people 55 and
older, has launched ’Anthem’ communities for all ages in Arizona, Nevada and Colorado. It also is
building parts of similar housing clusters in North Carolina and Florida. Anthem at Merrill Ranch,
southeast of Phoenix, is the first such development to include a Sun City section. ’Living closer to
your loved ones, your family, your parents, your sisters, your aunts and uncles has been more
important since 9/11, frankly,’ says Jacque Petroulakis, a public affairs director for Pulte Homes and
Del Webb.
Accommodating family needs
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Dundon and his wife, Jen, 38, were raising their three children in congested South Florida about 200
miles from here. They longed for a small-town atmosphere but also wanted to stay close to Jen’s
parents, retired educators who lived 25 minutes from them.
They discovered the new, 1,859-acre Victoria Park community here in central Florida, about 35 miles
north of Orlando. When Jen brought her parents, Jim and Maryanne Cerra, to look at the homes, they
bought one. ’They said, ’We’re not moving without you,’ ’ says Maryanne, 62.
Now, the Cerras live in a single-story house in Victoria Gardens, the gated and age-restricted portion
of the vast development. Their daughter’s family lives a five-minute drive away in Victoria Hills, one of
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