The New Aging Enterprise - aarp

Retirement Housing
Where will tomorrow’s older population live? The answer that Americans give,
overwhelmingly, is to remain in their own homes. The image of senior citizens moving to a golf
retirement community in Florida or Arizona may be a popular stereotype, but it is far from the
truth. At the point of retirement, only 10% of people move from their homes and, of that
number, only half will even move across state lines. Nonetheless, retirement communities are
important elements as we try to plan for “Livable Communities” for an aging population. Dating
back to the development of Sun City, retirement communities have attracted only a small
proportion of older people. They have had influence in shaping the way we think of the meaning
of later life and the housing that reflects that understanding. In this section, we examine one
instance of a new type of retirement community that is quite different from the Sun City model
pioneered a generation ago. We also consider other innovative forms such as “naturally
occurring retirement communities” and senior cohousing.
Erickson Retirement Communities is a network of 20 retirement campuses serving
more than 20,000 residents in the states of Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts,
Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia. The company was launched in
1983 with the explicit aim of making retirement living available to middle- and moderate-income
Americans. 11 A critical element in Erickson’s success has been its pioneering use of a 100%
refundable entrance deposit, which serves to protect the residents’ equity. In addition, Erickson
uses a fee-for-service schedule whereby residents pay only for services they actually want or
need. These financing features have been crucial to the growth of the Erickson model.
Along with other retirement communities, Erickson offers high-level amenities such
as quality restaurants and fitness centers. But Erickson also offers services tied to personal
growth and positive aging, such as local campus TV production studios, performing arts
centers, and a computer lab. Erickson Communities provide state-of-the art health
information systems intended to prevent disease and disability and avoid expensive illness or
injury. Erickson management expects that this strategy of health promotion will eventually
yield big savings and be a successful model for services beyond the controlled environment
of a retirement community.
Erickson Retirement Communities began its life with a concept of recycling. In 1983,
John Erickson renovated an abandoned college campus in Maryland and turned it into an active
retirement community called Charlestown, the first of the Erickson facilities. John Erickson, a
former seminary student, said, “When I started our first community, I asked myself, ‘What can
I do to change the way society views the aging process?’” From the outset, Erickson wanted
6