Surge in seniors will reshape state
Though some senior housing developments drew opposition, skeptics focused on issues such as traffic and loss of open land, not the age of the occupants. And amenities sought by seniors, like more walking trails and good parks, also appeal to young families, the mayor said.
Nonetheless, an aging population can place strains on a city’s housing stock.
Many of Roseville’s 7,635 residents who are 65 and older are longtime residents who want to stay close to friends and churches. They are people like Roger and Marlys Toogood, who since 1959 have lived in three homes in a six-block area of Roseville. Roger Toogood, 76, is retired executive director of the Children’s Home Society of Minnesota.
In the 1990s, Toogood served on a city task force that looked into the future — and guessed wrong. The group thought that as homeowners aged, they would vacate the city’s 8,500 single-family homes for senior citizen housing and be replaced by young families with kids.
“What we didn’t figure out is that a lot of the homes are single level and that if seniors wanted to stay, they could,” Toogood said. Said Klausing: “All they had to do was get the washer and dryer to the first floor.”
Between 1990 and 2000, seniors were the fastest-growing segment of Roseville’s population, some of them coming from outside the city’s borders. With just 34,000 residents, Roseville has four nursing homes, three assisted-living facilities, and eight co-op, condo or apartment buildings for seniors.
“It wasn’t a conscious strategy,” Klausing said, adding: “How do we strike a balance between meeting demand for [senior housing] and not becoming just a retirement community?”
Roseville’s new comprehensive plan cautions against an oversupply of age-restricted housing, and the city has tried to attract younger families by promoting its schools and park system. It offers seniors guidance on making their homes more saleable and shows potential buyers how easy it is to remodel or expand a rambler.
But Klausing says success is mixed. Homes that were considered spacious in the 1960s may look cramped to today’s buyers.
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