“Community” is the name of the game in senior living initiatives today. And while the term can be interpreted in a variety of ways—everything from simple, integrated programming efforts inside the building to deeply intertwined, city-wide services and socialization—the goal is the same: to avoid the isolation of elders.
The Award of Merit winner in this year’s EFA Design Showcase demonstrates this community outlook in a very promising way, with integrated retail/restaurant offerings, walking paths that expand into neighboring communities, and more. (Our story on St. John’s Brickstone can be found in the Spring 2016 issue.) Another project in the competition takes the concept even further, with a staggeringly ambitious 40-year plan to transform an entire city.
That project, the Apple Valley Age-Friendly City Plan, was the brainchild of a group of senior living providers, architects, and consultants who met at an innovation summit in 2011. There, the group rallied around a theme of “livable communities” and spent 18 hours working to create “a package of tools, processes, and services to create environments that are both socially and economically vibrant and successfully integrate the well-being of people of all ages and stages.” They dubbed the concept Vitalocity.
About three years later, the team presented its “Vitalocity Roadmap” to the local planning commission in Apple Valley, Minn., after undergoing extensive development workshops, conceptualization exercises, and community meetings. The cornerstone of the proposal (and of their Showcase submission) was a demonstration project called Central Village—to be built in an underutilized part of the city on 15 acres, with a focus on mixed-use, walkable, intergenerational housing and services.
What will it take to get there? Among other things, burying an existing highway to allow for easier access between the village and the heart of downtown.
I told you it was ambitious. But it’s not completely pie-in-the-sky, when you consider the time, work, and expertise behind the planning. And at least some of Vitalocity’s recommendations are being considered for development under Apple Valley’s rolling 40-year comprehensive plan, according to Gregor Rae, chairman and CEO of BusinessLab, one of the Vitalocity founders.
You can learn more about this fascinating project in the team’s own words in the Spring 2016 issue, and by contacting Rae directly at grae@businesslab.co.uk. Efforts like this may be a long way from reality—but then again, maybe not. It’s exciting to see such detailed plans from people who live and breathe this industry. Every step gets us that much closer to a more integrated and vibrant reality for senior living.