Unassisted Living

Book excerpt: Unassisted Living documents the shift away from the senior housing that promoted disengagement toward architecture and design that promote active aging. The book is organized in six sections, corresponding to the concerns and special interests of Boomers—those who intend to remain in an urban setting, those concerned with sustainability, those with complex families and non-traditional households, and those who seek a community based on spirituality or shared interests. Boomers are perhaps the largest generational cohort the United States has ever seen. Numbering some 78 million people born between 1946 and 1964, Boomers are not accepting traditional retirement or “senior housing” and are instead determined to remain active and engaged professionally and socially.