Senior Housing Developments Following Booming Economies, Adult Children

Senior housing communities are popping up in cities with strong economies like Denver and Chicago, as many seniors are moving to these areas to be closer to their adult children.

Erickson Living, a Maryland-based retirement community developer, targets two types of areas when deciding where to build new facilities: densely populated "infill" markets, and "growth corridor markets," where many adult children are moving, The New York Times reports. Beth Burnham Mace, chief economist and director of outreach for the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care, says that senior housing investments are seen as a way to diversify an investor's portfolio, “It doesn’t necessarily respond to the same business cycles as other types of real estate. It tends to be more of a need-based property type.”

Ms. Ryerson said that the health effects of prolonged isolation have been found to be the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day, according to a study in Perspectives on Psychological Science. A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America also found that social isolation and loneliness are associated with higher risk of mortality in adults 52 and older. Senior living communities, where people of similar ages and abilities live together, can help combat that isolation, as can moving closer to adult children, who can then more easily help take care of their parent’s needs.

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