USA: Seniors in Suburbs Left Stranded When Driving Gets Difficult

WILMINGTON, Delaware (The News Journal), October 14, 2007: By now, most people know that Delaware's population is aging. The oldest of the baby-boom generation will be eligible for Social Security payments next year. They will be followed by millions of others across the nation and tens of thousands here. The effect of this age wave will be immense, as many observers have pointed out. But it will be more than just numbers that affect us. Housing decisions made decades ago will present problems we never had to consider in the past. Not only are Delawareans getting older but they will be aging in suburbs that are spread out and heavily dependent on automobiles. That will be crucial. Most of our houses are now dependent on cars. Think of our present crowded roads, then picture what they will be like when a large percentage of drivers are over age 65. The immediate problem won't be safety. Older drivers tend to be safer than younger ones. They take fewer chances and they avoid heavily traveled roads at rush hour. But in about 10 years, we will see more retirees on the road, making frequent, shorter trips during off-peak hours. Stopping and starting cars on short trips won't allow engines to reach maximum efficiency and thus will aggravate pollution problems. In addition, today's seniors tend to do most of their driving from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. That's why major roads are congested even after rush hour. Multiply that traffic pattern tenfold for an idea of the future. The challenge is greater than mere inconvenience. Slowly this age group will give up driving. How will that many people get to doctors' offices or shopping centers? Our paratransit system is already overburdened. It becomes more complicated when this demographic wave is broken down. Today many senior citizens live with others or have someone close by who can drive them when they can't. In the future more senior citizens will be living alone. Many baby boomers never married or didn't have children. When an individual loses the ability to drive, he or she can be isolated. A facile answer would be to tell these people to move. But many will be unable to do that. Their houses will be their biggest investment. And not all all suburban houses are the mansions that elitists like to mock. Delaware has crucial challenges ahead. Solutions of the past will not always work in the future. We're long past the time to start thinking about them. Copyright © 2007, The News Journal.