【Bloomberg】More Baby Boomers Are Living in Multigenerational Housing

Last year, Joan Bailey, now 86, had a stroke and was sent to a rehabilitation facility. “All I could think was, if I just get back to co-housing, I’ll be fine,” she says. For the past 21 years, Bailey has lived in a multigenerational community in Portland, Ore. “It’s why I’m still alive. I find it to be very stimulating and interesting to have all the different ages around.”

A 2018 Columbia University study found that healthy adults who reside in multigenerational housing live longer. And a Pew Research Center analysis last year found that Americans are increasingly residing multigenerationally—20% of Americans live in a home that includes adults from two or more generations, up from 12% in 1980. Developers have taken note. “Multigenerational housing is becoming more common, though it’s still essentially in a startup phase,” says Andrew Carle, adjunct faculty for Georgetown’s program in senior living administration. “It’s because baby boomers all want the same three things: active, intellectually stimulating, and intergenerational.”

read more