The Mobility Crisis

Posted by on December 29, 2007

Watching an aging parent finally have to give up a car in a city where a car is the only way to get around is a slow-motion horror. (In our case, a timely flood totaled the car, and our excuse to "take the care away" was ready made.)

Now is is finally occuring to planners that North America faces a looming mobility crisis. Aging boomers, especially those in sprawling suburbs, will find it increasingly difficult to get around to meet their daily needs. Even many cities are ill-equipped to accommodate big waves of older adults. (You try pushing a wheelchair over broken sidewalks.)

The retrofits won't be easy, cheap or fast. So we ought to act now. Which city will embrace this opportunity to accommodate boomers, who by all accounts, will be financially well off and able to give much back in the way of volunteer time, late careers, and legacy gifts -- but just won't be able to drive safely?