Urban planner here again. I think I shoudl probably make this a spin off topci at this point. But DC actually has an entire "age friendly" DC initiative part of an international initiative to make cities more senior friendly. On a personal level, my family is working to get my FIL to sell his lovely suburban ranch style retirement home out west and buy a one bedroom condo in DC proper. We are looking at condos in Tunlaw and cleveland park in the range of 275k-300k. FIL is still generally independant. Gave up night driving, almost 80 years old. Has a lot more drs apts. etc. Living close to us would mean 1) he could actually walk to stuff 2) some of these buildings have stores/barbershops on ground floor so easy for him 3) I could get him an uber through my account in a pinch 4) a lot of these older condos are already "norcs" Naturally Occuring Retirement Communities-so he would have like minded neighbors and 5) a doorman may be all the day to day help he needs and 6) he doesn't want to live in a leisure world "with a bunch of old people. City living, and I mean city proper is actually great for an aging population. I am sorry the conversation has become so one sided about "Aging place" when that is actually NOT the ideal. Again, all of the folks I meet workng on this isse are not old, and seem really nutty to begin with. Its really not about taxes folks. Change your way of thinking.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why they needed this. This will keep seniors in their homes for longer. As anyone who has tried to buy a house recently knows, inventory is really low. Now seniors will try to stay in their too-large homes, while school budgets are cut and families struggle.

I say to repeal this deduction!

Word just can not express the disgust I feel for you right now

I work as an urban planner and trying to keep one senior in a 3k sq ft house is actually horrible Plannin and use of resources. Family sized housing is critically short supply in DC. One person living In two rooms of a row house is wasteful. It's a normal cycle of housing we learned in first semester Housing Policy. DC should incentive shared senior housing (golden girls) or more high rise apartments that cater to seniors. No I don't hate old people but most folks I meet who are obsessed with "aging in place" are nutty and have no idea how cycles of housing should work to maintain appropriate levels of supply and demand.

+1

I live in a five bedroom house, which makes sense on some levels b/c we have four kids. But thirty years from now when there are just two of here, why should the city subsidize (encourage) us to live in a too big house? They should subsidize (encourage) us to move into an apartment or condo so that another family can live in our house or at least on this lot.

NP here, and +2. I wonder what's "disgusting" about those thoughts?

I am the OP and definitely would be on board with an exception for condos or houses below x amount of feet. It really bothers me that we are cutting benefits for children while simultaneously offering incentives for seniors to age in place when there is a housing shortage. I am not anti senior, but im pro kid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I grew up here and my senior parents still live in my childhood home. It never occurred to me that their neighbors hate them and want to segregate them into senior living facilities.

I'm sure they probably will move eventually, but it's not going to turn back the clock to when their house would have been affordable to the vast majority of families. And they love their neighborhood. They're not moving up to Leisure World or down to Florida. So where are they supposed to go?

How much does the deduction cost the city, anyway?

Urban Planner here again. The City would actually love for more seniors to move to DC. Why do people assume seniors have to move to a retirement home (Leisure world) or FL? A condo in the city is great. Access, walkability, independence. It really requires changing the way we think. The "aging in place' folks are the ones who limit seniors.

This makes a lot of sense. Maybe the property tax exemption for seniors should work only for condos? Or for houses under X sq feet?

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I grew up here and my senior parents still live in my childhood home. It never occurred to me that their neighbors hate them and want to segregate them into senior living facilities.

I'm sure they probably will move eventually, but it's not going to turn back the clock to when their house would have been affordable to the vast majority of families. And they love their neighborhood. They're not moving up to Leisure World or down to Florida. So where are they supposed to go?

How much does the deduction cost the city, anyway?

Urban Planner here again. The City would actually love for more seniors to move to DC. Why do people assume seniors have to move to a retirement home (Leisure world) or FL? A condo in the city is great. Access, walkability, independence. It really requires changing the way we think. The "aging in place' folks are the ones who limit seniors.