The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Senior survey: Older adults want more housing options
A survey of a number of senior citizens has found a growing demand for more housing options.
In particular, respondents said they want more one-story ranch-style houses and senior apartments for residents who wish to continue living in town but no longer want to be tied to single-family houses.
The survey, which was conducted by the Connecticut Commission on Aging, found demand for more health care professionals versed in caring for the town’s growing population of seniors.
In the 2010 census, 10.6 percent of the residents in town were identified as being over by 65. By 2025, that percentage of the population is expected to grow dramatically — by some 68 percent, commission members said when they brought the survey results to the Town Council this week.
With the permission of the association, the commission used a modified version of a 2015 AARP survey to gauge seniors’ feelings about housing, health, transportation and livability factors. The survey, some 6,000 copies, was distributed in the Rivereast newspaper in the spring, commission member Deborah McDonald told the council, and resulted in 239 responses.
The mean age of the respondents was 69.3 years, McDonald said.
Respondents were overwhelmingly Caucasian — 96.9 percent — and women outnumbered men, accounting for 68 percent of the responses. Forty-five percent of participants said East Hampton was “a good place” for older residents to live; 18 rated it as “poor.”
Sixty-five percent of survey subjects said there are not enough housing options. Seniors complained about the dearth of reliable mass transportation and a general lack of places where they can walk both comfortably and safely, McDonald said.
Councilor Mark Philhower suggested the town deploy more benches throughout the town as an example of things that could make the town “both more livable and attractive.” His colleague, Councilor Kevin Reich, suggested holding a series of open houses to show how houses can be remodeled to make them more accessible to older residents.
“I think there are some windows of opportunity,” such as waiving fees for remodeling projects “that would let seniors modify their homes,” Reich said.
One other issue that came through loud and clear in the survey was tax relief for seniors, McDonald said. Thirty-six respondents complained about town taxes: “Taxes are out of control,” one said.
No one had anything positive to say on that subject, McDonald said.
The state has a program that grants tax relief to elderly residents based on income levels, councilors noted. However, Councilor Josh Piteo said, a number of older residents who want tax relief “don’t want to provide that income data.”
Councilor Ted Hintz Jr. agreed. “A lot of people abuse that program,” Hintz said, arguing there is a discrepancy between the incomes some residents report and assets they own.