There are the 55-plus and active adult communities where golf, pickleball, singles scenes, and even Jimmy Buffet-inspired lifestyles are main draws. Senior housing is already a diverse industry, with distinct segments catering to different age groups and health conditions. If people will soon be living many more years in homes and communities long assumed to have a quick turnover, the way these spaces are planned and built will have to change. Inspirata Pointe at Royal Oak in Sun City, Arizona ItвЂ™s a dramatic change from the last-stop nature of retirement communities of the recent past. TheyвЂ™re also trying to design features that enable people to be healthy and active as long as possible. TheyвЂ™re learning from communities around the world where people tend to live the longest and reconsidering the golf courses and bingo halls that were once central leisure activities. To get ahead of the curve, some are designing their facilities for people who will technically be seniors for more than 40 years. The developers, designers, and operators of senior housing are thinking about and planning for how these demographic shifts will affect their businesses and the services they provide.

ItвЂ™s too early to predict all the ways that longer lives will change society, but at least one industry is starting to make some guesses.

Zen bound not in store