So they are probably not going to develop teleporting star trek style before too long, and the need to drive oneself multiple places seems to be a requirement of aging in place.
One of the reasons we transplanted ourselves to age better in a different place was the traffic congestion was getting cumbersome were we lived. What used to be a 5 minute trip was a 20 minute trip. Rush hour traffic extended to 7 in the evening.
Going into the city to actually do anything for entertainment was a lengthy and expensive venture. Of all the things you try to think of when you consider downsizing, how well you can handle driving duties when you are years older, is not always in the front of your mind.
Like in real estate location, location ,location, when you are older those of us that want to maintain our single family homes in the suburbs have to also think of transportation, transportation, transportation. But some of the loudest arguments about the “rotting in place” concept of helpless elderly folks scattered across the suburban landscape seem to ignore the antidotes to that stagnation.
When we came to our new house which is located by but not in a mixed use community, we knew there was a small shopping center just 5 minutes away. We were delighted to find it has a grocery store ( with bank and pharmacy inside). It also has a liquor store, hair salon and few little restaurants. Our circle of life is still a bit bigger than this right now, but it good to know it is there.
What about online banking, home delivery of groceries as options? At our local market you can drive up to a parking spot with a speaker and they will come out with your online order. We all order more online than we used to. Tele-medicine is also another growing aspect of obtaining the services that you need without leaving home .
The silver tech people of course have engineered a boat load of gadgets for safety and communication. But you know you have to get out the house sometime. Just know that transportation services for seniors are increasing and I do not mean the U word.
Popular opinion would worry about hordes of us crowding the highways and causing accidents. Actually the rate for drivers 70 and older having fatal accidents is going down. http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/older-drivers/qanda
This is according to an insurance institute no less and there are those spiffy new crash avoidance technologies. I am not saying have no fear, but rather realize that the future is in our favor. We may be able to face the traffic on the internet instead of the traffic on the roads to get things done and our vehicles may help us drive well and prosper.
