With the first of the 77 million (www.census.gov) Baby Boomers turning 60 this year, the impact on retirement and retirement communities has suddenly become a vital and pressing issue. The massive numbers of Baby Boomer cohorts have amplified and intensified the importance of whatever experiences they've had at each new moment in their lives. When they reach any stage of life, the issues that concern them — whether financial, interpersonal, or even hormonal — become the dominant social political, and marketplace themes at the time. (www.agewave.com 2006) Retirement will be no different. Using this understanding of the Baby Boomer generation, this study examined their impact on retirement community design.Data specific to Baby Boomer retirement preferences was analyzed, an expert in the field of gerontology at Ball State University was interviewed, research was completed in retirement community design and age related health concerns, and case studies in a range of established retirement communities in southwest Florida were visited, all in an effort to determine what the current trends are in the retirement community market today and how Boomers would effect them.Research showed that Boomers want to pursue new and exciting experiences in their retirement years. They are not willing to settle for a retirement tucked out of the way, out of sight out of mind. They want to be in the middle of activity and enjoyment. They are looking to make a difference and have an impact in this next phase of life.The result of these endeavors is a conceptual design for an active adult retirement community, in northeast Lee County Florida, that will attract Baby Boomers by appealing to their sense of fun, their sense of purpose and their social and environmental conscience. / Department of Landscape Architecture

This study was designed to investigate influences on and content of communication between retirement housing providers and retirees who are their potential customers. This included communications: 1) prior to deciding on a retirement apartment, 2) the actual deciding process, and 3) postpurchase influences. Data gathered during the pre-decision stage indicated that the expectations of many seniors are influenced by various groups and individuals. The expectations formed are the basis for future communications with retirement communities. Second, the actual deciding process involved determining what "triggers" the seniors' decisions to begin shopping for retirement apartments. Third, the study focused on postpurchase influences which included communications with seniors who were apartment owners' or renters' regarding attitudes based on their experiences of living in retirement apartments. The research was conducted in two retirement communities, one was located in Florida and the other in Indiana. Information from the two retirement communities was compared and contrasted. The data indicate that each retirement community was unique in many ways. One important uniqueness was the values of the retirement community management organization. Seniors either found a particular retirement community attractive or unattractive based on how it fit their value systems. Seniors depend on person-to-person communication. Most tend to drawn conclusions about the retirement communities based on what they have learned about the retirement communities over a period of years. It was also learned that many seniors in the shopping process do a good amount of self-evaluation during the deciding process. Most seniors don't see clear differences between nursing homes and retirement communities which provide multiple levels of care when both are located on the same site. This makes the decision to move into a retirement apartment a more difficult one. Seniors miss many of the benefits of retirement apartment living because they wait until they are incapacitated in some way before moving into a retirement apartment. / Department of Educational Leadership