Aging in place was part of a winning design in the Minnesota Rural Partners’ “Thriving by Design” contest in celebration of the state’s sesquicentennial. Kathy Sporre, program supervisor of the Fergus Falls Senior Center and a NISC delegate, was a member of the winning team.

“Attending the NCOA-ASA conference in Chicago gave me rich fodder for this part of the design,” said Sporre. The other part of the design concept tied in the reuse of aging buildings to create “little cities” to help seniors age in place.

The project was on display at the state capitol during May.

• Full design, including narratives and design boards.
• Little cities design, below.

Little City Design Concept

1. Our design team envisioned renovating Minnesota’s aging buildings into mixed-use Little Cities. We were inspired by re-purposing buildings in our own backyard that had the potential to meet current community needs and also address many of the key design elements in the competition, including

• Socially and physically healthy communities,
• City planning and zoning,
• Community revitalization,
• Special district development,
• Education,
• Public spaces and places,
• Cultural and historic places,
• Economic development,
• Natural resources, and
• Housing.

2. Minnesota’s aging buildings, some of them historic, are being vacated at best and torn down at worst. Not only is this a loss of historic value, but the construction and demolition debris generated by tearing down and use of new materials in building have a mounting negative environmental impact.

Running parallel to the demise of these buildings is the fact that most of Minnesota’s 2,600 communities are not adequately prepared for a rapidly aging population. According to a 2006 survey conducted by the MN Department of Human Services, the MN Board on Aging, and the MN Department of Health as part of a statewide initiative called Transform 2010, the issue of transportation, closely followed by housing, was deemed the most pressing need facing the elderly.

As Minnesota’s tidal wave of baby boomers age, they will require closer cooperation with others in the community. Nursing homes, based mainly on a medical model of care, are fast becoming dinosaurs of the past. Assisted living facilities still segregate our elderly from the rest of the community.

Aging in Place, or “staying at home can be an absence of a call to give to community,” according to Dr. Bill Thomas, author of What Are Old People For? and other books on aging. Aging in Community on the other hand, is an intentional, intergenerational, voluntary new model of housing that incorporates civic engagement for all ages, and can be met by reuse of our aging buildings, whether historic or not.

Our design team invites you to explore, through storytelling, its solution for reinvigorating aging buildings and an aging population--the Little City concept:

Lester Carlson is an 87-year-old widower and retired banker who still lives in the house he and his wife built in 1942. His two children and five grandchildren live over 500 miles away. His active lifestyle has enabled him to stay relatively healthy and mobile, but his failing eyesight recently resulted in the loss of his driver’s license.

Lester is lonesome living in the big house all alone and finds the upkeep harder every year. His children want him to move into an assisted living facility near them. He doesn’t want to leave the town and state he has called home for most of his life.  And he’s not so sure he wants to live in a facility that segregates older people from the rest of the community.

Lisa Smith, a single mother of two boys, is trying to get back on her feet after a recent divorce. Both parents are deceased. Having been a stay-at-home mother while married, she now needs to find employment and possibly further her education. Lisa does not own a car. Her oldest boy is in school, while her youngest is just barely out of diapers.

Both Lester and Lisa are interested in a new housing model in their community that reused the local milk processing plant. A local developer rescued the buildings from demolition to create a Little City on the 32 acre site located along the banks of a river. The Little City consists of a mix of housing, jobs, shops, professional services, education, entertainment and recreation.

Lester and Lisa have made arrangements to attend the same group tour and are picked up by a van belonging to the Little City. The green space on the site along the river has been attractively landscaped and includes a path with exercise stations along the route. Residents of all ages are working in the numerous flower gardens while others relax on benches after a leisurely walk or invigorating jog along the path. There are children laughing on a playground adjoining the park-like setting.

Lester misses the sound of children’s laughter and finds comfort in the memories it evokes. A little further on, they see an older man fishing with a boy. Lisa envisions her sons learning to fish with an older mentor and helping in the gardens. Houses with sidewalks line the street across from the park.

The sense of community grows stronger upon entering the commerce building of the Little City. Walking down a hallway into an inner courtyard, they see people of all ages in an open café area.

A Community Education sign hangs over a door with a posted schedule that includes computer, oil painting, photography and piano classes. A boy is seen helping a grandmotherly looking woman in the computer lab. The local post office has a presence in the building between 9:00 and 10:00 on weekdays. There’s a daycare in one area and a home health agency just down the hall. Another office is home to a visiting doctor from the local clinic, but it is closed at the time of the tour.

A brightly lit convenience store that caters to the needs of the residents is also located on the premises along with a variety of other shops. Teen residents work at the stores after school and during evenings and weekends. Older residents enjoy the flexible work schedules in the shops and find it a good way to supplement their retirement income.

The inner courtyard features rotating exhibits that highlight the cultural accomplishments of the various ethnic groups that have settled in the area. Area artists exhibit their paintings and sculptures as they can be accommodated.

Located in the other renovated buildings is more housing, ranging in size from efficiency to three bedroom apartments. Residents come from all walks of life: professionals, college students, low income, young families and retired residents. Subsidies are available for those that need them, and volunteerism based on individual assets is facilitated.

Lester sees how the accumulation of his life’s experiences could be valuable in the reciprocal opportunities available in the Little City. Lisa observes the job and educational possibilities located here along with daycare and the opportunity to teach her children the value of volunteering. Access to services close to home without need for a car is important to both of them.

Upon completion of the tour, the group is told that other Little Cities are in various stages of development in the community--each to be fitted with its own unique combination of offerings. They envision social networks increasing as residents enjoy the amenities of other Little Cities that are not found in their own.

When the tour is over, Lester and Lisa fill out applications for housing, though their housing budgets and needs are very different. The Little City design incorporates responsible re-purposing of a community’s buildings while meeting the diverse needs of its citizens. Meeting those needs is at the heart of economic development that started our rural cities in the first place.

3. This renewed vision of mixed-use development found in the old small town model that flourished in Minnesota in the late 19th and early 20th centuries will return the sense of community that has been lost with the car-culture, suburban model of zoned development in use today.

Designing our communities for a lifetime, as well as reclaiming our heritage by redeveloping historic districts into renaissance zones, will help Minnesota communities move ahead by looking back.

4. A Call to Action was emailed to community leaders who represent government, nonprofit, and for profit organizations to develop a design for the competition. The owner of the actual milk processing plant granted the group permission to use the architectural drawings of the buildings. A local artist volunteered to design our boards.

5. Brainstorming and incorporating relevant community issues were used to come up with our idea of the Little City. Storytelling techniques helped us envision and solidify our idea amongst ourselves--and now for you!

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