The Future of Aging Just Might Be in Margaritaville

With more Americans expecting to live longer and in better health after retirement, the pathway that aging takes may cause senior communities to undergo a transformation, reports the New York Times . A senior community under construction in Florida is an aspirational-lifestyle experiment. Dubbed Margaritaville, it is offering retirement inspired by music that legendary recording artist Jimmy Buffett described as "drunken Caribbean rock 'n' roll." D2 Architecture President David Dillard says his company designs community environments "to diminish any icons of this being a senior place." In addition to senior communities organized around faith, military service, and civic fraternities, there are now retirement cruise ships being planned for the superwealthy. More and more developers are partnering with schools like Arizona State University, which recently broke ground on a 20-story senior-living building it calls "the world's coolest dorm." "There's a lot of experimentation with models," observes Bob Kramer, the founder of the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care. "There's no model that's really caught on yet." That said, existing senior communities have been notoriously slow to innovate. The big question is whether redesigning the physical environment where seniors live will redefine the way we experience aging itself.