Korea,nationalstatisticsshowthepercentageofelderly
living alone rising rapidly.
Thisisactuallyasignofenormousprogress.Choicesfor
theelderlyhaveproliferated.DelWebb,anArizonareal
estate developer, popularized the term “retirement
community” in 1960 when he launched Sun City, a
communityinPhoenixthatwasamongthefirsttolimit
itsresidentstoretirees.Itwasacontroversialideaatthe
time.Mostdevelopersbelievedtheelderlywantedmore
contact with other generations. Webb disagreed. He
believedpeopleinthelastphaseoftheirlivesdidn’twant
to live the way my grandfather did, with the family
underfoot.HebuiltSunCityasaplacewithanalternate
visionofhowpeoplewouldspendwhathecalled“their
leisureyears.”Ithad agolf course,a shoppingarcade,
andarecreationcenter,anditofferedtheprospectofan
activeretirementofrecreationanddiningoutwithothers
like them to share it with. Webb’s vision proved
massively popular, and in Europe, the Americas, and
even Asia, retirement communities have become a
normal presence.
For those who had no interest in moving into such
places—Alice Hobson, for instance—it became
acceptableand feasible to remain in their ownhomes,
living astheywanted tolive, autonomously. Thatfact
remains something to celebrate. There is arguably no
better time in history to be old. The lines of power
betweenthegenerationshavebeenrenegotiated,andnot
inthewayitissometimesbelieved.Theageddidnotlose
statusandcontrolsomuchasshareit.Modernizationdid
not demote theelderly. It demoted thefamily. Itgave