Planning for outdoor common areas takes careful consideration. It is very important in retirement cohousing to plan for the present and for the future.
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Retirement Cohousing Directory
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Hidden-Lake
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Wildflower Village: Dallas
Aging
Here Is Both Delightful and Graceful
Are
Rentals a Source of Income or Nuisance?
Attracting Younger People
Common House in Retirement Cohousing
Deciding
If Cohousing Is Your Correct Choice
Ecohousing:
A Green Retirement
Features of Common House
Finding DFW Cohousing Communities
Friction
Making Community Decision
Gardens
in Retirement Cohousing
How
Much Does It Cost?
Importance of Autos Recedes
Innumerable Benefits
of Cohousing
Locating Retirement Cohousing in
DFW
Near
Universal Features
Planning Outdoor Common Areas
Retirement
Cohousing & Your Active Lifestyle
Social Isolation & Loneliness Relating to Dementia &
Alzheimer Disease
What About
Children?
What
Are Usual Common
Areas?
What
Is Shared, Private in Retirement Cohousing?
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1. Temperature DFW has heat but very little cold. Since this area is predominantly hot, it is important to spend your money where it counts--ceiling fans, covered porches & patios, and ventilation. A screened porch is nice, also
2. Precipitation How much and what kind of moisture falls from the sky, where that moisture goes, and how long is stays will be great determining factors in what outdoor areas are planned for senior cohousing. Dallas-Fort Worth has a fair amount of rain but it tends to come in batches.
3. Sunshine and Shade Hot areas of the country need shade--DFW needs shade most of the year and a bit of sunshine 3-4 months of the year to make the outdoors habitable.
4. Insects Mosquitoes and other bugs are problematic in this area. That makes a screened enclosure valuable for outdoor living.
5. Future Needs Outdoor common areas for seniors need careful planning so that they will be useful today and in the future. A wooden plank path might be suitable for all residents today. In the future, though, as some residents become more frail and some begin to use walkers and wheelchairs, this particular path would not be suitable.
6. Pavement To pave or not to pave, that is the question.
- Paving is permanent and makes it easy to push a stroller/wheelchair or ride a bicycle.
- Paving is not kind to the environment or to the joints of people. It might be wise to consider another form of surfacing.
7. Water Water is very nice for an outdoor area. Even a small reflective pond is welcomed. A swimming pool is not necessary but it is also nice.
8. Meditation and Quiet Time A quiet and shaded outdoor meditation area will serve hot areas well most of the year but winter might call for a sunny area.
Wildflower Village
Retirement Community
More Information
DFW
Ecovillages
Retirement or Intergenerational
Green Housing and Villages
in many areas of
Dallas-Fort Worth.
Retirement Cohousing
Hidden Lake Village
Red Oak- Waxahachie Area
Small lake on property
Golf course three blocks away
Energy-efficient, green housing