My Neighborhood Turned into a NORC
And I maybe sort of don’t like it.
(NORC: a naturally occurring retirement community.)
I retired a year ago from practicing law. Prior to retirement, my home was a launchpad to work in the morning and a sanctuary from work at night. When I traded in my ties and legal briefs for overalls and gardening shears, I began observing, exploring, and talking to the people in my neighborhood.
While I battle spider mites, an occasional teenager will walk or skateboard down my street, and a few times a day people of child-bearing age drive by on their way to jobs or schools. But most of the people I see on the streets and sidewalks are old, like me. The evidence is overwhelming. I live in a NORC.
My naturally occurring retirement community never had rules that kept out young people. If I’d been paying attention, I’d have seen it transform into a NORC as working people like me grew old and retired while rising real estate values priced out the young. When homes went up for sale because their owners died or moved to long-term care, only older higher-income earners could afford to buy. Those old buyers then grew even older and retired. After a couple of decades of this, all the young people were gone.
When forced to think about it, I admitted another reason for the dearth of young people. My…
