CC 06-04-2013 Exhibit, Expanded Remarks by Barbara Rogers RE Housing �� � - Y -�3
HOUSIING
Expanded Remarks, k�y Barbara Rogers
3-Minute Presentation —June 4, 2013
Honorable Mayor and City Council:
I'll be addressing Housing this evening, particularly Senior f�ousing.
Demographics are changing. People are living longer. It's happening here in Cupertino as well as nationally and
worldwide. This change will affect Cupertino, and we can help to direct it or have it impact us negatively.
The June issue of National Geographic shows a photo of a baby on the cover and the superimposed caption, THIS
BABY WILL LIVE TO BE 120,with the article inside focusing or� genetics. Prudential Insurance has a TV ad about
demographics for the ages of 65 to 110 depicted in a bar cl�art, with the numbers relatively few between 65 and 80
and between 100 and 110 years of age, and showing them going up dramatically with the increase in age from 80
to 100. Their billboard on 101 says that the first person to reach 150 years is alive today. They are advertising
their financial planning for the increased years of retirement. Raymond James also advertises its financial
planning for people living longer after age 65. They depict on TV a 187-year-old woman about to go hang gliding,
among her other activiites. Everyone has some fear of outlasting their money.
We will see more advertising and more articles on the subjE�ct of people living longer and the impact this will have
on communities as well as on the individuals, themselves. It's estimated that by 2020, the population over 100
years of age will double. IYs time to plan for the huge increase in the senior population which is coming.
Cupertino already does lots of things right. The Council and its advisory commissions regularly consider the needs
of seniors as well as other demographic groups. The curb cuts work well for seniors as well as the physically
impaired and parents with baby strollers. However, the dips, as well as the humps, to slow traffic in parking lots
are difficult for seniors who do not see so well and are not:�o limber and able to dodge on foot the parking-lot
traffic--in fact, these cuts are a definite hazard. The Senior Center is a great facility where the City works to
address senior needs. The Cupertino Scene helps to provide necessary communication. Chateau Cupertino is a
good alterative for retirement. Granny flats are an option for some. Senior Day Care is a healthy and welcome
change in the routine of seniors and a wonderful respite for caregivers.
However, the basic way of doing things the same way they've been done for so many decades in terms of city
planning, i.e. zoning, building, housing, transportation, recreation, etc.just won't work in the year 2050. Right now,
people think of living in the family home, perhaps downsizing, until they no longer are able to manage, either
physically or financially. Then, if they're lucky, they move to a retirement home before going to the nursing home.
We're fortunate that we have both in fairly good suppluy in Cupertino. This, though, is not a wonderful future to
contemplate for one's"golden years"which soon will last 40-50 years and more.
At a meeting a few months ago, the question was asked, "'JVhat would you like to see, in 20 years, when you open
your front door?" We responded with "birds," "flowers," "neighbors,""neighborhoods," and "retail and markets." No
one said "hospital beds." A 2007 UN Age-friendly [read "sE;nior"] Cities Model indicates that age-friendly city topic
areas are: housing, transportation, social participation, re�;pect and social independence, civic participation and
employment, communication and information, community:�upport and health services, and outdoor spaces and
buildings.
Cities abroad and here in the U.S. are beginning to plan for different and better living for seniors. It will take vision
and time to change zoning, permitted construction, and rec;reation and open space to better serve the growing
senior population and incorporate it into the Cupertino corrimunity. IYs important to begin this long-range process
now, antl Cupertino has a well-desrved reputaton for doing good things well.
I urge you, when review of the Housing Element of the General Plan is considered, to appoint a significant number
of seniors to the Housing Advisory Task Force.