Richard Florida’s book, The Rise of the Creative Class, develops the idea that people in their middle and older ages want a continuing lifestyle of stimulating amenities and cultural opportunities. The challenge for those in aging-related housing and services is to provide suffi cient attractions in communities to attract older people in this category.

The Rise of Environments for Aging

Environments for Aging, April 23-24, 2007, at the Marriott Camden Yards in Baltimore, will be a gathering of design, architecture, building, and government professionals with one thing in common—a vital interest in meeting the needs of the lucrative baby boomer market.

Communities that respond to these needs can fuel development and cultural offerings with participation from this willing group. The biggest opportunity, however, may be for developers and design and architecture firms that understand this premise and know how to design healthy environments for this group.

Environments for Aging will help reveal the opportunity through case histories that one city, Baltimore, has developed. The city of Baltimore is on the cutting-edge of public/private partnership, and is the perfect host city, says Environments for Aging executive director Mark Goodman.

“This conference will be one of the very first to focus on this topic,” says Goodman. “The city of Baltimore is one of the fi rst cities to make it work, and they have the experience and wisdom our attendees will need to succeed in this market.”

John P. Stewart, executive director for Baltimore’s Commission on Aging and Retirement Education (CARE) explains the basis of what Baltimore is doing: “We’re creating a blueprint for the design of an elder-friendly city, and we believe that hosting Environments for Aging here will perpetuate that position.”

More than 20 educational sessions and discussion groups moderated by the Center and CARE will teach you how cutting-edge public/private partnerships are creating opportunities for new development and services.

Keynote addresses by AARP CEO William Novellli and MooreDesign Associates president Patricia Moore will greatly increase the understanding of how this generation will continue to work, live, socialize, and have access to the service economy in elderfriendly environments.