FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                           November 6, 2006

Release No. M-112-06

CITY OFFERS FREE PUBLIC FORUM

ON LIVABLE COMMUNITIES IN AN AGING SOCIETY

            The Elderly Affairs Division of the City Department of Community Services will offer a free forum on "Designing Livable Communities in an Aging Society," 9 to 11 a.m. Thursday, November 16, 2006, at the Mission Memorial Auditorium.

            "By the year 2020, one out of every four people living on Oahu will be 60 years or older," said Community Services Director Debbie Kim Morikawa. "They will want to live the good life they've worked toward, living in their own homes, driving, traveling, entertaining, and staying fit and independent.                     

            "The first of the baby boomers turn 60 this year," Morikawa said, "yet a new report on aging readiness found that less than half of America's cities and counties have a plan in place to meet the needs of the aging baby boomers.  

            "Most have not reassessed their programs and policies in transportation, housing, land use planning, public safety, parks and recreation, workforce development and civic engagement to adequately respond to the rapid rise in their aging population," she said.

             "Good planning now will help prepare for the baby boomers' golden years," Morikawa  said. "We're offering this forum to get people thinking and planning about what an aging population means for communities and what some communities are doing to prepare."           

            Speakers at the forum will be:

·       Sandy Markwood, chief executive officer of the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, also known as n4a. The organization represents the nation's 650 Area Agencies on Aging and is the champion in Washington for the 240 Native American aging programs. The n4a conducted the study  that found most communities in America are not prepared for the aging of the baby boom generation.

·       Hale Takazawa, a principal at the architectural firm of Pacific Atelier International, Inc. He will speak on recommendations for local initiatives based on his company's experiences and his training at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design in "Planning and Design for a New Generation of Senior: A Focused Look at Retirement."

            No registration is required for the forum. For details, call the Senior Hotline, 768-7700.

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Media contact:

            Debbie Kim Morikawa, Director of Community Services, 768-7760