City Council passes resolution prioritizing co-op housing for older people and people with disabilities - Austin Monitor

"We are part of a growing contingent interested in innovative housing models that bridge the gap between the option of aging alone or paying for services," said Carol Lilly, the founder of Boomers Collaborative Foundation. "These are elder co-housing, senior cooperative housing and home-sharing models where seniors can age in place together through mutual support and healthy interdependence."

"In many places, older adults on fixed incomes are the fastest-growing demographic of homeless people," said Felicity Maxwell, a board member of AURA: An Austin for Everyone, speaking in support of the resolution. "This effort allows us to expand housing choice for older adults and broadens options, particularly for lower-fixed-income individuals."

The resolution also called for prioritizing sites located near public transit corridors, particularly within equitable transit-oriented developments ( ). The exhibits highlighted that in the Austin-Round Rock area, 38 percent of residents aged 65 and older are housing cost burdened, meaning they spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing, and 85 percent cannot afford assisted living.

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