Bishopthorpe has a slightly above average number of elderly residents, and with increasing life expectancy this will grow.
Age Concern commissions research and reports on all sorts of topics for older people, and one of its recent interests covers the issue of neighbourliness in communities. Bishopthorpe has been said to be a friendly and neighbourly place, and some of the research information was gathered here.
Two meetings were held, one with a group of older folk at Vernon House, and one with a group of other residents brought together through local contacts (another was held in Shipley too). Now the resulting overview has been published as An enfolding community? neighbourliness and older people.
It says for instance that
Local policies - for instance in the provision of amenities or the design of streets – which are not ... older-person friendly, are unlikely to be conducive to neighbourliness.
More creative thought needs to be given to the ways in which older people can be needed in neighbourhood roles.
All neighbourhoods need neutral or ‘third’ spaces – community centres; micro-parks; benches; street corners that are clean and safe to stand and chat; bus stops; the ground floor lobby area and dedicated community rooms in a tower block; coffee shops, libraries and post offices – places that are safe for lingering or resting, which are ‘escapable,’ but where people may be more prepared to hover in conversation, and connections with others can be lightly refreshed and maintained.
We can't find the report on the Age Concern web site so you can download a copy of the report from here.
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