Toward an Age-Ready Suburbia

Abstract

As America’s population ages, suburban neighborhoods face urgent challenges. Originally designed for young, car-dependent families, the suburban landscape today often presents barriers to aging in place, including poor walkability, inaccessible housing, and limited access to essential services and care. This thesis investigates these challenges and proposes a strategy for reimagining suburban environments through demographic analysis, spatial mapping, persona-driven research, architectural prototyping, and community planning. It traces the historical evolution of suburbia, critically evaluates existing senior housing typologies, and advances new frameworks for retrofitting residential neighborhoods to better support aging populations. Focusing on Sacramento, California, the research identifies high-priority areas where aging, affordability challenges, and mobility barriers intersect. Grounded by a pilot care home project, the study demonstrates how modest interventions, such as retrofitting single-family homes into small-scale residential care environments, can enhance both livability and care access. The first phase of the pilot project has been constructed, offering a demonstration of the proposed model’s feasibility. A phased development and financial strategy are also outlined to ensure broader applicability. While rooted in Sacramento, the thesis offers a framework relevant to many suburban contexts across the United States, particularly naturally occurring retirement communities (NORCs) where older adults are aging in place. Rather than creating isolated senior enclaves, the work promotes a distributed, community-integrated model that strengthens neighborhood resilience and supports intergenerational living. By combining design innovation with policy awareness and development feasibility, the thesis presents a scalable and adaptable approach to reshaping suburbs for an aging society.