Brave New Boomers

The Graying of the Suburbs

…Falls Church retiree Rita Turner recently decided she was too old to drive, so she sold her Ford Escort to a neighbor. She didn’t even watch as he drove it up the street and out of her life.

But now, a few months later, not a day goes by that she doesn’t miss it. Her schedule is at the mercy of a hodgepodge of volunteer drivers from Fairfax County’s office on aging and her friends. Family members live far away. The bus stop is too far for her arthritic knees.


“I call it ‘Rita’s Folly,’ ” Turner said. “I never should have done it . . . I used to go, go, go, and now I can’t get out when I want to.”

Her sense of feeling trapped at home may become a common emotion among her peers, as more of the region’s seniors age in neighborhoods that are far from convenient transportation hubs.

The graying of the suburbs has to do with the way the region was settled, experts say. After World War II, the first generation of suburb dwellers left homes in the District to raise families in greener climes such as Arlington and Bethesda. Then the parents stayed. As housing prices rose, young families moved farther out to afford their dream homes. Thus, the region is aging in rings farther and farther from the city center.

Washington Post