Housing options limited for Moscow retirees

Alan Rose has been looking for a place in Moscow where he and other University of Idaho retirees can live without sacrificing the comfort and independence they've grown accustomed to.

Sounds simple enough. But it's not.

The local real estate and rental market is driven by college students. The average rental vacancy rate is about 3 percent, though there are seasonal fluctuations, according to Moscow's Community Development Department. With this focus, local seniors often have trouble finding smaller residences to fit their needs.

Further complicating the matter is that Moscow has fewer people age 65 and older than is average for Idaho. While 12.4 percent of Gem State residents are at least age 65, only 7.4 percent of those living in Moscow are within that age range.

"We would like something nice, an individual village. Privacy, but with things taken care of," Rose said.

The 76-year-old said he's not looking to live in a traditional senior facility, but instead is searching for a smaller residence where he can keep his own schedule -- and not have to worry about tending to a large yard and shoveling snow.

Carla Kappler, 87, said sometimes she finds living in her two-story home a little lonely. Kappler considers Moscow her home -- after all she has lived in the town for 56 years. She said she would consider moving into a condominium if she could find one that suits her needs, and having neighbors who share things in common with her might make a smaller residence an attractive option.

"I don't need a retirement home," she said. "But I would like some people nearby to communicate with."

Rose, who lives with his wife, Nicole, 73, would like to bring together like-minded seniors with real estate professionals and developers interested in providing such living accommodations.

"I can't understand why nobody's moving into that real estate market," Rose said.

Nels Reese, who sits on Moscow's Planning and Zoning Commission and is also a UI retiree, said he's heard from friends about the need for retirement housing that isn't institutional. There was discussion about such housing to be constructed near the campus golf course years ago but it never materialized, he said.

Gail Byers Real Estate broker-owner Gail Byers and Brenda Von Wandruszka, a sales associate at the brokerage, said there are other major hurdles to new senior housing construction besides the apartment rental market being lucrative and the relatively small number of senior-aged residents interested in downsizing.

"The economy plays a role. The cost to produce sites seniors want is too expensive," Byers said.

The city's existing senior housing and assisted living facilities are in areas less populated, such as north of East D Street, south of Styner Avenue, and east of South Mountain View Road, according to the city's multimodal transportation plan. For some, these hilly surroundings and locations are too far away from services and public transit.

Von Wandruszka said Good Samaritan has duplexes and other forms of housing that provide varying levels of service, but it's hard to get into these residential areas because they sell out quickly.

Good Samaritan is best known for its Moscow Village, but also has separate independent housing in the city for seniors. And the 32 twin homes it offers are more in demand than the apartment units. Clark Place, located on the 1400 block of North Polk Street, provides varying degrees of living assistance, but the units are also apartment style.

Single-story units at Tiempo Commons didn't result in a large amount of buyer interest, and Prospect Place on Sunnyside, initially a location for people ages 55 and older, is smaller than originally intended.

Bill Belknap, the city's community development director, said demand among local seniors for downsized housing should increase as Baby Boomers age.

Jane Pritchett, 69, also would like to be closer to her former UI co-workers, but after looking at some of the area's housing options, she and her wife, Jama Sebald, 66, decided to stay put in their current residence.

Byers and Von Wandruszka also said there are service providers who can help people stay in their long-occupied homes for as long as possible if they can't find a suitable downsize property and are able to otherwise live independently.

The Moscow City Council in April approved an ordinance allowing construction of accessory dwelling units. It was a "staying-in-place" concept. Construction of such small living quarters could allow people to rent out their homes and still live at the same address in these small dwellings or provide a place for a full-time caregiver to live, Reese said.

Housing survey

Moscow's 2014 Citizens Survey touched on housing matters but didn't specifically address senior-specific needs. Among those responding to the survey, 41 percent said they've lived in Moscow for more than 20 years.

Residents ages 65 and older made up 28 percent of the respondents. Another 18 percent of the participants were between the ages of 55 and 64.

The city continues to be less often identified as a place to retire than as a place to live and location to raise children. On a 100-point scale, respondents ranked the city at 85 for family life and 82 for overall living but only 70 as a retirement location -- though that's nine points higher than the rating garnered in the 2004 survey.

Housing ranked sixth in priority among those residents asked what they thought would be the single most important issue facing the city during the next several years. Housing was less of a concern than traffic, quality of life, water, bicycle traffic and recycling.

More than a quarter of the people who participated in the 2014 survey live in a duplex, townhouse, apartment or condominium. Among the group of respondents, 60 percent would prefer to live in a "detached, single-family house, and have to drive to shops and restaurants and have a longer commute to work" while only 32 percent favored "an attached single-family home (where you share one or more common walls), townhouse, or condominium where it is easy to walk to shops, restaurants and have a shorter commute to work."

Terri Harber can be reached at (208) 883-4631, or by email to tharber@dnews.com.

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