Goodbye Generational Divide? Developers Are Building Senior Housing Projects Next To Universities

January 3, 2017                                       By: Joseph Pimentel

More than 45 years after graduating from college, Ida O’Donoghue is back at school.

Once a week when Cal Lutheran University is in session, the 69-year-old former high school English as a Second Language teacher heads to the college’s Communication Café, where she helps foreign undergraduate students practice their English language skills.

The program is part of a unique partnership between Cal Lutheran and University Village, a senior residential living community across the street from the campus.

“It’s a marriage made in heaven,” said O’Donoghue, who has lived at University Village for the past 10 years. “It allows residents to share valuable skills with young people looking for guidance. It’s a win-win situation.”

University Village in Thousand Oaks, which is about an hour north of downtown Los Angeles, is one of more than 50 senior housing developments nationwide that is built within proximity of a college campus and partners with a university...........................Read More