Fort Worth suburb grows older

Seniors “age in place”

Marci Gilbert, Mar 29, 11.

Multiple bedrooms, large yards, and nearby parks and schools made Euless a popular area for young families in the 1960s and 1970s. The children have moved on, but the parents are still in the houses, leaving for an older demographic than used to be there, according to a story in the Star-Telegram.

From 2000 to 2009, the city’s median age crept up by 1.6 years to 33.8, and 13.7 percent of households include a person over 65, according to American Community Survey data released by the Census Bureau in December.

In 2009, 7.6 percent of the city’s residents were 65 or older. That compares with 5.8 percent in 2000 and 4 percent in 1990.

The maturation of Euless isn’t an anomaly. In predominantly Anglo suburbs across Tarrant County, seniors are “aging in place” in towns as different as Kennedale, Colleyville, Hurst and Westover Hills.

In 24 of 38 communities in Tarrant County, the median age is now above the Texas median of 33.

Demographer Steve Murdock of Rice University says the graying of the suburbs is primarily a product of ethnicity.

“In general, the reason you are seeing that in the suburbs is that they tend to have higher proportions of Anglos,” Murdock said. “The age structure of minority populations, particularly Hispanic populations, is going to be younger.”

With the first baby boomers reaching 65 this year, America’s senior moment is fast approaching.

By 2030, all the baby boomers will be seniors, resulting in a shift that demographers call the “age wave.” The percentage of the population 65 and older is projected to increase from 12.6 percent in 2010 to 19 percent in 2030, according to the Census Bureau. Murdock says there will be no escaping the impact of the boomers in Texas, but he adds that the state is younger than the national median of 36.5 years. “Their impact will be muted in Texas compared to many states because of continued in-migration—people that move tend to be younger—and the growing Hispanic population,” he said.

Euless Mayor Mary Lib Saleh has lived in Morrisdale Estates of Euless since 1964 and has watched the change.

“We need to be sure we have adequate health services. We need to provide transportation for those seniors that can no longer provide it for themselves. Transportation for seniors wasn’t on the radar 20 years ago, but it is now.”

One of the challenges facing many first-tier suburbs is that their housing stock is aging, too, said Christiana McFarland, program director for finance and economic development at the National League of Cities.

“Most are in need of developing housing options to remain competitive with newer suburbs. In many cases, they have an influx of a new population as well as an older population who would like to age in place,” McFarland said.

“First-tier suburbs are a microcosm of what is going to happen in the country going forward—they tend to be an indicator of what we can expect next,” she said.