Contributed by Sarah Jane Kyle

City kicks off conversation on ‘silver tsunami’

A tsunami is coming for Fort Collins. A silver tsunami, that is.

Demographers predict the number of Larimer County residents who are 65 and older will increase 140 percent in the next 20 years.

Nearly 150 community members of all ages, from college student to baby boomer to the gracefully aging, gathered at the Lincoln Center on Thursday evening to discuss how to best accommodate and prepare for this aging Fort Collins demographic at “Growing Older in Fort Collins – Silver Tsunami as a Golden Opportunity.”

“The silver tsunami is a reality, but it’s also a golden opportunity,” said Doug Hutchinson, former mayor of Fort Collins. “This first conversation is about exploring the vision of an aging community.”

Over the past decade, Fort Collins’ population of residents 65 and older increased by 3,300, or 35 percent, according to Elizabeth Garner, a demographer with the State Demography Office.

This demographic is forecast to increase from 35,000 in 2010 to 90,000 in 2040, Garner said.

“Larimer County needs to think about these people aging out of the working force and what that’s going to do,” Garner said. “You need to think about all age groups when you think about the aging of the population 65 plus. … How do we keep from having that ‘over 65 versus under 65’ conversation and change it to an ‘us’ conversation?”

Janine Vanderburg, president and founder of JVA consulting in Denver and an expert on the baby boom generation, said that the sometimes common notion of a growing 65-and-older demographic becoming a burden on society is a “silly notion.” After all, with more years on the Earth comes more experience on how to navigate it, she said.

“Instead of a silver tsunami, think of it as a silver mine,” Vanderburg said. “We have an opportunity to churn the experience, wealth and knowledge in this room to create a positive change for our communities.”

Vanderburg said that, as Fort Collins works to prepare for helping the aging demographic, the aging demographic also will work to prepare to help Fort Collins.

“Use the talents and wisdoms of older adults to solve community problems,” she said.

Vanderburg added that making the Fort Collins community more accessible for the elderly will help not just the silver tsunami,” but the community as a whole.

“If you have traffic lights that allow you more time to cross the street, it’s great for older adults,” Vanderburg said. “It’s also great for the mom with a toddler in a stroller.”

Organizers and participants alike said the conversation Thursday was merely the beginning of what will be continued efforts to discuss and collaborate in preparing for Fort Collins’ touch of gray.

“When I was a kid, there were two stoplights, 12,000 people in town and Prospect was a gravel road and our southernmost boundary,” Hutchinson said. “Fort Collins is not just a great place to grow up in; it’s a great place to grow older in. … Let’s work together to envision a bright future for an aging Fort Collins.”