Nothing induces depressions as much as depression.

Compounding these issues will be the current inadequate supply of housing for people with a disability, and reluctance to ensure that new houses are built to be accessible. Properties are much more affordably built accessible than made accessible later. As the aged population grows, the level of disability grows, and the pressure on accessible housing grows.
Further, there is credible evidence that there are a subset generation of women who will be unable to afford to buy a house in their lifetime, placing more pressure on public and social housing options. See: http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/life/baby-boomer-divorcees-face-homeless-risk-20111017-1lto3.html#ixzz1bf0Jk06Z
These are issues we need to confront proactively as a community. It will be too late when we discover we failed to plan.

What utter garbage Michael. I'm a little before the boomers, but most of them, like me, started in a 4 room fibro box. They were reasonable cheep, but not for what you got. As they raised their kids, they slowly up graded. It is not their fault the moderate real estate they bought has skyrocketed in price.

It is the 20/30 somethings that seem to require a 5 bedroom McMansion, not us.

That high price doesn't help us that much, sell one you still have to buy another. It's those kids you've weeping for that will benefit. Mine will share the best of a million bucks, to cut the mortgages they have undertaken. That is, provided they can stop their mother spending it all, if she outlasts me by too much. You've got to watch these ladies with a dose of the travel bug.

Owen you need to be a bit careful of sea/tree changes, as you get older. A mate of mine was a real estate agent in a nice small coastal village, north of Maryborough. He used to sell the same homes about once every 3 or 4 years to retirees.

They had often holidayed there for some years, then made the big move. A very large number found that 50+Km to see a doctor, shop for more than milk & bread, or to visit if one were in hospital, soon took the gloss of things.

Many of the ladies desperately missed the kids & grand kids, & with the normal home work, maintenance lawns etc, they did not do much of the holiday things they did as visitors.

Many also love it too, perhaps you don't want to be too far from the old home grounds, so you can enjoy both. Many that left again soon, had come from Victoria.

You have made some good points, Hasbeen

Michael,

This whole intergenerational conflict idea has been beaten up by the politicians, business elite, and media, who want to turn a class issue into a generational issue. They want you to blame your problems on some postman or checkout clerk who happened to have been born in 1955 and not on the people who actually made the decisions (and were able to buy their way out of the negative consequences). As with every other generation, most baby boomers have worked hard for modest rewards and had very little say in anything. These people weren't consulted about any of the policies you object to. I agree with you entirely about growthism, but many people of all ages have unfortunately subscribed to it.

That would make the Rudd/Gillard crew the Baby Boomer Government. That explains it all.

Nice assessment of the problem. I’m not so sure about what you’ve offered for solutions, though that’s be a bit much to ask for in a book, let alone an article.

A few days ago, on a different thread, someone suggested that we go look at suburbs built in the 50s and 60s. The infrastructure’s still there today: roads, water, sewerage, schools, churches, shopping centres, cemeteries, public transport, parks, amenities ... the lot. Council and State governments could AFFORD to build communities half a century ago. It was taken for granted.

No more. Today, Councils can hardly afford to mow the lawn in the park once a month. Communities have grown like topsy, but when was the last time you remember anyone opening a NEW school, as opposed to dropping a couple demountables onto the tennis courts? What about a new sewage treatment plant? Water storage & purification facilities for increased populations? More roads? Better rail?

Actual costs haven’t gone up; they’re lower today than three decades ago, after adjustment for inflation. What’s shot through the roof is overheads. The local paper is chockers with job ads for ‘environmental engineers’, starting salary $120-$170K, and it isn’t outback parkland they’re ‘engineering’; it’s our back yards. Town planners don’t plan towns: they make sure that ticking the boxes on my application to build a deck outside my kitchen involve big fees, silly inspections, pricy certificates, weeks of useless paper-chasing, and many months of waiting.

Result? Today, Australia’s financially incapable of nation-building. When today’s retirees were working, building a town, was straightforward, affordable, and an obvious priority for state and local government. Now that they’re ‘seniors’, it’s pretty much illegal to build a granny flat at ANY price. It’s hard enough for corporations with deep pockets to get approval for a 50-bed ‘aged care’ facility. It’s harder yet for Joe Average to add a bedroom with an attached flush toilet to an existing house so gran can stay with family. Hardest would be to build senior-friendly housing within easy reach of medical facilities, shopping, and amenities.