Social capital and successful aging: the role of senior housing.
Social capital is defined as the resources available to individuals and groups through social connections and social relations with others. Access to social capital enables older citizens to maintain productive, independent, and fulfilling lives. As the U.S. population ages, accompanied by a rise in the prevalence of seniors living alone, the availability of social capital within communities will become an important ingredient of successful aging. Recent evidence suggests that many traditional forms of social capital in communities-as represented by civic engagement in local associations and by the extent of voluntarism and social trust-are on the decline. If this observation in correct, there is no simple solution to rebuilding this lost social capital. Novel forms of senior housing, such asA Year on The Farm: Lessons From a Return to the Land

“Seek ye therefore first the Kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Mt. 6:33)

For several centuries now, there has been an intense “cultivation” of the town and an under-cultivation of the country. Industrialism has been the focus of our economy, creating a mass exodus from the country as people headed off to the city for work. Many of my family, myself included, had to leave the country life of southwest Virginia and go to the city to “make a decent living”. The glamour and bustle of city life, the promise of education and well-paying jobs lured us country boys away from home like the three Sirens singing to Odysseus