ABSTRACT
With a qualitative phenomenological approach, residential environment (neighborhood and city) perceptions were explored for urban low-income elderly homeowners who were aging in place. In-depth interviews with open-ended questions were conducted with 30 urban low-income elderly homeowners, and content analysis was employed. Results showed that low-income aging homeowners were most likely to like their neighborhood because of neighbors’ helping each other, a friendly/nice neighbor (hood), quiet environment, or privacy. They were most likely to dislike their neighborhood if it was an unfriendly neighborhood, noisy, lacking safety or maintenance. Friendliness levels were responses for both the most and least favored attribute for the neighborhood. In terms of their city features, low-income aging homeowners liked conveniences within the city (i.e., easy access to retail or service facilities) and the feeling of a hometown, but also disliked city features such as crime, lack of safety, or no friendship. Four themes were suggested for the urban low-income aging homeowners: informal support; convenience; residential environment (neighborhood and city) problems; and opportunities. This study is meaningful in providing an opportunity to better understand urban low-income elderly homeowners’ living environments that have been less visited with a qualitative approach in the field of housing.
Acknowledgment
We would like to recognize Gene Brown, President and Executive Director of Community Housing Solutions (CHS), who shared his insight about service to the elderly population and the community needs and assisted in the sample recruitment for our research project.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
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Notes on contributors
Sung-Jin Lee
Sung-Jin Lee, Ph.D., CAPS, is an Associate Professor of Housing Research in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Her research interests include housing for an aging society, social and environmental issues, sustainable communities, and secondary data analyses.
Daejin Kim
Daejin Kim, Ph.D., LEED Green Associate, EDAC, is a Postdoctoral Research Associate of Housing Research in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. His expertise includes environmental gerontology, fall prevention intervention, environmental adaptation, and pedagogical applications of creative and design thinking.
Kathleen R. Parrott
Kathleen R. Parrott, Ph.D., is a Professor of Residential Environments and Design in the Department of Apparel, Housing and Resource Management at Virginia Tech. Her particular areas of expertise include housing design, sustainable housing, kitchen and bath design, and housing for older persons.
Valerie L. Giddings
Valerie L. Giddings, Ph.D., Interim Associate Dean for Research, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Her research interests include issues related to the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities including housing accommodations for the elderly.
Sheryl Renee Robinson
Sheryl Renee Robinson, B.S., CAPS, is a Research Associate of Housing Research in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. She has been actively involved in research projects on manufactured housing, energy efficiency, and aging in place for low-income and/or aging populations.