Retirement residence
Sitting in the back of my mind is an idea that I would like to build a retirement residence and then set up a non-profit to run it. The rents, because of being non-profit, would be as low as possible while still allowing for an emergency/rennovation fund. The place would be built completely new, so that wiring for medical devices and all our modern electronic devices would be built in and hopefully, easily retrofitted when technology changes. Probably wifi would be included in rent. Definitely nursing staff and a cafeteria and community rooms would be included. There should be some units where couples can live together. Maybe have retail rental spaces in the ground floor, including a pharmacy and a green grocer. There are two problems I have with this idea so far. 1) I don't know where to put it. Suburbia anywhere is out of the question, the place needs to have good public transit access. This means land costs won't be cheap. 2) I have no idea where to begin getting the probably millions of dollars of funding it will need. And considering I want it to be inexpensive, how to pay back those millions of dollars if it ends up being a loan.
In light of the tragedy at L'Îsle Verte, there is some discussion about what makes a retirement home safe, so I took some notes. There should be 1 nurse per 12 people on call at night, and 1 nurse per 8 people in the day. Where it's not built from fire-proof materials, there should be sprinklers. Single storey residences are best, or the liveliest and most mentally able people should live on the top floors. There should be lots of fire doors and areas of refuge, and elevators that are accessible to fire crews. This will apparently cost 10-15% more, according to architect Allan Partridge.
In light of the tragedy at L'Îsle Verte, there is some discussion about what makes a retirement home safe, so I took some notes. There should be 1 nurse per 12 people on call at night, and 1 nurse per 8 people in the day. Where it's not built from fire-proof materials, there should be sprinklers. Single storey residences are best, or the liveliest and most mentally able people should live on the top floors. There should be lots of fire doors and areas of refuge, and elevators that are accessible to fire crews. This will apparently cost 10-15% more, according to architect Allan Partridge.