Many older adults leave town to find appropriate housing

John McCahan moved out of Weston almost a decade ago. He still returns to worship at the First Parish Church, but he lays his head down a few towns over. McCahan left town for Brookhaven At Lexington, a retirement community that provides care for residents as they age.

“Staying in Weston was something I would have liked to have done if I could find what I wanted. All of my friends were there,” he said in a recent interview. “I would have stayed in Weston. That would have been the first place I looked, but I knew the kind of situation I was interested in wasn’t there.”

McCahan is not the only town resident to make the decision to leave their home. For older adults figuring out where to spend their future, the question of whether to move – and to where – can be a difficult one in Weston. 

In 2019, the Council on Aging commissioned a study on the state of aging in Weston. The interviews and surveys conducted showed that a lack of downsizing options and senior housing choices were concerns among older adults in town. Council on Aging Executive Director Stephanie Keane said that seven years on, those worries remain prevalent for everyone, although planning is more difficult for those with fewer resources.

“Weston is very unique in that many people have the funds to plan for what they want,” she said. “It’s really determined by what people’s finances are. If they have the money to go to a continuing care retirement community, there are options. If their Social Security is $1,500 a month, not so much.”

The Council on Aging works to educate residents by hosting panels about continuing care retirement communities like McCahan’s and connecting residents with resources to help them modify their current homes. Staff social worker Clarabelle Valcin said even when residents have the resources to move or adapt their homes, making a choice about one’s future is still a difficult process.

“It’s hard to make that decision and come to terms with it, especially if you’ve built a community for 50 years,” she said.

Vida Goldstein decided to stay in Weston. She grew up in town and has lived in her current home for 61 years.

“We really would like to stay here forever,” she said. “We’ve tried to accommodate our needs.”

Goldstein said it wasn’t a heavy lift to make her home more accessible because the bedrooms, kitchen and bathroom were already on the first floor. The only stairs are one set at the front door and one set from the garage into the main house. Goldstein has had a stair lift installed in the garage, although she said that so far she’s only used it to carry in the groceries. She funded the installation of the stair lift and a few grab bars through her retirement savings.

Goldstein, an associate member of the Council on Aging board, acknowledged the financial stress that can come from owning a house as an older adult.

“There are a lot of people whose houses have gone up in value, and people have trouble with upkeep,” she said. “If they bought the house in the 60s for $40,000 and it’s worth millions now, they’re paying taxes on the millions.”

There are slim options for residents looking for smaller homes or condominiums in Weston, according to Valcin.

“A lot of people are interested in downsizing, but they don’t see a lot of options in town, so they look to neighboring communities,” Valcin said. “A lot of people want to stay in their community.”

For residents looking for affordable senior housing, there are two options in town: the Brook School Apartments and Merriam Village. For both, Keane says the waitlists are comparable to similar communities in surrounding towns.

The Brook School Apartments offer independent living– which means no assistance with cooking, medical concerns or chores– a few minutes from the center of town. Apartments are offered at both market and subsidized rates.

According to property manager Monyette Vickers, there are 127 people on the waitlist for subsidized housing, priced at 30% of a resident’s income who makes $91,200 or less in a year. The estimated wait time for a subsidized unit is around five years.

At the 2026 Annual Town Meeting, residents approved $1 million for the construction of two Brook School new apartments. 

Merriam Village, which also offers independent living, runs on a different model. Rent is offered at rates just high enough to cover the facility’s operating costs, which shakes out to around $850 for a one bedroom apartment, for people with low to moderate incomes. 

Harold “Butch” Trainor has lived at Merriam Village for three years. He worked at the Village in the 80s before moving to Florida. When he moved back, he signed up on the waitlist because other options in the region were too expensive. He moved in after a year.

“I would’ve had to stay in Florida, even though my kids and grandkids live in the area,” Trainor said. “When you retire, that money is good for the first 10 years. Then it dwindles.”

For those concerned about needing assistance later in life, continuing care retirement communities are an option that have grown in popularity, according to Keane and others at the Council on Aging.

“The majority of the people we see leaving are going to continuing care retirement communities,” Keane said.

Maplewood Senior Living offers housing with different levels of care in Weston at market rate. The company has options for independent living, assisted living and memory care for residents with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. 

Currently, there is a proposed development on Regis College land that could bring 215 more units of housing for residents over 55 in Weston. The development, pitched by HYM Investment Group and Experience Senior Living, could also include a number of affordable units based on low and moderate income levels in the region. 

Conversations on the project are ongoing, with the expectation that it will advance to Town Meeting for approval by residents.

Another project on North Avenue could also bring more senior housing units to Weston. Local resident Robert Parsekian is planning to build 12 one-bedroom and five two-bedroom apartments at the former Sunrise Assisted Living facility. He is waiting for a building permit.

For now, Weston’s options remain slim for older adults hoping to find more accessible housing. Keane said it is important for residents to start planning well before it is time to move. 

“Apply early. People don’t realize what the waitlists can be,” Keane said. “Nobody wants to plan for their future, but they really should.”