Sept. 16, 2008 

Suburbia on a Collision Course: Rapidly Aging Communities Could Face Rocky Road Ahead

NYIT conference to address issues of suburban aging

Old Westbury, N.Y, Sept.18, 2008 - The aging postwar Baby Boom generation is the fastest growing age group in the nation, signaling a "senior tsunami" that promises major socioeconomic and epidemiological challenges in suburbs across the country. Serious questions also arise about the capacity of existing housing, transportation, health care, and other key community services to accommodate the age wave.

New York Institute of Technology's Center for Gerontology and Geriatrics, one of the first academic centers in the U.S. to focus on suburban aging, will host a conference examining these critical issues on Thursday, Sept. 18 at de Seversky Center, located on NYIT's Old Westbury campus.

Conference organizer Dennis L. Kodner, Ph.D., a professor of medicine and gerontology at NYIT's College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYCOM) and director of NYIT's Center for Gerontology and Geriatrics says, "Suburban communities will increasingly face major questions with respect to essential community services. And, if we don't wake up and do some creative thinking about how to address this demographic challenge, many suburban areas will risk becoming less desirable places for people of all ages to live and work."

According to Dr. Kodner, Nassau County may be among the most effected, "Nassau is one of the country's most mature suburbs. The rapid increase in elderly residents stands out in an era of overall population decline." Kodner says. "Our center is the first in the nation to focus, in part, on suburban aging. Its location in the Nassau-Suffolk area provides a unique laboratory for studying and responding to the challenges of growing old in suburbia. The conference is designed to raise awareness on key issues involved and explore elderly-friendly solutions."

Keynote speaker, Dr. Stephen M. Golant, a geographer and gerontologist from the University of Florida who is widely recognized for his foundational work on housing, transportation, employment, and other aspects of aging in metropolitan areas, will discuss "Aging and the Changing Face of Suburbia."

Other speakers include Noel Rubinton, Deputy Business Editor of Newsday; Pearl Kamer, Chief Economist, Long Island Association; Dr. Beverly Horowitz of the School of Health Technology and Management at Stony Brook University; Kate Slavin of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign; Paul Arfin of Intergenerational Strategies; and Commissioner Sharon Mullon of the Nassau County Department of Senior Citizen Affairs; among others.

Experts, contributors, and panelists can be made available for comment and interview. To R.S.V.P. please call or e-mail Tom Schuyler, 212.539.223 or toms@mbooth.com by Tuesday, Sept. 16. Gratis admission with press pass. For a complete schedule and more information, visit Conference on Suburban Aging.

National, state, regional, and local co-sponsors include: Accessible Long Island; American Planning Association, Long Island Section; American Society on Aging; Community Development Corporation of Long Island; F.E.G.S. Health and Human Services System; Gerontology Professionals of Long Island; Health and Welfare Council of Long Island; Hon. Wane Wink, Jr.-Nassau County Legislator; Intergenerational Strategies; Long Island Association; Long Island Geriatric Education Center-Stony Brook University Health Science Center; Mental Health Association of Nassau County; Nassau County Geriatric Mental Health Alliance; Nassau County Department of Senior Citizens Affairs; New York College of Osteopathic Medicine Educational Consortium; NYIT Center for Metropolitan Sustainability; State Society on Aging of New York; Suffolk Community Council; Sustainable Long Island; Tri-State Transportation Campaign; and Vision Long Island.

About the Center for Gerontology and Geriatrics
The NYIT Center for Gerontology and Geriatrics was established in September 2007. Housed in the Riland Academic Health Care Center at NYIT's College of Osteopathic Medicine in Old Westbury, N.Y., the center sponsors a multidisciplinary program of applied research, education, community service, and advocacy. Working in collaboration with the academic community, government, civic, professional and business groups, and funders, its overall mission is to help prepare for an aging society on the regional, state, national, and global levels. The NYIT Center for Gerontology and Geriatrics is one of the first academic centers on aging in the nation to give important attention to suburban aging and the unique consequences for health and human services, housing, community sustainability, and other critical factors related to promoting aging-in-place, productive aging, and aging-friendly, and aging-capable community living.

About NYIT
NYIT is the college of choice for more than 15,000 students enrolled in more than 100 specialized courses of study leading to undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees in academic areas such as architecture and design; arts and sciences; education and professional services; engineering and computing sciences; health professions, behavioral, and life sciences; management; and osteopathic medicine. As a private, nonprofit, independent institution of higher learning, NYIT embraces an educational philosophy of offering all qualified students access to a profession-ready education and supports applications-oriented research to benefit the greater global community. Students attend classes at NYIT's campuses in Manhattan and Long Island, as well as online and at locations throughout the world. To date, more than 77,000 alumni have earned degrees at NYIT. For more information, visit www.nyit.edu.

# # #

Contact:
Tom Schuyler, M Booth & Associates, (212) 539-3223 or toms@mbooth.com
Bobbie Dell'Aquilo, NYIT, (516) 686 - 7851 or rdellaqu@nyit.edu