On Wednesday January 30th, I started my morning with a nice peaceful stroll along La Jolla’s shoreline with a few other LCS’ers. There was a cool coastal breeze, the sun was shining bright, and sea lions lounging by the Children’s Pool. It wasn’t even 10am yet and this morning was already a perfect paradise compared to my whole week. But seniors living at the Casa de Mañana housing community across the street can soak in this view every day. After our walk, we walked over to Casa de Mañana for a tour of their housing community. After touring the affordable housing options for low income seniors in Downtown the past weekend, seeing Casa de Mañana was a complete 180. I already had a sense of what it’d be like before coming since it’s located at a prime spot in La Jolla, which is already a very affluent and privileged area. But seeing it in person was still shocking. Case de Mañana is like an all inclusive resort for elder adults and then some. If you can afford it, of course.
The average education level of the senior residents at Casa is a graduates degree. The demographic is mostly white, some Asians, and a lot of couples. I wasn’t surprised considering where we were, and considering the usual determinants of high socioeconomic status. To be honest, I was conflicted and uncomfortable throughout the tour of Casa’s amenities and offerings. Conflicted in the sense that I felt troubled by the huge difference in standard of living of seniors in Downtown and Casa, but I couldn’t help but be in awe of the luxury of the place. I was uncomfortable because it seemed like my classmates and I were the only people of color walking around Casa at the time, and this observation made me confront the troubling systemic issues that allow this level of inequity to exist within a 15 mile radius.
After hearing the stories of a few senior residents at Casa, I was amazed at the experiences and lives they’ve lived. They were all college educated, born in the US, and white. At Serving Seniors’ West Center, I remember all of the seniors I spoke to were immigrants to the US, and all were minorities. This trend is true across all aspects of life: the same groups benefit while the same groups suffer. And this is at no fault of their own; our system and cities are built upon barriers that widen these gaps between groups. With our aging population, addressing the quality of long term care and access to these resources for older adults is especially critical to knocking these barriers down. Casa de Mañana is a wonderful place, and I’m sure everyone there deserves to enjoy the fruits of their labor. But having seen the other side, the reality of inequality is a hard seed to swallow.
The average education level of the senior residents at Casa is a graduates degree. The demographic is mostly white, some Asians, and a lot of couples. I wasn’t surprised considering where we were, and considering the usual determinants of high socioeconomic status. To be honest, I was conflicted and uncomfortable throughout the tour of Casa’s amenities and offerings. Conflicted in the sense that I felt troubled by the huge difference in standard of living of seniors in Downtown and Casa, but I couldn’t help but be in awe of the luxury of the place. I was uncomfortable because it seemed like my classmates and I were the only people of color walking around Casa at the time, and this observation made me confront the troubling systemic issues that allow this level of inequity to exist within a 15 mile radius.
After hearing the stories of a few senior residents at Casa, I was amazed at the experiences and lives they’ve lived. They were all college educated, born in the US, and white. At Serving Seniors’ West Center, I remember all of the seniors I spoke to were immigrants to the US, and all were minorities. This trend is true across all aspects of life: the same groups benefit while the same groups suffer. And this is at no fault of their own; our system and cities are built upon barriers that widen these gaps between groups. With our aging population, addressing the quality of long term care and access to these resources for older adults is especially critical to knocking these barriers down. Casa de Mañana is a wonderful place, and I’m sure everyone there deserves to enjoy the fruits of their labor. But having seen the other side, the reality of inequality is a hard seed to swallow.