Editor’s Picks: A 90-Year-Old Reddit Guru

This week on Senior Housing News, our readers took a closer look at oversupply fears and discovered The Renaissance Kilpatrick, the winning entry for the 2015 Senior Housing News Design Awards in the Affordable category. They also learned which positions earn the most in the assisted living space, and found out how one senior living provider took the “Ritz-Carlton” customer service approach to the next level.

Here in the newsroom, we loved reading about Roland John “Ron” Lehker, a 90-year-old Reddit guru living in Washington, D.C.

Most Read

Senior Housing Oversupply Fears Gain Sharper Focus—Concerns about senior housing oversupply have been swirling, with some saying that the issue is of genuine concern while others have been largely dismissive. But recent remarks from a high-profile executive with Ventas Inc. (NYSE: VTR), along with a new industry report, may serve as a wake-up call for anyone who denies there is a problem.

Best of Affordable Senior Housing Design 2015: Cutting Costs, Not Style—When the term “affordable housing” comes to mind, the first thing to pop into your head is unlikely to be high style. That’s exactly the reaction that the team behind The Renaissance Kilpatrick, an affordable senior housing project located in Chicago, is hoping to buck.

The Top Salaries in Assisted Living—CEOs of assisted living communities top the charts when it comes to yearly earnings, while staff nurses make the most on an hourly basis, according to research from the Hospital and Healthcare Compensation Service.

Ritz-Carlton Approach Gives ABHOW an ‘Advantage’—Plenty of senior housing operators say they strive to offer a “Ritz-Carlton” level of customer service. One California-based senior living provider with that same goal went out and nabbed an executive with Ritz-Carlton ties to make that happen. And the provider says it worked.

Weekend Reads

Meet the 90-Year-Old Reddit Guru—When Roland John “Ron” Lehker was born, there was no Reddit, no social media, no cell phones, no computers. Nobody had televisions and people barely spoke to anyone who lived outside their neighborhood. But now, Ron sits in the attic of his Washington, D.C., home, answering questions from strangers all over the world.

7 Questions to Help You Decide if Senior Housing is Right For You—The options for senior housing can be overwhelming, but the Boston Globe has provided seven questions to ask if you’re considering independent living, assisted living or a continuing care retirement community.

Boston Seniors Make Memories, Memoirs at City Writing Workshop—The final group of seniors to participate in The Memoir Project, a decade-long collaboration between the city of Boston and GrubStreet, a nonprofit creative-writing organization, took place earlier this week in Boston. The partnership moved through 15 neighborhoods, staging free eight-week workshops.

Written by Kourtney Liepelt