Pittsburgh and its orbital communities are well known for having a senior population whose choice of residence remains steady and satisfactory for decades, even over a lifetime.

Evergreen Village

Our seniors and empty-nesters stay in the area – and if not in their longtime homes, then in more up-to-date and manageable residences in the same or a nearby community.

The statistics back this up. The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2006 American Community Survey shows Pittsburgh-area households having a median age of 42 with the national average as 36.4; and while the nation’s age-65-and-older populace is 12.4 percent, our region comes in at 17.1 percent.

This obvious love of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area is in many ways a blessing because it produces a lifestyle environment of stable, comfortable, friendly and traditional neighbors and values – certainly no small part of the attraction of Pittsburgh that has earned it “most livable city” status. At the same time, if the vital, active seniors of the area are not all moving to Florida, they need to find affordable, predominantly newly built housing in the same townships or counties they have always loved and in which they have raised their families. Up until recently, such home-buying opportunities for empty-nesters have been relatively rare but things appear to be changing.

In communities such as South Fayette, Peters, Collier and North Strabane, township officials, real estate agencies, home-builders and developers are making sure at least part of their new-residence construction appeals to those seeking single-floor living on a modest and reduced-upkeep level.

To this end, South Fayette, for example, has been actively approving an “open-space plan” for many developments. David Gardner, South Fayette’s township engineer, said, “What we have found is that there are many people who want to continue to reside in South Fayette after their children graduate and want to move out of a large home into a smaller one. New zoning for residential usage allows for greater flexibility in a development. It allows a development to be more reflective of what the market bears, avoiding the cookie-cutter feel of same-size homes built on same-size lots.” (With an open-space plan, there is a bonus for the builder in density, but at the same time it is agreed that there will be more common green space, never to be developed.)

Many of these homes would provide single-floor living, often as townhouses with a loft. Newbury Ridge, the residential community linked to the retail/town-square development beginning construction early next year off Presto-Sygan Road, is a mixed-use plan, with single-family duplexes, patio homes and townhouses; many of these are exactly what seniors and empty-nesters seem to appreciate, with first-floor bedrooms. One other still-growing South Fayette plan is the Berkshires, which is another open-space community with a mixture of single-family duplexes and townhouses with first-floor master bedrooms.

For Peters Township, Ed Zuk, the township planner, detailed some projects with senior appeal. Hidden Brook (off Hidden Valley Road) offers luxury homes as well as townhouses and patio villas, many geared toward seniors; about half have been constructed. Evergreen Village, off West McMurray Road, is 60 percent complete; these carriage homes with condominium ownership all emphasize first-floor living.

Among home builders, Ryan Homes is eager to create plans that “are designed to suit multiple lifestyles,” according to Scott Shelton, vice-president and manager of the company’s Pittsburgh South division. “Empty-nesters are an obvious market for the Pittsburgh area that we want to continue to serve. Access and amenities are factors that play into our selection of these sites.” Shelton points to Ryan’s Single Story Collection, which provides the ability to live on one floor with options for lofts. In addition to the first-floor convenience of Ryan’s Berkshires townhomes in South Fayette, the Villages at Neville Park in Collier offers attached townhomes with single-story living. Similar projects are underway in Cecil (Maple Ridge) and North Strabane where Majestic Hills features homes similar to those of the Berkshires with first-floor living and suites.

Janet Nassif, the top-producing real estate agent for Keller Williams, was able to provide some insight into the empty-nest decision-making process in finding a new home and why perhaps there has been less than appropriate (until recently) new construction for one-floor living. “Older couples don’t want to get into updating and problems,” she said. “They are looking for a nice, newer home but don’t want to lower their standards. But they are still seeking smaller homes, preferably with first-floor bedrooms. They also don’t seem to like the massive-front-garage look.”

Another factor in the availability of smaller new homes is strictly financial. “The landscape here causes a huge problem,” explained Nassif. “Hills are not feasible for building one-level homes and building a ranch turns out to be much more expensive due to the larger foundation.” However, Nassif points to Cranmoor in Peters Township as a good example of senior-geared living: condominiums with first-floor bedrooms and garage access, including a number of ranch-style residences as well.

And Weavertown Woodlands in North Strabane is a new condominium development with first-floor suites and easy-access attached garages.

It appears that in Southwestern Pennsylvania, the sensible and content seniors/empty-nesters that love residing in this area are finally being given some housing options they can live with.