Santa Monica is a thriving beachfront community within a short hop of downtown Los Angeles. Nearly 90,000 people live in this popular tourist destination and over 17% of them are aged 65 and above. Several senior programs operate in and around Santa Monica, including WISE & Healthy Aging lunches sponsored by the Ken Edwards Senior Center, which also provides advice and legal aid to local seniors. Big Blue Bus and Los Angeles Metro Transit are local carriers that offer discount fares within the city limits to seniors. Both of these services can bring seniors from anywhere in town to the Beach Walk, home of the world-famous Santa Monica pier, the Aquarium nearby and the Looff Hippodrome Carousel, where Paul Newman’s character worked in “The Sting.”
To help seniors discover the most senior-friendly locations around the country, Caring.com conducted a new study, “The Best and Worst Places for Senior Living.” The Caring Senior Living Report analyzes and ranks 300 cities and 50 states on the quality of senior living in that area. The cities were graded using 46 metrics across five categories: Health Care, Senior Living & Housing, Affordability, Quality of life, and Transportation.