When you think of a village, what comes to mind? A quaint old town in Europe, its stone walls holding tight-knit families together. Or a child’s playset with tiny houses, everyone in their own place with their own role.
Neighbors helping neighbors, with everyone playing a specific role in the community — that’s the essence of the village movement catching on across the US. Older adults are giving structure to a desire for community that people of every age share. As Pasadena Village puts it, “The Village is not a place to live, but a way to live.”
This post explains villages in the context of aging and gives you 4 ways that joining a village helps you age in place. Chances are, you want to go on living in your home for as long as you can — you’re in good company. Three-quarters of adults over 50 want to age in place, according to a 2024 AARP survey.
A grassroots concept
Beacon Hill Village, usually considered the first age-in-place village, got started in 1999 by seniors in Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood — a beautiful area where cobblestone streets and steep entryways were becoming harder to navigate. They organized a concierge-type service: everyone contributed money, and the group acquired assistance with tasks like transportation to doctor appointments, carrying home groceries, changing light bulbs, and home safety repairs. They also gathered simply to socialize. Over time they built a well-organized system that’s served as a model for similar villages around the country.
This PBS video features Beacon Hill Village and how it helps residents age in place.
A new twist on retirement
This twenty-first-century twist on a village as a virtual community represents a pendulum swing back from the “retirement village” concept popularized in the 1960s–80s. Instead of selling their long-time homes and moving somewhere everyone is 55-plus, village members prefer to stay in their communities. As Joseph Coghlan describes in The Longevity Economy (see this post), village members don’t want to shift their focus to leisure in their “golden years.” They want to keep living life as before, with just a bit more assistance than they used to need.
Aging in community
There are now over 264 open villages nationwide, with more than 55 in development across 43 states, DC, and four countries. Because each is started by local residents, every village looks a little different. To find one near you, check out this interactive map from the Village to Village Network.
Perhaps a more fitting term than aging in place is aging in community. Whichever term you choose, a village can help you get there.
How a village helps you age in place
Here are 4 key ways joining a village helps you age in place, or age in community — some address physical needs, others speak to emotional needs like friendship, purpose, and meaning.
1. Help when you need it
The most obvious reason people join a village is access to help with transportation, errands, or household tasks that have become too difficult or time-consuming. You can line up regular wellness checks, but otherwise the village leaves you alone unless you ask for help — ideal if you value your independence and want assistance on your own terms.
A popular service many villages offer is tech help — someone to program your TV remote, set up wifi, or teach a class on getting more out of your phone. Often a teenage volunteer helps out, which amplifies the village’s spirit of everyone having a role to play. And the best part of the concierge model: members call one central number for any problem, without needing to figure out who to contact.
2. Pre-screened vendors and discounts on services
That central phone number connects members to both free and paid help. Most villages have volunteers who change light bulbs and handle simple repairs for free. For bigger jobs, the village refers pre-screened vendors — handymen, de-cluttering experts, caterers, home safety assessments — often at a member discount.
3. Social engagement
Villages promote healthy living through social engagement: member parties, lectures, museum trips, sometimes even sponsored travel, all shaped by member preference and an elected board. There’s often an emphasis on staying active, whether through “walking buddies,” outings, or mind-stimulating classes. The key difference from a traditional retirement community: village activities are chosen by members for members, not decided by management for a captive audience. Villages thrive because they’re grassroots.
4. Community involvement
Since villages are mostly volunteer-led, they give members real ways to create meaning and purpose — even a member who isn’t physically able to help someone directly might call to welcome new members or help with mailings. Instead of living somewhere people do things for you constantly, a village lets you serve others too. Encouraging that kind of volunteering is a powerful way villages support both mental and physical health.
Evidence of how a village helps you age in place
A 2016 survey of members from 7 California villages found that becoming a member greatly increased people’s confidence in their ability to age in place: 79% of respondents felt more able to stay in their own home because of their membership, 29% said they had an easier time taking care of their home, and 36% reported an easier time taking care of themselves.
A larger national survey of 1,753 village members across 28 villages, published in the Journal of Gerontological Social Work, backs this up at scale: over half of members reported that their village improved their sense of connection to others and their feeling that they have someone to count on. And a 2025 study examining what drives village growth and sustainability found that villages consistently function as grassroots responses to the breakdown of traditional social networks — rebuilding community ties, reducing isolation, and giving older adults a renewed sense of purpose.
For a more in-depth look, listen to this podcast from Better Health While Aging, where geriatrician Dr. Leslie Kernisan interviews UC Berkeley’s Dr. Andrew Scharlach about his research on the village model.
How does village funding work?
A typical village runs on volunteers with just a few paid staff, and the entire concept is member-driven. Annual fees usually run $600–$1,000 for a single or couple membership, with most villages offering a sliding scale by income. As one concrete example, Beacon Hill Village currently charges $640 for an individual and $890 for a household.
Villages are structured as nonprofits, and membership fees typically cover only about half the cost of running one — so all villages fundraise, from individuals as well as corporations and foundations. The Village to Village Network offers a Village 101 Toolkit and holds annual conferences where village representatives can learn from each other.
Villages suit lots of different communities
Although the movement started among urban residents, villages now exist in all kinds of communities. A 2017 study found US villages break down as 36% urban, 35% suburban, 13% rural, and 16% mixed. Because each is organized locally, every village is unique. A few examples:
- Beacon Hill Village in Boston, MA
- San Francisco Village and NEXT Village SF, both in San Francisco, CA
- Avenidas Village in Palo Alto, CA
- Lookout Village in Neola, IA
Find a village or start one yourself
The vast majority of people want to remain in their homes as they age. As you plan this next chapter, look into whether your area has a village, or consider starting one yourself with other forward-looking neighbors. The cost is reasonable, and a village may provide exactly the help you want, when you want it, and not when you don’t.
Most of us want to preserve our independence as we grow older, and we know social ties matter to healthy aging. A village may be just the solution you’re looking for.
