LOS ANGELES: Senior Population Expected to Double; City Unprepared
According to an editorial in yesterday's Long Beach Press-Telegram, the senior citizen population in Los Angeles is expected to grow from 508,000 residents to almost 1 million in the next two decades. The city's Expert Task Force on Senior Issues recommended that city officials hire a "senior citizens czar" to develop city-wide blueprints for issues such as health care education for relatives of the elderly, transportation and housing subsidies. Currently, the city has no "master plan" for dealing with population growth of seniors; the Press-Telegram suggests that Los Angeles is ill-prepared for the boom, possessing few ammenities to assist seniors with daily living activities. City officials must "heed the advice" of the task force and develop the programs badly needed for the city's senior population, or, the Press-Telegram argues, "the city will grow old before its population does" (10/26).
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