Austin ‘Golden Girls’ double up for affordable housing

AUSTIN – The number of seniors living in Central Texas is soaring — and so is the cost of living, causing many to seek affordable housing outside the city. Census data shows the population of people 55 to 64 in all of metropolitan Austin more than doubled between 2000 and 2010.

This fact makes The Golden Girls far more than a funny 1980s TV show on cable. The show’s shared-living arrangement could become a template for senior housing in cities like Austin.

The National Shared Housing Resource Center has a list of organizations that match seniors up for what’s called co-housing. There are no such agencies in Austin right now, but a similar organization in Central Texas is Family Eldercare.

The demand for co-housing is only likely to grow. Austin’s city demographer expects the share of the area’s population of people 65 and older to grow from 8 percent now to about 20 percent by 2040.