Our articles this week on the Council on Aging make clear that Harvard has undergone a dramatic demographic change since the 2010 census. In just four years, according to Town Clerk Janet Vellante, the town’s over-60 population has jumped 19 percent to 1,447 residents, straining the resources of the Council on Aging, its staff, and its volunteers, not to mention Hildreth House itself. A January 2014 study by the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission estimated that given current trends, Harvard’s over-65 population, a slightly older cohort, will rise from 680 to 1,180, an increase of 71%, by 2030.
As town boards begin their work on Harvard’s fiscal 2016 operating budget and requests for capital projects, we hope they acknowledge these trends in their planning and give the needs of Harvard’s seniors the priority their growing numbers require.
