America is getting older. Fast. Baby boomers -- the 76 million people born between 1946 and 1964 -- are rapidly hitting retirement age. The oldest boomers turned 65 last year, and for the next two decades, Americans will hit that age at a rate of 8,000 a day. By the time you finish reading this paragraph, another five boomers will have reached 65.

That massive transition marks an unprecedented demographic upheaval -- and a historic challenge for government. Much of the discussion about the so-called silver tsunami involves the impending pressures on federal entitlement programs, including Social Security and Medicare. But the wave of aging Americans poses sweeping challenges to states and localities as well.

To examine and analyze these issues, Governing is launching a multiple-part series on aging in America. Beginning in September, and continuing for the next few months, we're exploring the impact of this generational shift through in-depth stories in the magazine as well as additional data and interactive content at governing.com/generations.

By 2030, one in five Americans will be over the age of 65. States and localities had better get ready.

FEATURES

• What Makes the Boomers the Boomers?
• By: Neil Howe
• The baby boom generation is about to retire, and it has vastly different wants, needs, likes and dislikes than the generations before them.

• How Will Boomers Reshape U.S. Cities?
• By: Ryan Holeywell
• The wave of boomer retirees will transform the way cities look, from the way they grow and sprawl to minutiae such as curb heights and the fonts on street signs.

• Transportation Agencies Turn to Mobility Management
• By: Lauren Henry
• The strategy involves partnering with other agencies and nonprofits to improve convenience for individual riders, especially seniors, and achieve cost savings at the same time.

• Playgrounds for Seniors Popping Up in U.S.
• By: Leigh Ann Renzulli
• The parks, which feature low-impact exercise equipment designed for adults, started abroad and are just now taking off in the United States.

• Baby Boomers’ Impact on Elections
• By: Rob Gurwitt
• They hold tremendous influence -- more than half the voting-age population is now over 45 -- but baby boomers and their role at the polls are a bit hard to pin down.

• Immigrant-Friendly Cities Want What Arizona Doesn’t
• By: Dylan Scott
• In contrast to some states’ anti-immigration policies, a few cities are actively trying to attract immigrants to boost their own economies.

• Are Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports Useless?
• By: Jonathan Walters
• For all their charts and graphs, CAFRs don’t tell public officials -- or the public -- anything about fiscal sustainability or whether a locality’s finances might be trending south.

POLITICS + POLICY

• Did Wisconsin End the Recall Wave?
• By: Alan Greenblatt
• Recalls have been on the rise. But after Gov. Scott Walker survived his election, two other high-profile recall attempts failed in Michigan and California.

• Cloud Computing Taxes Up in the Air in States
• By: Alan Greenblatt
• A dozen states are debating whether they should and how they could tax cloud computing services.

• Paul Ryan VP Nomination Ignites Medicaid Questions
• By: Dylan Scott

• New York Apartments Go Micro
• By: Zach Patton
• The city is looking to develop apartments the size of a couple parking spaces to accommodate its 1.8 million one- and two-person households.

• Transportation Plan? Atlanta Voters Say No Thanks
• By: Alan Greenblatt
• Voters in the Atlanta region rejected a ballot measure to raise sales taxes by a penny to fund some $6 billion in transportation projects.

• Rethinking the Parking Lot
• By: Paul W. Taylor
• Everything we know about the automobile is under scrutiny, and so is everything we know about the parking lot. Should they be made of concrete or grass? Is their greatest purpose to generate revenue, store cars or act as a public space for people?

• Washington, D.C.’s Other 1-Percent Problem
• By: Peter Harkness
• The nation’s capital is more about what you own these days than what you do.

• New Clean Water Regulations Leave Localities Skeptical
• By: Ryan Holeywell
• The EPA released a new framework that it says will offer cities more flexibility and maybe more savings as they try to stop sewer runoff into lakes and rivers.

• Michigan Fights Obesity with a 4x4
• By: David Levine
• The state is encouraging residents to abide by four healthy behaviors and monitor four health measures. Now all it has to do is convince people to follow the plan.

• San Francisco Tests a Streetlight That Thinks for Itself
• By: Eli Richman
• The city is hoping that remotely controlled lights connected to mini-grids can cut maintenance and energy costs as well as CO2 emissions.

• University Business Parks Model North Carolina State’s Centennial Campus
• By: William Fulton
• The campus throws academics, nonprofits and businesses together to facilitate the constant and intense interaction required to bring research breakthroughs to market.

• Tree Population Falling in Cities
• By: Tod Newcombe
• Despite their aesthetic, economic and safety benefits, trees are disappearing from city sidewalks. Why?

PROBLEM SOLVER

• Treating Drug Abuse to Reunite Families
• By: Lauren Henry
• Drug abuse is a common problem in child neglect cases. An Arizona program treats parents who risk losing their kids.

• Sick Leave Causes Headaches for Governments
• By: Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene
• Governments are struggling with how to properly manage sick leave to prevent employees from abusing it.

• Georgia to Deploy Robots to Repair Highways
• By: Brian Peteritas
• The new technology will improve worker safety, cut down on repair time and save money.

• Arizona Pays Employees for Money-Saving Suggestions
• By: Brian Peteritas
• Public workers can submit their cost-cutting ideas to the state and receive 10 percent of the savings, if implemented.

• Cyber Security Act’s Failure Leaves Infrastructure Vulnerable
• By: Steve Towns
• Some worry terrorists could shut down the economy with the click of a mouse.

• What We Need Our Auditors to Do
• By: Mark Funkhouser
• It’s more crucial than ever to know whether government programs are effective.

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