Aging in Place: A Lifelong Practice
Thank you to everyone who joined us on March 19, 2026 for the live recording of podcast episode 54 with Stacy Torres! The episode has been released on our podcast. Find our podcast by searching for “At Home, On Air” on your preferred platform.
“ The practice of finding your places and your people, wherever they may be, and creating your webs of connections really need to begin earlier.”
Stacy Torres
Thank You to Our Featured Guest:
Stacy Torres | Author, Assistant Professor of Social Behavioral Sciences with the School of Nursing, UCSF
Our Podcast Host:
Susanne Stadler | At Home With Growing Older
Episode Description:
In this conversation, Stacy Torres encourages us to rethink a familiar concept – that of ‘aging in place’ from being an issue that only concerns us in later life to one that is a universal human condition and one where ‘place’ is not limited to your room or house but to the constellation of spaces where you are recognized and belong. We discuss questions like: What are the places we are allowed to linger without spending money? What does a lifelong practice of aging in place look like, and what is the social infrastructure that can support it?
About Our Guest:
Stacy Torres, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences in the UCSF School of Nursing. She grew up in New York and is an ethnographer who specializes in aging and the life course, gender, family, health/mental health, and urban sociology.Stacy found her home away from home in a neighborhood cafe/bakery, when she lived in New York. When it had to close, the observations and relationships that she formed with many of the elderly clients there led her to conduct a five-year ethnographic study following longtime patrons as they coped with the accumulated losses of neighbors, friends, and family; health setbacks; depression; gentrification; financial struggles; and other everyday challenges. She recently published a book, At Home in the City: Growing Old in Urban America (2025). In addition to her academic work, she is a prolific public writer, with op-eds appearing in outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and San Francisco Chronicle.
About Our Podcast:
At Home, On Air is a radio hour offering connection, community and knowledge to participants. At Home With Growing Older proudly hosts this podcast covering a wide array of topics with guest speakers, who share insights and tips about aging at home. This season, we are exploring the theme, People and Places That Build Community: Creating a Home Away From Home. Find our podcast by searching for “At Home, On Air” on your preferred platform.
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Takeaway Resources:
About Those Mentioned:
About Places and Concepts Mentioned:
- Home Match, with Front Porch
- Local Economy, in Oakland, California
- Ibasho, Japanese concept meaning, “A place where one belongs”
To Read / Watch / Listen:
- At Home in the City: Growing Old in Urban America, by Stacy Torres
- There are No Grown-Ups: A Mid-Life Coming of Age Story, by Pamela Druckerman
- Here and Now Anytime, by NPR
- Behavior in Public Places, by Erving Goffman
Our Resources: