1) Senior apts are not necessarily in downtown. In LA, there're senior apts in china town and San Gabriel area in which 1/3 population are chinese. Transportation and communication are not problem at all.

2) It's not lottery, but you have to wait, probably for someone to die, to get in. And now it's getting harder and harder to get in

3) You still need to pay the monthly rent, around $500 (or $600). I don't think food is covered.

4) The (free) medical expenses come from state, not from apts.