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Minneapolis, MN

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018

Project Category: Engaging people in transportation options/safety

Description: To help people become less reliant on driving to get around, Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota hosted Bikeable Community Workshops in eight municipalities. Each workshop provided community leaders with resources to make their neighborhoods more accessible and bikeable. Participants included elected officials, city staff, local nonprofits and small business owners. Following the events, BikeMN team members provided on-the-ground technical assistance and expertise to the eight host communities. Participating community leaders and bicycle advocates also formed steering committees to work on bike-friendly community goals going forward.

Burlington, VT

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023

Project Category: Engaging people in transportation options/safety

Description: This project will promote walkability by conducting a walk audit in a Burlington neighborhood and staging a community design charrette with 50 participants to come up with improvements for problem areas.

Bloomfield, NJ

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018

Project Category: Engaging people in transportation options/safety

Description: To identify challenges facing pedestrians, the Bloomfield Department of Health and Human Services conducted a walk audit. They invited community members to travel through town on foot, logging street features that made walking feel unsafe. Additionally, the Department held public meetings to gather community input. These community engagement efforts resulted in several recommendations to improve walkability. In response, the Department launched its WALK Bloomfield program, which established walking routes meant to be safe and enjoyable. As part of that initiative, the Township installed JobClocks -- special electronic devices -- in seven locations about Bloomfield. This allows walkers carrying a fob to automatically log the time it takes to walk from one JobClock to the next. Overall, organizers hope the efforts grow a pedestrian culture in Bloomfield.

Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects

South Portland, ME

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021

Project Category: Trails

Description: The Greenbelt Trail, which serves pedestrians and cyclists, crosses several busy streets in South Portland. To make those crossings safer, Age-Friendly South Portland conducted a monthlong tactical urbanism project. They painted road delineators to separate cyclists from traffic, along with high-visibility signage to alert drivers to the crossings. Curb bump-outs decreased the distance needed for trail users to cross the street. While the fixtures were temporary, organizers gathered feedback from residents during the demonstration, which they featured in a presentation to the public works department. Project organizers report the project spurred the City to make permanent changes to one crossing.

South Portland, ME

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024

Project Category: Emergency preparedness skills

Description: This project will promote emergency preparedness, focusing on the needs of older adults. Displays at community events and workshops will teach residents how to make an evacuation plan and kit.

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AARP Maine State Office

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Suite 202
Portland, ME 04101
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Phone: 866-554-5380
Fax: 207-775-5727
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