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Pittsfield, ME
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Walk Audits
Description: Two walk audits along the main entry point into town will identify pedestrian safety concerns and possible solutions. The town will recruit older adults to take part and share their experiences using the corridor.
Phoenix, AZ
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Walk Audits
Description: This walk audit will identify potential safety improvements to crosswalks, lighting and pedestrian islands. The audit will help enhance accessibility, particularly for older adults.
Iowa City, IA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Walk Audits
Description: Two walk audits will bring together older adults, students and local stakeholders. The first will highlight multimodal transportation options and placemaking efforts in the Glendale neighborhood. The second will identify safety challenges along corridors connecting a high school and senior center.
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Chicago, IL
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: To promote walkability, economic development and better quality of life for residents, the Chicago Department of Transportation created a replicable prototype for a People Spot. Consisting of a wooden platform, the People Spots transform on-street parking spaces into outdoor patios. To help neighborhood groups set up their own People Spots, the City published construction plans and an assembly manual for the parklets online. Part of the City's Livable Streets Program, organizers say the temporary infrastructure helps neighborhoods overcome economic hardship by encouraging residents to walk and frequent local businesses. The City installed its first People Spot in the South Side Chatham neighborhood in 2018. That iteration measured about six feet wide by 20 feet long, but the platforms can be as long as 80 feet.
Chicago, IL
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: The El Paseo Community Garden in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood added a new gathering space, dubbed El Convivio or The Gathering. The goal of the project was to make the garden more accessible to Latino older adults living in nearby apartment buildings. Improvements to the space include an outdoor kitchen and patio with a fire pit, ADA-compliant seating, walking paths and an accessible planting station. Planters at the site were specifically designed to grow culturally relevant produce, including tomatoes, peppers, garlic and onions. The picnic area's stucco and ceramic tiles mimic designs seen in Mexican haciendas. Garden leaders partnered with nonprofit architectural firm Human Scale to involve garden members in the space's design and volunteers from the neighborhood installed the new amenities. As El Paseo's leadership finalized El Convivio, they also worked with the City of Chicago to secured additional land to expand the garden.
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