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City of Evanston (2020) Print
2020 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Housing
└ Accessory dwelling units, tiny homes and manufactured housing
└ Accessory dwelling units, tiny homes and manufactured housing
To help mitigate housing affordability challenges, the City of Evanston created a digital guide for homeowners looking to build accessory dwelling units to their property. Written in partnership with the Evanston Development Cooperative, the guide covers zoning, financing, design and construction, as well as information about who typically lives in ADUs. Additionally, the City hosted a webinar on ADU construction, which it recorded and posted on its website. In fall 2020, the City updated its ADU ordinance to give homeowners more flexibility, allowing them to create separate housing units either attached to or within their existing homes. Project organizers say the guidebook has helped spread the word about the update. ADU construction in Evanston has increased since the guidebook's publication and City has worked to make model ADU blueprints available to residents.
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Aurora, CO
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Accessory dwelling units, tiny homes and manufactured housing
Description: This project supported ongoing efforts to create 92 permanently affordable condos in Denver's Santa Fe arts district. Situated around a common courtyard, the housing development sits on the former footprint of two single-family homes. The increased housing density makes space for more people attain homeownership in the neighborhood. Energy efficient appliances, solar power and low-flow plumbing fixtures contribute to each home's energy efficiency. Since its completion, project organizers say the project has inspired affordable housing development elsewhere in Denver.
Moro, OR
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Accessory dwelling units, tiny homes and manufactured housing
Description: With few housing options, older adults in Moro struggled to downsize or live near family. The city responded by creating two permit-ready ADU designs with accessibility features, shaped by public input and offered free at City Hall. The plans, shared with neighboring Condon, cut design costs and made construction easier. The project sparked enthusiasm for ADUs, a housing type newly allowed in 2022, and is expected to lead to the first builds soon. "It has been wonderful to see members of both city councils... getting excited about ADUs," one participant said.
Albany, NY
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Accessory dwelling units, tiny homes and manufactured housing
Description: Rural New York faces a growing population of those age 50-plus along with limited housing options. Yet, many communities lack ADU ordinances and awareness of state funding. To address this, the coalition hosted two webinars for planners and housing groups on ADU benefits and mailed AARP's ADU guide to county offices. It also posted sample ordinances online to help communities act. The effort aims to spur adoption of ADUs for multigenerational living and aging in place. "We are hopeful that... more communities adopt local ordinances that permit ADUs," said the organization, which plans to expand outreach at its next annual conference.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Evanston, IL
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025
Project Category: Digital navigation skills
Description: This project will feature an eight-workshop series called "Connected and Confident: Tech Skills for Everyday Living" to empower older adults with digital skills.
Wilmette, IL
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017
Project Category: Bikeability
Description: Environmental advocacy group Go Green Wilmette raised awareness of cycling through tactical urbanism, which involve short-term, low-cost changes meant to inspire longer-term improvements. The organization staged a village bicycle ride in partnership with the Wilmette Park District and Bike Wilmette. Along the route, the group installed a temporary protected bicycle lane. They did this using a pop-up toolkit they created, which includes planters, stencils and signs for use in temporary demonstrations. Go Green Wilmette later redeployed these items at school bike rodeo safety events and made them available to residents to use at block parties. In 2021, Wilmette's village board approved its Master Bike and Active Transportation Plan. Shaped by community input, the plan aims to improve pedestrian and cycling access to the Village's business district, parks, schools, transit stations and other destinations.
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