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Oxford, AL
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: Oxford's historic downtown is home to restaurants, shops, art galleries, historic churches and a first-class performing arts center. Its brick-paved sidewalks are great for strolling, but the area lacked seating options. To address this, Historic Main Street Oxford installed metal benches, as well as two bike racks. This enables Main Street visitors to grab an ice cream cone with a friend and rest comfortably in the shade. The new amenities came during a downtown streetscaping project, which included installing accessible sidewalks, new lighting and improved landscaping.
Columbia, SC
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: The City of Columbia set out to provide outdoor seating along Main Street, an area that attracts pedestrians and hosts events that draw visitors from the surrounding region. Project organizers say that people now have a spot to work on their laptops, enjoy a cup of coffee or take in a meal from nearby food trucks. Although staff originally removed and stored the tables at the end of each day, their popularity spurred the City to leave them out permanently. And when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the colorful tables and chairs provided residents with a safe space to gather outside. Because the seating is heavily used, the City has explored more ways to provide seating on Main Street.
New Ulm, MN
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: Downtown Action Team partnered with Minnesota Main Street to encourage residents of all ages to come downtown, walk down main street and learn about local history. To encourage socializing, they rearranged underutilized benches downtown, grouping some with new outdoor tables to create places for residents to sit and linger. Organizers installed plaques featuring photos and a brief narrative on the benches. Additionally, they adorned tabled with imagery and text explaining New Ulm's history.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Snohomish, WA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: To give families an intergenerational outdoor activity, Friends of the Snohomish Library installed a story trail. They set up weather-protected stations at several points along a path, each designed to display pages from a storybook. This allows grandparents and parents with children to walk the path and read together, moving from station to station to piece each part of the story. To give families a reason to return, a children's librarian changes the story displayed four times a year. Since installation, project organizers report other communities have replicated the project, creating their own story walks.
Lynnwood, WA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Transportation Systems Change
Description: This project will provide fare-free rides to older adults, making transit more accessible and affordable while also demonstrating the benefits of rural transit routes in underserved communities.
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