AARP Hearing Center
AARP Livable Communities Map
See More Projects Like This One
Brattleboro, VT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: Residents considered the Brattleboro Transportation Center's parking garage to be ugly and uninviting. To change this, the Downtown Brattleboro Alliance worked with local artists to create signage for each level of the garage. The new signs feature a different animal for each level, with each creature -- the osprey, river otter, American shad and sea lamprey -- significant to the Abenaki indigenous community and the Connecticut River ecosystem. Additionally, the Alliance held a pop-up event in the garage's elevator to display the prototype for a new Ask the River kinetic sculpture. Visitors to the garage could view the sculpture and give their feedback. Today, the full-size version of the artwork decorates the facade of the Transportation Center building.
San Jose, CA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: The COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted the local economy in San Jose's Washington neighborhood. To help meet the community's needs, Veggielution hosted free arts and environmental education programming. The local nonprofit, which aims to connect people through food and farming, invited people to the SoFa pocket park, which the organization created on the site of an underused parking lot. Events included a monthly garden art workshop and live musical and theater performances by local arts organizations. Additionally, Veggielution worked with a local arts school to create a mural for the pocket park. The activities helped link residents to resources, such as food assistance and entrepreneurship training, and connected local nonprofit organizations to each other, creating a better web of support for the community.
Williamston, NC
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: To create a downtown community space, the Martin County Chamber of Commerce transformed an empty lot by building a covered stage. The Chamber also added seating, allowing the space to accommodate local events. In addition, they added raised garden beds nearby, installing them at different heights to accommodate, children, older adults and people who use wheelchairs. Since its installation, the stage has hosted a variety of events and performances, including a local theater group's performance of excerpts from The Sound of Music, a karaoke night and a town Christmas celebration. Organizers say they hope the project sparks business investment and revitalization in Williamston's downtown.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Jackson, MS
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019
Project Category: Engaging residents in vibrant public places
Description: To recast public spaces for people rather than vehicle traffic, the City of Jackson launched an Open Streets initiative. First, the City installed a parklet -- a small park that fits in the footprint of a parking space. The parklet is just one component of us trying to make Congress Street more pedestrian-friendly. This street was a very automobile-oriented street. It was very traffic heavy. It was very busy, urban designer Travis Crabree said. The City painted a mural onsite. To demarcate the space, project organizers also painted vibrant blue dots along the street, demarking it as a place to gather. Additionally, the City purchased picnic tables and flexible furniture, which it set out in Smith Park. Local organizations -- such as the Parks and Recreation Department -- can now use the furniture for downtown events.
Jackson, MS
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Trails
Description: The City of Jackson is working to develop the Museum Trail -- a four-mile, multi-use path designed to improve community health and wellness, connect areas of interest within the community and promote active transportation. Building on this work, the Jackson Heart Foundation improved wayfinding along the corridor by installed railhead and mile markers. Organizers say the signage helps visitors understand where the trail begins and ends and provides them with information about ongoing work to improve the path. Volunteers also created a mural at the trail's entrance. And to promote the trail, project organizers launched a new website and offered branded tote bags for donors.
          LEARN MORE AND STAY INFORMED
    
Find articles and resources about making communities more livable for people of all ages
 
    Download or order free publications from AARP Livable Communities
 
    Sign up for the free, weekly, award-winning AARP Livable Communities eNewsletter
 
    Don't see your community listed?
LEARN HOW IT CAN JOIN THE NETWORKConnect with your AARP State Office
AARP Mississippi State Office
141 Township Avenue
Suite 302
Ridgeland, MS 39157
United States
 
                    
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                 
                  
                    
                

