AARP Eye Center
AARP Livable Communities Map
District 1 Community Council (2018) Print
2018 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Public space activation
└ Public space activation
This project installed a garden with native and pollinator-friendly plants at a local elementary school. Residents -- including a neighborhood Boy Scout troop -- pitched in to prepare the site and plant foliage. Community members have continued to tend to the garden since its installation. Spurred by the success of the garden, school staff area considering planting more native gardens in the future -- including rain gardens to absorb stormwater runoff.
Photo Gallery
Image:
Click on a photo to learn more
See More Projects Like This One
Lebanon, IN
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: To help older adults attend the dozens of events The Heart of Lebanon stages downtown each year, this project provided seating and personal umbrellas (including ones that can be used as a cane) on-site.
Warrensburg, MO
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: To activate an alley in Warrensburg's downtown, this project installed seating, lighting, planters and public art in the space. Local artists created a mural and painted an outdoor staircase that connects the alley to a nearby parking lot. Additionally, the local United Way worked with local elementary students to create decorative ceramic tiles, which they attached to the alley's planters. Project organizers hope to continue partnering with local schools to create art for the community. They also plan to hold events in the alley.
Jersey City, NJ
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: To give residents at Marion Gardens the opportunity to gather, project organizers beautified a concrete area onsite. Residents of the public housing complex came together to plant trees, shrubs and flowers in an area of the property prone to flooding, with the new foliage acting as green infrastructure to absorb rainwater. To ensure care of the new trees long-term, project organizers also created a tree maintenance manual with pruning techniques and other tips. Since the planting, organizers have worked to plan a mural at the site.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
St. Paul, MN
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Reconnect Communities
Description: This project will create a virtual reality production depicting life in the Rondo neighborhood before, during and after a 1960s Interstate highway project split the community in two. Organizers will ask older residents to contribute their stories.
St. Paul, MN
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017
Project Category: Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
Description: The city government in St. Paul hoped to enhance walkability through safety improvements at two unmarked pedestrian crossings along Marion Street. To accomplish that, the city created two long-term temporary crosswalks at Ravoux and Fuller Streets. The work included adding pedestrian crosswalk signs, painting high-visibility block-pattern crosswalk markings and installing pedestrian refuge islands and bump-outs. The city also restricted parking near the intersections and installed a temporary radar speed sign along the corridor. The project enabled local government agencies and civic organizations to gather data needed to support permanent crosswalks upgrades in the area. Using the results, the city began its re-envisioning Marion Street as a pedestrian-friendly, multi-modal corridor in 2021.
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 has offices in all 50 states as well as in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
AARP Minnesota State Office
1919 University Avenue
Suite 500
St. Paul, MN 55104
United States