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Idaho Smart Growth (2017) Print
2017 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Public space activation
└ Public space activation
Kuna has a large parking lot in the center of its downtown that goes largely underused for most of the year. To spark the community's imagination, the City and Idaho Smart Growth hosted the Park for a Day event, which turned the lot into a pop-up plaza. The event featured live music, a food vendor and sketches illustrating ways the space could be permanently transformed. Attendees also contributed their own designs for the parking lot. Suggestions included using the space for a series of short-term, recurring events, such as an Oktoberfest, a Christmas village, a renaissance fair or themed dance nights. The City went on to explore several ideas from the pop-up event, including paving the parking lot with solar panels and installing green stormwater infrastructure to sustain landscaping at the site.
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See More Projects Like This One
Chillicothe, OH
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: This project will turn a vacant and blighted property into the Sixth Ward's first-ever park, providing access to outdoor space for all generations.
Center Harbor, NH
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: The project will transform the library greenspace into a safer, more accessible area for Center Harbors older adults, friends, families, and visitors. It will include picnic tables, umbrellas, and Adirondack chairs to encourage socializing, picnicking, reading, and enjoying nature.
Sisseton, SD
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: To encourage residents to walk and increase the vibrancy of Sisseton's downtown, The Sisseton Arts Council created a new community gathering spot, which they dubbed the Midway Green Space. The site features a sculpture of a reflective, eight-point star, designed to represent the area's native Dakota and Scandinavian immigrant heritage. To make the Green Space inviting to visitors, volunteers installed granite benches and seeded native grasses. Since these improvements, project organizers secured funding for a second sculpture for the site, created by a local Native artist.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Ada County, ID
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Expansion and enhancement of transportation options
Description: Ada County lacks transportation options for many of its residents. To help local employers provide transportation for their employees, the Ada County Highway Department expanded its Commuteride program, which provides grants to small organizations and businesses -- many of whom are nonprofits or working directly with underserved populations -- to provide facility or mobility enhancements. The program provided shared bikes, bike racks, employee transit passes, bike repair stations, bike helmets, telework resources and breakroom amenities such as lockers and showers.
Nampa, ID
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Lifelong housing and accessibility
Description: This project will renovate an affordable housing community for older adults, keeping rents affordable and allowing residents to age in place. Renovations will maintain common areas and upgrade building systems, such as plumbing, electrical and fire protection.
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