Gary, IN

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020

Project Category: Bikeability

Description: To address the first mile/last mile problem -- describing challenges riders face bridging the distance between transit stops and community amenities -- this project launched the Cycle219 Bikeshare Program. The Legacy Foundation purchased electric bikes, added bike racks and installed signage to help cyclists navigate. To make the program affordable, organizers provided annual passes to older adults and low-income residents. Additionally, project organizers used tactical urbanism to test ideas for improving crosswalk safety in Gary's Miller neighborhood. They used stencils to paint sharrows and an artistic crosswalk onto the pavement, hoping to make cyclists and pedestrians more visible to drivers. In the future, organizers plan to expand the bikeshare into more communities.

Wilton, NH

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023

Project Category: Public space activation

Description: The project will create a shaded, accessible gazebo situated at a location where older residents can observe wildlife and catalog what they see for a natural resources inventory.

Dallas, TX

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021

Project Category: Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement

Description: As part of Vision Zero efforts to reduce traffic fatalities, the City of Dallas made improvements to a crosswalk at a major intersection. Many residents traverse the crossing at N. Jim Miller Road and Elam Road to reach apartment buildings, schools, churches and recreational trails. The City installed a new flashing beacon, which activates when pedestrians push a button, along with new countdown displays that tell people how long they have to cross the street. The improvements help alert drivers to people in the crosswalk, making collisions less likely.