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Renton, WA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017
Project Category: Engaging residents in vibrant public places
Description: To mark National PARK(ing) day, the City of Renton hosted a celebration downtown. Hoping to stimulate activity in the city's core and generate discussions about the use of public space, project organizers set up five parklets - small parks created in the footprint of street parking spaces. These became mini event spaces for the day, hosting live music, games of chess, interactive art projects, drum lessons, outdoor dining and people watching. Nonprofits and downtown businesses stepped up to host the parklets and event organizers passed out maps showing the locations of each parklet. To give visitors a reason to stroll the streets, the event featured vendor booths and food trucks. Organizers say the pop-up highlighted the need for downtown spaces for older adults to congregate. In 2020, lessons learned from PARK(ing) Day informed efforts to offer safe outdoor gathering spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic. And in the years since Renton has continued to celebrate National PARK(ing) Day.
Pocatello, ID
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Engaging residents in vibrant public places
Description: United Seniors Project will hold a pop-up event to welcome community members to the future site of a new community gathering space, designed for intergenerational programming related to physical, mental, emotional and social health. Attendees will be able to see plans for the building, ask questions and give their feedback.
Portland, ME
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Engaging residents in vibrant public places
Description: The grant will fund a badminton league, disc golf practice sessions and chess and board-game events to help bring people together with fun activities.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Cuba City, WI
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: For more than ten years, Cuba City's planning documents promised an intergenerational gathering space downtown. This project made good on that promise, converting a gravel parking lot into a gathering space. Organizers hoped the Presidential Plaza Project would increase walkability and draw traffic to Cuba City's Main Street business district. To activate the space, volunteers installed a bike rack, outdoor games and picnic tables with umbrellas for shade. A Wi-Fi hotspot provides free internet access for visitors. To beautify the area, residents painted a large mural on the pavement, which pays tribute to frontline workers' contributions during the COVID-19 pandemic. A later addition to the mural depicts the Mississippi river and includes an area for visitors to play hopscotch.
Monticello, WI
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Trails
Description: To connect two multiuse trails with Monticello's downtown, this project will add bike racks, wayfinding signage, benches, bike lanes crosswalk paint and new trees.
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