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Keep Starkville Beautiful (2019) Print
2019 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Transportation
└ Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
└ Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
Community-based organization Keep Starkville Beautiful updated a busy transportation corridor to calm traffic, increase safety and make the area more pleasant. The organization repaired a crumbling retaining wall and added built-in planters and pollinator patch gardens. A local artist created a colorful pavement pattern in the intersection of Whitfield and Scales Streets. Keep Starkville Beautiful also made improvements to a bus stop, installing a new ADA-compliant seating and waiting area and adding an arbor framed by planters to provide shade. Local residents provided much of the labor for the upgrades during community work days.
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See More Projects Like This One
Guaynabo, PR
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018
Project Category: Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
Description: To make walking in Guaynabo safer, this project set up to add crosswalks to several intersections along San Patricio Avenue.
DeRidder, LA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018
Project Category: Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
Description: The City of DeRidder set out to improve walkability, allowing residents to reach cultural amenities and social opportunities on foot. They worked to install accessible sidewalks, paint crosswalk to make them more visible and add wayfinding signage downtown. The city's core is home to government offices, a public library branch, a theater and art gallery and a regular farmers market, as well as a pocket park and downtown pavilion.
Gardiner, ME
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018
Project Category: Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
Description: The City of Gardiner hoped to improve accessibility by replacing crumbling sidewalks at the Gardiner Public Library -- and they wanted to ensure the community had a voice in the process. They put together a table display at the library, which featured photos of existing sidewalk issues, as well as examples of alternative sidewalk designs. They then invited library visitors to fill out a short survey with their design suggestions. Additionally, they consulted local older adult groups and held an event at the library. Based on community feedback, they installed 100 feet of new concrete sidewalk with a brick border. Organizers say community engagement resulted in larger conversations about accessibility and walkability throughout Gardiner, resulting in upgrades in a local park.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Macon, MS
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: This project enhanced the Macon Welcome Center with the addition of computers, food prep equipment and audio video equipment, helping it to become a fully functional community center.
Aliceville, AL
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Access to high-speed internet
Description: The project will result in new computers, upgraded software and faster internet service at the library's computer lab. The library will also offer technology classes geared toward older adults.
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