AARP Eye Center
AARP Livable Communities Map
Louisville Metro Planning and Design Services (2021) Print
2021 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Housing
└ Accessory dwelling units, tiny homes and manufactured housing
└ Accessory dwelling units, tiny homes and manufactured housing
After the City of Louisville updated its zoning code to allow accessory dwelling units, Planning Design Services set out to inform homeowners about their options. ADUs -- or smaller, second homes constructed on preexisting residential lots -- offer an accessible and affordable housing option. Working with a consultant, PDS collected stories about ADUs from residents, including homeowners building ADUs. They also held listening sessions with community leaders, advocates and influences. A community-wide survey helped City staff understand local attitudes about ADUs, including perceived barriers to constructing them. Based on this research, PDS created a public service announcement commercial, as well as a social media ad campaign. Additionally, they created a how-to guide and list of resources to guide homeowners through the process of constructing an ADU. Planners hope the effort leads to more ADU permitting, which will help fill the community's need for missing middle housing.
Photo Gallery
Image:
Click on a photo to learn more
See More Projects Like This One
Santa Cruz, CA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017
Project Category: Accessory dwelling units, tiny homes and manufactured housing
Description: An increasing number of older adults are at risk of losing their homes. Common reasons include rising housing costs or homes that are unsuitable for aging in place. According to David Foster, executive director of Habitat for Humanity Monterey Bay, 300 families in the high-cost Santa Cruz area are income-burdened. To address this, Habitat for Humanity's My House My Home program builds aging-friendly accessory dwelling units. This project involved building an ADU attachment onto an older couple's home. That allowed the couple to rent out the unit, providing them with rental income that allowed them to remain in their home of 50 years. Grant funding also supported accessibility to the main house, including a new walkway and ramp, as well as low-water landscaping. They have the option to move into the ADU - which also includes accessibility features - if they choose to downsize in the future.
Conway, NH
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017
Project Category: Accessory dwelling units, tiny homes and manufactured housing
Description: In 2017, the New Hampshire legislature legalized the construction of accessory dwelling units throughout the state. To promote this age-friendly housing option, the Mount Washington Valley Housing Coalition created information about the benefits of ADUs. This included print resources, videos and in-person presentations, which they distributed throughout the 10 towns encompassing the Mount Washington Valley. What was most gratifying were the responses from everyone who heard the multiple benefits of ADUs, realized their own properties could qualify, saw the possibilities for elderly parents, learned that the old regulations no longer applied and felt empowered to talk to their own planning board members to advocate for flexible and permissive interpretations of the law, a representative of the coalition said. Since launching the initiative, the coalition has worked to educate real estate agents about ADUs. The organization has since added a town-by-town guide to local ADU ordinances.
Orlando, FL
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Accessory dwelling units, tiny homes and manufactured housing
Description: The project will raise awareness of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and make the permit process more user-friendly for intergenerational households that want to build an ADU for older family members.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Louisville, KY
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: This project made a series of placemaking improvements to the Woodlawn Avenue business district, located in the Beechmont neighborhood. First, the Center for Neighborhoods added pedestrian-level lighting along the street to improve safety. They also converted three parking spaces into an outdoor cafe space. Originally meant to be temporary, the picnic area's popularity spurred project organizers to create Louisville's first permanent parklet in the spot, which includes a deck, seating, a green wall and planter boxes. Beautification efforts also included activating a nearby alleyway. That included painting a mural for the space, which community members named Beechmont Alley. New, accessible parking spaces helped make the corridor more welcoming to people of all ability levels.
Louisville, KY
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018
Project Category: Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
Description: At a width of 150 feet, Louisville's Ninth Street had the feel of a thoroughfare. To improve the street's safety and aesthetics, Louisville Metro Government upgraded sidewalks, painted bars to make crosswalks more visible to drivers and changed signals to give pedestrians more crossing time. To give people a space to rest, they added benches to an underused green space in the median, the site of an existing sculpture. Doing so created a public space for residents declared that a place to sit and rest in the area was one of their preferred amenities. Organizes say the project has sparked conversations about how to continue improving the pedestrian experience on Ninth Street. Louisville is now exploring adding bike lanes, as well as bump-outs to make crossing distances smaller. We want to redesign this corridor with people in mind and not just cars, Gretchen Millikin, director of advanced planning, said.
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 Kentucky State Office
10401 Linn Station Road
Suite 121
Louisville, KY 40223
United States