AARP Eye Center
AARP Livable Communities Map
See More Projects Like This One
Clarion, IA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: A dilapidated, abandoned building sat in the heart of Clarion's downtown business district. But city officials were concerned demolishing the building would result in a missing tooth -- a vacant lot not conducive for redevelopment. The City made the difficult decision to tear down the building, but rather than leave the site empty they turned the space into a pocket park. Equipped with accessible picnic tables and new trees, bushes, planters and attractive grasses, the new green space gives residents easy access from a parking lot to the shops and restaurants on Central Avenue.
Skowhegan, ME
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: This project will install directional signage and replace a deteriorated chain-link fence flanking an access trail, keeping walkers safely away from a steep river embankment. The town will also clear overgrown brush, plant flowers and install benches to create a pocket park.
Brattleboro, VT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: Residents considered the Brattleboro Transportation Center's parking garage to be ugly and uninviting. To change this, the Downtown Brattleboro Alliance worked with local artists to create signage for each level of the garage. The new signs feature a different animal for each level, with each creature -- the osprey, river otter, American shad and sea lamprey -- significant to the Abenaki indigenous community and the Connecticut River ecosystem. Additionally, the Alliance held a pop-up event in the garage's elevator to display the prototype for a new Ask the River kinetic sculpture. Visitors to the garage could view the sculpture and give their feedback. Today, the full-size version of the artwork decorates the facade of the Transportation Center building.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Roslyn, SD
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: This project will support site preparation for the new Veterans Memorial Park, part of Main Street revitalization efforts. Improvements will include brick and concrete work, sidewalk construction and tree planting.
Webster, SD
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Public places
Description: Day County does not have a curbside recycling pick-up program for its residents. To give the rural county opportunities to recycle, the Day County Recycling Team and Conservation District purchased a recycling trailer. Residents can now drop off recyclable materials, such as plastic bottles, at the trailer's location in the county seat of Webster. The Conservation District board tracks how often the 25-cubit ton trailer needs emptying to better understand local demand for recycling services. To familiarize residents with recycling, project organizers also posted signs with instructions and published recycling guidance in local newspapers.
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 South Dakota State Office
5101 S. Nevada Avenue
Suite 150
Sioux Falls, SD 57108
United States