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SWTrails PDX (2024) Print
2024 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Transportation
└ Trails
└ Trails
This project will replace missing wayfinding signs along a 46-mile trail network. The trails offer safe routes for older adults who don't wish to drive or enjoy walking for recreation.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
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See More Projects Like This One
Bethel, VT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018
Project Category: Trails
Description: Many amenities in Bethel are only accessible by car. To encourage active transportation instead, the Town created a path for walking, biking and cross-country skiing. The multiuse trail runs from the town's elementary school to the town's new outdoor recreation area. Organizers hope the new path helps residents reach several upgraded recreational facilities nearby, including a new pool house and skate park. Spurred by the pathway's popularity, the Town is exploring ways to construct connector pathways to expand the trail network. By encouraging people to walk, organizers say the multiuse path will support Bethels economy, connecting pedestrians to local businesses.
Sandpoint, ID
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019
Project Category: Trails
Description: After acquiring a new, 180-acre forest property, organizers with the Kanitsu Land Trust wanted to ensure people of all ability levels could enjoy it. So they created an all-abilities trail to draw visitors to the site. Pine Street Woods now boasts half a mile of accessible walkways, as well as four new benches. Since completing these improvements, the Land Trust reports an uptick in trail use, with over 100 visitors per day in summer 2020. The trail now serves as an example to municipal leaders of how to address accessibility challenges that limit outdoor access for those with mobility issues.
Bethlehem, NY
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018
Project Category: Trails
Description: The Mohawk Land Conservancy's Art on the Rail Trail sponsors art installations along the Albany County Helderberg-Hudson Rail Trail. The trail is popular with pedestrians and cyclists in warm weather and cross-country skiers and snowshoe hikers in the winter. To promote walking and biking, the Conservancy benches along the pathway and made repairs. Additionally, a new mural transformed a graffitied wall facing Hudson Avenue into a lush and pristine world of imagined creatures, according to artist Andrea Hersch.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Portland, OR
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025
Project Category: Expanding HighSpeed Internet
Description: Community Partners for Affordable Housing set out to close a digital access gap for older adults living on extremely limited incomes. Many could not afford home internet or devices, so tasks like booking appointments, applying for benefits and staying in touch moved out of reach. Resident leaders flagged outdated computers and weak Wi-Fi in shared rooms as barriers. The project upgraded three properties with video-ready computer stations and secure, no-cost Wi-Fi, posted clear instructions and held on-site events where residents enrolled in skills training. The improvements let residents access services without leaving home and build confidence using online tools, supporting greater independence and connection.
Portland, OR
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Resources about housing options, safety and services
Description: Metro HomeShare created online outreach and educational training modules to familiarize community members with homesharing. The organization helps match homeowners with people looking for a shared housing arrangement. Making information about the benefits and compromises associated with homesharing virtual helped Metro HomeShare grow its program during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the shift to digital allowed the organization to move other aspects of its operations online, including outreach surveys, quality of life metrics and client match profiles.
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