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The Urban Oasis (2022) Print
2022 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Public space activation
└ Public space activation
This project helped activate an alleyway by creating an Outdoor Community Library and installed an artistic metal gate to secure it. The Urban Oasis uses the space to host story times with older adults reading to local students.
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See More Projects Like This One
Schenectady, NY
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: This project enlivened an empty lot downtown with murals, ADA-compliant benches, lighting and tables featuring game boards.
Halstead, KS
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: This project will install benches, bench swings and concrete artwork to encourage intergenerational engagement and provide places for rest and conversation along walking paths and in a community garden.
Metuchen, NJ
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: Businesses in Metuchen's downtown struggled during pandemic-related shutdowns in 2020. To help with their recovery and resilience, the Metuchen Downtown Alliance made investments in public outdoor spaces, turning a block of New Street into a pedestrian oriented New Streetery. After the Borough Council voted to ease zoning requirements, the Alliance converted street parking spaces into parklets. This created outdoor space for businesses -- including restaurants, shops and fitness studios -- to operate safely. To accommodate diners, the Downtown Alliance purchased over 100 tables with chairs, as well as infrared heaters and lighting. In the summer months, New Street closed to vehicle traffic on weekends, with partial street closures continuing into the winter. Project organizers say that although COVID-19 has since waned, walkability and outdoor dining remain part of Metuchen's downtown culture.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Baltimore, MD
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Lifelong housing and accessibility
Description: This project renovated an abandoned home. Organizers then gave the house away, mortgage free, to an older adult who has never owned a home before
Baltimore, MD
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Public art installations
Description: This project hosted a series of workshops where residents created a glass and ceramic mosaic. Art with a Heart then installed the completed artwork on the University of Maryland Medical Center's Midtown Campus. The mosaic depicts local people, houses and landmarks surrounded by a swirl of colorful flowers and features the words, We hear. We teach. We discover. We care.
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