Boligee, AL

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022

Project Category: Trails

Description: The rural town of Boligee lacked parks, walking trails and sidewalks. Recently, the Town purchased the former junior high school property and repurposed it into a recreation complex, which hosts classes and community events. To give residents an outdoor gathering space, this project created a new trail and garden onsite. Volunteers cleared a path for the trail and installed brick pavers. They also added raised flowerbeds and benches to give visitors a place to rest and socialize. Additionally, organizers installed a roof over an unused concrete slab, transforming it into a pavilion. The Town now invites older adults to tend to the flowerbeds. Organizers say they hope the trail and garden foster improved community health.

Salt Lake City, UT

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017

Project Category: Trails

Description: An abandoned rail corridor in the Poplar Grove neighborhood prevented residents from safely walking or bicycling to Salt Lake City's downtown. A natural creek flowed through the site, but it was encased in an underground pipe. After the train tracks were removed in 2008, City leaders hoped to uncover the creek and add a 1.5-mile walk-bike trail. To build support for the project, they installed markers along the proposed trail and creek routes, adding signs with information about the site's history and benefits of restoring the creek. Local officials and residents were encouraged to walk the corridor and get involved in its restoration. The City also hosted an Oktoberfest celebration, which attracted more than 1,000 attendees who shared their priorities for the site. Topping the list: more green space. The completed trail opened in 2022. Following a city-funded study confirming the feasibility of daylighting the creek, the City and Seven Canyons Trust are now working on design options.

Newark, NJ

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025

Project Category: Trails

Description: Older adults in Newark often navigate streets and transportation systems that were not designed with aging in mind, especially those without cars who rely on walking or bicycling for everyday needs. Their lived experience is frequently missing from planning discussions, even as safety and independence become more fragile with age. New Jersey Bike and Walk Coalition addressed this gap by creating welcoming spaces where older adults could learn about mobility options and speak directly about what works and what does not. A Senior Mobility Fair drew hundreds of older adults to try mobility tools, connect with resources and share stories about moving through the city. The project also partnered older adults with youth to record interviews, videos and portraits, including perspectives from residents with visual impairments. City leaders attended and heard these accounts firsthand, helping ground future mobility conversations in real experiences.

Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.