Inspiring age-friendly livability projects and programs

Making a community more livable can involve an expansive infrastructure project, such as turning an abandoned rail line into an urban park. Or the solution can be small and very specific,

such as ensuring that older people who live alone can get help in an emergency. Other efforts are simply fun, like the "lawn chair" (pictured below) that was landscaped for a front

yard arts festival. Each example — presented here in no particular order — has relevancy to the 50-plus population and demonstrates how livability efforts improve communities for people of

all ages. In fact, several of the efforts hail from cities that, as members of the AARP Network of Age-Friendly Communities, are actively committed to becoming more livable for everyone, and

especially for older adults by setting goals based on the so-called "8 Domains of Livability": Housing; Transportation; Social Participation; Respect and Social Inclusion; Outdoor

Spaces; Communication and Information; Civic Participation and Employment; Community and Health Services. NEW YORK HIGH LINE NEW YORK, NEW YORK A section of the New York High Line. Photo by

Iwan Baan The High Line is a 1.45-mile-long linear park located 30 feet above the ground and built on an abandoned railroad spur. The park runs parallel to the Hudson River (yes, there are

river views) from Gansevoort Street in Lower Manhattan north to West 34th Street along Ninth Avenue. The first phase of the park, a half-mile-long stretch, opened in 2009 and the final phase

was unveiled in September 2014. The High Line is a great place for people of all ages and abilities (six of its 11 entrances are accessible to stroller-pushers and wheelchair users).

Visitors can enjoy programs and events, including public art, guided tours, food and drink vendors, performances and gardens. In 2009 then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared that the High Line

project was bringing Manhattan's Lower West Side back to life. By that year more than 30 projects were planned or under construction; in 2011_The New York Times _reported that the

redevelopment had led to 8,000 construction jobs and about 12,000 jobs in the area.   YARD ART DAY CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA A Charlotte home displays a clothesline of art. Photo courtesy

YardArtDay.org Yard Art Day began in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Labor Day in 2012. That year the event had more than 250 participants. A "lawn chair" in Charlotte, N.C., by

artist Linda Vista. Photo courtesy YardArtDay.org Now an annual Labor Day event, Yard Art Day encourages Charlotte residents of all ages to create and participate in a community-wide art

installation by displaying art on front lawns, balconies and even on the tops of cars. The only display rule: The art must be visible from the street. Described by organizers as "a

grassroots arts exhibition, curated by the community for the community," the 24-hour free event runs from midnight to midnight and defines art as all types of creative talent, including

poetry, storytelling and dancing. According to Deborah Triplett, founder of Yard Art Day, the Charlotte event has inspired similar art days in South Carolina, Arizona, Illinois, Colorado,

Florida, Massachusetts and Michigan.   "SOULADARITY" STREETLIGHTS HIGHLAND PARK, MICHIGAN A solar-powered streetlight. Photo courtesy Soulardarity As part of a deal to resolve $4

million of debt to the local utility and reduce a $65,000 per month electric bill, city officials in Highland Park, Michigan, agreed to remove more than 1,000 city streetlights, leaving the

community's 10,000 residents in the dark. In response to the debt-imposed blackout, a grassroots nonprofit, Soulardarity, began raising money to install solar-powered streetlights on

Highland Park's dark streets. In 2012 the group raised enough money ($6,500) for a single streetlight, which it installed at 150 Victor Street, near the site of pioneering automaker

Henry Ford's historic Highland Park factory. The goal is to install 200 solar lights. As of spring 2015, two streetlights have been installed with a handful more slated for installation

before year's end.   LOCKBOXES FOR SENIORS SCOTTSDALE AND FAIR HILLS, ARIZONA The lock box offering. Photo courtesy Scottsdale Area Association of Realtors The Lockboxes for Seniors

program provides a lockbox for securing a spare house key outside the home of an older adult or person with special needs. The boxes are free to people whose annual income is less than

$25,000. For all others, the boxes cost $25. The resident is encouraged to share the locklbox combination with the local police and fire departments. That way, if he or she is inside the

home but is unable to get to the door, the emergency responders can gain entry to the home without having to break in. The program, which is sponsored by the Scottsdale Area Association of

Realtors, Scottsdale police and fire departments and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, was developed in 2004 as a response to concerns by older adults and their adult children.  

PED-FLAG PROGRAM KIRKLAND, WASHINGTON PedFlags in Kirkland, Washington Photo courtesy city of Kirkland The Seattle suburb of Kirkland has placed yellow flags at more than 75 crosswalks

around the city. Pedestrians carry the flag from one side of the street to the other in order to be more visible to drivers. The effort is buoyed by the "Adopt a PedFlag Crossing"

program in which volunteers maintain and replace flags at their designated crosswalk. The PedFlag program, which began in Kirkland in 1995, has spread to municipalities in more than a dozen

states, including in Utah (Salt Lake City) and California (Berkeley).   PRESCRIBE A BIKE PROGRAM BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS Hubway is Boston's bike share program. Photo courtesy Boston

Hubway Established in March 2014 by Boston area doctors, the Prescribe a Bike program is administered by the Boston Medical Center in partnership with the city of Boston. The program offers

low-income residents who are struggling with obesity a free bicycle helmet and annual Hubway bike-sharing membership for just $5 a year. (The regular membership costs $80.) In addition to

its goal of enrolling 1,000 residents and improving health, the Prescribe a Bike program enables low-income residents to benefit from the city's Hubway bike share program and access

affordable transportation.   BIKE SATURDAYS AND BIKE FEST LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA The Bike Long Beach logo. Courtesy LongBeach.org Long Beach, California (population 469,000), wants to be

"the most bicycle-friendly city in America." To reach its goal, Long Beach has installed more than 120 miles of bike paths and created Bike Saturdays (during which hundreds of

businesses offer discounts to cyclists) and BikeFest (a yearly art, food and music festival celebrating bicycling culture). Local businesses report an increase of customers at shops and

restaurants and safer, more economically viable streets during Bike Saturdays. According to Smart Growth America,_ _between 2010 and 2012 downtown Long Beach, one of the city’s six

bike-friendly business districts, experienced a 33 percent boost in people traveling by bicycle, a 13 percent increase of folks traveling by foot and a 23 percent decrease in vehicle

crashes.   THE THREE-WHEELED BICYCLE PROGRAM PORTLAND, OREGON Recumbent tricycles are lower to the ground than upright bicycles, making them easier for many users. Image from a

Streetfilms.org video The three-wheeled bicycle program combines fitness with fun along Portland's Springwater Corridor Trail, where biking classes are held twice a week during the

summer for people age 60 and older. The city-hosted program, which debuted in 2012, provides three-wheeled recumbent trikes and bike helmets for the classes. Participants enjoy all that

Springwater Corridor has to offer by riding past wetlands, buttes and pastures. (Watch a Streetfilms video about the program.) Each class is limited to five participants.   CITIZENS CONNECT

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS A sample of the entries on Boston's Citizens Connect page. Image from City of Boston, Citizens Connect In 2013, Boston was named the #1 Digital City in America —

for a good reason. Launched in 2009, the Citizens Connect app allows residents to report neighborhood issues such as potholes, graffiti and damaged signs though the app — or a text, tweet or

by visiting the website or calling. All options are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. More than 10,000 neighborhood issues are fixed through Citizens Connect

every year. Other cities, including Austin, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, have created their own version of the app.   INDIANAPOLIS CULTURAL TRAIL INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA A

map of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail Image from the City of Indianapolis An eight-mile urban bike and pedestrian path, the Indianapolis Cultural Trail runs through the city's downtown

and connects neighborhoods, entertainment amenities, six officially designated cultural districts and the 40-mile-long Indianapolis Parks Greenway Trail system. Funding for the $63 million

project came from public and private financing. Groundbreaking for the trail — which features eight unique routes, multiple public art installations and 25 bike share stations — took place

in April 2007. The grand opening happened in May 2013.   DANCING CROSSWALK SIGN LISBON, PORTUGAL A crosswalk signal with slick moves can keep pedestrians safe Photo from Smart The

"dancing crosswalk" makes pedestrians want to wait their turn to cross a street rather than dodge traffic. When such a crosswalk was installed in Lisbon, Portugal, in July 2013,

pedestrians showed off their dance moves, which were shown in real time on the Walk/Don’t Walk signal. Because of the dancing crosswalk, 81 percent more pedestrians stopped at the

"Don't Walk" signal. The fun traffic control equipment was installed for Smart Car's _#WhatAreYouFor_ campaign, which was created for the launch of two new versions of

its compact car. "We believe that smart ideas can turn the city into a better place," declared the car manufacturer. "Like a dancing traffic light that makes people watch and

wait rather than walk through the red light." Smart Car hasn't said if the installation will be making an appearance in a different city or if it will ever be used in Libson again.

_Katelyn Dwyer is a member of the AARP Livable Communities team. She holds a master's degree in public administration from American University._ _Published May 2015_ More from

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