AARP Livable Communities Placemaking Workshop
November 11-14, 2019 Denver, Colorado
W: AARP.org/Placemaking2019
T: @AARPLivable #AARPPlacemaking
F: /AARPLivableCommunities
P: PollEV.com/AARPPlacemaking
The Westin Denver Downtown 1672 Lawrence Street Denver, Colorado 80202
Welcome to the Mile High City! AARP Colorado’s Staff and Volunteers are honored to be co-hosting this first-ever AARP Livable Communities Placemaking Workshop. With 14 current members of the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities, AARP Colorado is excited to have the opportunity to showcase the innovative work of our many partners from throughout our great state.
Denver is a dynamic city, the political, cultural, transportation and economic hub of the second-fastest growing state in the country. The outdoor lifestyle and re-location of many tech and Fortune 500 companies have fueled a cross-generational in-migration that presents both the myriad opportunities and challenges that come with such rapid change.
The Westin Hotel is in the heart of LoDo (Lower Downtown), an area that was virtually vacant less than 30 years ago, until Major League Baseball and Coors Field ignited a revival in 1993. Now, within a short walking distance, you can visit historic Larimer Square, the Denver Performing Arts Complex, and the Wynkoop (Colorado’s first micro-brewery, which was founded by a then out-of-work geologist named John Hickenlooper). There’s also the remodeled Union Station that has become the social and economic hub of Downtown since the opening of FasTracks, our new regional train system.
If you are staying an extra day, consider visiting the Red Rocks Amphitheater, universally regarded as the world’s greatest outdoor concert venue and a “bucket-list” visit for people from around the world. Closer to the hotel, art lovers can consider a visit to the American Museum of Western Art at 1727 Tremont Place. The museum is a hidden gem that features the breathtaking Anschutz Collection and is located directly across the street from another must-see — the historic Brown Palace Hotel.
Welcome again, and we hope you enjoy the Mile High City!
Bob Murphy State Director, AARP Colorado
Welcome to Denver! And thank you for joining the AARP Livable Communities Placemaking Workshop, a gathering of AARP staff, volunteers, community partners and livability practitioners representing a range of specialties and locations.
This first-ever national AARP workshop about placemaking will highlight and share best practices, insights and inspiring next steps.
Portions of the workshop will be livestreamed online (register at AARP.org/Placemaking2019), so please inform any colleagues and community members who could not be here in Denver that they can watch and interact with the workshop from wherever they are.
Questions will be fielded during the webcast via:
• Twitter: @AARP Livable, #AARPPlacemaking
• Poll Everywhere: Download the app and enter the code PollEV.com/AARPPlacemaking
Learn more the workshop’s schedule and activities. u
A PEEK AT PLACEMAKING t These images appear in The Pop-Up Placemaking Tool Kit, a publication by AARP and Team Better Block. The guide will be released to the public on December 4. Look inside your workshop bag for a pre-release copy!
AARP Livable Communities Placemaking Workshop | 1 The Schedule
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11
6:00 – 8:00 pm MST OPENING RECEPTION WESTIN DENVER DOWNTOWN, AUGUSTA ROOM HOSTS: Bob Murphy, State Director, AARP Colorado Danielle Arigoni, Director, AARP Livable Communities
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12
7:30 – 9:00 am MST BREAKFAST and WORKSHOP CHECK-IN 9:00 – 9:15 am MORNING WELCOME and ORIENTATION 9:30 – 10:45 am REGIONAL DISCUSSIONS
WESTERN STATES: Augusta Room Unless EASTERN STATES: Horace Tabor Room indicated, SOUTHERN STATES: Lawrence A Room all events CENTRAL STATES: Lawrence B Room are in the Confluence 11:00 – 11:10 am WELCOME! Ballroom. 11:10 – 11:40 am MORNING KEYNOTE
SPEAKER: Matthew Lister “Build Support for Change: Places for People“ 11:40 am – 12:10 pm PLENARY PANEL TOPIC: “Placemaking for All“ 12:10 – 12:30 pm AUDIENCE QUESTIONS 12:30 – 1:00 pm LUNCH and VIDEOS 1:00 – 1:30 pm INNOVATION SHOWCASE 1:30 – 2:00 pm PLENARY PANEL TOPIC: “The Economic Impacts of Placemaking“ 2:00 – 2:30 pm AFTERNOON KEYNOTE
SPEAKER: Carol Coletta “Invest in Change: Making Places That Work for Everyone“ 2:30 – 2:50 pm AUDIENCE QUESTIONS 2:50 – 3:00 pm DAY 1 CLOSING REMARKS 3:15 – 4:15 pm BREAKOUT SESSIONS #1 4:30 – 5:30 pm BREAKOUT SESSIONS #2 6:00 – 8:00 pm DINNER AND RECEPTION DENVER MILK MARKET: 1800 Wazee Street, #100, Denver, Colorado, 80202
All times are Mountain Standard Time. Times in BLUE indicate the national livestream webcast. Register at AARP.org/Placemaking2019.
2 | TWITTER: @AARPLivable | #AARPPlacemaking 4 | 2018 AARP Livable Communities National Conference The Wi-Fi Select the network Westin_Conference Use the password aarp2019
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13
7:30 – 9:00 am MST BREAKFAST 8:00 – 9:00 am MORNING MEET-UPS 9:00 – 9:30 am MORNING WELCOME AND PRESENTATION 9:45 – 10:45 am BREAKOUT SESSIONS 11:00 – 11:10 am WELCOME BACK! 11:10 – 11:40 am PLENARY PANEL TOPIC: “The Health Impacts of Placemaking“ 11:40 am – 12:10 pm INNOVATION SHOWCASE 12:10 – 12:30 pm LUNCH AND VIDEOS 12:30 – 1:00 pm DAY 2 KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Odetta MacLeish-White “Trigger Long-Term Change: Start First in Your Imagination“ 1:00 – 1:30 pm PLENARY PANEL TOPIC: “The Social Impacts of Placemaking“ 1:30 – 1:50 pm AUDIENCE QUESTIONS 1:50 – 2:00 pm WORKSHOP CLOSING REMARKS 2:15 – 5:00 pm MOBILE WORKSHOPS
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14
8:00 – 9:30 am GRAB-AND-GO BREAKFAST Molly Brown and Horace Tabor rooms 8:30 am – 12:00 pm MOBILE WORKSHOP
CONTENTS NOTES
Page 4: Tuesday Speakers, Presenters, Panelists • Audience questions will be gathered via Twitter Page 4: Regional Discussions and Poll Everywhere. Page 8: Tuesday Breakout Session descriptions • Lunch will be provided on Tuesday and Wednesday. Page 13: Wednesday Breakout Session descriptions • Registration for the guided Mobile Workshops Page 16: Wednesday Speakers, Presenters, Panelists will take place at check-in on Tuesday morning.
Page 18: Mobile Workshops • The guided Mobile Workshops will depart from Page 19: AARP Livable Communities Resources the lobby of the Westin Denver Downtown. Back Cover: Maps • Other than the FIve Points Walking Tour, there are no formal events scheduled for Thursday, November 14.
AARP Livable Communities Placemaking Workshop | 3 DAY 1 TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12
Regional Discussions Getting Started ❒❒ 9:30 - 10:45 am
Breakfast and Workshop Check-In Meet workshop attendees from your part of the country and participate in an informal discussion of ❒❒ 7:30 - 9:00 am: Confluence Foyer regional placemaking work.
Western States (AUGUSTA ROOM)
Good Morning! FACILITATOR: DeAnza Valencia ❒❒ 9:00 - 9:15 am Associate State Director for Advocacy AARP New Mexico Introduction and Orientation @AARPNM
PRESENTER: Bob Murphy This meet-up is for attendees from Alaska, Arizona, State Director California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. AARP Colorado @AARPCOMurphy | @AARPCO Southern States (LAWRENCE A ROOM) Bob Murphy has an extensive private and public sector background, including 22 years serving the residents of FACILITATOR: Alice Bennett Lakewood, Colorado, as a planning commissioner, city Associate State Director for Community Engagement councilor and, from 2007 to 2015, mayor. AARP Georgia @abbAARPGA As mayor, Murphy oversaw many transformational This meet-up is for Alabama, the District of Columbia, projects, including the opening of Lakewood’s Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, first hospitals, the city’s first light-rail line, and the Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, redevelopment of Belmar, which involved turning a Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. failed regional shopping mall into a vibrant mixed-use downtown. (See page 9 for his Belmar breakout session.) Eastern States (HORACE TABOR ROOM) Murphy is a past chair of the Denver Metro Mayors Caucus, where he was instrumental in regional planning FACILITATOR: Coralette Hannon in the areas of housing, transportation and economic Senior Legislative Representative development. He has been the state director of AARP AARP State Advocacy and Strategy Integration Colorado since 2016. @CoraletteHannon This meet-up is for Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Twitter Tips Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Vermont and the Virgin Islands. • Feel free to Tweet inspirations and ideas during the workshop. Central States (LAWRENCE B ROOM)
FACILITATOR: Addison Pollock • Use Twitter to pose questions to Associate State Director for Community Engagement speakers, and to share your insights AARP Indiana and takeaways. @Addison_Pollock
• Please include #AARPPlacemaking This meet-up is for Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North and/or tag us @AARPLivable. Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
Please return to the Confluence Ballroom for the start of the workshop program and livestream webcast.
4 |TWITTER: @AARPLivable | #AARPPlacemaking Main Events Panel Discussion ❒❒ 11:00 - 11:10 am ❒❒ 11:40 am - 12:10 pm Placemaking for All Welcome! PRESENTER: Kristin Dillon MODERATOR: Will Phillips Senior Vice President State Director AARP State and Community Engagement AARP Minnesota @KristinPDillon @willphillips74 | @AARPMN Kristin Dillon leads a team of more than 500 AARP staff Will Phillips’ work building teams and strategies that members and 15,000 volunteers to carry out AARP’s empower citizens to shape their communities has social mission by advocating for issues that are important spanned more than two decades and roles with multiple to AARP members, by working with local partners, and by social impact organizations. Prior to leading AARP equipping people age 50-plus with tools and information Minnesota, Phillips managed multi-state and national for living their best lives. advocacy campaigns including “You’ve Earned a Say,“ AARP’s national conversation about the future of Social Security and Medicare. • PANELIST: Anthony Taylor Morning Keynote Address Founder, Slow Roll Twin Cities Executive Council Member, AARP Minnesota ❒❒ 11:10 - 11:40 am @iamantiaging Anthony Taylor hasn’t stopped bicycling since receiving a Build Support for Change: Schwinn Apple Krate for his birthday in 1971. He is co- Places for People founder of the Major Taylor Bicycling Club of Minnesota, which works to increase the participation of the African SPEAKER: Matthew Lister American community in cycling for sport, transportation and health improvement. He is also a member of the Partner and Managing Director, Gehl League of American Bicyclists Equity Advisory Council @citiesforpeople and the co-founder and vice president of the National Matthew Lister is a creative placemaker, real estate Brotherhood of Cyclists. strategist and designer who focuses on the intersection • PANELIST: Irene Aguilar, M.D. of real estate strategy and the design and activation of Director great public spaces. Denver Economic Development and Opportunity
Neighborhood Equity and Stabilization Program Often working at multiple scales with both private @Aguilarfor32 and public clients, Lister develops aspirational yet economically sustainable and implementable solutions. Irene Aguilar works to prevent Denver’s most vulnerable He brings expertise in collaborative engagement residents from being displaced due to gentrification. A with diverse communities into the urban change and former Colorado state senator, Aguilar sat on the health development process. and human services and judiciary committees. Previously, she worked for 23 years as a primary care physician for “Public life is the shared experience of our cities and Denver Health and has served on its board since 2012. neighborhoods created by people when they live their • PANELIST: Rudy Espinoza lives outside of their homes, workplaces and cars,“ Executive Director Lister explains. “It is the everyday life that unfolds in Inclusive Action for the City streets, plazas, parks and spaces between buildings. @MrDolph Vibrant public life promotes civic agency, supports health and sustainability, builds social capital, and Inclusive Action for the City is a Los Angeles-based connects people to their local communities.“ community development organization that designs innovations to responsibly revitalize low-income urban Using visual examples from throughout the nation, areas. Rudy Espinoza leads advocacy efforts in support of Lister’s presentation will share how, he says, “we might the working poor and micro-finance programs that support better engage and design with citizens — to create micro-entrepreneurs. public spaces with, shaped by and built for people.“ 12:10 - 12:30 pm: Audience Questions
AARP Livable Communities Placemaking Workshop | 5 DAY 1 TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12
Lunch and Videos ❒❒ 12:30 - 1:00 pm The Placemaking Playlist Make your lunch selections in the Confluence Foyer, These short videos will be screened during the workshop. then return to the ballroom to eat and watch videos featuring placemaking work from around the country. AARP Community Challenge Highlights Innovation Showcase #1 by AARP Livable Communities AARP Community Challenge: Manchester, New Hampshire ❒❒ 1:00 am - 1:30 pm by AARP Livable Communities
Each presenter has just three minutes to tell you AARP Community Challenge: Jackson, Mississippi about his or her innovative placemaking idea or effort. by AARP Livable Communities MODERATOR: Paula Cunningham Long Live Longfellow State Director, AARP Michigan by AARP Louisiana @PaulaMIAARP | @AARPMichigan Market Days! Prior to leading AARP Michigan, Paula Cunningham by the Larimer County Colorado State was already a distinguished community, business and University Extension education leader, having spent 25 years at Lansing Community College, where she served as president from Placemaking: BIKING 2000 to 2006. She later served as the president and CEO by Kronberg/Wall Architecture, Design, Development of Capitol National Bank in Lansing. Cunningham was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame in Placemaking in Maryland 2013 for her business and community service. by AARP Maryland
Small Projects, Big Impact in the Final Frontier Placemaking Through Fitness: AARP FitLot™ Fitness Parks • PRESENTER: Terry Snyder by AARP Office of Community Engagement Volunteer President, AARP Alaska @AARPAlaska Pop-Up Pathway by AARP North Dakota Connecting the Community with Healthy Food and Physical Activity Reimagining the Civic Commons: Philadelphia by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation • PRESENTER: Sarah Sandau and William Penn Foundation Prevention Program Supervisor Lewis and Clark Public Health, Helena, Montana RKY MTN WALLS by the Granby, Colorado, Chamber of Commerce Using Human-Centered Design in Local Government Station Soccer • PRESENTER: Hind Ourahou by Atlanta United Foundation, Metropolitan Atlanta Senior Mobility Strategist Rapid Transit Authority and the City of Atlanta City of Detroit Office of Mobility Innovation Tactical Urbanism Southport by AARP North Carolina Reclaiming and Transforming Damaged Property for Community Use Unveil the Trail by AARP New Hampshire • PRESENTER: Candice Roberson Executive Director What is a Livable Community? Downtown Orangeburg Revitalization Association by AARP Livable Communities (South Carolina) @croberson1985 What is Transformative Placemaking? by the Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking Bronzeville Public Safety Find additional livability videos at AARP.org/Livable. • PRESENTER: Terri Worman Associate State Director, AARP Illinois @AARPTerriW | @AARPIllinois
6 | TWITTER: @AARPLivable | #AARPPlacemaking Panel Discussion ❒❒ 1:30 - 2:00 pm Afternoon Keynote Address ❒❒ 2:00 - 2:30 pm Economic Impacts of Placemaking MODERATOR: Bob Murphy Invest In Change: Making Places State Director AARP Colorado That Work for Everyone @AARPCOMurphy | @AARPCO SPEAKER: Carol Coletta President and CEO • PANELIST: Shannon Joern Memphis River Parks Partnership Vice President, National Advancement @ccoletta | @MemRiverParks Artspace @artspaceusa Carol Coletta is leading the relaunch of the Memphis River Parks Partnership to develop, manage and program Artspace is a nonprofit developer of live/work artist more than five miles of riverfront and five Memphis, housing, artist studios, arts centers and arts-friendly Tennessee, park districts along the Mississippi River. businesses. Since joining Artspace in 2004, Shannon Joern has helped to raise more than $35 million in philanthropic Coletta previously worked for The Kresge Foundation, and private sector funds for the organization and its where she was a senior fellow in the organization’s projects in communities throughout the country. American Cities Program and led the Reimagining the Civic Commons initiative, a national collaboration • PANELIST: Clark Anderson of foundations, nonprofits and governments to more Executive Director fully use and democratize civic assets — such as parks, Community Builders libraries, and other public spaces — to yield increased @clarkapod | @CommunityBldrs and more widely shared prosperity for cities and neighborhoods. Equal parts entrepreneur, placemaker and bridge builder, Clark Anderson helps to create healthy, “With disparity and division growing in America and equitable and prosperous communities. His work trust in steady decline, can great places save us?“ she focuses on empowering local leaders and advocating asks. “That’s the promise of placemaking. But as so many for better approaches to land use planning, economic failing places show us, it takes a special formula to make development, housing policy, transportation planning special places.“ and civic engagement. He is also a small-scale developer who specializes in building “missing middle housing“ in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. 2:30 - 2:50 pm: Audience Questions
• PANELIST: Lindsey Wallace Director of Strategic Projects and Design Services Day 1 Closing Remarks National Main Street Center ❒❒ 2:50 - 3:00 pm @NatlMainStreet
Lindsey Wallace leads a variety of projects and The Path Toward Placemaking partnerships, including the Historic Commercial District Revolving Fund and façade improvement grant program. SPEAKER: James Brooks As part of the technical services team, she focuses on Director, Community and Field Support design-related and placemaking initiatives and services. AARP Office of Community Engagement @brooks_jl
Before joining AARP to work in the AARP Virginia state Share Your Vision! office, James Brooks was the executive director of Project Help complete the “vision boards“ located Compassion, a nonprofit organization in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and clinical manager for Big Bend Hospice in the Confluence Foyer. Use the supplies in Tallahassee, Florida. He is the author of The Unbroken provided to post photos, ask questions, and Circle: A Toolkit for Congregations Around Illness, End of offer comments and potential solutions about Life and Grief, and other publications. how to use placemaking strategies to address real challenges in real places. The livestream webcast ends.
AARP Livable Communities Placemaking Workshop | 7 DAY 1 TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12
Breakout Sessions #1 Coalitions for Effective Advocacy: ❒ Engaging Local Partners (HORACE TABOR ROOM) ❒ 3:15 - 4:15 pm Public Art: Cultivating Bridging Bureaucracies to Boost Bicycling Community Engagement (AUGUSTA ROOM) • PRESENTER: James Wilson Executive Director Failing Up: Bringing a Mural to Bike Delaware Life Through Collaboration @Bike_DE • PRESENTER: Christina Smith How can we effectively advocate for the transportation Executive Director infrastructure that’s need so people of every age Groundwork Bridgeport and ability can safely bicycle in our communities? @GroundworkBPT James Wilson talks about how an AARP-sponsored conference, cycling experts from the Netherlands, putting • PRESENTER: Tanner Burgdorf government officials on bicycles, and a tiny grant program Program Lead help illustrate the importance of creative advocacy. Groundwork Bridgeport @GroundworkBPT Collaborate and Advocate: Tips from The positive results of projects often hide the challenges Local Government encountered in bringing a project to life. Representatives from a nonprofit working to revitalize Bridgeport, • PRESENTER: Erin Fisher Connecticut, will talk about what inspired a mural project, Director its initial challenges, and how collaborating with other Alpine Area Agency on Aging organizations helped lead to success. • PRESENTER: Lorie Williams Using Art to Connect and Engage the Manager Summit County Community and Senior Center Community with Outcomes Summit County, Colorado, and the Alpine Area Agency • PRESENTER: Eva Bonilla on Aging work together to supply the county and its nine Lead Volunteer towns with senior service resources. AARP Texas @AARPTX Disaster Resilience: Capitalizing on • PRESENTER: Shondra Wygal Community Engagement (MOLLY BROWN ROOM) Associate State Director for Outreach and Advocacy AARP Texas Connecting People to Places in the Virgin Islands @swygal71 | @AARPTX • PRESENTER: Barbara Walsh Public art cultivates creativity, enhances neighborhood Secretary/Treasurer vibrancy, and brings diverse groups together to share a Virgin Islands Trail Alliance (VITAL) common experience. AARP Texas will discuss how it has @vitrailalliance used art to connect, engage and transform communities. VITAL was organized in 2016 in order to create multi-use Creative District Wilmington pathways for connecting people to the places they want and need to go. After two major Hurricanes in 2017, the • PRESENTER: Carlos de los Ramos Virgin Islands’ community and transportation needs — Associate State Director for Community Outreach and opportunities — have multiplied. AARP Delaware @AARPDE Lyons Flood Recovery • PRESENTER: Renata Kowalczyk • PRESENTER: Paul Glasgow CEO Director of Community Development/Town Planner Wilmington Alliance City of Lyons, Colorado @Renatabk | @WilmAlliance Wilmington’s Creative District is a place where creative In 2013, a devastating flood impacted nearly every aspect entrepreneurs (artists, musicians, designers, makers) and of the Lyons, Colorado, community. Learn about the residents thrive, and where locally-designed goods and resources and strategies that helped the town to rebuild. original works are made and consumed.
8 | TWITTER: @AARPLivable | #AARPPlacemaking Walkability: First Steps to Planning Livable Development: Permanent Change (LAWRENCE A ROOM) Starting Small to End Big A Walking Summit Can Open the (LAWRENCE B ROOM) Eyes of City Leaders Placemaking: A Tool for Community-Driven • PRESENTER: Anne Hails Development Associate State Director for Community Outreach • PRESENTER: Deanna Smith AARP Alabama Program Coordinator @Ah_hails | @AARPAL Idaho Smart Growth Walkability can transform a city, but the benefits aren’t @IDSmartGrowth always clear or a priority. Bring home the message As a planning tool, placemaking calls on community by inviting mayors, developers, planners, community expertise, and it results in outcomes supported by partners and advocates to a walking summit that residents. Deanna Smith will explain how placemaking has includes demonstration walk audits and a sample street helped Idaho communities transform abstract concepts improvement project. into community-driven plans.
Age-Friendly Metro Atlanta: Belmar Redevelopment Walk Up to a Pop-Up • PRESENTER: Bob Murphy State Director • PRESENTER: Sonya Isaac AARP Colorado Special Projects Manager @AARPCOMurphy | @AARPCO City of Norcross, Georgia @CityofNorcross Lakewood, Colorado, faced a rapidly deteriorating regional mall in the city’s core, with declining sales tax • PRESENTER: Ian Sansom revenue, a loss of tenants and an increase in crime. The Senior Planner solution was a public-private partnership that created a Alta Planning + Design new urbanist downtown that’s become an international @altaplanning model for suburban redevelopment. • PRESENTER: Kay Sibetta Associate State Director for Community Outreach Retrofitting Density for Transit AARP Georgia • PRESENTER: Megan Walker @AARPGA Transportation Planner The mobile demonstration project Walk up to a Pop- Metropolitan Area Planning Agency, Omaha, Nebraska Up, showed how a temporary alley activation effort in @mapacog downtown Norcross could become a permanent asset. Creative ways of bringing density to already built The city is just one of several examples of successful neighborhoods include housing options such as auxiliary pop-ups around Metro Atlanta that are multigenerational, dwelling units (ADUs), small apartment complexes, collaborative and making an impact. housing subdivisions, housing expansions and denser lots. These small-scale infill projects allow for more Multicultural Placemaking: WalkDenver’s resilient, vibrant neighborhoods that keep people in their Little Saigon Initiative homes longer and allow for transit service to subdivisions. • PRESENTER: Jill Locantore Executive Director WalkDenver After Actions @WalkDenver Breakout session presentations and video The Little Saigon District is among the most culturally recordings will be available on our website at diverse neighborhoods in Denver. But its location on AARP.org/Placemaking2019. Once we have all of the materials uploaded, we’ll make an South Federal Boulevard, which has a traffic fatality rate announcement in the AARP Livable Communities 20 times the state average for urban streets, makes it one e-Newsletter. If you’re not yet a subscriber, sign of the city’s most dangerous places. WalkDenver is working up now by texting the word LIVABLE to 50757. with residents, businesses and property owners to improve safety, celebrate the local culture and support a thriving international Main Street through creative placemaking.
AARP Livable Communities Placemaking Workshop | 9 DAY 1 TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12
Breakout Sessions #2 Happy Places, Happy People: Transforming Downtowns ❒❒ 4:30 - 5:30 pm (LAWRENCE A ROOM) Get Outdoors and Start Moving Using Paint to Create a 24/7/365 District (AUGUSTA ROOM) • PRESENTER: Elizabeth Brodek Tactical Urbanism in Park Projects Executive Director • PRESENTER: Christine Newman The East Side Business Improvement District Director of Community Outreach and “Infill development results when people want to stay in Volunteer Engagement an interesting place,“ notes Elizabeth Brodek, who leads AARP New Jersey a business improvement district in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. @newman1017 | @AARPNJ She’ll explain how simple placemaking projects can give Volunteers and communities can use temporary, low- or people a reason to visit a district at any hour of the day or no-cost interventions to demonstrate how to enhance night, whether or not businesses are open. parks and public spaces. Three project examples from New Jersey highlight key elements including building The Pueblo Riverwalk: A Story of Community community support, keeping a focus on long-term Revitalization and Beauty change, and looking at non-traditional park spaces as important community features. • PRESENTER: Lynn Clark Executive Director Historic Arkansas Riverwalk of Pueblo Building a Park for All Ages @PuebloRiverwalk • PRESENTER: Kameelah Alexander For years, various members of the Pueblo, Colorado, Community Services Representative community talked about cleaning up an area where the City of Wichita, Kansas historic Arkansas River once flowed. At various times, the location had been home to Native Americans, • PRESENTER: Andrea Bozarth trappers, adventurers and a thriving business district, all Associate State Director for Community Outreach of which deteriorated after a devastating flood in 1921. AARP Kansas The subsequent diversion of the river to outside of the @AndeBozarth | @aarpks city left behind little more than parking lots, a ditch, The presenters will talk about who was involved in weeds and debris. Lynn Clark will explain how Pueblo planning and advocating for Wichita’s Grandparents citizens led the way to reclaim the original river channel Park, how the plan moved forward and what lessons and revive, as well as beautify, the historic tract. were learned. There’s a Hole in Our City: Creating a Vision SeniorScapes Park at Monocacy Village Park for a Vacant Lot in the Heart of Asheville
• PRESENTER: Sue Paul • PRESENTER: Chris Joyell Executive Director Director SeniorScapes, Inc. Asheville Design Center @ChrisADC SeniorScapes, Inc. is developing an accessible, senior- centric and dementia-friendly area within an existing For more than a decade, residents disagreed over public park in Frederick, Maryland. The goal is to provide what to do with a city-owned acre of vacant land in the older adults with an outdoor space that’s designed to center of downtown Asheville, North Carolina. So the promote physical, cognitive and psychosocial health, as local government asked the Asheville Design Center to well as provide caregivers and families with a safe, fun work with the community (including the more than 300 and multigenerational destination. older adults who live on either side of the lot) to define a vision for the site. Chris Joyell will discuss the tools and techniques used to reach a solution and end the squabbling.
10 | TWITTER: @AARPLivable | #AARPPlacemaking Placemaking in Small Towns: Building Moving Forward: Using Transportation on History and Culture (LAWRENCE B ROOM) to Connect People to Places (HORACE TABOR ROOM) Planning and Cultural Connections: The Makings of Vibrant Communities DRCOG’s Boomer Bond Assessment Tool • PRESENTER: Kaitlin Bundy • PRESENTER: Brad Calvert Manager Regional Planning and Development Director Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Commission Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) @DRCOGorg • PRESENTER: Walter C. Lane Director The Boomer Bond was created to prepare Denver area Somerset County Planning Division communities for the coming increases of the older adult population. The Boomer Bond Assessment Tool Learn how the planning division and the cultural and helps local governments identify challenges and gaps heritage commission of New Jersey’s Somerset County and equips them with strategies for supporting healthy, are supporting vibrant communities through physical independent aging so older residents can safely and accessibility and the utilization of the arts. successfully remain in their homes and communities.
Creating Places People Love Philly Free Streets: Piloting Placemaking in • PRESENTER: Michele Bailey Car-Free Streets Senior Program Manager and ADA/504 Coordinator • PRESENTER: Charlotte Castle Vermont Arts Council Director of Special Projects @VTArtsCouncil Office of the Managing Director, City of Philadelphia
• PRESENTER: Kelly Stoddard Poor • PRESENTER: Yocasta Lora Associate State Director for Community Outreach Associate State Director for Advocacy and Outreach AARP Vermont AARP Pennsylvania @AARPVT @Ylora0211 The presenters will showcase the power of placemaking Philly Free Streets is a people-powered city initiative in small communities through workshops, hands-on that temporarily closes streets to cars, inviting people testing, recipe books and mini-grants, as well as by to walk, bike, roll and play. With AARP Pennsylvania’s weaving the arts and economic development together. support, Philly Free Streets has developed into a program that invites neighbors to pilot creative placemaking, igniting imaginations and possibility From Faded to Fabulous • PRESENTER: Patricia Brown Maplewood Re-Leaf Co-facilitator Old Orchard Beach Community Friendly Connection • PRESENTER: Sheila Holm Associate State Director for Community Outreach • PRESENTER: Patricia Pinto AARP Missouri Volunteer State President @SheilaKH AARP Maine Sheila Holm explains how a bus stop re-design turned @AARPMaine the space into an interactive and fun space for people of all ages. A complex collaboration of partners, residents, The age-friendly committee in Old Orchard Beach, elected officials and others led to great results. Maine, partnered with AARP Maine and Team Better Block to transform Washington Street, an area of the city that had seen better days. The team opened two 4-hour pop-up shops — one serving sweets, the other serving barbecue. More than 240 neighborhood residents attended. Learn about the partners the project engaged to make the pop-ups a success and hear how those partners are helping move the work forward.
AARP Livable Communities Placemaking Workshop 11 DAY 1 TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12
Small Towns, Big Dreams, Huge Impact (MOLLY BROWN ROOM) Learn how three Colorado communities put AARP Community Challenge grant funds to work.
Age-Friendly Historic Polous Park Mesa County Public Library: • PRESENTER: Elaine Brett Discovery Gardens Project Coordinator Town of Paonia, Colorado • PRESENTER: Nicole Fitzgerald Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator Paonia’s efforts to engage town elders and better serve Mesa County Public Library residents of all ages include improvements to historic @mesacountylib Polous Park, an underutilized pocket park near the center of town. Additional lighting and a conversation circle will A permaculture-inspired garden was created to provide provide a social space for all residents, including those food and opportunities for the community to discover, with mobility differences. learn, create and connect. Because the garden is surrounded by a senior center, a church, the central RKY MTN WALLS Mural Festival library, Meals on Wheels, individual homes and an apartment complex, it serves many needs in the center of • PRESENTER: Ali Williams town. Garden volunteers of all ages work with the schools Executive Director and community to create educational programming and Granby Chamber of Commerce opportunities to plant and harvest foods and flowers. Drawing from the beauty of Colorado’s mountains, unique wildlife and colorful art scene, RKY MTN WALLS was the first ever street art festival in Grand County. Through the creation of permanent large-scale public murals, the project provided a platform for the community’s diverse art scene to contribute to the county’s cultural legacy for years to come.
Dinner and Reception ❒ ❒ 6:00 - 8:00 pm Denver Milk Market 1800 Wazee Street #100, Denver (Shuttle transportation will be provided from the hotel lobby.)
Workshop attendees are invited to explore a popular destination, eat good food and then socialize during an informal reception at the Denver Milk Market. STEP 1: Stop by any of the 16 concept restaurants in the Denver Milk Market food hall for dinner — courtesy of AARP. Order any dinner entrée and one drink from any menu in the Milk Market. Tell the server you’re with the AARP Placemaking Workshop. AARP will pay the bill and gratuity.
STEP 2: After dinner, join us for dessert and socializing at the Moo Bar Lounge.
STEP 3: (optional) Before or after dinner, walk two blocks to The Denver Milk Market is located in Lower the corner of 17th and Wynkoop streets to explore Union Downtown Denver (commonly known as LoDo) in a Station, Denver’s hub for transportation and entertainment, micro-district called the Dairy Block in honor of its and a catalyst for reinvestment in the city’s core. (See page dairy industry history. 19 to learn more about Union Station.)
12 | TWITTER: @AARPLivable | #AARPPlacemaking DAY 2 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13
Breakfast Morning Welcome ❒❒ 7:30 - 9:00 am: Confluence Foyer ❒❒ 9:00 - 9:30 am Feel free to bring your breakfast to a Morning Meet-Up. Placemaking in Colorado SPEAKER: Mark Falcone Morning Meet-Ups CEO, Continuum Partners ❒❒ 8:00 - 9:00 am Mark Falcone founded Continuum Partners in 1997 with the mission “to create human habitats of extraordinary character “Ask the Experts“ and enduring value.“ Since its inception, Continuum has completed more than $2 billion of development and AARP Livable Communities SWAT Team established itself as a leader in designing and building large- (AUGUSTA ROOM) scale, mixed-use urban projects that support walkability and promote environmental sustainability. FACILITATOR: Rebecca Delphia Advisor, AARP Livable Communities @AARPLivable Breakout Sessions #3 ❒❒ 9:45 - 10:45 am • Andrew Howard Co-founder and Director, Team Better Block Partnerships in Action: Just For the @TeamBetterBlock Health of It! (AUGUSTA ROOM) • Matthew Dixit Moffa Livable 605: Creating Great Places With Great Faces Conservation Planning Project Manager The Trust for Public Land • PRESENTER: Mary Michaels @tpl_org Public Health Prevention Coordinator Sioux Falls Health Department • Amanda O’Rourke Communities in South Dakota imagine limitless ways to Executive Director, 8 80 Cities support health and well-being, but they’re not always sure @880Cities where to start. Livable 605 builds partnerships, develops resources and implements strategies to enhance livability • Mitali Ganguly for all ages. Associate, Opticos Design @OpticosDesign Market Days! for Older Adults • PRESENTER: Sue Schneider Age-Friendly Community Extension Agent, Larimer County Collaborations (BLAKE ROOM) Colorado State University Extension The Market Days! program at the Larimer County Farmers FACILITATOR: Bill Armbruster Market in Fort Collins, Colorado, provides low-income older Senior Advisor, AARP Livable Communities adults with produce vouchers; trains student interns to be @AARPLivable personal shoppers and food advisers; and offers a space for • Ellen Fennell participants to socialize. Chair, Age-Friendly Little Rock Commission Hike for Your Health! • Theresa Hoffman-Makar • PRESENTER: Jeannie Tucker Project Manager, Forsyth Futures Associate State Director for Outreach and Advocacy @ForsythFutures AARP New Hampshire @JTTucker7 | @AARPNH • Niki Delson and Nicolette Toussaint AARP New Hampshire and the city of Concord teamed up Co-Chairs to provide community-wide educational sessions about Carbondale Age-Friendly Community Initiative the city’s off-road trail system, offered guided hikes and created vibrant signage for better wayfinding along some of Concord’s more than two-dozen trails. u
AARP Livable Communities Placemaking Workshop | 13 DAY 2 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13
Breakout Sessions (Continued) From Pop-Ups to Permanent (LAWRENCE B ROOM) We Want More Options! Street Lab DSM Creating Housing for Everyone • PRESENTER: Mike Armstrong (LAWRENCE A ROOM) Director of Planning and Communications Street Collective Housing Through an Equity Lens Street Lab, a program of the Des Moines, Iowa-based • PRESENTER: Sue Ballou Street Collective, provides a materials library, expertise Housing Priority Group Co-chair and guidance for implementing temporary demonstration Partnership for Age-Friendly Communities projects run by cities and community organizations. The housing stock in Larimer County, Colorado, doesn’t reflect its changing demographics. The Partnership for Age- Pop-Up Demonstrations: The Good, Friendly Communities is working with local governments the Bad and the Ugly and residents to solve the “Missing Middle Housing“ problem and determine how to create more housing • PRESENTER: Ben Ehreth that’s affordable and accessible for people of all ages. Community Development Director City of Bismarck, North Dakota Helping Florida’s Low-Income Populations Several North Dakota communities have hosted pop- Find the Right Housing up demonstrations to initiate conversations about how particular places could be reimagined. Ben Ehreth • PRESENTER: Laura Cantwell will provide a government planning practitioner’s Associate State Director for Advocacy and Outreach perspective on the positive and negative aspects of AARP Florida demonstration projects. @L_Cantwell | @AARPFlorida The aging population in the United States, and Florida Buffalo Better Block: Lessons Learned specifically, has increased the attention being paid to housing accessibility and livability. Nationally and in • PRESENTER: Randy Hoak Florida, older adults are struggling to find affordable Associate State Director of Community Outreach housing. Millions are spending more than 50 percent of AARP New York their income on housing. @AARPNY When it comes to engaging a community in a pop-up Creating Space for Everyone placemaking demonstration, having access to resources is just the beginning. Formal and informal space ownership, • PRESENTER: LaKeeshia Fox community outreach, and the support of local leaders Legislative Representative are among the important factors to consider during the AARP Government Affairs planning phases. @AARP Housing choices that are affordable and appropriate for individuals and families at different life stages enable people of all ages to thrive in a community. Learn how AARP Government Affairs is advocating for better housing options and a more diverse housing stock.
14 | TWITTER: @AARPLivable | #AARPPlacemaking Colorado Main Streets: Practitioners Love People, Too: Equity Through Collaborations — Designing Places with People in Mind Putting Ideas Into Action (MOLLY BROWN ROOM) (HORACE TABOR ROOM) Planning Parks for Health MODERATOR: Gayle Langley PRESENTER: Matthew Dixit Moffa Main Street Coordinator Conservation Planning Project Manager Colorado Department of Local Affairs The Trust for Public Land @COLocalAffairs @tpl_org The Montrose Model Parks create opportunities for physical activity, bring • PRESENTER: Barbara Bynum communities together, help combat stress, improve air Mayor Pro-Tem and water quality, cool developed areas and even reduce City of Montrose the risk of flooding. This session will discuss the range of health benefits provided by parks and how community @BKBynum leaders can make a plan for healthier parks. • PRESENTER: Bill Bell City Manager Walkable Communities City of Montrose PRESENTER: Mitali Ganguly It all starts with an idea, but that’s often where it ends. Associate Montrose, Colorado, is creating equity by taking Opticos Design action. Among the city’s successful projects: a state-of @OpticosDesign the-art community recreation center, a senior housing project, a community health clinic, and a trail that There’s a growing demand for communities that support connects the three locations. an active lifestyle, where owning a car is a choice, not a necessity. Such communities are designed to be safe For the Love of Winter: How Leadville is and accessible for people of all ages and abilities. This session discusses how the design of buildings, streets Reactivating a Public Park for All Users in and public spaces influence walkability and help to All Seasons create vibrant, healthy and inclusive communities.
• PRESENTER: Sarah Dallas Inclusive Engagement in Public Spaces Administrative Services Manager City of Leadville PRESENTER: Amanda O’Rourke Executive Director • PRESENTER: Bethany Maher 8 80 Cities Main Street Manager @880Cities Leadville Main Street Placemaking is about employing a community’s strengths In 2019, Leadville, Colorado, was selected by 8 80 Cities to create a presence in public spaces that reflects that as one of three communities to pilot a “Wintermission“ community’s identity, health and well-being. Creating plan to combat social isolation and the difficulties inclusive places means being intentional about engaging of winter living. Learn how Wintermission Leadville diverse audiences and reaching voices that are often is working with the Leadville Main Street Program underrepresented. Amanda O’Rourke will explain how to reactivate an underutilized park and create an 8 80 Cities’ public space projects reach and help elevate inclusive, healthy and connected space for all seasons. those voices in placemaking.
Choice Aging: La Junta Please return to the Confluence Ballroom for the • PRESENTER: Cynthia Nieb start of the plenary portion of the program. Director of Economic Development City of La Junta La Junta, Colorado, is a small rural city on the Santa Fe Trail that loves all of its citizens. Through economic and community planning — as driven by Main Street concepts — the city is instituting safe, fun, innovative and economically-viable places for all residents.
AARP Livable Communities Placemaking Workshop | 15 DAY 2 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13
Welcome Back! Innovation Showcase #2 ❒ ❒ 11:00 - 11:10 am ❒❒ 11:40 am - 12:10 pm PRESENTER: Bob Murphy Each presenter has just three minutes to tell you about State Director his or her innovative placemaking idea or effort. AARP Colorado @AARPCOMurphy | @AARPCO MODERATOR: Stephanie Hunsinger State Director Panel Discussion AARP New Jersey @Hunsinger3 | @AARPNJ ❒❒ 11:10 - 11:40 am Before leading AARP New Jersey, Stephanie Hunsinger The Health Impacts of Placemaking led healthcare advocacy and outreach efforts, including for the New Jersey Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis MODERATOR: Denise Bottcher Society and the State of New Jersey’s Multiple Sclerosis State Director Task Force. AARP Louisiana @BottcherDenise | @AARPLouisiana Ninety Minutes to Launch Denise Bottcher’s career spans more than 25 years in • PRESENTER: Darrin Wasniewski the private sector, government and nonprofit arena. She Associate State Director for Community Outreach leads AARP Louisiana’s staff and volunteers in service of AARP Wisconsin the state’s 500,000 AARP members, their families and @d_wasniewski | @aarpwi communities. Using Existing Assets to Create • PANELIST: Cynthia Gibson Novel Experiences Executive Director Idaho Walk Bike Alliance • PRESENTER: Elizabeth Brodek @IdahoWalkBike Executive Director The East Side Business Improvement District Cynthia Gibson is passionate about being outdoors. Working for the Idaho Walk Bike Alliance allows her to Church is Just People share her love of moving more, driving less and helping to make communities safer, healthier and more livable. • PRESENTER: Dawaune Hayes President • PANELIST: Jared Hymowitz Parker Action Alliance Director of the Mayor’s Healthy City Initiative City of Baton Rouge Local Advocacy, Big Impact @jaredbrgov • PRESENTER: Maria Ramirez-Trillo Associate State Director The Mayor’s Healthy City Initiative was created as a way to AARP Arizona address health issues on a local level. Commonly known as HealthyBR, the initiative is a nonprofit with the mission @MariaRamirezTri | @AZ_AARP to communicate, collaborate and coordinate the activities of more than 100 partner organizations to create a healthier Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Lunch and Videos
• PANELIST: Jennifer Berdugo 12:10 - 12:30 pm
Associate State Director for Community Outreach Make your lunch selections in the Confluence Foyer, AARP California then return to the ballroom to eat and watch videos @AARPCA | @jcberdugo1 (see page 6) featuring placemaking work from around the country. Jennifer Berdugo serves as AARP California’s statewide lead for livable communities and is the issue lead for open spaces. Berdugo also leads AARP’s community presence efforts in Sacramento, working closely with local jurisdictions on livability and age-friendly issues.
16 | TWITTER: @AARPLivable | #AARPPlacemaking Keynote Address Trigger Long-Term Change: Start First In Your Imagination TransFormation Alliance is a partnership that centers racial equity in its work ❒❒ 12:30 - 1:00 pm with residents of Atlanta, Georgia, to shape better social, health, climate and economic outcomes through access to transit. PRESENTER: Odetta MacLeish-White Odetta MacLeish-White’s work involves advocating for communities Managing Director and residents to have greater impact and influence on the development TransFormation Alliance processes that affect their neighborhoods. “Relationships, collaboration and a commitment to personal growth are fundamental to crafting placemaking @OdettaMacLeishW | @ATL_TFA strategies and interventions that will stand the test of time,“ she explains.
Prior to joining TFA, MacLeish-White was a senior program director with Enterprise Community Partners, for which she worked in support of affordable housing and neighborhood stabilization goals.
Panel Discussion • PANELIST: Dillon Goodson Executive Director ❒❒ 1:00 - 1:30 pm Lakeview Chamber of Commerce Dillon Goodson leads community and economic Social Impact of Placemaking development efforts in Chicago. His work involves MODERATOR: Troy Schuster improving neighborhoods with initiatives that create State Director stronger connections between people and places. He AARP Virgin Islands serves on the board of the International Downtown @AARPVI_STX | @AARPVI Association, which is a world leader and champion for vital and livable urban centers. Troy Schuster leads and directs the advocacy and community outreach work of AARP and its members in • PANELIST: Emily Yetman the Virgin Islands. Before leading AARP Virgin Islands, he Co-founder and Executive Director spent 12 years of his career serving the Catholic Diocese Living Streets Alliance of the Virgin Islands as a seminarian and later as a priest. @LSATucson In addition, Schuster has served as the vice chairman and The nonprofit Living Streets Alliance is working to board chairman of the Juan F. Luis Hospital and Medical transform Tucson, Arizona’s streets into public spaces for Center as well as the Virgin Islands Cardiac Center. people. In less than a decade, LSA has grown its popular open streets event to engage 80,000 participants annually, • PANELIST: Réna Bradley Community Development Director implemented Tucson’s first tactical urbanism intersection Bridge of Grace Compassionate Ministries Center transformations, established a thriving Safe Routes to School program, and celebrated a major advocacy win Working in Southeast Fort Wayne, Indiana, Réna Bradley with the adoption of a strong, community-led Complete uses a design-thinking approach to drive grassroots Streets policy in 2019. community revitalization initiatives that equip residents with the tools and confidence to be agents of change. 1:30 - 1:50 pm: Audience Questions
Closing Remarks Danielle Arigoni manages the AARP Livable Communities national team and supports AARP’s 53 state offices — and the hundreds of localities enrolled in ❒❒ 1:50 - 2:00 pm the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities. Arigoni is an urban planner by training and has nearly 20 years of experience contributing to federal, SPEAKER: Danielle Arigoni state and local sustainability and resiliency efforts. She has held leadership Director positions at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of AARP Livable Communities Housing and Urban Development. She serves on the board of the League of @DanielleArigoni | @AARPLivable American Bicyclists.
Thank you for attending the AARP Livable Communities Placemaking Workshop! We hope you enjoy the mobile workshops and self-guided tours (see page 18), if you choose to participate. Safe travels home.
AARP Livable Communities Placemaking Workshop | 17 Mobile Workshops
Wednesday, November 13 Thursday, November 14 ❒❒ 2:15 - 5:15 pm ❒❒ 8:30 am - Noon
Chicano Mural Tour Five Points Walking Tour
Meet at the signs in the hotel lobby. The bus will Meet in the lobby at 8:30 am for a short walk to arrive at 1:45 pm and leave for the tour at 2:15. the light-rail, where we’ll take the RTD L Line for The bus will return to the hotel at approximately five stops to the 30th/Downing Station near the 5:15. There is a cap of 53 attendees for this tour. Black American West Museum. For the return Advanced registration is required. trip we’ll travel from the 25th/Welton Station to Murals provide a forum for art to connect a the 16th/California Station and then walk back to community and create a stronger sense of place. the hotel. There is a cap of 30 attendees for this From the La Alma-Lincoln Park neighborhood tour. Advanced registration is required. and beyond, this tour (led by guide Lucha Luna- Martinez) will explore murals created by Chicano For nearly a century, the Five Points neighborhood artists that celebrate the vital role Chicano culture was Denver’s center for African American culture. plays in Denver’s history and social fabric. In fact, the area was often called the Harlem of the West because of regular visits by jazz legends DenverConnect Resource Van including Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis. The resource van will be parked outside the hotel. This tour is self-guided. While the spirit of Five Points’ rich cultural heritage remains, the neighborhood is undergoing rapid Between 2011 and 2020, the number of older change. adults in Colorado is expected to increase by 54 percent. People age 65 or older are expected Guide Terri Gentry is a long-time resident of Five to account for nearly 20 percent of Denver’s Points. She operates the Black American West population by 2050. DenverConnect is a mobile Museum and Heritage Center, where the tour will resource center that connects older adults — begin. The seven-block walk will include stops at especially those in low-income and minority the Rossonian Hotel and Rosenberg’s Deli and end communities — with needed resources, information with a brief discussion at the Blair-Caldwell branch and services. of the Denver Public Library.
SELF-GUIDED TOURS: Wednesday or Thursday Historic Denver Walking Tour Union Station Tour Do you love to walk and see new surroundings? Do you The original Union Station was built in 1881, and burned like history? Want to learn more about Denver? If so, down 13 years later when a ladies’ restroom chandelier there’s an app for that! sparked an electrical fire. The landmark building that AARP Colorado, in collaboration with GeoTourist, stands today was built in 1914. developed a customized app that can be downloaded Union Station was a bustling railroad terminal for several for free from iTunes or Google Play. decades, but was underused for much of the late The app will guide you from site to site while providing 20th century. A major renovation, completed in 2014, a narration about what you’re seeing. The pace at which reimagined and revitalized both the building and its you take the tour, as well as what you see or skip, is LoDo neighborhood. completely up to you. The new Union Station is a multi-modal transportation STEP 1: Download the GeoTourist app. hub for Amtrak as well as local and regional buses and light-rail. The main building houses a luxury hotel and STEP 2: Scroll to AARP NeighborWalks Denver. several restaurants and shops. The station’s Great Hall Our Suggestion: Begin the tour at Site #14, Union serves as the hotel lobby and a public space. Square, and work backwards. The GPS automatically An FYI: According to the Regional Transportation District adjusts to where you are. of Denver, Union Station is home to several ghosts.
18| TWITTER: @AARPLivable | #AARPPlacemaking AARP Livable Communities Resources
The AARP Livable Communities initiative has an extensive collection of free, award-winning resources for community influencers — elected officials, planners, municipal staff, local leaders, placemaking pros, policy makers, citizen activists and residents.
Website URLs • AARP Livable Communities: AARP.org/Livable • AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities: AARP.org/AgeFriendly AARP Livable Communities e-Newsletter Created for community influencers, the multi-award-winning AARP Livable Communities weekly e-newsletter contains a mix of best practices, research, resources, slideshows, interviews, how-to’s, news and information about age-friendly efforts from places near and far: AARP.org/LivableSubscribe or text the word LIVABLE to 50757.
AARP Community Challenge Grants Since its debut in 2017, this “quick action“ grant program has awarded $3.6 million in funding to 376 projects nationwide. AARP Community Challenge grants help towns, cities, counties and neighborhoods make immediate improvements and jumpstart long-term change: AARP.org/CommunityChallenge
AARP Livable Library Free publications from AARP Livable Communities help community leaders and residents make where they live more livable for people of all ages. Check out our library of resources about housing, placemaking, community engagement, parks and more: AARP.org/LivableLibrary
AARP Roadmap to Livability This six-booklet series for community leaders explains how to take the first steps toward making a community great for people of all ages. Accompanying the main guide is a tool kit for conducting a community-listening session and four workbooks about leading efforts to benefit an area’s transportation, housing, economic development, and health and community services: AARP.org/LivabilityRoadmap
AARP Livability Index A free, interactive, data-driven tool developed by the AARP Public Policy Institute, the AARP Livability Index tracks dozens of policies and indicators to calculate the livability of a state, county, town, city or street. Find a score by entering an address, zip code, municipality or location name: AARP.org/LivabilityIndex
AARP A-Z Archive The AARP Livable Communities website contains articles, slideshows, interviews, publications, reports, action plans and resources about housing, transportation, placemaking, walkability and community engagement — to name just a few livability topics. Find content lists and links by using our subject-based archives: AARP.org/Livable-Archives
AARP LIVABLE COMMUNITIES PLACEMAKING WORKSHOP: Planning and Events Committee Members AARP Livable Communities: Danielle Arigoni (Director), Bill Armbruster, Rebecca Delphia, Jack Montrose, Melissa Stanton AARP Colorado: Bob Murphy (Director), Roberto Rey, Alan Walker Planning Committee: Tricia Barry (AARP Brand, Events Strategy and Services), Connie Benjamin (AARP Nebraska), James Brooks (AARP Office of Community Engagement), Coralette Hannon (AARP State Advocacy and Strategy Integration), Jennifer Hopson (AARP Multicultural Leadership), Thomas Houston (AARP Studios), Gerri Madrid-Davis (AARP State Advocacy and Strategy Integration), Hope Newton (AARP Turnkey Programs), Mona Martinac (AARP Office of Community Engagement), Christine Newman (AARP New Jersey), Kelly Stoddard Poor (AARP Vermont), Tina Tran (AARP Texas), Tawanna Wright (AARP Alabama) Consultants: Geoff Alexander, Sarah Dale, Jessica Ludwig, Patricia Oh | Intern: Carlos Pazmino
AARP Livable Communities Placemaking Workshop | 19 AARP Livable Communities Placemaking Workshop
The workshop’s main activities will occur in the Confluence Ballroom on the mezzanine level. Breakout session meeting rooms are located on both the lobby and mezzanine levels. The speakers, presentations and panels occurring in the ballroom will be broadcast live via webcast on Tuesday from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm (MST) and on Wednesday from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm (MST).
LOBBY MEZZANINE
Molly Brown Room
Horace Tabor Room Augusta Room
Confluence Foyer
Hotel Lawrence Front Confluence A and B Desk Ballroom
Westin Denver Downtown, 1672 Lawrence Street, Denver, Colorado 80202 | 303-572-9100