Posted by – Steve Cohen, Director of Community Development
What does an “age-friendly” community look like? Well, we’re about to begin a quest to find out.
Yesterday, the Auburn Hills City Council proactively committed to join the AARP Network of Age-Friendly Communities program. The City of Auburn Hills is expected to be the first municipality from the State of Michigan to be accepted into this prestigious network that includes communities such as New York City and Portland, Oregon.
As you can probably tell, we’re a little excited about this opportunity …
Why are we doing this? We see a big change coming. By 2030, the population of people age 65 and over is expected to double its current size. That’s a huge demographic shift that’s going to have a dramatic effect on how Auburn Hills provides services and plans for land use. In short, we want to be prepared.
The AARP program involves a 5-year, 4-stage process of the City assessing itself, creating a plan of action, implementing that plan, and evaluating its performance based on a variety of areas designed to help improve the quality of life of all of our residents. This program will be done with a team of staff, public officials, industry experts, and volunteers – along with a tremendous amount of input from the public.
Perhaps we’ll have a meeting at a pool near you …
No doubt, the City of Auburn Hills is changing for the better. As a community, we can and will make sure that our town is well-prepared for an aging population, which in turn benefits everyone. Stay tuned for more news about this exciting project.
Note: Special congratulations go out to Senior Services Director Karen Adcock. She had the vision to seek the State of Michigan and AARP’s support in helping us plan for the future and bring this program to our community. Great job, Karen!