Charles City designation as ‘age friendly’ community could provide new opportunities

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

The official plaque presentation won’t be until next month, but Charles City is already a winner.

The community was recently named as the second city in Iowa to be designated as an “age-friendly community” by Iowa AARP.

Mayor Dean Andrews announced the news at last week’s City Council meeting. Charles City had submitted its application last month and with this official recognition, people of all ages could benefit from changes that might be made possible through participation.

“It’s just one more feather in our cap, I guess you could say,” said Andrews.

The AARP age-friendly network is co-partnered with the World Health Organization (WHO). Towns or cities that are members can share resources and tap knowledge on ways to improve livability in communities.

Andrews said Charles City can connect and build relationships with other members, where peer reviews and mentoring one another can facilitate new ideas that improve the overall lifestyle of residents.

He said some of the top priorities that were generated at a public forum that Iowa AARP conducted in Charles City last October were safe streets, buying healthy food and affordable housing. That listening session answered a lot of questions Andrews had about the group.

“At first I was kind of like, well, what’s the advantage of applying? Are we just going to have a sign on the outskirts of town that says we’re a livable community?” said Andrews. “It’s just nice to get that official designation and we’ll move forward and see what this designation — what opportunities it affords us.”

Iowa AARP has big plans for Charles City as the town chosen to be part of a pilot program for rural communities in the state that have a population of less than 10,000.

Andrews said there are almost 650 households in Charles City that are members of AARP.

Charles City’s participation in other organizations and groups has proved pivotal in the past, Andrews said, pointing as an example to the successes and growth made possible by being a member of the Iowa Main Street Community.

Charles City has also been designated as an Iowa Great Place and is a two-time America in Bloom national champion for overall community beautification.

Two busloads of AARP members from Des Moines and Cedar Rapids will drive to Charles City on Saturday, June 22, to take part in the big whitewater riverfront festival that is planned for that weekend.

“They thought it would be a good time to have those three communities that they’ve identified to get together,” Andrews added.

The annual Whitewater Challenge will be taking place on the Cedar River at that time and the “Smoke on the Cedar” barbecue contest will be held on the same day. The 8th Annual PAWS Cedar Dog Jog will kick-start the weekend off.

Community Development Director Mark Wicks said there will also be plenty of other activities that families can take part in like a kids scavenger hunt and public painting all along the riverfront.

“The whitewater festival is the impetus for them (AARP members) coming up, but we’re also going to showcase Charles City and everything we have to offer,” said Wicks.

Charles City will be presented with a plaque by AARP designating it as an “age-friendly community” at an official ceremony at some point on Saturday during the festival.

Andrews said Wicks was asked by AARP state Director Brad Anderson to attend the national convention in Maine during the third week in June, right before Charles City’s riverfront festival. Anderson told them the main emphasis at that convention will be the participation of rural communities in the age-friendly AARP network. Maine has 50 communities designated as age-friendly and part of the AARP program.

“That will give us a lot more information as far as what are the possibilities out there,” said Andrews.

He said coordinating with other communities can be essential in coming up with a plan that could fit each town, where members may share some of the same concerns that could be solved in a group setting as opposed to just being out there alone.

“That’s kind of what AARP is hoping, that we will take advantage of this and then other places will see the advantages,” said Andrews. “When you have three, four, or five or six, then you start building that coalition.”

Anderson talked about Charles City’s lack of affordable housing and how being a member of AARP’s “age-friendly community” could help provide more opportunities for people of all ages to find a place to live in Charles City.

“Housing is always a big concern,” said Anderson. “The emphasis (is) on age friendly housing – the former middle school being a prime example.”

Anderson said the plan to build market-rate apartments at 500 North Grand could open up other houses for people to live in who want to reside in Charles City.

“It’s helping us to find opportunities for more senior housing availability that will just help our housing situation overall,” he said.

Andrews pointed out that former Mayor Jim Erb was instrumental in Charles City joining Des Moines as the only communities in Iowa affiliated with the AARP age-friendly group.

“He got the ball rolling,” said Andrews.

Once a community conducts a survey and participates in a listening session, the town then takes part in the second year of the program, or action plan. One key element of the second phase is identifying indicators for monitoring progress.

Year three through five is the implementation period, where the community will submit a progress report to AARP outlining its progress against the indicators laid out in the action plan.

The AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities is the United States affiliate of the World Health Organization’s Age-Friendly Cities and Communities Program, an international effort launched in 2006 to help cities prepare for rapid population aging and the parallel trend of urbanization.

The program has participating communities in more than 20 nations, as well as 10 affiliates representing more than 1,000 communities.

One area that Andrews wanted to stress is AARP doesn’t mean old.

“It’s for all ages, but it also obviously has accessibility for seniors,” he said.

AARP membership is available for a fee to anyone age 50 or older.

Andrews said he remembers attending a prior conference where the subject of elderly citizens that are very much involved in the community became the topic of discussion.

“They didn’t refer to them as senior citizens. They referred to them as active adults,” Andrews said.