Tampa partners with AARP to become an “age-friendly city”

There are already more than forty Florida communities that are considered “age-friendly” and Tampa wants to be next.

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The leaders of AARP Florida have joined forces with the city of Tampa in the hopes of working together to establish it as an Age-Friendly city. In a recording of last week’s press conference provided by the City of Tampa, AARP Florida Director Jeff Johnson discussed the overall goal of the various communities enrolled in the initiative. Johnson says “The goal is to help communities not only access expert resources to help solve problems, but also be able to learn from each other. What may be working in some other community here in Florida, or across the world may be helpful for the city of Tampa as it continues to try to become an even better city for people of all ages.”

Mayor Jane Castor, who is spearheading the initiative, says that through this partnership with AARP she aims to make Tampa a better place for everyone. She plans to accomplish this by reducing the inequities amongst residents, especially in addressing the needs of Tampa’s older residents.

During the press conference, Mayor Castor spoke about her vision for Tampa’s Age-Friendly future, saying “We want to be that location that everyone wants to be at, from the time they’re born until they do become members of AARP. This melts right into our vision for transforming Tampa’s tomorrow. Whether it is dealing with customer service provision, mobility, housing, workforce, this molds right into that. This will make Tampa an even better location for everyone. Diversity and inclusion is what makes Tampa such a great community, and being a consciously age-friendly community is part of that.”

Mayor Castor plans to accomplish all this through various community projects to enhance safety and accessibility around the city. For example, she plans on launching a micro-mobility program, making seated scooters and eBikes available all over the city. The enactment of these initiatives will make Tampa a part of a network of cities that AARP is making more liveable for aging Americans.