Colorado Joins the Age-Friendly Network

In September 2018, John Hickenlooper became the third governor to enroll his state in the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities.

The Lifelong Colorado initiative builds upon prior work by the state to convene an age-friendly task force and establish a dedicated senior advisor on aging position in the governor’s office.

The effort expands the reach of approaches that have been piloted through the Boomer Bond, which supported 17 communities in their preparations for an aging population and is is led by the Denver Regional Council of Governments (commonly referred to as “Dr. Cog”).

As part of its application to join the network, the state committed to better coordinate the use of $2 billion across seven state government departments that impact older adults, to convene a statewide age-friendly summit in 2019, and to increase by 100 the number of communities joining the network by 2023.

Colorado has made use of AARP Livable Communities resources in support of housing and transportation priorities. Consultations with the organization Transportation for America developed into a rural transportation conference that resulted in a more comprehensive view by Colorado Department of Transportation staff about how to better meet the transportation needs of transit dependent rural residents.

In November 2018, the AARP Colorado state office hosted the founders of the architectural and design-build firms Opticos Design and Orange Splot to discuss housing issues including the lack of affordable housing, which has become a statewide crisis that could result in a population loss.