AARP Hearing Center
The nation's cities and towns have changed over the past few years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and global economic conditions.
Communities are presented with new opportunities, including unprecedented federal infrastructure investments, evolving work patterns, and systemic changes in how people of all ages and life stages choose to live, work and play.
Meanwhile, communities of all types and sizes are also faced with vacant office buildings and commercial spaces, a tight housing supply and, sometimes, the need to attract new residents.
As the nation’s population ages, elected officials and local leaders throughout the United States are changing the way they think about the economy so it actively includes the contributions of older residents. Unlike past generations, today's older adults are healthier than ever, and they possess talents, skills and experiences that are valuable to employers as well as organizations in need of skilled volunteers.
It was in this context that, on September 27 and 28, the virtual 2023 AARP Livable Communities Workshop: Economic Development — Connecting to Opportunity convened more than 1,300 local leaders, economic development practitioners and AARP staff and volunteers.
With a focus on how places and people contribute to economic development, more than 25 speakers addressed the workshop’s core themes of the The Built Environment, Digital Connections, Work and Jobs and Local Economies — and shared inspiring next steps for meeting the economic development needs of a changing nation.
Following are some key takeaways and calls to action from the event:
1. Livable communities are good for people — and the economy
Walkable communities with diverse housing types and digital infrastructure (i.e., high-speed internet access) have strong fiscal impacts.
- As noted during the workshop’s Built Environment panel, urban sprawl costs the U.S. economy $1 trillion a year (per a report by The New Climate Economy) — but even a one-point increase in a neighborhood’s Walk Score can increase a property’s value by as much as $3,000.
- When workshop attendees were asked which livability features contribute the most to economic development, walkability was the top response.
- As the demographics of the United States shift, access to high-speed internet can provide economic opportunities that are crucial for smaller, more rural or remote places.
2. Zoning reform encourages flexible economic development strategies
Revisiting and revising decades-old zoning codes can contribute to more equitable outcomes, better serve how we live and work today, and benefit local economies.
- Antiquated zoning laws make it difficult for smaller, incremental-scale development by what Built Environment panelist Marques King calls the “neighborhood farmers.” These are the residents who know their communities’ assets and are well-equipped to build value for themselves and their community.
- During her Keynote Address, Ilana Preuss shared that zoning changes are critical to growing small-scale manufacturings. For example, by allowing for the creation of smaller, more affordable storefronts, communities can make it easier to create spaces that fit the needs of new retailers and entrepreneurs.
- Enabling Better Places: A Handbook for Improved Neighborhoods, a publication by AARP and the Congress for New Urbanism (or CNU), is a free guide about incremental zoning code reform. A zoning code update could allow for the creation of walkable communities that include housing types that serve residents of differing ages, incomes and household sizes. Discovering and Developing Missing Middle Housing, by AARP with Opticos Design, is an information- and photo-filled guide about a housing style that is needed but has been prohibited for decades due to outdated zoning codes.
