Redesigning Communities for Aging in Place: Developing a Livable San Antonio for All Ages PDF E-mail

This report, the ninth in a series of Aging in Place Initiative workshop reports, documents the meeting that was held in San Antonio on the topic of Community Design and the Built Environment. The workshop gathered a large and diverse audience of community stakeholders and experts eager to discuss how their community can be redesigned and made more friendly for people of all ages and served as a forum for national and local experts to showcase winning strategies for rethinking and redesigning a community’s assets to better serve the growing older adult population. Download the Report> (2.73 MB)


The workshop focused on four key factors of community redesign that have emerged as challenges for communities across the country: Planning, Mobility, Health and Wellness, and Social Integration.

National and local experts at the workshop agreed on a set of critical design changes that can make communities anywhere more livable for today’s older adults, and those of tomorrow. Moreover, they agreed that the time is now for communities to rethink and redesign how they use existing assets as livability tools for people of all ages. Big or small, any community can find innovative ways to make its libraries, museums, parks, public spaces or recreation centers instruments in an Aging in Place strategy.

This report documents the workshop in San Antonio and provides a comprehensive analysis of the ideas that were discussed, the recommendations that were made, and the programs and organizations at work to rethink communities and make them more livable for all.

Key Findings:

  • Communities need to rethink how their existing assets can be used as part of an Aging in Place agenda
  • Improving the built environment of a community can have as big of an impact on Aging in Place as developing programs and services
  • Sound planning decisions such as preserving open space can create livable communities at little cost
  • In addition to increasing public transit options, older adult mobility can be enhanced by rethinking crosswalks and promoting safe and accessible walkways
  • Creative, community-driven changes to healthcare delivery practices can make older adults healthier and lower medical expenses
  • Rethinking how public spaces are used can make older adults feel more socially integrated into their community
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