Fort Worth Seeks More Age-Friendly Community Reputation
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FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Fort Worth is preparing for what some call the aging tsunami.
The number of people 65 and older will almost double by the year 2030 and Fort Worth is looking at a city-wide push to become age-friendly.
Ray Johnson, 76, spends a lot of time with his friends at a Fort Worth community center playing games and participating in activities.
"You got one of the puzzles there you can't find?" he asked a silver-haired woman as she poured over a seek-and-find puzzle book. "Sunset?"
Like a lot of people his age, he sees the complex puzzle of services trying to keep up with people in their sunset years.
The senior activities Johnson participates in have already outgrown one community center and Johnson sees plenty of room for more improvement.
"If transportation was improved," he said. "If sidewalks and parking areas and then I want to get here if they had more facilities and more larger facilities."
He's not alone. An AARP poll shows as people near retirement they want to stay in their own homes. But the same study shows the aging population has a growing list of unfulfilled needs, like medical service.
Now, Fort Worth wants to fill the gaps in services by making age-friendly a part of all its future planning.
"Whether it's housing, transportation, health services, employment, shopping all of those things work together for us," said Dana Burghdoff, Fort Worth's Assistant Planning Director.
Here's an example of rethinking a simple park. What looks like playground equipment in Forest Park near the zoo is actually age friendly workout equipment for people with less mobility.
Now think about the person who uses that workout equipment trying to walk an uneven, cracked sidewalk or stepping off a steep curb.
Or trying to find a ride to get to a doctor or hospital.
City planners say age-friendly thinking for problems like that will help more people than just Ray Johnson and his friends.
"We are identifying improvements that are beneficial not only to our aging residents but that are beneficial to everyone," Burghdoff said. "So we often say this will benefit everyone from age 1 to 100."
If the city adopts the policy in December it would make Fort Worth the second Texas city to do so after Austin according to AARP.
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