Age-Friendly Sonoma County is committed to ensuring that Sonoma County is a great place to grow up and to grow old. We are here to help our cities become more “Age-Friendly” fostering health, well-being, inclusion and participation – across the lifespan.
An Age-Friendly Community benefits the whole community.
We are meeting with city leaders to introduce the Age Friendly Sonoma County initiative, to identify existing areas of alignment and to provide Age Friendly resources helpful to city planning and services.
Below are some current highlights of this city’s process…
Cotati
Our First Meeting – Cotati City Leaders and Age Friendly Sonoma County:
Thursday, Thursday, September 14, 2016
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We had a productive first meeting with City Manager Damien O’Bid and look forward to further conversations in the coming months.
Cotati’s Existing Age-Friendly Alignment
Strategic Goals for City Planning and Development
As a central “hub” of Sonoma County, the City of Cotati has its own unique history, spirit and small town character, yet shares many programs, facilities and services with its larger neighbor, Rohnert Park. Therefore, many of the community service links for Cotati provided below are also connected to its sister city, Rohnert Park. Although they are separate cities, people commonly refer to the general area as “Rohnert Park/Cotati.”
In the summer of 2016, the City of Cotati started the Old Redwood Highway Gateway Project
that will build continuous sidewalks as well as “entry plazas, landscaping, streetlights, new crosswalks, bike lanes and street furniture. Additional sidewalk accessibility upgrades and crosswalk improvements are planned for several other areas in the City. These comprehensive projects will improve accessibility and visibility of pedestrians in the busy downtown corridor and other areas. These are Age-Friendly improvements that benefit everyone!
In 2015 Cotati adopted its current General Plan (Cotati 2015 General Plan). It includes many elements that can already be considered Age Friendly. With planned improvements to pedestrian infrastructure, transit routes and stops, ADA accessibility, safety and emergency preparedness, there is natural alignment with the vision and intention of an Age Friendly Community. Cotati’s General Plan features a “Community Health and Wellness” component that promotes the concept of livability for the community, in parallel with Sonoma County’s Health Action Initiative, which envisions a “healthy place for all residents to live work and play.”
Below are a just a few selected excerpts from one goal area of the “Community Health and Wellness” section of the General Plan, highlighting a small sampling of opportunities for Age-Friendly Collaboration:
Goal CHW 1
Establish and Maintain a City Leadership Role to Promote and Enhance the Overall Health Conditions of Cotati
Objective CHW 1A: Actively Promote Healthy Lifestyles through the City Decision-Making Process, City Operations, and City Leadership
Policy CHW 1.2: Work with and create partnerships with organizations and health advocacy groups to publicize and promote City policies, programs and activities that improve community health through physical activity, behavioral health, access to clean water and healthy food, and the environment.
Policy CHW 1.3: Encourage all City departments, programs and facilities to consider and integrate public health goals into their daily operations, and to consider implications to public health in all City policies, to the extent feasible.
Objective CHW 1B: Support Community Health Collaboration, Education and Communication
Policy CHW 1.9: Collaborate with Sonoma County, other interested agencies, and local health care and service providers to track community health data and issues, address areas of need, and communicate key trends to City staff, the public and elected officials.
Action CHW-1c: Develop or obtain a list of best practices related to promoting healthy communities.
In addition to the above, Goal CHW 2, Policy CHW 2.3 seeks to “Support and encourage the expansion of paratransit and public transit service to neighborhood and regional medical facilities.”
Current Age-Friendly Community Assets:
Rohnert Park/Cotati Regional Public Library
Rohnert Park Recreation Services
Rebuilding Together – Rohnert Park/Cotati
Sonoma State University – Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
Additional Cotati/Rohnert Park Resources:
Map – Cotati and County Unincorporated Areas
Age-Friendly Sonoma County Volunteers – Cotati:
County Steering Committee Member – Cotati Representative:
In process...
These volunteers will provide leadership for the countywide Age-Friendly initiative including guiding principles for the first two years of the WHO/AARP program process.
Cotati Age-Friendly City Task Force Members:
In process...
These volunteers will guide the Age-Friendly process for their city. They will include city residents and other individuals who live in the surrounding unincorporated area that identifies with this particular city.
Age-Friendly Community Advocates:
In process…
These volunteers will provide Age-Friendly advocacy through shorter term, more focused and one-time activities that support the work of the County Steering Committee, the City Task Forces and other related Age-Friendly events.
To learn more about Age-Friendly Volunteering, click here. We look forward to hearing from you!
