Age Friendly Sonoma County is committed to ensuring that Sonoma County is a great place to grow up and 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 entire 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…
Windsor
First Meetings – City Leaders and Age Friendly Sonoma County:
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We had a first meeting with Mayor Mark Millan and Town Manager Linda Kelly and look forward to further conversations in the coming months.
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Presentation to Windsor Senior Citizens Advisory Commission
Windsor’s Existing Alignment with Age-Friendly Sonoma County:
Strategic Goals for Town Planning and Development
Age-Friendly Sonoma County has identified many of Windsor’s current strategic goals to be naturally aligned and easily adaptable to an Age-Friendly point of view. To support this process, we provided the mayor and town manager with a helpful
WHO Checklist of Essential Features of an Age-Friendly Features.
The 2040 General Plan Update process is underway. Community meetings were held to elicit comments from residents regarding their vision for the health and quality of life of Windsor. In addition to the meetings, residents were invited to participate in an interactive online forum that allowed posting ideas and sharing comments. (Online forums are age friendly, allowing cyber savvy homebound seniors to participate!) Residents proposed age friendly ideas such as: improving sidewalks to better accommodate wheelchairs; adding more walkable areas and trails; increasing access to fresh produce with community gardens; a suggestion for more intergenerational events on the Town Green; more use of public transit; more varied housing choices; more housing adjacent to Town Green (important for a walkable community—improves access to everyday services). A Draft General Plan is now under review by Town Council and community members. For more information: www.townofwindsor.com. Congratulations to Windsor for involving residents in a
once-in-a-generation opportunity to help shape Windsor’s future and to carefully consider how they want their community to develop over the next 15-25 years!
The Town of Windsor was recently honored with the Infrastructure Project of the Year – Innovative Design Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), North Coast Chapter, for the recently completed Old Redwood Highway Improvements Project fronting Bell Village. The award recognized several improvements, including age friendly green bike lanes and elevated walkways.
Links to Age-Friendly Assets:
Windsor Senior Center https://www.townofwindsor.com/319/Senior-Center
Town of Windsor https://www.townofwindsor.com
Council on Aging Services for Seniors https://www.councilonaging.com
Sonoma County Area Agency on Aging https://www.socoaaa.org
AARP https://www.aarp.org
Becoming more Age Friendly…
The age 60+ population is expected to show the highest increase of any group in Windsor by 2020, growing to more than 20% of the town’s total population. It’s essential that the opportunities and challenges of an aging population are incorporated in all aspects of planning and development. Windsor has been very forward-thinking in this regard. A recent Age-Friendly presentation by Council on Aging to the Windsor Senior Citizens Advisory Commission brought a lively discussion of age friendly possibilities for the town, as well as the suggestion that Windsor pursue an Age-Friendly City designation from the World Health Organization. Whatever degree of “age friendliness” that Windsor decides to pursue, Age-Friendly Sonoma County can provide resources and support to town leaders and a growing number of local volunteer advocates. Watch for further details!
If you want to get more involved and become an Age-Friendly Advocate in your city, please send us an email at info@agefriendlysonomacounty.org or use our Contact Us page. We look forward to hearing from you!