AARP calls Salt Lake County age-friendly. What does that mean?
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AARP has added Salt Lake County to its Network of Age-Friendly Communities. That opens the door to technical assistance, funding and other resources from the national organization as the county tackles policy, planning and building to meet the needs of a growing aging population.
It's the first community so designated in Utah, Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson said at a news conference Wednesday at the Millcreek Senior Center, which is co-located with a library and a recreation center.
Wilson hailed the county's efforts to help older adults in multiple ways, from the Meals on Wheels program to senior centers that integrate services with recreation programs in one location. When co-location was first considered, she said, there was robust discussion among the county council members, of which she was one at the time.
Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson, left, receives a certificate from Alan Ormsby, the state director of AARP Utah, right, during a press conference to announce Salt Lake County's designation as an AARP Age-Friendly Community at the Millcreek Community Center in Millcreek on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
The age-friendly puzzle
There are a lot of pieces to being age-friendly and a great deal of planning and projecting the future are involved, she and Alan Ormsby, state director of AARP, agreed — including focusing on important aspects like making neighborhoods walkable and ensuring there are affordable housing options, among others.
'Anything that makes life better for older adults makes it better for anyone in a community,' Ormsby said.
Ormsby added there have been efforts to get an age-friendly AARP designation in Utah for a long time, so the announcement is exciting. Besides helping to support local organizations that give time and energy to bolstering older adults, the national group can be tapped for expertise with forward-looking planning, he told Deseret News. AARP can provide 'guidance, support and monetary things' to help Salt Lake County's age-friendly efforts.
There are roughly 700 AARP-designated age-friendly states and communities in the United States.
Amy Oxman hits the ball while playing pickle ball at the Millcreek Community Center in Millcreek on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. Salt Lake County is the first community in Utah to be designated an AARP Age-Friendly Community. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
Ryan Anderson, who is the program manager of Municipal Services and Regional Planning, actually oversaw the application. She said her program will work closely with Salt Lake County Aging and Adult Services over the next couple of years to do a needs assessment and create an action plan, which will be implemented in the following two years of a four-year effort. The work will include looking at what's working to allow people to age well while staying in their communities and what services, policies, features or other things need to change or be added.
Salt Lake County's Aging and Adult Services — its director, Paul Leggett, emceed the announcement — also has a contract with the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah to look at aging issues and services.
A community that is age-friendly has to consider how to build a community that provides access to services, meeting transportation needs and has affordable housing, among other factors, Anderson said.
The Wednesday morning fiber arts group works on their projects at the Millcreek Community Center in Millcreek on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. Salt Lake County is the first community in Utah to be designated an AARP Age-Friendly Community. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
On its website, AARP says the network 'serves as a catalyst to educate local leaders (both elected officials and engaged residents) and encourage them to implement the types of changes that make communities more livable for people of all ages, especially older adults.'
To get the designation, a community's elected leaders have to commit to the goal of helping older adults flourish.
After earning a place in the network, AARP reports that 'age-friendly initiatives are catalyzing local policy change. And 73% of member communities achieved a change in public policy, most often by integrating an 'age-friendly lens' into community planning.'
Ann Mckane, left and Maureen Wilson, right, both work on knitting projects while working with the Wednesday morning fiber arts group at the Millcreek Community Center in Millcreek on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. Salt Lake County is the first community in Utah to be designated an AARP Age-Friendly Community. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
The Millcreek center
The Millcreek senior center was a natural location for the announcement, given its design, which integrates people of all ages in various activities within the building.
Outside the room where the press conference was held, a group of older adult pals were chatting and laughing. It's a regular routine for them after their Monday-Wednesday-Friday enhanced fitness class, they told Deseret News. They all met in the class, but the friendships spill well beyond the senior center door.
They said they help each other out and sometimes get together outside of the center. One might drive another to a doctor's appointment. They're an informal referral service, recommending good plumbers and doctors. And when one of them is downsizing, it's the easiest thing in the world to bring a few items you don't want and see if anyone in the group wants them.
Seniors play pickleball at the Millcreek Community Center in Millcreek on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. Salt Lake County is the first community in Utah to be designated an AARP Age-Friendly Community. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
'You can come visit your tray,' one of them jokes, while another adds that they celebrate each others' birthdays and that there are some other groups that meet on different days for lunch. The center is a social hub for lots of older adults, who find it easy to make friends who share their interests, given the varied programming.
There's easy banter among the women — and it isn't all just women most days — but they agree that a senior center is a great place for someone who's new to the area and older to make friends and stay connected. Plus they look out for each other, noticing when someone is missing from the class and checking up to see that all is well.
Sometimes the group has 16 members visiting after class and they come from all over the county, not just the Millcreek neighborhood.
Clearly visible above that group gathered in the Evergreen Cafe (the center is located on Evergreen Avenue), older adults could be seen on a walking track. The senior center side hosts activities that range from art classes to exercise classes, meals and a variety of other programs and events.
The center is age-friendly — and so is Salt Lake County.
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