City of Centennial Civic Center
With a population of 108,000 and situated just outside of Denver, the City of Centennial
is uniquely suited to be a leader in creating a universally liveable city.
Its uniqueness derives from a few factors. The first is that the city is lean, meaning that it only has about 50 employees, a relatively small number when you look at cities of comparable size. It also places a premium on innovation, something which was advanced by a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies it was awarded in 2014.
The grant provided an opportunity for the city to look at various needs and take new approaches in finding solutions to the challenges it faces, like a rapidly-growing older adult population. And lastly, the city has embraced User Experience Design, or UX Design, as a driving force for how it engages and shapes its community.
It’s this distinctive mix of factors that will enable Centennial to meet the evolving needs of its aging population – one that will surpass the national average by 17.3 percent in 2030 – while balancing the needs of other stakeholders.
It can also serve as a model for other cities across the state and country who seek to create an environment that accommodates young and old alike.
The Bloomberg grant enabled the city to create and hire an Innovation Team, or i-team. The i-team became such an integral part of the city’s work that it ultimately brought them on as city employees. One member of the i-team, Paul Gunther, recently shared with Longevity Colorado what Centennial has been working on to benefit its older adult residents.
Longevity Colorado:
What is unique about how Centennial is working to meet the needs of its older adult residents?Paul Gunther: The City of Centennial has placed an emphasis on being a future ready government - meaning we are attentive to the community’s current needs while anticipating change. Centennial’s older adult population is projected to be 17.3 percent higher than the national average in 2030.
In 2010, the City created its first Senior Commission, which has served as a tremendous resource for Centennial in learning what key concerns, such as decreasing social isolation and monitoring transportation and mobility opportunities in the community the City needs to address as people age in the community.
With input from the Senior Commission, the projected demographics and the emphasis on being a future ready city, the City Council directed staff to develop programs and resources to increase education addressing how older adults can maintain an active lifestyle and remain in their homes as long as desired.
Longevity Colorado:
How does User Experience Design translate into the City’s work?Paul: Centennial continually strives to enhance the experience of all customers (residents, businesses, and visitors). This is apparent with the job positions the City has in place that largely focus on the customers’ needs and desires – such as, a User Experience Designer, a Customer Experience Manager and the City’s newest position, a Neighborhood Services Manager. Staff work inter-departmentally in the effort to communicate the voice of the customer throughout a project and look to apply universal design concepts across programming.
For example, staff worked with the community to understand different challenges relevant to aging in the community resulting in a focus on the challenges surrounding housing. To address these challenges, Lifelong Centennial Homes is a resource for any resident undergoing a home remodel or interested in implementing accessibility modifications. The goal is for this resource to be relevant to residents across all age groups and physical abilities. For instance, an older adult who has specific mobility challenges could use this guide for ideas on retrofitting their home to support their needs as easily as a resident in their 50s who is remodeling their home and installing universally designed doorknobs. [See additional programs in box below].
Longevity Colorado:
What advice would you give to towns preparing for an older adult population?Paul: It’s important to look at aging in community as a natural development of life and not necessarily as an issue or challenge. My advice would be to be proactive, and try to plan for the issues and challenges that may present themselves to older adults. The City understood an opportunity to work with residents and partners to discover needed and desired resources from community members, and deliver programming and materials to directly address those matters.
Longevity Colorado:
How do you get the word out to residents about what the City is offerings?Paul: There are numerous ways for people to learn about the different programs the City has initiated. The City mails the quarterly Centennial Connection newsletter to every household in Centennial, we also communicate through a variety of e-newsletters, social media channels, and its website, as well as working with the local media to include articles in the weekly newspapers.
City of Centennial’s Programs for Older Adults
A free program that consists of a minimum of two events per month. Details.
Technology Training
The two service delivery providers that were tested included Older Adults Technology Services, OATS and GroovyTek. Both service providers worked with Arapahoe Libraries to deliver trainings at various locations throughout the city.
Interaction Lab
The Interaction Lab is located at Southglenn Library and provides an educational space, highlighting concepts around universal design in the home, smart home technology, and home energy efficiency. The Interaction Lab has had an array of partnerships and collaborations with many organizations, including: Arapahoe Libraries, Arrow Electronics, CSU, Accessible Systems, and Unbounded Spaces. Details.
Lifelong Centennial Homes
A Universal Design Guide/Assessment. The city worked with CSU’s Institute of the Built Environment (IBE) to develop a resource and assessment guide to assist community members as a reference when completing home modifications. The city has also used existing universal design guides, such as AARP’s HomeFit Guide to understand what is relevant to community members and what information needs to be developed more for the needs of Centennial’s community. Guide.