The plan, calledRebuild Philadelphia, intends to invest $500 million to revitalize communities and foster economic progress.
Mayor Jim Kenney spoke to AARP about his plans to make Philadelphia a more livable community.
What does making Philadelphia age-friendly mean to you?
The city’s commitment to low-income, elderly and special needs rental housing has been growing.
Our older residents have been integrated into the city’sCommunity Schools modelto promote opportunities for interaction and mentorship.
Whats the significance of the newly created Complete Streets Commissioner position?
Why was it created?
What are Philadelphia’s Complete Streets goals?
When I created theComplete Streets initiative, I declared Vision Zero as being central to our Complete Streets efforts.
Philadelphia’s Vision Zero program has a goal of zero traffic deaths on Philadelphia streets by 2030.
How can that goal be achieved?
Vision Zerois a policy that originated in Sweden in the 1990s.
In Sweden, the approach has resulted in one of the lowest rates of traffic deaths in the world.
Policy changes, education, traffic safety enforcement, and street safety will support these efforts.
On September 28, 2017, we released theVision Zero Three-Year Action Planas final.
Each year, we’ll release an update of our progress.
Community engagement and volunteerism can help older Philadelphians stay connected and combat social isolation.
We’ve made community engagement a top priority for Rebuild.
We have great partnerships with public agencies, nonprofits, and the private sector around infrastructure.
In seeking public-private partnerships, we must both serve the public interest and leverage our resources smartly.
Jacklyn Isasi is the communications director of AARP Pennsylvania
Page published October 2017
