Mecklenburg County joins the AARP Network of Age-Friendly Communities

Charlotte, NC – With nearly a quarter of the state’s residents expected to be age 60 or older by the year 2030, Mecklenburg County took an important step to become a better place for people of all ages. On Sept. 20, 2016, County leaders announced that the County has applied for the World Health Organization’s status of “age-friendly” by joining the AARP Network of Age-Friendly Communities.

The AARP Network of Age-Friendly Communities helps participating communities become great places for all ages by adopting such features as safe, walkable streets, better housing and transportation options, access to key services, and opportunities for residents to participate in community activities.

Mecklenburg County Manager Dena R. Diorio said, “well-designed, livable communities promote health and sustain economic growth, and they make for happier, healthier residents of all ages.” Mecklenburg joins both Wake and Orange Counties, which also recently joined the Network. The Town of Matthews applied for similar status in 2015.

According to the Administration on Aging, the proportion of North Carolina’s population that is 60 and older is growing more rapidly than other components of the population. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that nearly 23 percent of North Carolina’s population will be 60 and older by the year 2030, an increase of more than 26 percent from 2012.”

By joining the AARP Network, Mecklenburg County declared its commitment to a continual cycle of improvement in the eight domains the World Health Organization (WHO) has identified as influencing the health and quality of life of older adults:

1. Outdoor spaces and buildings
2. Transportation
3. Housing
4. Social participation
5. Respect and social inclusion
6. Civic participation and employment
7. Communication and information
8. Community support and health services

UNC business professor Dr. Jim Johnson has studied the rapidly changing demographics and encourages communities across the country to plan for an aging population. “Between 2015 and 2040, according to the Census Bureau’s National Population Projections, the U.S. total population is projected to increase by 18 percent, from 321 million to 380 million,” Dr. Johnson said. “During this period, the 65+ population is expected to increase much more rapidly, from 47.8 million to 82.3 million, an increase of 72 percent.”

“Aging can be, in our view, a new engine for innovation, business development, and employment growth in the U.S. economy,” Johnson said. “Opportunities abound in this space to support and facilitate healthy and active aging on the one hand and to care for the frail elderly on the other.”

AARP North Carolina Executive Council Member Janet Garner-Mullins said, “Mecklenburg County is helping lead the trend started by Matthews last year of communities in the state that are preparing for the rapidly increasing number of older adults. By the end of the next decade, 90 of the state’s 100 counties will have more people ages 60 plus, than those 18 and under. With Mecklenburg’s participation, over 3 million North Carolinans live in areas working to become age-friendly.

The AARP Network of Age-Friendly Communities is an affiliate of the World Health Organization’s Age-Friendly Cities and Communities Program, an international effort launched in 2006 to help cities prepare for rapid population aging and the parallel trend of urbanization. The program has participating communities in more than 20 nations, as well as 10 affiliates representing more than 1,000 communities.

In the U.S., 114 communities representing more than 53 million people are enrolled in the AARP Network of Age-Friendly Communities. ( The Member List.)