Arlington Named Top Scoring Community In AARP Livability Index

ARLINGTON, MA — The Town of Arlington has been named a top scoring small city in the AARP Livability Index, according to Director of Health and Human Services Christine Bongiorno and Council on Aging Executive Director Kristine Shah.

The AARP Livability Index scores neighborhoods and communities across the country on the services and amenities impacting residents most. The factors that are evaluated include housing affordability and access, neighborhood proximity and security, transportation safety and convenience, environment, civic and social involvement, access to and quality of health services, and opportunity.

Arlington received a livability index score of 65 out of 100, which is in the top half of communities in the U.S. The town scored above 70 in the categories of neighborhood, transportation, health and opportunity.

The initiative recognizes that the population of the U.S. is rapidly aging, and aims to help communities prepare for this trend. Age-Friendly Network membership signifies that a community’s leadership has made a commitment to actively work with residents and local advocates to make their town, city, county, or state an age-friendly place to live.

In January, the Arlington Council on Aging completed its Age and Dementia Friendly Action Plan. The plan highlights many future plans and action steps to improve social and physical environments and make communities livable for older residents, while also prioritizing members of the community living with dementia and their families.

"We pride ourselves on ensuring the Town of Arlington is a comfortable, engaging and safe place for people of all ages and life stages to call home, and we are pleased to be recognized through the Livability Index for these efforts," Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine said in a statement. “Since becoming an Age-Friendly community in 2017 and in our work to become a Dementia Friendly community, we have thoroughly evaluated our town's environment, policies, resources and opportunities, and our Council on Aging team has put together a plan to identify the areas we can supplement. These initiatives will improve the quality of living for everyone in our community and ensure Arlington is a lifelong community."

In addition to the age-friendly work being done around town, the former Senior Center has reopened as the Arlington Community Center. The renovations began in March 2020 and the new community center formally reopened on Thursday, April 28. The new space includes an art room, areas for socialization and casual conversation, workspaces with internet access, a café, a library, a yoga room, a games room and lounge with two tournament-size pool tables, and a new commercial kitchen for cooking classes and nutrition seminars.

The kitchen will also be used by Minuteman Senior Services for Meals on Wheels and congregate dining. Community members will be able to rent several of the building's spaces for meetings and events and the commercial kitchen will be rented out for events, by caterers or by entrepreneurs.

The community center's new furnishings were funded through contributions from the community, and local families and businesses sponsored the café, library, art room, pool room, games room and yoga room. Community members were invited to attend a ribbon-cutting event to celebrate the reopening of the Community Center on May 5. Town officials offered remarks and a brief tour of the building renovations and improvements.

"Even with the many age-friendly practices we have in place community-wide, we realize that having a high quality of life requires continuous improvement," Bongiorno said in a statement. "We are always looking at what we can do better and what new initiatives and resources will benefit our community, such as the redesign and reconfiguration of the community center and the social services and activities it will offer to all of Arlington's residents."