Council reaffirms its commitment to making Austin a more age-friendly city

Austin is getting older, and its growing population of residents aged 65 and up is living proof.

In fact, those between 65 and 74 represented the fastest-growing age group between 2010 and 2020, according to city reports.

With that demographic shift in mind, City Council recently directed the city manager to take greater steps to ensure that all departments offer services aligned with the goals of the city’s Age-Friendly Action Plan, released in 2016 and later adopted by Council. That plan, which was developed by the city’s Commission on Aging in partnership with AARP and other local organizations, was crafted with a number of strategies for making Austin a more livable city for older adults.

Now, the Commission on Aging is working with those same partners to amend the plan to incorporate metrics that will more effectively measure its progress and impact. A 2022 report from the city auditor found that Austin needs to do more to improve the city’s services for older adults, and it called for more public outreach and metrics to measure the city’s progress.

Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes sponsored the resolution, adding to her portfolio of work addressing the city’s public health needs. Her specific interest in bringing forward age-friendly policy grew from witnessing the struggles of older Austinites during the pandemic and through extreme weather events.

“A lot of the feedback I was hearing from constituents and from older adults in general was just how hard it is to age in our city, and how, in a lot of ways, the city was becoming something that they don’t recognize anymore.” Fuentes told the Austin Monitor. “That really hit home to me.”

The resolution calls for expanding resources and programming, developing new senior centers in underserved areas (possibly with financing from the city’s next bond election), working with Capital Metro to improve transportation options and developing a fraud-prevention initiative to help older adults.

In May, Fuentes teamed with Council Member Marc Duchen to host a town hall for older adults, and the turnout of more than 120 people exceeded both their expectations, prompting a change to a larger venue.

“They wanted to hear what the city had to offer in terms of services, information and resources,” Fuentes said of the attendees who came from across the city. “It really solidified the need for a policy direction from Council on the quality of life for our older adults. It spoke to the need for us to be talking about how we are making sure that Austin is an age-friendly city.”

A top concern voiced at the town hall centered on better public transportation access and, in Fuentes’ District 2, a need for greater access to food systems.

While Austin is a youthful city – the average age is around 34 – Fuentes said she would like to see more intergenerational spaces and activities throughout the city, which would provide more opportunities for old and young to mix and mingle.

“We want to make sure we’re providing the opportunity for different generations to interact and to learn from each other,” she said.

Ahead of the June 5 Council vote on the resolution, several people spoke in support of the item, including Jacqueline Angel, a University of Texas professor of public affairs and sociology. She applauded the city’s “commitment to becoming a truly age-friendly city, one that values older adults – not as a separate group but as an integral part of our shared lives.”

As an Austin resident since 1991, Angel continued, “I’ve seen firsthand how our city has grown, not only in size, but in complexity, diversity, and in the challenges we face.” Austin’s aging population, she added, is outpacing the availability of community services to “help preserve dignity and independence.”

Jessica Lemann of AARP Texas spoke of the importance of integrating age-friendly policies across all city departments and ensure that older adults are considered “in every aspect of urban planning.”

“Encouraging collaboration between departments,” she said, “will lead to more comprehensive and effective solutions for the challenges faced in Austin by older adults.”

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