Grant will fund artist-designed and painted bike racks along popular city corridors for cyclists
The City of Powder Springs is thrilled to announce it has been selected to receive a 2023 AARP Community Challenge grant. The city is one of only 310 grantees selected out of more than 3,600 applications from across all 50 states, Washington
D.C, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
With this grant the city will implement its Powder Springs Bike Rack Art Project — its latest initiative to promote active and healthy lifestyles within a community that offers alternatives to car-centric living. Partnering with the South Cobb Arts Alliance, Powder Springs plans to design, create, and install five permanent bike racks throughout downtown Powder Springs. These bike racks will be artistically designed by community members through the partnership with South Cobb Arts Alliance. The five bike racks will be placed in strategic locations around the city
where residents frequently travel by bike.
“We are incredibly proud that AARP selected the City for this investment to make Powder Springs more livable for residents of all ages,” said Mayor Al
Thurman. “AARP is a nationwide leader in making communities more livable and we are honored that they see the tangible value this project will bring to our
area.”
The City of Powder Springs has, in recent years, made a major push to create a more livable and sustainable city for all residents. These efforts include offering
residents more community assets and resources in Downtown Powder Springs to promote a livable, walkable, and bike-able town center. This includes a redesigned town square featuring green space, play areas, and a community amphitheater where residents attend events and concerts. The city is continuing to pursue projects that make a positive impact on the community and create a safe and welcoming space for its active senior citizens.
Powder Springs is a stop along the 61.5-mile Silver Comet Trail, which is a bike path leading from metro Atlanta to the Alabama border, with the trail continuing in Alabama as the 33-mile Chief Ladiga Trail.
The city is currently building two connector trails between the Silver Comet Trail and downtown Powder Springs with the help of the Atlanta Regional Commission. Installing the bike rack structures will make parking a bike and exploring the town center more possible and increase accessibility for residents looking for alternatives to the use of vehicles.
About the Community Challenge
The AARP Community Challenge grant program funds innovative, quick-action projects that inspire change in areas such as public places; housing;
transportation; diversity, equity, and inclusion; digital connections; community resilience; and more. With additional funding support from Toyota Motor North America, the program is also increasing its investment in projects that improve mobility innovation and transportation options.
This is all part of AARP’s nationwide work on livable communities, which supports the efforts of neighborhoods, towns, cities and counties across the country to become great places for all. AARP believes that communities should provide safe, walkable streets; affordable and accessible housing and transportation options; access to needed services; and opportunities for residents to participate in community life.
To learn more about the projects being funded by the AARP Community Challenge across the nation, including all 310 granted projects this year, visit aarp.org/CommunityChallenge. You can also view an interactive map of all Community Challenge projects and AARP’s Livable Communities work at
aarp.org/livable.
