Launched in 2019, AARP Rural Lab reaches more than 250 communities — from a small town with 50 residents to regions with populations of 200,000 or more — that are invited by AARP to meet and share information that rural and remote area can use to kick-start innovative solutions to local challenges. Some of those solutions are shared in the collections below.
The housing challenges encountered by older residents can be especially daunting in rural areas, where limited housing choices can restrict mobility, increase isolation and create a barrier to essential services.
Since communities that nurture connections are often more resilient in the face of economic fluctuations and other changes, local leaders and nonprofits often work to bring neighbors together, sometimes around food, gardening or a shared history.
According to the Federal Communications Commission, 22 percent of rural residents and 28 percent of people living on tribal lands do not have access to high-speed internet. (The image shows a connected smart speaker.) Among city dwellers that figure hovers around just 2 percent.
