Is your community ready for its aging Baby Boomers? With our growing population of older residents, are local steps being taken to ensure that they can live independently for as long as possible?  What makes a community livable for older citizens benefit people of all ages and physical abilities?  This presentation provides land use planning and regulatory tools to help people in your community to age in place. Topics include a variety of housing choices, accessory dwelling units, Golden Zones, and senior friendly sidewalk and street designs.

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NOTE: Online courses are not available for in-service credit for code enforcement officers, continuing legal education credit for attorneys, or certification maintenance credit for members of the American Institute of Certified Planners. Some courses will produce a certificate at the end, and others will only produce your quiz results. The quiz results page should be used as proof of your training.

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Resources for more information

We encourage you to continue learning more about Aging in Place, and many other topics on land use planning, regulations, and procedures.  The Department of State's James A. Coon Technical Series offers many publications and legal memoranda, some are attached to this course. Our Local Government Training Program offers online courses as well as on-site training; please visit our online schedule for training offered by the Department of State, other state agencies, and local government and academic membership organizations:

Our staff is available to provide technical assistance to local government officials during regular business hours.  Here is our contact information: http://www.dos.ny.gov/lg/contact.html

• This publication offers local governments two model local laws designed to increase the supply of affordable, high quality housing choices for seniors, individuals with permanent disabilities, and their caregivers. The model laws are illustrative only and should be adapted to meet the unique circumstances of the community.


• Guide to Planning and Zoning Laws of New York State,
  James A. Coon Technical Series, NYS Department of State


• Livable NY
  The New York State Office for the Aging, with assistance from Livable New York's affiliate partners, offers an initiative to advance the efforts of the State's communities to implement model housing, transit, and mobility alternatives, and to institute new and innovative building and community designs, energy ideas, and creative planning and zoning strategies.


• AARP Network of Age-Friendly Communities
  The AARP Network of Age-Friendly Communities encourages states, cities, towns and counties to prepare for the rapid aging of the U.S. population by paying increased attention to the environmental, economic and social factors that influence the health and well-being of older adults.


• “New Towns in Rural Areas: Saving Rural Space with Smart Growth,”
  On Common Ground, National Association of Realtors, Winter 2006


• “A Blueprint for Action: Developing a Livable Community for All Ages,”
  MetLife Foundation, Partners for Livable Communities, May 2007


• “Innovations for Seniors: Public and Community Transit Services Respond to Special Needs,”
  The Beverly Foundation


• Highway Design Handbook for Older Drivers and Pedestrians(2001)
  This handbook, written for highway designers, engineers, and highway safety specialists, provides guidance on how to accommodate the declining functional capabilities of the older road users with effective road design practices and engineering enhancements.


• Additional Training Opportunities: http://www.dos.ny.gov/lg/pdf/LGTrainingSchedule.pdf