Myrtle Avenue Seniors And Businesses Get More Recognition For Age-Friendly Initiatives

Earlier this summer, the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership / Revitalization Project (MARP) unveiled its new age-friendly initiative for senior citizens (aka older adults), making local business services more accessible and welcoming for seniors through shopping discounts, age-friendly exercise classes, a formal resource guide, and more.

Now, other city business groups are taking notice. In a Crain’s New York Business article published this week, MARP’s efforts in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill are highlighted as an example of a broader citywide movement to acknowledge and support aging populations — who remain integral parts of their communities, even if their population is shrinking.

“Sometimes older people require citywide change, and sometimes more localized approaches are needed,” said Lindsay Goldman, deputy director for aging at the [New York Academy of Medicine]. . .

The odd thing about the choice of Clinton Hill, however, is that the number of older residents there is small and even declining in relative terms. As of the most recent census, the area’s ZIP code of 11205 had a population of 35,000. Of those, 6,000 were 55 and over—the bulk of them living in five large housing developments along the avenue.

What’s more, their approximately 20% population share is shrinking as new families—eager to raise children in the borough and to avoid pricier climes of the likes of Williamsburg and Park Slope—have flocked to Clinton Hill for its affordability, growing restaurant and retail scene, and proximity to the 30-acre Fort Greene Park. The neighborhood, which also is home to the Pratt Institute and its 3,913 students (average age: 22), has also become trendier and more upscale in recent years.

As many in Clinton Hill see things, though, older residents are integral to the area’s diversity. And happily, business owners are finding that catering to that segment not only pays them commercial dividends, it also comes at little additional fuss or cost.

Have you noticed increased accessibility for seniors along Myrtle Avenue? What do you think about it?