Senior Moments: A profile of Juneau’s senior community and programs

Published in the Juneau Independent – October 2025

By 2030, 1 in 5 people in the US will be 65 and older. By 2034, people over 65 will outnumber children age 17 and younger. In Juneau, people over 55 currently represent 30% of our population and growing. Seniors bring countless benefits to our community and are working to ensure we age gracefully, continue to contribute and can stay in the wonderful community we love.

The Juneau Commission on Aging (JCOA) is appointed by the City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ) Assembly to ensure our senior voices are heard. The CBJ has facilitated a Senior Survey via the JCOA every decade for the last 40 years, providing a snapshot of how seniors are faring in Juneau.

The 2020 Senior Survey highlighted the many contributions Senior’s make to the community:  84% of seniors own their homes and pay taxes, 63% volunteer in the community, an average of almost 80% recreate weekly to stay healthy and active and many are providing priceless help to family members as child care and elder care providers. In Juneau, many have great health and long-term care insurance, as well as 95% having Medicare.

Many communities across the US have recognized the value of retaining seniors by ensuring housing is age friendly and economical, transportation is accessible, and healthy recreation is available – can you say Pickleball?

The World Health Organization devised an “Age Friendly Community” planning mechanism, that was adopted by AARP and this planning tool has spread across our nation as a mechanism to assess “livability”.  The City and Borough of Juneau applied and was accepted into the AARP Age Friendly Community Network in 2022.

Last year, the JCOA in partnership with the AARP Juneau Community Action Team (CAT) wrote Juneau’s Age Friendly Community Plan and submitted it to CBJ’s Comprehensive Planning department to ensure senior representation in the planning process. Our plan prioritized Age Friendly Housing and Community Wellness and Recreational opportunities for people of all ages.

Age Friendly Housing includes many elements that are not only senior friendly but family friendly. Encouraging residential contractors to include elements such as low thresholds, minimal steps, wider doorways, handholds, levered door handles and larger bathrooms helps seniors, kids and people experiencing a disability navigate their homes safely.

Additionally, a recent Juneau Housing Assessment indicates the cause of Juneau’s continued housing crisis has changed – Juneau has increased the number of housing units available but the rise of single occupancy households also increased. Many seniors are living alone with few options for downsizing. The JCOA is promoting a new focus on what AARP calls the “Missing Middle” – housing that is age friendly, efficient, affordable and available to people of all ages.

Age Friendly Community Wellness and Recreation is another JCOA priority to keep people healthy and safe in their homes. Research clearly supports that the majority of seniors want to live out their lives in their own homes. In reality, some may not be able to do that easily and this emphasizes the importance of alternative living options but there are many ways to ensure seniors can stay in their home of choice by being healthy, strong, active and social.

JCOA has proactively worked with partners across the community to ensure affordable options are available for seniors to stay healthy, such as promoting the use of both the Floyd Dryden and Marie Drake gyms for senior friendly activities. We have also partnered with AARP, Bartlett Regional Hospital, Juneau Library and SEARHC to bring age friendly activities to our community.

We urge everyone who is aging to listen to KTOO Juneau Afternoon for our regular senior updates on the First Thursday of the month and check out our website for regular updates: https://juneau.org/clerk/boards-committees/jcoa.  Here’s to good health and wellbeing as we age!

Juneau Commission on Aging is a nine member, CBJ Assembly appointed organization whose mandate is to advise the CBJ Assembly on actions and policies that improve the quality of life for Juneau’s seniors. Our mission is to provide proactive, coordinated, culturally sensitive and holistic strategies to support Juneau Seniors’ unique needs as we age in the community we love and call home.