MAP to provide direction for downtown Macon improvements (Riverside: 2015, house)

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Macon residents are being asked to help design the map for the city’s future.In this case, the map is the Macon Action Plan, a five-year strategic plan designed to improve Macon’s urban core.Officials completed a draft version of the plan, referred to as the MAP, this past week, and residents will have a chance to examine its features more closely for the next month before the final draft of the plan is presented.
Organizers have been surveying the community since last September, asking residents about needed improvements in the city’s urban core, the area that includes downtown and its adjacent neighborhoods. The Macon-Bibb County Urban Development Authority and the Macon-Bibb government have spearheaded the effort, along with a significant list of partnerships of public and private groups.
Ultimately, the 160-page plan aims to make Macon more attractive to new businesses and residents, said Alex Morrison, director of the Urban Development Authority.
“We want to align partnerships and budgets to solve issues,” he said. “We’re looking at things we’ve talked about before, but we’re talking about them in a different way. ... We want public projects to be a signal to private investors that Macon is a good place to make an investment.”
PLAN DESIGN
Interface Studios of Philadelphia, which also created the College Hill Corridor Master Plan a few years ago as a way to develop the area between downtown and Mercer University, created the MAP using similar methodology.
Interface held several public events that encouraged residents to let planners know what they liked about Macon and things they’d like to see in the city. Nearly 300 people responded.
Once Interface collected the data, its staff pulled together the plan.
Scott Page, director of Interface, said that while the general principles of putting the plans together were the same, the MAP is much more comprehensive because it covers a much larger area.
“It’s a little different,” Page said. “The College Hill plan was very focused on the corridor between downtown and Mercer. This plan focuses on the entire urban core. There are more residents to involve, more issues to address.”
Some of the College Hill improvements that came out of its master plan include more signs, added bike lanes and improvements at Tattnall Square Park.
Page said that while the MAP covers four main goals -- to create an unparalleled urban experience; to focus on urban core living; to support economic development; and to cultivate connectivity -- it’s the economic development part of the plan upon which community responses are focused.
“Really, the entire plan is about economic development,” he said. “It’s about attracting businesses and talent to Macon by offering the kind of experience you can’t get elsewhere.”
Page said the other key things residents focused on is connectivity. Page said many people commented that while there are a lot of great things downtown, they often seem isolated from each other.
“They felt that downtown doesn’t have the vibrancy it should have,” he said.
As with the College Hill master plan, residents will have the opportunity to view the proposed MAP and offer suggestions before the final version is presented in September. Residents can comment on the draft version through Aug. 14.
Morrison said he hopes as many people as possible will review the plan and comment. He said organizers are still meeting with community groups to get feedback.
“We want the public to tell us once again that we’re on the right track,” he said. “They can let us know if we’ve missed the mark or are forgetting something. We want to know, ‘Did we understand you correctly?’”
PLAN HIGHLIGHTS
Many of the changes in the plan are infrastructure improvements to the downtown area, including more greenspace, street lights and biking/walking paths.
“I think it’s extensive and impressive,” said Susannah Maddux, one of the MAP organizers. “It’s about connecting downtown to what we’ve already got.”
Morrison said the one aspect of the plan that got him most excited is the idea of connecting the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail into adjacent neighborhoods to give Macon residents more access. He and Page said such improvements could be made at a relatively low cost.
“(The MAP) shows what is possible without a huge capital investment,” Morrison said.
Page said he’d like to see the intersection of Georgia Avenue and Spring Street in front of the Hay House to be redesigned to make it more of a gateway into Macon, one of several road improvements proposed in the plan.
“We don’t have to spend lots of money,” Page said. “It’s really about repurposing existing medians.”
Other proposals in the plan, some of which incorporate other plans that already have been created, include:
• Creating a Community Improvement District within the borders of Plum Street Lane, Spring Street Lane, Riverside Drive and the railroad. NewTown Macon already is working on such a plan.
• Making temporary improvements to vacant downtown storefronts so they don’t detract from existing businesses next door.
• Enacting a number of beautification projects, including installing planters, stylized street lamps and public art.
• Introducing more trash collection and recycling efforts.
• Adding more elements to Rosa Parks Square to make it more inviting to families.
• Creating more downtown programming and events.
The plan also includes some cost estimates for various projects, as well as potential partnerships to make them a reality.
Macon-Bibb County Manager Dale Walker said such plans could be exciting for the city.
“We can move along pretty quickly if we’re all focused on the same thing,” he said. “We can be a successful community. We like to see what people think, what direction the community wants us to go.”
To contact writer Phillip Ramati, call 744-4334.


By PHILLIP RAMATI
pramati@macon.comJuly 4, 2015

MAP to provide direction for downtown Macon improvements | Local & State | Macon.com

Ok people; if you're thinking like me, here's the open door to help improve our terrific city.