Downtown Akron
Akron to reveal findings from phase 1 of city's vision & redevelopment plan
(Shane Wynn, AkronStock)
AKRON, Ohio - The city of Akron and Downtown Akron Partnership are ready to reveal a plan to improve the city from downtown outward, to Akron's 22 neighborhoods.
Phase 1 of the Downtown Akron Vision & Redevelopment Plan will be presented today at 2 p.m. at the Landmark Building on Main Street.
Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan commissioned the plan, which has input from Akron professionals and residents, as well as MKSK, an urban design/landscape architecture group that's done work in Cleveland's Gordon Square Arts District and in Columbus.
At the press conference, officials will present planning principles for the upcoming phases, as well as projects that will serve as catalysts for further development. Phase 2 will include community engagement, more market studies and strategies to get the work done.
Concurrently, the city's planning and urban development department has undertaken a residential housing study of all Akron neighborhoods. Those findings will be made public in early 2017.
The city has said the redevelopment and housing plans, along with Akron's $5 million TIGER grant and the Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition's $5 million Reimagining the Civic Commons grant, are expected to work together to grow Akron from the inside out.