SUBWAY - HARDEES : THRIVING COMMUNITY?

                If you’re a resident of the ’07 you’re probably familiar with the building referred to as the "castle" building and the building that houses Subway in the center of the Rudisill Commercial Center. If you don’t frequent the ’07 zip code too often here’s a little background:

                At the location of 316 W Rudisill Boulevard lies two older commercial buildings with small spaces including a Subway, clothing store, a previous State Farm location, apartments, once a dentist office and an architectural office. Back in the 1950’s-60s the Rudisill Commercial Center came alive serving the residents of Rudisill Boulevard and the neighborhoods of Oakdale, Fairfield and Southwood Park. Within the past year or so the decade old buildings located on the lot were purchased by HRE Development LLC and there are plans to demolish both buildings to accommodate a Subway-Hardees restaurant and drive-thru.

                A bit tired, yes, but worthy of tearing down completely? As many of our staff reside within the 46807 neighborhood, we think not! Implementing a newly constructed fast-food chain restaurant specifically in this case causes the architectural integrity of West Rudisill Neighborhood and surrounding Oakdale, Fairfield and Harrison Hill neighborhoods to fall short. For many decades these two buildings have served the energetic neighborhoods of the south side of Fort Wayne and act as “gateways” into the most beloved neighborhoods of our city.

                Cities change and so does its architecture. Sometimes this change results in tearing down old, beautiful buildings that no longer serve function when originally built. Saving these structures and re-adapting them is something that designers call adaptive reuse. Adaptive reuse involves the transformation of a building into something new, reinventing its function while keeping the existing structure. The specific property where Subway is located on Calhoun Street is a prime example of an adaptive re-use space.

                Ever heard of The Friendly Fox, Fortezza Coffee, Randall Lofts, Superior Lofts (currently under construction), the General Electric Campus and most all of the downtown commercial businesses on Calhoun, Berry and Wayne Streets? All these developments are examples of adaptive reuse right here in Fort Wayne. Although this technique seems to be on the rise in the design industry, New York architects have been using this technique for decades. It’s actually the norm in many locations throughout the world.

                Strictly from a cost perspective, a complete building rehabilitation costs almost 16% less in construction costs and 18% less in construction time than brand new construction.1 An additional bottom-line incentive, in many instances, lies in the reality that adaptive reuse qualifies for the tax deduction of a percentage of construction costs. Good news for the owner and good news for the neighborhood, right?

                Instead of tearing down the two buildings unique to 46807, as a community untied as one let’s think of the possibilities of what the property could be and how it could be enhanced to accommodate new development to maintain the look and feel of the ’07.

IDEAS:

                Some ideas we’ve been dreaming up include using the existing building that houses Subway to remodel the space and retro-fit a new restaurant in the space. Other spaces within the existing multi-story "Castle"  building could also be renovated and leased for tenants to rent. The community of the ’07 has been outspoken about more small bookstores, cafés, shops and condos. Why not start this here where the community is practically begging for it? Why develop the lot into something the neighborhood will not support?

                Implementing green space within this commercial center is crucial as well. Driving east down Rudisill Boulevard you’re more than likely to pass by several historic homes each unique to the south side of Fort Wayne. As you continue south, you’re suddenly hit in the face by the concrete jungle of what is the commercial center near Calhoun and Rudisill. Within seconds of driving east so much has changed. Now is the opportunity to green up the corner site and make the lot user friendly with landscaping and outdoor seating for anyone and everyone to use.

                Think benches, shade, a small community garden, a local coffee shop and café, office space for small local businesses to rent, space for local artists and business men and women to sell their unique goods and services – an area that represents and supports the thriving neighborhoods that surround it. This is what exhibits a thriving community - a place where people want to invest their time and money into.

                Now is our chance as the community of 46807, the “live in the ‘07” thriving community, to stand up and voice our opinions on this development at or before the Department of Planning Board of Zoning Appeals on March 22, 2018.    

                Your voice and opinions MATTER. Every letter that is received is taken into account by the Board of Zoning Appeals and carefully read. The opinions of the surrounding community at these hearings are heard and taken into heavy consideration. With grace and respectfulness please state your opinions on the matter and take pride in the place in which you live and raise your family.

If you’re interested in sending a handwritten letter or a letter through email please send all handwritten letters to:

Department of Planning, 200 East Berry St. Suite 150 (call attention to what matter you’re writing in regards to)

               Many times in the hustle and bustle of preparation for these public hearings, letters that are emailed to the Department of Planning sometimes fall through the cracks and are not printed in time before the public hearing. To ensure all emailed letters are printed and prepared before the hearing, emailed letters can be emailed to Southwood_Park@yahoo.com and Southwood Park Association will gladly send all emailed letters to a contact at the Department of Planning.

1. Fred D. Burkhardt, “Embracing Adaptive Reuse for Corporate Real Estate,” Trade & Industry Development (TID), May 5, 2017, http://www.tradeandindustrydev.com/industry/embracing-adaptive-reuse-corporate-real-estate-12810.

We All Need A Little Inspiration

Sometimes we all need a pick me up. As designers our pick me ups most times include looking through a magazine, walking around your favorite art museum or scrolling through the web and Instagram. Gazing at colorful graphics, photography, pottery, interiors or sometimes your guilty pleasure of watching typists create their finest lettering is just what we need to rejuvenate ourselves and our minds. If you have no idea what we meant about watching videos on hand lettering… watch the video below.

Pretty good, huh?

No matter what profession you work in or are interested in, there’s always something that you enjoy referencing for inspiration – we hope. As Architects, Engineers and Interior Designers we’re always researching unique and innovative products or what the latest and greatest design firm is up to. Sometimes we don’t even realize that we’re problem solving and looking for inspiration because it’s just ingrained into us while we’re in design school. Every year while we were in school there was the newest, most sophisticated products, graphics, or style of design. Every one of your classmates seemed to be up to date on the latest prodigy in the field. You realize that while you were in school, you were on it – and what we mean by on it, is that you were always refreshed with new design and who was doing it and by god you were going to find out how to achieve that style and level of greatness. You always had that under the table competition with your peers too. It’s not like there was ever a “winner”, except during competitions, but in some way there was a winner deep down. The under the table competition wasn’t a competition in the outward sense but it was something that always kept you on your toes – it made you better and push harder. You most definitely didn’t want to spend all night in the studio but you did because 1. you had a lot of work to do, and 2. Your work was better because you were working among your peers. Of course you learned in the classroom but you learned so much more in your studio because of your peers. I think that’s why we love architecture so much. The way a student learns from their peers and themselves is something that you don’t always achieve in other professions. It’s something so special that it’s hard to describe to someone who hasn’t gone through the studio setting. Its incredible how much your peers make you better and how much information you’re exposed to through sharing information like publications, websites, books, etc.

At HOCH, we try and maintain pieces of the studio environment and sharing of information like it used to be when we were in school. Of course other firms try and achieve the studio environment in their offices because, who wouldn’t? It’s almost like a drug that you didn’t realize you were taking until you graduated and you’re not in your studio environment anymore. You start to realize that those late nights really stunk, but it was so incredibly worth it.

Architecture firms today don’t fully function like students do in architecture school - because the real world and real life is a factor – but they try to achieve the real studio environment as best as they can. Recently, we’ve updated some of our interests under the Research + Blog section of our website. Just like we shared drawing styles, furniture design inspiration, and the best pen in stores at the time while we were in Architecture or Technical school – we try and achieve that in the office as well. Some of our favorite inspirations for design come from magazines like Monocle, Log or Ernest and some of the best websites for updates on architecture and design everyday include ArchDaily (a classic), Dezeen and StrongTowns. Take a look at the Research portion under Blog + Research on our website and be sure to check out everything that interests us – you might find something that interests you. If there’s something that we missed, be sure and let us know and we’ll take a look. Let’s share our thoughts just like we did in school.

HOCH DESIGNS NEW RADIO STATION

Hoch Associates and Michael Kinder and Sons, both Fort Wayne firms have teamed together to provide Design Build services for Northeast Indiana Public Radio, the owner and operator of WBOI and WBNI radio respectively. The stations unveiled plans this past week for its new building located at 210 East Jefferson Street in the heart of downtown Fort Wayne.

The project, which is expected to be completed sometime in 2019 will nearly double the size of the radio stations current space which is located on Claremont Court in the northwest part of the city. The newly renovated 14,000 square foot location will house several new state-of-the-art features that aren’t only unique to the community, but the Midwest as a whole. One of the most prominent spaces will be the Podcast Café, a facility where the public is welcome to use recording technology to make podcasts and other audio productions. A complete, new, digital newsroom with high-tech recording and broadcast equipment will ensure the radio station’s position as a leader in regional and local news delivery. A public theater, large public gathering space for events and plentiful administrative offices are welcomed additions to the space which was once utilized as the I.O.O.F. Lodge in the late 1940’s.

Quite an upgrade from the current space, Station General Manager Peter Dominowski says he’s excited about the opportunity to move into a vibrant and active downtown adding to the daily life, sights and sounds. “Working with Hoch Associates and Michael Kinder and Sons is a great partnership. They understand that this building will be a community resource and are doing a fantastic job of translating our vision for the future into a reality.” Fundraising, which still needs to be completed in addition to the on-air fund drives for operation expenses, will provide the means necessary to renovate and relocate the station. The organization plans to raise $4.5 million to complete the task.

Proposed view from Jefferson Street/Clinton Street Intersection

Proposed view of Podcast Cafe on First Level

SKYLINE IS BEST IN MIDWEST

Skyline Is Best In Midwest

““Working with the entire Hoch Associates team on the Skyline Parking Garage could not have been a better experience. Their constant communication and ability to adapt to changes in scope made the project the success that it is today. We all knew how difficult this project could be, and their ability to collaborate, advocate and negotiate on our behalf made the project such a success. It is not often that anyone gets excited about a parking garage, but the innovative design, the teamwork along the way, and the end product has helped to reinvigorate the Central Business District now, and for years to come.” ”

— P.J. Thuringer, Project Manager Fort Wayne Redevelopment Commission

Hoch Associates the architects of the Skyline Garage has won the ENR (Engineering News-Record) Best of the Midwest Government/Public Building award. From more than 90 entries, an industry based panel of judges selected the winning projects from across the Midwest. Criteria for judging included collaboration, teamwork, and innovative design which helped excel the Fort Wayne Redevelopment Commission project. Towering six stories over Harrison Street in downtown Fort Wayne, the new Skyline Garage is a 1,100 space parking facility which sits at the base of Ash Brokerage’s new world headquarters. The two projects collectively result in the largest mixed-use construction project completed in downtown Fort Wayne in several decades. This highly visible space has become a recent attraction for many in the city due to its prominent location, ease of access to various destinations and dynamic features. Highlighted by LED programmable lighting the facility makes a bold statement for downtown Fort Wayne.

What began as a coordinated effort to save time, the Hoch team utilized precast concrete design, engineering and structural practices that shaved nearly 12 weeks off the project schedule. Precast concrete structural members were designed & engineered by the team, constructed offsite and staged at a facility two miles from the site. Nearly 1,300 precast members were then erected. The design process utilized, enabled economic and efficient construction methods and processes through cold weather months of construction. To support the structure, 1,000 auger cast piles that ranged from 20 to 35-foot depth were constructed.  A dewatering system was employed at a capacity of 10,000 gallons per minute to control ground water. Other items that were considered during construction was the re-pathed storm sewer main and a vital AEP power line that connected a significant portion of the city. Working closely with MSKTD & Associates, architects/engineers for the Ash Brokerage portion of the project enabled a seamless delivery and coordination process between the garage and the Ash office complex. The project design and delivery with its many components, tenants, and users have been nothing less than a complete success.

KALAMAZOO CHAIN GANG

“It’s already been a tough year for Michigan, when will it stop…just when…when will it stop” said a young woman named Jamie, the letters a tad crooked on her peel and stick name badge.  You could tell she was visually upset with all the issues facing the state in the recent months, even more so her own hometown of Kalamazoo.  Jamie was an employee of a local pastry shop on the west side of the city as she continued “If it’s not water, it’s guns or even worse people trying to kill others in their car, this is just…this is bad.” As she looked down at the counter, you could see a tear come from the corner of her eye, “you never imagine continued tragedy like this until you live through it yourself, I just moved here from Flint in Decemeber, I guess bad news can happen anywhere.” After our conversation I began walking to the door when I read the headline across the banner displayed on the The Kalamazoo Gazette rack sitting in the bin next to the coffee pot said “Senseless.” Maybe it was that word that everyone was feeling in the city but just wasn’t sure how to communicate it.  I thanked Jamie for her time as I walked back out to the Jeep with a cup of coffee in my hand looking to find the meaning to what had transpired the evening of the crash that left five bicyclists dead and four severely injured.  How could something like this happen I thought to myself, and let alone why would something like this ever happen.

Just a week prior, an early Tuesday evening in June, the sun was still shining in the western sky before setting over Lake Michigan, the cooler springlike temperatures prevailed but made it a great night for outdoor activities of all kinds.  No distractions of rain in the sky as the Kalamazoo Chain Gang set out on an evening ride as a group of friends.  This wasn’t something new, this group had been doing rides together for quite sometime as trained and educated bicyclists. The group, not hardcore and competitive like some rides can be was a great way to build a sense of belonging and community with each other.  As they congregated in Kalamazoo and parked their cars, they gathered at the intersection to start their nearly 30 mile loop for an evening of community. Little did anyone in the group or their families suspect that this evening would be different than any other rides they had done before.  As they began their journey through the beautiful biking territory on the outskirts of Kalamazoo, their trip would be cut short at the hands of an insane driver.

The Names:

After my stop in the pastry shop near downtown, I jumped on the road headed north where the scene of the tragedy took place.  As I came through town the top of the hour news broke on the local AM station when they read the names of the victims aloud pausing momentarily between each.  “Larry….Tony….”the list would continue to go on for a few more seconds and with each name read the crackle of the announcers voice became more apparent.  The tragedy wasn’t just a loss for the bikers and their families, but the community as a whole.  Just a few short months earlier, Kalamazoo was the scene of a horrific mass shooting spree leaving several other people dead.  As the community seemed to be moving past the grizzly attack, another estranged man would attack the city and soul once again. The morning after the tragedy, the names were released by the officials with each person holding special meaning in the community. From Larry Paulik and Tony Nelson, both had been longtime friends who were also members of the St. Thomas More Catholic Parish. Debra Bradley was a former nurse for the local Gull Lake Community Schools and Suzanne Sippel worked for the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station where both had become friends. Melissa Fevig Hughes, an analytical chemist with Covance Laboratories was a single mother of two young daughters, ages 10 and 14 who had become fast friends with the others in the group.  Stories of the victims began coming through the news on Wednesday after the fatal crash caused by 50 year old Charles Pickett Jr. of Battle Creek. After each name was announced your heart began to break into more and more pieces. Hughes had just returned to town after a trip with her two daughters to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky and Sippel had been working with others in her community to build a bike trail through Ross Township where she lived to connect Kalamazoo to Galesburg, a large task but one that she had been passionate about. Each advocates for a better world that started in their own backyard.

The group was known locally as the Kalamazoo Chain Gang, just one of many bicycling outfits in the community.  The city, unlike many others is also well represented by a mayor who is an avid bicyclist and has been pushing for years to become a more bicycle inclusive community.  The League of Michigan Bicyclists have also been advocates for the city and the entire state with lobbying presence for safer streets and better driver education.  Renee Mitchell, Kalamazoo resident and president of the league said “There’s no way to measure the grief we feel at the loss to the Michigan bicycling community, but insisted that we must work harder than ever before to prevent this kind of senseless tragedy from happening again. Finally after passing through the light at Mosel Avenue, I was shocked to see the road was just like many others that we travel on everyday either in Kalamazoo or home in Indiana.  This traditional paved two-lane road had a traditional three foot shoulder, while not ideal for cyclists, it offered much more support than many others. If this could happen on the run of the mill Westnedge Avenue in Kalamazoo, what’s holding it from happening on Bass Road or Washington Center in Fort Wayne.  I looked for obvious obstructions as if I were a traffic engineer making mental notes of anything I saw that stood in the way, but to my surprise there was nothing.  Finally after passing the small monument for those who were involved in the tragedy, I said to myself…why…how…why.

The Agenda:

We continue to hear time and time again from leadership on various city councils to MPO’s that bicycles are important but the roads were built for cars.  Most recently we had an issue where some members of the local media in connection with a council member advocated to cut funding from our local bike program making it more difficult to make our streets friendly for all commuters. This of course resulted from when the newspaper editor didn’t like that his commute on Main Street took nearly two minutes longer than pre-bike lane. A look that same day on social media from the article had people on his side complaining about bicyclists not paying attention to the rules of the road, while most actually do follow the rules.  I myself have had a near-death experience with a car on a bike, while I pedaled down Jefferson through West Central, the car behind me was upset that my top speed was 15-20 mph so they tried to cut me off before nearly running me off into the road.  While not ideal, I jumped the curb landing in the tree-lawn trying to escape without any harm except a few scrapes and bruises. A friend recently posted on Facebook that he too was the target of a driver gone mad with bicycles in Fort Wayne. A Nissan Versa blew by him while traveling on Columbia and then stops in front of him to tell him to “get the – – – off the road.”  The driver then brandishes a black hand-gun making the situation much worse than anticipated.  While these are both near misses with vehicles in our biking community, it’s something that has to stop.

If we have councilmen and newspapers fighting to declare roads for cars only and take away any rights for other modes of transportation, we will ultimately create a community of hate and ignorance to the rights of others. If cities are looking to balance budgets and cut funding to bike lanes but expand funding for new highways and exit ramps designed specifically for cars, what message are we sending to business leaders and residents alike?  Unlike our own personal situations, the citizens of Kalamazoo are more used to bikes on roads as the bike culture started a few years before ours. Their newspaper has been a long-time advocate for complete streets and multi-modal transportation. Their mayor and several city council members are active bike riders and have their citizens best interest in mind in regards to various forms of transportation in a traditional car happy community. While our city is still a few years behind Kalamazoo in regards to bikes, we are making strides in the right direction.  Fort Wayne was once again named a bronze level city in a sea of applicants for being bike friendly, and while that’s low…it’s a start. While we don’t know the exact purpose or mind behind the madness that left four severely injured and five dead, we can presume that he was either distracted by an outside influence or has road rage against a certain type of travel and decided to act out. The agenda of our cities must not be to protect the class of only one transportation type but instead look at options for all citizens. That’s why we are such big proponents of Complete Streets, we simply have to make our public spaces, places for all!

The Hope:

After my loop around the township to the north I began my journey back into the city of Kalamazoo.  Along the way I passed a car that had a bumper sticker museum on the rear fender but one stood out by saying “Smile, there’s always tomorrow.” Of course tomorrow won’t bring back Larry, Tony, Suzanne, Debra or Melissa…but it’s a tomorrow that we can have better control of. To calm my mind down and enjoy the last stretch of my drive through the city I decided to turn down Lulu Street, a quiet tree lined avenue with wide sidewalks in front of early 20th century homes. As I traveled down the street, I saw a mom with her small child on their bicycles as they moved off the side of the street for me to pass by.  As I got closer she turned and smiled, either she was trying to mask the fear that was lingering on everyone’s mind in Kalamazoo or she was smiling from happiness, getting to spend quality time with her son. As I came to the next intersection I sat in a moment of silence, turning the radio off.  A tear came to my eye, why this…why here…just why.  What was going through the mind of mad-man Charles Pickett Jr. we may never know, but while his act devastated the community, it didn’t destroy it.  A few blocks south of Kalamazoo at a busy Target Superstore, four bikes were tied to the rack meaning that citizens decided to pick up where the ride left off and not let the fear beat them.

Maybe Kalamazoo is picking up the pieces faster than I had thought. Maybe it’s that now the city is more aware of what happened since the tragedy and people are being a little more courteous giving bikers a wider berth and doing the little things that make sharing the same streets safer. Maybe it’s the sheer will of the people and the leadership to fight for the citizens.  Maybe it’s that there are plans to construct several miles of protected bike lanes in the city making it safer for everyone to use the streets and just not cars.

While we understand there is no way to stop bicycle collisions in our country, we hope that maybe this is a reminder to our city leaders that bikes are driven by people too.  If it was Suzanne’s dream to connect several miles of protected bike lanes around Kalamazoo, maybe we can honor her and the others involved in the tragic crash with a little bit of safety for others.  Painting streets isn’t terribly budget concerning, may we ask cities across the country to dedicate at least half a mile to the Kalamazoo Chain Gang with a dedicated bike lane? Use a little green paint and maybe find ways to get it protected with medians/planters. If our cities are seeing more bicyclists, it too should be treated like we have with cars for the last 100 years, giving them an equal opportunity to share the streets. While a half mile isn’t much, it’s a start and isn’t that the least we can ask for. From cities to small rural towns, our responsibility as citizens is to watch out for each other on the road and hold our municipalities accountable for their role in making our streets safe.  To the dismay of our local newspaper editor and former city councilman in Fort Wayne, streets aren’t meant just for cars…but for all!

A CRISIS IN FLINT | POWERFUL IDEAS?

Hoch Associates, a progressive architecture, engineering, urban and interior design firm with offices in Fort Wayne and Indianapolis is talking about the Flint Crisis in a series of blog posts over the next few days. While we understand our core of a company is architecture, we also believe in the importance of community and how it drives us. We believe that no matter where we are in location or in life, our responsibility is to create better, healthier, stronger and more vibrant communities. We are happy you decided to follow along over the next few days as we dive deeper than water in Flint Michigan to get to a bigger story on how we design and plan our cities IS our responsibility.

It’s important to note that we are not CNN, NBC or any of the major news outlets covering the actual water crisis.  While the headline news is devastating and our hearts reach out, we are leaving that coverage and information to the national news outlets. You will see throughout our coverage of the Flint Crisis small inserts about the current situation, however the focus will be on the city itself and how urban design has played a roll in where Flint stands today.

THE FLINT CRISIS: THE BELT

“I went back to Ohio, but my city was gone. There was no train station, there was no downtown. South Howard had disappeared, all my favorite places. My city had been pulled down, reduced to parking spaces.” – The Pretenders

No surprise, the primary theme song of the Rush Limbaugh show happens to be about urban decay, out-used buildings and blight…everywhere. The author of the song, Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders said “Everything’s just huge masses of granite blocks, and everything’s outsized. It might look good on a drawing, but it doesn’t seem to apply to human life.” Little did we know that in 1984, that song would be the anthem of so many cities along the Midwestern industrial mecca now dubbed as The Rust Belt. As I spent the day in Flint, you could see exactly what this song was talking about, rows of abandoned and unused structures lining the streets and several empty, vacant lots that had already been given the death sentence by land bank officials.  How does a city come back from such an unattractive view to the world?

“It’s not just a Flint thing, it’s a Belt thing” says Chrissie James a local resident who was standing at the corner of Crapo and Kearsley.  I was there taking photographs when I saw her waiting for the bus to arrive.  “What do you mean it’s a belt thing?” I say to her.  “Cleveland, Youngstown, Toledo, Detroit, Flint, they’ve all but given up on us can’t you see it?” Of course she is talking about the infamous rust-belt, the area that once was heavily industrialized and often by one industry is now on the brink and has seen the largest population decrease in the country over the last thirty years. James, a young mother of two was on her way home from the Library and was dressed in what seemed to be higher end fashions, but it would be a fools romance as the clothes she bought came from a yard-sale in Oakland. She is one of the nearly 50,000 residents living in poverty only making $13,000 a year to support her family. I continue to follow James as we walk across the street and down another long and broken city sidewalk asking her questions about her opinion on what should be done. “I believe we have a good mayor, the water might kill us, but it’s a chance for a clean slate.” Finally as we reach the last corner on our short walk she says “It’s a respectful cause you have going on, it’s time people start talking about us with light in their eyes rather than no emotion at all.” How little did I ever know that those simple words would mean so much to me. Chrissie, a young mother of two who is working two jobs just to support her children and living in a basement apartment could move to Oakland to be with her family, but instead she believes that the best days of Flint and the rest of the American Rust Belt are ahead…and she wants her children to experience the turn around. Don’t we all?

Chrissie isn’t alone in believing that the best days are still ahead.  Surely who would think that a city once busting at the seams with 190,000 residents now at half the size and 50% poverty would believe that Flint has a chance to recover? That’s when I met Jake Lewis, a young 21 year old guy who was walking from his classes at University of Michigan Flint. As we stopped in for a cup of coffee (yes, I was quite wired that day) we talked about his city and what he has seen happen. “They keep acting like we don’t exist, we are an embarrassment for Lansing and Washington.” The problem is Flint does exist, so does Youngstown, Cleveland and Gary, and he couldn’t be more correct in his observation. “However, my generation will be the ones who make the Rust Belt cool again, because why not.” One of his classes focuses on poverty laden communities and their access to health care.  “Everyone fights and shouts about Obamacare, but when it comes down to the people, no one wants to talk about the real problems. I’m a registered Republican too.” Jake you can see is passionate about taking care of those less fortunate, from the way he wraps up his extra cookie which he plans on handing out to the first homeless person he crosses on the walk back to campus. However his comment on Millennials may have meaning. A recent  study by Urban Edge discovered that more college educated millennials are choosing cities in the upper Midwest over Boston, New York and Los Angeles because of the cost of living and amount of opportunity. Lewis believes that if the government fully supports the trends in millennial movement, the rust belt will soon become the hub of something great.

THE FLINT CRISIS: IDEAS

“I went back to Ohio, but my city was gone. There was no train station, there was no downtown. South Howard had disappeared, all my favorite places. My city had been pulled down, reduced to parking spaces.” – The Pretenders

The barista standing behind the coffee machine kept bending his ear into the conversation between Jake and myself. As we continued to talk about opportunities he sees in the community and with the millennial generation, Shawn the person responsible for my hair raising coffee blend chimes in with “It’s a good thing, a good start you know.” Both Jake and I look back to see who said that and he continues “Flint used to be dirty, but maybe this is a chance to try again and do it right.” I ask “what do you mean do it right?” As he finishes chewing on a bite of muffin from the cabinet below, he replies “building the city right, smaller and more agile but greener, you know…healthier.” You can see Shawn is a champion behind the rebirth of Flint, his positive attitude is something I actually discovered several times throughout the day from several residents from all walks of life.  Surely the water and the sluggish economy had their toll on residents, but overall there was a sense of resilience in everyone’s tone, that Flint wasn’t done and they wouldn’t be giving up anytime soon. As we wrapped up our talk over coffee Jake said “Dan, California will make you go broke, New York will do the same, but here….here you can make something of yourself and save a little while you’re at it.” Maybe, just maybe he’s onto something.

As we start to walk down the sidewalk past the front of the coffee shop, you can see Jake stepping over large cracks in the cement on purpose as to avoid tripping in front of me. “Cracks in the sidewalk, roads with potholes, even crumbling buildings, I guess it’s a part of our greater identity” says Jake. I ask, if you could do one thing to make a huge difference in Flint, what is your one powerful idea?

IDEAS: TEAR DOWN THE HIGHWAY

“That highway you can see off in the distance, yeah that’s a mess” says Jake Lewis as he quickly answers my one daunting question in what would he change first. Of course, I’m looking for any powerful ideas to help revive a city that has been written off by the masses, but taking down a federal highway was the last thing on my mind. The 17 mile divided interstate bisects downtown Flint separating the residents from the downtown storefronts, government offices and access to adequate parks and development opportunities. Originally proposed in the 1950’s, the highway was designed to help a city bursting at the seams with a new influx of population working at the several car manufacturers getting goods to market. However, traffic counts today would make Eisenhower roll over in his grave with the lack of travel on the road that divided the city. Beginning at the northern terminus of the road, average daily traffic counts are a staggering 20,000 cars while the core of the highway near downtown averages 33-40,000 motorists still way below the average. For comparison, drive Coliseum Blvd. and you can see how many cars traverse the neighborhood dividing Interstate 475 in downtown Flint with limited access exit points focused on getting people through the city rather than to the city. Driving along 475 in Flint today, one can experience an array of abandonment all around with countless homes and storefronts now sitting vacant. A city that is looking to shrink its service population and move residents closer to the city core has a big elephant in the middle of the room and that is a long, lesser used Interstate highway that crosses through the heart of the city.

Can a city tear down an interstate highway? Well, of course it can’t just bring in bulldozers and do it on its own volition, but working with the federal government and providing a starting point is something worth discussing. All one has to do is look at other Rust Belt cities like Rochester, Akron and Syracuse who have all began making plans to remove or relocate portions of their downtown highway systems that have caused nothing but stagnation in an area that traditionally sees growth and prosperity. While the ImagineFlint plan doesn’t necessarily provide a plan for city officials if the highway is taken down, all one has to do is look at Google Maps to see what a highway removal could do for a dying city like Flint who is looking to re-invent itself. A look at the racial population makeup of the city alone calls for drastic changes to how the neighborhoods are interconnected, it’s easy to see that a new approach to the transportation system in Flint could truly connect neighborhoods and spur economic development in areas that were once segregated.

If the federal government were to work with Flint and remove the Interstate 475 highway, here are a few things we could see that would have an immediate impact on the economic outcome of Flint Michigan:

1. Removal south of Interstate 69 means more green –

By removing the current four lane expressway south of Interstate 69 at the edge of downtown, you will see a natural benefit with the expansion of the current parks near Thread Lake. When cities across the country are rushing to improve their blueways/greenways, why couldn’t Flint do the same? Some of the best real estate in the city sits on the southeastern edge of the lake with the Flint Golf Club and half million dollar homes. By the removal of I-475 you will open this beautiful lake property in the city of Flint. As you can see in the image we have re-created the green color is designated as open park and recreation space which covers a majority of the former Interstate road bed allowing it to stretch closer into downtown. In addition to access to and from Thread Lake, the former interchanges that lead both north and south from Interstate 69 will be mostly turned into new greenspace filled with pedestrian trails connecting residents south of I-69 to downtown amenities such as shopping, dining, entertainment, riverfront and civic structures. Removing blight along the primary artery and replacing it with green will give a more progressive image to the city for travelers and business executives while instilling pride and creating a sustainable living environment.

2.  Removal south of Interstate 69 means more mixed use –

In the image above, the orange color is designated as mixed use and multi-family residences. The once abandoned South Saginaw filled with a variety of muffler shops and abandoned store fronts will become a vibrant new commercial district surrounded by new housing and office spaces. Imagine a new primary intersection at Saginaw and 12th Street providing a centerpiece for the new development. A newly aligned intersection at 12th and Magnolia would also open development opportunities on the far eastern edge of the new mixed use neighborhood. In this designated mixed-use redevelopment you’ll also find Howard Station, an area once known for it’s crime ridden government subsidized housing complexes, but a newly improved neighborhood would work to change the perception and reduce the crime rate.

3. Removal south of Interstate 69 means more single family residential –

Keeping the bulk of single family homes south of the Canadian National Railway will help build a sense of walk ability, ease of access and neighborhood pride. As you can see on the image provided above, all single family residential would be clustered near the newly expanded green space attached to Thread Lake and Thread Creek. New sidewalks and walking paths connecting the neighborhoods to Thread Lake and downtown would also be an important feature to spur residential infill as many of the homes would be owner occupied rather than rented. New railroad crossings would also be installed at Clifford and Howard along with repaired and improved bridges at Saginaw and Grand Traverse.

4. Removal north of Interstate 69 means more downtown –

One area of Flint that has had great revival and success continues to be the downtown core of the city. Ranging from shops to restaurants and civic facilities, downtown still remains the activity hub of the city. If the goal is to eventually continue shrinking the city and bringing residents and services closer to the center, expanding the footprint of downtown is essential to growth. By closing the highway, residents will be able to experience rows of new storefronts and services along Court, 3rd and 5th in the area that once was filled by Interstate 475. This means expanded parking options, additional revenue from tax collections and a more centralized hub for additional activities by residents and tourists.

5. Removal north of Interstate 69 means more education options –

The University of Michigan Flint has the largest footprint in downtown owning a large portion of buildings and lots for further expansion. With the closure of Interstate 475, University officials could continue in their quest to build a world class satellite campus in the heart of Flint by expanding with new structures between 3rd and the current campus. In addition to expanding inside the former highway strip, the university adding facilities in this space would help connect the historic and beloved East Village/Central Park neighborhood to downtown creating a vibrant connection between the residents and services.  As you can see, we have colored the close to downtown neighborhood as Multi-Family/Mixed Use to continue in our quest to create vibrant living options for residents.

6. Removal north of Interstate 69 means more work-live spaces –

Along with the historic East Village/Central Park neighborhood that once was separated from downtown by a four lane highway, filling in a portion of the space where the current interstate crosses 5th with a new work-live complex will bring a new type of housing stock to a city in need of new ideas. Working with a major international manufacturer, the space could be used as a research park with housing on site or shops/galleries on the first floor with upstairs living options.  In addition, we would like to see a consolidated citizens services center relocated one block north of the current outdated facility.  This would open the current site for redevelopment as additional work-live spaces located in the heart of downtown and easy access to Interstate 69 and 75.

7. Removal north of Interstate 69 means more culture –

The Sloan Museum, Flint Youth Theatre, Flint Institute of Arts, Mott Community College, Flint City Schools, Flint Farmers Market and the library are all important assets to the city and their location close to downtown should enhance the overall experience, but currently these facilities are cut from the core by the highway. By removing the concrete jungle you would be able to connect these top notch cultural and educational spaces with downtown creating a cohesive space for all to enjoy. Moving the current city hall to a vacant lot along Saginaw and the consolidation of Flint High Schools into a new Central High on the campus of the former Central High will create a one of a kind centralized hub full of exciting opportunities and programming for all.

A CRISIS IN FLINT | THE GREAT SHRINK

Hoch Associates, a progressive architecture, engineering, urban and interior design firm with offices in Fort Wayne and Indianapolis is talking about the Flint Crisis in a series of blog posts over the next few days. While we understand our core of a company is architecture, we also believe in the importance of community and how it drives us. We believe that no matter where we are in location or in life, our responsibility is to create better, healthier, stronger and more vibrant communities. We are happy you decided to follow along over the next few days as we dive deeper than water in Flint Michigan to get to a bigger story on how we design and plan our cities IS our responsibility.

It’s important to note that we are not CNN, NBC or any of the major news outlets covering the actual water crisis.  While the headline news is devastating and our hearts reach out, we are leaving that coverage and information to the national news outlets. You will see throughout our coverage of the Flint Crisis small inserts about the current situation, however the focus will be on the city itself and how urban design has played a roll in where Flint stands today.

THE FLINT CRISIS: IT’S IN THE NUMBERS

“A common issue” is the opening line in the 2016 FY Capital Improvement Plan. It continues “The city of Flint, like many municipalities in the United States, has been severely impacted by the recession. Many local governments in Michigan have witnessed a decrease in property tax and income tax revenues while seeing the level of state-shared revenue reduced. With less money coming in, younger communities with relatively new infrastructure have been able to cope with severe budget reductions by postponing planned infrastructure installation or expansion. In established communities like Flint, budget cuts have led to deferred maintenance on existing infrastructure. This has often resulted in deterioration that now requires significant expenses to just play catch up.” You can hear the plea within the improvement plan that years of financial mismanagement, lack of economic investment and poor leadership are essentially the cause of all problems facing Flint today.

Not often do you see in a capital improvement plan such lines that tout numbers of despair, but in Flint the story is different. It opens with the following needs for the current sized city:
* $1 Billion to replace and maintain water service lines (immediate need)
* Most city facilities are in urgent need of repair and/or replacement of critical components including roofs and electrical.
* City street system has deteriorated beyond repair in many areas and must see over $50 Million in mandatory upgrades and pavement rehabilitation.
* Sidewalks in Flint are considered unsatisfactory, causing safety hazards and accessibility issues and require $85 Million in repairs.
* City owned and operated dams that are critical to the water supply for the city must be removed and may cost up to $200 Million.
* Inflow and infiltration into the sanity sewer must be upgraded and replaced in many areas costing over $20 Million.
* City park system includes 67 facilities and 1,800 acres but suffers severe neglect and lack of maintenance. Repairs could total over $100 Million.

So with that in mind, the question is what’s next for Flint?

THE FLINT CRISIS: THE SHRINKING CITY

“What we really need is a new map, literally a design of the city that looks at every block in every neighborhoods and then makes decisions about where it makes sense to either let nature take the land back or to create some intentional open green space, so that 100,000 people can live in a city that doesn’t look half empty.” – Dan Kildee, U.S. Congress

Sometimes, expansion isn’t always the best outcome, as reality sets in everyday for the citizens of Flint Michigan, the thought of outward growth is the last thing on their mind. In fact, many residents have used the term “Shrinkage” since it was first stirred into the vocabulary by now U.S. Congressman Dan Kildee when he managed the Genessee County Land Bank. Not all the citizens or even urban designers around the globe agree with Kildee, and in fact many have said it’s radically un-american and embraces defeat and limited horizons in a city that needs vision. While everyone is entitled to their own opinions, so far Kildee has been the only leader in Flint to come up with a plan that is showing hope for a city in desperate need. During his tenure at the GCLB he was directly responsible for the demolition of over 1,000 abandoned structures but points out that nearly 1/3 of all buildings in Flint are abandoned and need to be demolished requiring nearly 7 times the work that’s already been done.

Kildee recognizes that Flint Michigan may never grow again, but he is willing to bet that the city will slow the bleeding. In a report from Governing Magazine, Kildee was quoted in saying “it is near-mathematically impossible for shrinking cities like Flint to ever grow again, without building new housing.” One of the top goals behind the GCLB was to provide adequate land for potential new development and while the numbers aren’t there yet, having the available land for new houses is better than the alternative. Just in the last two years along, Flint has only given out a dozen or so construction permits, making it one of the lowest in the country for a city its size. The article in Governing continues to say that while shrinkage is reality for cities like Flint, they must figure out how to do more than simply tear houses down and Kildee agrees. Cities must learn how to rebuild everything, not just commercial and industrial areas where they have mostly concentrated in for the last several decades. It will require significant investment in neighborhoods and consolidation of city streets and services in neighborhoods that have a chance for survival. Sprawling neighborhoods around the city have lost the core residential identity with loss of homes and residents. A city that has nearly lost half its population base is expected to continue the downward spiral til neighborhoods are re-imagined.

While the thought of shrinkage may scare some in the urban design community, it’s really the only result that has been proven to work in recent years for Flint officials. As the city continues to invest in the land-bank and bulldozing neighborhoods to right size the city, it’s also facing a financial crossroads that will rear its ugly head soon. Flint, like many other rust-belt cities are in a no-win situation where they could spend money they don’t have to reshape the city, raise taxes and drive more businesses and residents away or ignore the problem altogether and allow for large vacancies in vast neighborhoods. While homes are still coming down in Flint, the money is drying up and what is left is not the plan that Kildee had in mind. So the question isn’t just for Flint, but the entire region and even country. Will Flint and other cities in similar situations continue to die a slow, agonizing death, and literally disappear, or will they continue on in a shadow-form, serving as a cautionary tale, and inhabiting some type of uniquely American, urban equivalent of purgatory? We all would love to see Flint, Youngstown, Gary and others restored, but to what extent…and when.

THE FLINT CRISIS: PLAN B

While many applaud Kildee’s plan to tear down and rebuild, the unfortunate truth for Flint is that finances are just not available for such a large project. In addition to lack of resources, the water crisis and bad image have really put the city in a bind and one that is hard to come out from. Some of the statistics that are holding the city hostage include: 2nd most violent city in America, highest aggravated assault rate in America, 40% of people live in poverty (and that number is rising), core industry only providing 5,000 jobs, tax base has been eliminated with general fund dollars dropping nearly 50% since 2002, 35% of the population is under 18, and for over a decade the city was under the rule of an emergency manager. The question remains, what must be done to rebuild Flint if the money and interest doesn’t exist? Statistics aside, another issue now facing the city is the future generations that will inhabit the homes. There will be neurological effects for the children when drinking the water for the past two years that could impair their growth and intelligence. In addition, the media has taught this next generation that the government itself failed them, the same people that were elected to protect them did not intervene, that their health and wellness was all diminished for the saving of a few million dollars.

Flint has a lot of public relations problems that are directly tied into the design of the city, and that’s why urban design matters. With houses disappearing at a notch because of blight removal programs, one would think the abundance of land would be open for development, and to an extent, it is.  With the outcry from residents now taking the national stage in both the media and presidential elections, who would want to relocate to Flint? If you had $100,000 in investment dollars, would you spend that in Flint Michigan (a city that’s trying to find it’s way out of a depressing slump, but resilient and grit will eventually prop it up albeit smaller), or Indianapolis (a city that has it all figured out, at least on the surface. The biggest worry is if they will reduce a lane for new a new bike path and build another roundabout). Most investors would direct you to Indianapolis, and the same directive is exactly what banks are now facing when talking to their customers. Flint is a risk, and for many too big to swallow. Not only will it be hard to build in Flint based on economic statistics, the pure fact that the media has brought the problems of this city to the forefront has now given banks the opinion that Flint might as well be a third world country.

With millions of dollars and thousands of residents on the line, what is the Plan B for the residents.  Unfortunately with the recent water crisis, the tear down and rebuild mode has been put on indefinite hold until the pipes are replaced. Even the thought of replacing lead pipes will cost the city over $1 Billion in funds which it doesn’t have. State and Federal officials have all kicked in several million dollars, but none of this is close to the number needed to make significant repairs to the city’s aging infrastructure. City hall has leaking ceiling tiles, school building lay strewn about the city with no windows and doors making it a vagrants paradise. City services have been cut so closely to the bone that simple things like sidewalk repair, trash collection and other items we take for granted are now being reduced to dust in Flint. Plan B can align with the work done in the great shrink, but to what extent and at what cost.

A CRISIS IN FLINT | LEADERSHIP

Hoch Associates, a progressive architecture, engineering, urban and interior design firm with offices in Fort Wayne and Indianapolis is talking about the Flint crisis in a series of blog posts over the next few days. The Flint Crisis: Failure In Leadership is sharing a few additional stories on our trip to Flint recently. While we understand our core of a company is architecture, we also believe in the importance of community and how it drives us. We believe that no matter where we are in location or in life, our responsibility is to create better, healthier, stronger and more vibrant communities. We are happy you decided to follow along over the next few days as we dive deeper than water in Flint Michigan to get to a bigger story on how we design and plan our cities IS our responsibility.

It’s important to note that we are not CNN, NBC or any of the major news outlets covering the actual water crisis.  While the headline news is devastating and our hearts reach out, we are leaving that coverage and information to the national news outlets. You will see throughout our coverage of the Flint Crisis small inserts about the current situation, however, the focus will be on the city itself and how urban design has played a roll in where Flint stands today.

THE FLINT CRISIS: MEET JOHN

“Not everyone’s going to win, But now, everyone’s losing” – Michigan Congressman Dan Kildee

After driving around Flint and meeting with several citizens, I pull up to the banks of the Flint River in my Jeep Liberty. I get out of my car to snap a few pictures when I meet another stranger on my journey. John Apple, or so he calls himself says “the problem is that there’s too little evidence of what the politicians are doing to our city.” As I begin to ask him more about his statement, he stops me in my tracks and says “Michigan is seeing a budget surplus, but you see how they are spending it on us. All we hear from Trump, Cruz and Snyder are we’re broke and we can’t spend anything. They want to cut food stamps, they hurt the poorest people in Flint, they want to cut higher education, my neighbor's son can’t go to university, they want to cut healthcare and cancer victims continue to die. It’s a real shame we have to live like this in America, we just need a do-over.” As I stand a little dazed by his moving sentiment to the problems facing our country, he puffs on his cigarette one more time before flicking it into the vacant street nearby and says “dammit man, have you seen the wood boards holding up the Interstate?” It’s obvious that John is passionate about the issues and topics, and he simply has had enough of people not feeling the reality of the situation.

John and I continue to converse about Flint, a city he has called home since 1961. He tells me the story of how his parents both from Flint worked for Buick and General Motors. He grew up on a quaint street where every Saturday he and his brother would play a game of catch football in the middle of the cul-de-sac. “It’s sad now, the house is gone and the weeds have overtaken the driveway. I take my son there now but only to look at it as a sign of our city’s past, my fond childhood memories are now just dirt and grass and rocks.” As we stand to look at his phone of pictures he has taken around town he explains each in a very detailed way. “That purple house, yeah that’s my cousin Mary’s and the city can’t afford to take it down it’s in so much debt. Now we have this damn water to worry about, we keep losing and every time we ask for a new coach, they bring in another loser,” says Apple. As I begin to ask him about the water crisis that the city is currently facing he quickly changes the topic back to “Flint’s problems are so much worse than water, although it does have a bad stench.  We have a good mayor now, but she can’t afford to fix the city (speaking of newly elected Mayor Karen Weaver). The lawsuits are rolling in by the barrel and well, simply put we just can’t afford it.”

THE FLINT CRISIS: POOR

As I make my way around the winding Flint River and into another unsuspecting neighborhood, I see signs punched into the ground with wooden stakes or metal hangers. Of course, it’s election season and I would assume to see a Bernie Sanders or Marco Rubio sign, but instead a neon fluorescent green one with handwritten words that say “I’ve Been Poisoned By Snyder,” followed by “Why Does Lansing Hate Us?” While politics always played an important role in the history of Flint, these signs were aimed at making a statement rather than pushing any one political candidate. The lead-poisoning crisis by many has been laid at the feet of Governor Rick Snyder who took admission of the problem during his State of the City address in January. You could read countless articles and see the reaction of thousands on Facebook and Twitter throwing the Republican governor under the bus on the issue, but is it really Snyder who poisoned the city of Flint? After my conversation with John at the city park, I could see where the mixed signals came from, while he was frustrated with current and future leadership at a city, state and national level his anger was also pointed at years of neglect by previous leaders.

Shortly after passing the protest house, I stop in at a corner convenience market to fill up on another cup of coffee.  As the door rings, I read a sign that says “we brew coffee by hand” and an Aquafina sticker stuck underneath as if they were the sponsor of my third cup of joe for the day. Joanna Miller comes to take my coffee order before grabbing another bottled water from under the counter as she says “we don’t want to take any chances.” As my coffee is coming toward me from a fresh hand brew, she washes her hands with another bottle of water and says “This is the last case of Cher water,” referring to the pop-stars donation of bottled water to the city residents. I stand and talk to her for another 30 minutes of my trip learning her story and what trials she has been going through as a resident of the city. “I just wish they would stop taking shortcuts if they have to charge us $200 a month for better water than so be it.” Joanna is obviously upset that in 2014 to save the city from going bankrupt, leaders switched sources of water from the Great Lakes to the Flint River in a temporary measure til a new connection could be made to Lake Huron in 2017. I ask her, is that the biggest problem facing Flint today and she nod quietly “no” before heading to the back to grab a dry towel.

Joanna continues our conversation “who wants to move here…hell, I wouldn’t if I had the chance to do it again. Flint is a bomb that has gone off and no one has come to clear away they scraps.” A tear starts to come to her face, “my husband and I opened this place about 10 years ago and business has been on a steady decline since day one. I wish I could say it was something about our business, but look at the Taco Bell across the street, do you see anyone there?” As she takes another swig of the warm Gatorade sitting on the counter, she says “we’ve had every chance as a city to reinvent ourselves but the leaders keep saying GM will come back.” The past three decades have been rough for Flint, once fueled by the auto industry officials refused to adjust the design of the city for a changing culture and economy so it continued to slide. According to the U.S. Census, 40.1 percent of the city’s population is living in poverty which makes it the second poorest city in the nation. Since the company left the town, the number of people using food stamps has increased from 87,000 to over 130,000. The median income for Flint residents is currently $24,000 a year which is well below the state’s median income at $48,000 per year. An even more outstanding number is that since 2005, an expected 6,000 homes have been demolished placing the city population below 100,0000 residents for the first time since the 1920’s. Joanna wraps up our conversation with “If our city can’t afford the basic necessities, when will they say enough is enough and just shut us down to save money?”

THE FLINT CRISIS: THE DESIGN

City leaders in 1910 began seeing the need to expand the daily residential services in the city of Flint by annexing several acres of developed land around the core of downtown. Miles of streets, sidewalks, and underground utilities were being added to connect the residents to the city. This process continued over and over again like it did in most cities with the ever expanding industrialist movement, places like Detroit, Toledo, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Grand Rapids, Youngstown, Cleveland and Flint all spent precious and somewhat limited resources to build an expansive city. By the mid-1920’s Flint was ranked among the fastest growing cities in the entire nation and leaders who all had very close ties to manufacturer General Motors used that to their advantage. By the expansion of the 1940’s, Flint was once again a boom town as the automobile was king and the American Dream was in full swing. What once was a city with nicely quilted neighborhoods connected by vital corridors of city streets and sidewalks was now a grid stretching out miles from the town center.

During the post-World War II era, Flint, unfortunately, experienced two, both of which were sanctioned by the federal government migrations. Companies like General Motors took advantage of subsidies that encouraged the relocation of industry to the suburbs and rural areas. During the same period of time, the home mortgage insurance programs implemented by the FHA and VA allowed millions of white Americans, including nearly 60,000 Flint residents to relocate from downtown and nearby neighborhoods to racially homogeneous suburbs. This drastic shift in population and resident makeup was further enhanced by the fact that African American residents in the 1940’s were often excluded from participating in such programs giving fuel to increased levels of segregation. As the jobs and the majority of residents shifted outward, Flint began seeing issues and flaws with the design. Leaders quickly took to using band-aids to fix leaks and cracks in the foundation with budget shortfall stopgap measures and low-cost infill programs, but all this did be continued to allow the inside to fall apart further. The city was so focused on the industry that built it in the first place, the underlying problems continued to rise, which would eventually be the end of a once thriving city.

As cities on the coasts in the 1960’s began defining their role in a new era, Flint and many other rust-belt designed communities were abrasive to potential change and avoided it at all costs. “Why fix what’s not broken, at least on the surface” said Joanna in our earlier conversation. “Flint in the 1960’s was looking at all time population highs and services were abundant because GM kept feeding us the dream our city had long desired.” Even in the 1960’s, majority of the leadership in Flint still had very close connections with General Motors, and bad publicity of any kind would be considered negative to the company that built the town. As the decades continued, Flint had a glimpse of prosperity and then it all crashed with the single largest employer and contributor to the city coffers decided a slow, painful divorce was the best action between the two. Flint, a city designed and built for the industrial giant was left standing in the courtroom trying to keep the marriage working while the other half was already trying to leave. Now a city, stretched to the max in resources simply didn’t have the financials to keep services at the same level it had offered its residents in the past.  When GM began closing shops, houses went on the block and many just fell into states of disrepair. As the housing and industrial components began leaving the city in droves, so did the tax base that the city needed for survival causing many in the city to throw their hands up and walk away. Flint was dying on the vine, and because of years of neglect and lack of ideas for varied industry, the city once boasting nearly 200,000 residents was feeling its entire soul being crushed.

A CRISIS IN FLINT | CRACKS

Hoch Associates, a progressive architecture, engineering, urban and interior design firm with offices in Fort Wayne and Indianapolis is talking about the Flint crisis in a series of blog posts over the next few days. While we understand our core of a company is architecture, we also believe in the importance of community and how it drives us. We believe that no matter where we are in location or in life, our responsibility is to create better, healthier, stronger and more vibrant communities. We are happy you decided to follow along over the next few days as we dive deeper than water in Flint Michigan to get to a bigger story on how we design and plan our cities IS our responsibility.

It’s important to note that we are not CNN, NBC or any of the major news outlets covering the actual water crisis.  While the headline news is devastating and our hearts reach out, we are leaving that coverage and information to the national news outlets. You will see throughout our coverage of the Flint Crisis small inserts about the current situation, however the focus will be on the city itself and how urban design has played a roll in where Flint stands today.

THE FLINT CRISIS: PEELING THE PAINT

“I won’t be in Flint for long, If you want to do anything with life you have to leave” – Andrea “Brandy” Sarazine

I stood, in a thicket of wiry looking metal and twisted scrap, a few scattered plants stood in the way but most had withered once the first frost hit the region. Off to my right is a newer looking metal structure, much bigger than I anticipated and it even looks like there may be some signs of life in a building that was actually kept up. I stand there staring deep into the non-descript structure looking for a broken window which is too common in this city. Soon I see a car whizzing past me on Cole Blvd. that soon turns into the mysterious looking factory building. I pick up my laptop which I had conveniently sat on a tree stump that had been left in the middle of the large open concrete jungle and head back to the car. Obviously the tree stump had been planted, but what I was standing in too had been planted, and was slowly being reclaimed by mother nature. Here I was, in Buick City, the once industrial outpost where the very first Buick vehicle rolled off the line in 1904 is now just acres of open and barren wasteland at the edge of Flint’s downtown. The site, spawning 235 acres hugged every curve of the Flint River as it twisted back and forth into downtown. Getting closer to my car, you could see a couple of kids with a basketball in one hand head to the middle of an empty concrete box, they were out to play a game of 3 on 3 in what once was the paint shop of many Buick vehicles still on the road today. Finally sliding into the drivers side, I slipped away down the beaten concrete and paved path that had been carved by thousands of employees just a couple decades before and back toward downtown Flint.

Buick City, just like Chevy In The Hole are both long lost remnants of the great industrial past that once made Flint prosper. The factory is now long gone, just as the other site on the west end of downtown, but the numerous open acres of concrete and weeds make Flint look like a ghost town at best. The closest house was hundreds of yards away from where I stood and you could barely see the outline of Flint’s once prosperous downtown. Buick City was a barren wasteland, and no one had concrete plans on how to fix it. Between 2009 and 2013, nearly 42% of the population in Flint lived below the poverty line. Compare that unimaginable number to the state at just 17% which is still astronomically high in its own regard. In Flint, nearly 30% of the families have an income of $15,000 a year or less. While we all hear of the woes that face Detroit, the smaller sister north of the motor city has poverty rates nearly 10 points higher and it’s a shame nothing has been done. As one begins to peel the layers of caked on paint over the city facade, it’s easy to see that Flint is simply a poor, economic shell of its former self and water as we have said is just scratching the surface of the much larger problems. So to discover how the city got into this situation requires we look into the past, how the city was designed and what is causing the fall out and severe economic decline.

THE FLINT CRISIS: DURANT’S COMPANY TOWN

“We have depended on G.M., all of us,” – Shirley Prater / Community Service Director for Local 599 Flint

In 1989, nearly 4,000 families were counseled by Ms. Prater, as General Motors began cutting the cord of a ticking time bomb. Issues ranging from eviction to lack of food, attempted suicide, lack of money for heat and electricity and affordable education all were on the minds of Flint residents nearly every day as GM shuttered over 30,000 employees. This was the same year that craft-film maker Michael Moore made a national splash in his documentary called Roger & Me which painted a negative picture of General Motors president Roger B. Smith. The mayor of Flint at the time, Matthew Collier who was fearful of the negative backlash that the movie would provide to the city image was considered by many a part of the bigger problem. “A General Motors bashing movie can only jeopardize efforts to persuade the auto maker to expand its activities” said Collier, while tens of thousands of residents who had been out of work for a few years all realized that Flint Michigan’s largest and most controlling employer wasn’t coming back or expanding anytime soon. It was at that moment that Flint began to realize what it had least hoped, it was a company town that was betrayed by the company.

Collier along with his several predecessors all had been as one may say “drinking the kool-aide” far too long, and while many were looking for changes the era of GM dominance wouldn’t end anytime soon. For nearly a century, Flint relied on the leadership of General Motors for its survival. The ancestor of the Buick City plant was the companies very first assembly line and because of that long lasting relationship, the good workers of Flint made more and spent more than any  other industrial workers in the world. Hitting an all time employment high of 80,000 in the city and 40% of the Genessee County workforce in 1978, after foreign competition took full swing at GM in the 80’s, the workforce was whittled down to bare skeleton and has continued a steady free fall since. William Durant and J. Dallas Dort certainly were entrepreneurial people, but never did they envision their start-up wagon company created for Flint Michigan would also be the same nail in its post-industrial coffin. Economic Development experts have tried numerous times to step in and look at the value the city could offer, but the consensus still comes back that Genessee County continues to have a relatively low ability to attract and retain the kinds of people inclined to build businesses and do things for themselves. One person quoted in The Flint Journal says “It’s not going to be like the ’60s and ’70s anymore, we tell the kids they better get a good education because the opportunities just don’t exist with GM. Hell, the city is starting to be non-existent from GM.”

While it’s easy to quickly bash General Motors and their love/hate affair with the city, you must observe what such a company did and stiill does for a town like Flint Michigan. Since the founding over 100 years ago, one company is responsible for nearly 80 years of expansion, growth and prosperity for a rather unassuming and open landscape. When America was growing during the industrial era, people moved north to Flint and other Michigan cities from poorer southern states to secure financial and social stability for their families. As the tax base grew, more funds for new schools, hospitals, libraries and parks became available and General Motors for the first couple of decades was a very generous and giving employer to help build a better quality of life for the citizens of Flint. Fast forward to 2016, and substantial medical plans, prescription drug coverage, dental care and pension checks are a lifeline for several thousand G.M. retirees and an untold number of surviving spouses and other family members who still live in the Flint area. While it may not be steady employment, people who spent the majority of their lives with the company have remained in the community, investing in the local restaurants and small businesses to survive. While those long-term retirement funds are still active today, as the older population begins to die off, so does even more of the city and that’s a real problem that leaders must face soon. A company town built by Durant and General Motors is now on the verge of tearing the whole thing apart for scraps, it’s time that people begin to act and stop waiting on a fairy tale romance.

THE FLINT CRISIS: GLOBALIZATION

“Thanks to General Motors, Flint has security for the next 100 years.” – James Rutherford, 86th Mayor of Flint Michigan in 1977 interview with The Flint Journal

During the Flint Mayoral Election when Rutherford won the party nomination, his words were soothing to the ears of over 160,000 Flint residents who were seeing all time highs in population, prosperity and opportunity. No one at that moment in time would imagine the day you could drive off the lot with a foreign built car that was just as efficient as the one made in Flint for a fraction of the cost. No one at that moment in time could even imagine General Motors would pack up and take with it nearly 70,000 jobs bringing the city to its knees in less than 20 years. As the mayor stood near the front of city hall on his victorious inauguration, the automotive workers who called Flint home were seeing so much prosperity that nothing would rain on their day.

100 years ago, Michigan was the ideal location for the Automobile industry to locate its factories, employ its workers and manage from its headquarters. The ideal location along the Great Lakes provided for easy shipping of vehicles to the various ports across the country, access to the Saint Lawrence Seaway and of course the majority of autos at the time were still sold in America, Canada and Western Europe. Not til the 1980’s did automobiles really begin to take off around the globe and the American automobile consumption began to slide while foreign markets became the rage. As we have mentioned before, it was with the globalization of the automobile industry the economic death of Flint truly started to shine through to the public. A city that had spent just as much as it had received in tax payer dollars was bankrupt and the citizens had no money to continue supporting the strong and robust educational institutions it once held. Services ranging from water and sewer to police and fire were all facing massive cuts as the auto industry began packing its bags.

Garel Rhys, Professor of Economic Impacts at Cardiff University says “The Big Three, especially General Motors are facing their greatest challenge ever in their entire postwar history, and while it was inevitable they would eventually lose their monopoly position, their failure to adapt their production methods and meet changing consumer tastes has accelerated their decline.” In the face of a global economy, General Motors and the company town of Flint refused to look at alternatives, and hoped that maintaining status quo would suffice. What Flint and the companies needed supporting the economy was powerful ideas that would challenge and reshape the industry and its people. That didn’t happen for the city, while finally General Motors began seeing the need for diversification. As GM made the necessary changes to remain competitive, it saw that Flint was stubborn to change, and why shouldn’t it be, just ten years before the mayor declared security for the city.

THE FLINT CRISIS: A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY

As I pulled out of the former Buick City site and started driving toward downtown, you could see street after street with barren landscapes, boarded houses and every so many lots a nice, well kept home. It was like looking at the mouth of a drug addict, missing and rotten teeth and then every so many one that looked perfectly fine. Maybe i was starting at a drug addict, just one that looked a little different. Instead of substance abuse, this drug addict was still holding onto the past and waiting for it to return to its former glory. As I pulled into the Sunoco Gas station on North Grand Traverse and University, I sit in my car for a moment longer waiting for a crowd of violent looking youth to vacate the property. One is holding a gun, yes a literal gun and slides it into his waste-band, I began to mumble under my breath…where am I at, a third world country? One of the young men jump on the back of the rusted trunk hood and they ride into the night turning down University and heading toward the river. After pumping about $15 into my tank, I start to slowly shuffle my feet toward the front door, and a woman comes charging out at me looking like I was about to be her next victim. She is screaming at the top of her lungs that the young man behind the counter is making advances to her sister and her best friend and she is “done with the drama.” I am not certain what I had experienced in that short five minute fill up, but it’s something you don’t expect coming from most any other place.

I jump back in my car and head north on Lyon Street making stops at all the intersections, not to yield but to look in awe as dozens of lots where homes once stood now sit empty. Finally after driving around Flint for nearly an hour I finally see one cop car, but he is parked in his driveway and not on a mission except for maybe sleep. A city once brimming with nearly 200,000 citizens had been pulled to the ground. Sidewalks were scattered at best, lawns not manicured for what seemed like years and potholes that could easily swallow my Jeep 4×4 lay around every corner. Finally I come to a small corner shop where it looks a little more at ease and a overall better stock of cars. As I walk into the store, you could smell the sweet aroma of orange chicken being cooked next door and I talk with Melanie, a young mother in her mid 30’s who looks to the back room where her 3 and 9 year old are coloring at the table. She says “your plates say you from Indiana, what brings you to these parts?” I tell her, I am trying to find the soul of Flint Michigan and she quickly dismisses my effort and says “dear, the soul is here it’s just not like it used to be.” We reminisce about my short jaunt around the city and she informs me that they are tearing down her neighbors house tomorrow and that she will now be one of two homes left on an entire block.  “It’s like they just came in an set off a bomb, some houses stay and the others are gone the next, that’s what Flint is right now.”

As we stand and sip on tongue burning coffee made bitter by the grit in the filter, I listen to stories of the Flint she remembers so fondly and how it has come to be. The one thing that stands out to me most is when she said “Sure, the water is bad but the city is rotting and no one wants to help. We just can’t keep living like this.” As she continues her story about the neighborhood she grew up in and how the school is now standing abandoned and wrecked where she once graduated, she begins to sob for just a minute and says “we’re stuck, Flint is stuck, I can’t sell my house and my kids are now stuck.” I bring up the equation of a Third World Country and she says, “can there be anything worse, maybe Katrina.” See, Melanie purchased her home with her husband in 2004 only months before their first child was born. She knew that Flint was suffering, but the neighborhood in which she chose was still in somewhat decent shape. In 2006, the water was dry as they discovered there was a massive leak just down the block and when she called the city, they said they would tend to it as soon as possible. After waiting for almost three weeks, the city finally came to fix the leaking water main and it was then she started seeing the issues facing the bankrupt city. In 2013 her husband left her and the children behind in search for a better life, Melanie couldn’t leave the house was in her name. She tried putting it on the market twice only to be so far under water the bank told her to hold onto the home just a bit longer. Melanie is just one citizen of nearly 100,000 that are all facing the same post-industrialization issues that haunt Flint.

Her son Jacob runs into the room and says “mommy look what we colored.” She excuses herself and thanks me for my visit and genuine heart for the city of Flint. After spending several minutes with her, I walk back to my car and look into the rear-view mirror, my heart continues to beat but just a bit slower as I think about her story. I don’t know if I feel fear, anger, pain or what but the story she told of how her and her family was split apart by a city dying makes it that much harder to swallow. Flint Michigan is a city in desperate need, not just for new water lines, but in desperate need for the country to wrap its arms around her and show it love. As I make my way back to the interstate, I begin to shout…why…why America, why have we done this to ourselves. The foundation in which this once great city stands on is cracking and it’s crumbling faster each day. Water is an issue, so is poverty, crime, education, economy and thats just the tipping point. The Flint Crisis is real, and we have only begun.

A CRISIS IN FLINT | BAD DESIGN

Hoch Associates, a progressive architecture, engineering, urban and interior design firm with offices in Fort Wayne and Indianapolis is talking about the Flint crisis in a series of blog posts over the next few days. While we understand our core of a company is architecture, we also believe in the importance of community and how it drives us. We believe that no matter where we are in location or in life, our responsibility is to create better, healthier, stronger and more vibrant communities. We are happy you decided to follow along over the next few days as we dive deeper than water in Flint Michigan to get to a bigger story on how we design and plan our cities IS our responsibility.

It’s important to note that we are not CNN, NBC or any of the major news outlets covering the actual water crisis.  While the headline news is devastating and our hearts reach out, we are leaving that coverage and information to the national news outlets. You will see throughout our coverage of the Flint Crisis small inserts about the current situation, however the focus will be on the city itself and how urban design has played a roll in where Flint stands today.

THE FLINT CRISIS: THE AUTOMOBILE KILLED THE URBAN STAR

“When should you stop, or start, caring?” – Wes Janz, Ball State University

Strolling along West Court Street in downtown Flint Michigan, hundreds of classic autmobiles are lined on both sides of the street. The crowd, filled with mostly blue haired individuals begins to thin out as I get closer to the end and the chatter is dwindling as if the crowd is starting to disperse. Out of the 50 or so individuals I saw walking in the one block stretch of cars, nearly 45 were above the retirement age. As I turned around and headed toward the start, small groups of friends gathered by their favorite classics from a 57 Chevy to a Mustang colored deep purple with the glisten of a bowling ball shine. These friends continued to gather and reminisce on the days of the past, but the crowd is wearing thin and fragile compared to a car cruise in just twenty years prior. Maybe it’s the nostalgia of car shows that just aren’t reaching the younger audiences the same way they used to, or could it be the dream of car ownership is fleeting?  Mike Berger, a historian who studies the social effect of the car says “The automobile just isn’t that important to people’s lives anymore, social media blows any limits that you once had out of the water and you don’t need a car to go find your friends today.”

Maybe Mike is on to something, or maybe he is too out of our realm of thinking. The automobile has been a part of the American way of life for 100 years now, and since the first Ford models rolled off the assembly line, the “new car” smell has dictated so many things in our lives that we often take for granted. Think back to when you were a teenager, the thought of car ownership was the pinnacle of your hard work and efforts either in school or at home. If you were lucky enough to pick out your own vehicle, every detail made the difference for which one you would settle on. Vehicle ownership was a status symbol for those in power and a mode of transportation for those who relied on road travel other than foot or bike. That feeling of getting your license gave you freedom to roam and a sense of independence that you had never experienced before, the automobile was everything you needed and wanted. For cities, vehicle ownership meant the creation and rapid expansion of suburbs, shopping malls, industrial parks and highways. The automobile that was first crafted in Flint Michigan is responsible for the America we see, feel and participate in today. That same automobile might as well be responsible for the Flint Michigan we see, feel and don’t participate in as well, because with one industry rose a city from dirt and now is responsible for its very collapse.

While it’s easy to just blame General Motors for the rise and fall of Flint, the issues that plague the city are much deeper than the surface. That’s why we insist that the water crisis is just the tipping point for Flint Michigan.

THE FLINT CRISIS: IT’S IN THE DESIGN

In a book, buried deep in the archives of Cornell University library, the cover has a faded set of golden lead letters on a blue book jacket that says “FLINT 1920.” What one would think is a high school yearbook turns out to be the city’s very first Civic Plan, one that was written by the well renowned John Nolan who was at the time the city planner for Flint. Inside you can start to see the story of how Flint came to be and why it has ultimately landed where it is today. Only 20 years prior to the writing of the book, Flint had a population of 13,000 residents.  In 1920, that population swelled to an outstanding 80,000 making city officials rush to accommodate the new wave of migrants to the community. On Page 18 of the book it states “work of pushing on the sewer, water and paving improvements to keep pace with the rapid building up of the residential districts has fallen upon the Engineering Department which is meeting the situation as fast as possible due to the rapid expansion of industrial workplaces.” The city was facing a growth spurt, but leaders weren’t exactly sure how to handle the onslaught of new residents, factories or what it means to be a city on the verge. Flint was in a very new and dangerous territory, and the hope was that having a civic plan would help secure the city success for generations to come.

We must first start with Flint’s new dawn as an industrial city. As Flint Michigan began growing in the late 1800’s and timber was being transported through the town as a central hub, the railroad industry quickly took claim on several valleys in the city laying miles of track near the Flint River. Just like the industrial boom towns across the country, Flint was in growth mode and train transportation was essential for its continued expansion. As the railroads came, so did the industry from the Flint Road Wagon Company to General Motors, all building expansive factories dotting the valleys and hugging the major water source for the city. Planners and city officials continued to allow for expansive industrial growth to fill in the gaps along the riverfront rather than dedicating a space for development due to transportation access making the land more valuable as industry rather than open green space. As more industries supporting the automobile manufacturers moved to Flint, the industrial zones along the river became clogged with industrial waste and the only outlet was the nearby Flint River. At this time, modern sewers and water lines for a growing city with little budgets were available but a limited resource which made dumping hazardous chemicals in the nearby water stream an easier and more affordable solution.

To support the nearby factories and industries, the city of Flint also had to provide space for residents to relocate families and build new homes, however in less than ten years, Flint’s population more than doubled making it harder for factory employees to have adequate homes. The 1920 plan created by Nolan was partially designed to address such a need. One interesting figure points out the housing crisis the growing city was facing with nearly 3,100 factory employees who were unable to find home for their families in Flint, so many lived in make-shift tents, stick/gravel structures and tar paper shacks just to get by til a home could be built.  It wasn’t that the city was facing any wage issues, in fact the local factories paid well.  The issue facing Flint was the number of jobs versus the availability of amenities in the city, so rapid construction commenced in the coming years. As Flint pushed the boundaries past the 1910 annexation, residential streets were quickly filled with small, poorly constructed, short-term houses that were designed for quick build rather than long-term housing solutions. City officials would rather have miles of homes (no matter how poorly designed) than miles of tents lining railroad tracks and public sidewalks giving the city a bad visual image.

THE FLINT CRISIS: A CITY ON THE BRINK

In the 1920’s, financial glory and a good paying jobs were all the rage for Flint city officials. As the industrial centers continued to boom, so did the residential base which meant more taxes for the city coffers. On paper, all was great for the city and there was no end in sight. Little did the leadership know that the growth and prosperity of this mid-sized Michigan industrial town would soon collapse as the government stepped in and would shift the way cities would be designed and built in the future. Near the middle of the decade, other regional cities such as Battle Creek started to see cracks in the industrialization that once were the driving force behind their own growth. Lansing, Saginaw, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and others started to see layoffs in mass even before the stock market crash that would lead to America’s worst decade in economic regards. Flint, which was built on the automobile was on an all time high with thousands of new residents moving to the city in droves looking for work and many moving from much poorer, southern states who were not nearly as developed. As the economy continued to teeter around the state, residents clamored to Flint continuing to fuel the outward growth from the city center. General Motors and other companies continued to expand growing the workforce to over 80,000 for the automobile manufacturer alone. While the onslaught of new citizens to the city was ideal for leaders at first, the growing pains would soon catch up with Flint and cause more damage than good.

In 1925 alone, over 35 miles of new water mains were installed under city streets and one article even says “Flint’s Northeast Neighborhoods suffer the stench as city grows.” In 1926, Flint engineering officials laid around 45 miles of new sewage, but the growth was still outpacing the city tax rolls and their plans to connect residents to adequate city services. Then October 1929, The Flint Journal would bring the city horrifying news from Wall Street, the stock market had just crashed and billions of invested dollars from residents, banks and even their employers were lost. A city that had just laid over 100 miles of city utilities to its residents would soon hit the skids and layoffs at the auto manufacturer would push the city into a steep 36% unemployment rate it would find hard to pull itself out of. With the economy in the gutter, Flint along with every other city in Michigan turned to the federal government for aide in turning around the city and employing the throngs of workers who were desolate and living in deep poverty.  At one point during the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration employed nearly 800,000 men which mostly hailed from Detroit, Pontiac and Flint. The men who worked on the team would make a mere $5 a month and the family which he had left would make $25 a month. The job of these WPA employees in Michigan was to build roads, schools, public facilities, dams and such.

As Flint tried pulling itself from the woes of depression, it would soon make the national scene as the site of the 1936 Flint Sit Down Strike against General Motors, essentially the birth of the UAW (United Auto Workers). Flint, which had long been recognized as the epicenter for automobile production had built it’s entire economic success from the location of General Motors. On January 11th, 1937 the city would soon be under siege as company police shut off the heat, locked the gate to the plant and removed the ladder used to supply food to the strikers who were inside the factory. The 2,000 plus employees inside the factory decided they weren’t going to take the tactic just played by the company and forced the gate open, which caused officials to call in the assistance of Flint police. The response was quick, tear gas and bullets riddled the crowd, picketers and bystanders actually ripped the county sheriff’s vehicle apart piece by piece. A total of 28 people were seriously injured in the incident dubbed the “Battle of the Running Bulls.” This once incident at the time was a part of the larger picture that would slowly return Flint to prosperity again and General Motors looked to the changing economy as a way to grow their factory, hire employees and essentially grow Flint once again.

While the city struggled the first few years after the end of the Great Depression, it luckily was able to recover much quicker than similar cities across the industrial landscape. City officials surely didn’t quite expect what was about to happen next in a city designed and built for the automobile industry, one that would set the tables for an even more unraveling Flint Michigan. With poorly constructed homes lining miles of open and grid-locked streets, and industry choking the city from it’s natural resources, the city design is starting to show its deep rooted cracks and no one is the wiser. What could have been fixed in the late 1930’s was pushed aside and ignored by the people in charge then, and we must ask, when did Flint leadership stop, or start caring? Maybe the answer is…never.

A CRISIS IN FLINT | INDUSTRY

Hoch Associates, a progressive architecture, engineering, urban and interior design firm with offices in Fort Wayne, Indianapolis and Dayton is talking about the Flint crisis in a series of blog posts over the next few days. While we understand our core of a company is architecture, we also believe in the importance of community and how it drives us. We believe that no matter where we are in location or in life, our responsibility is to create better, healthier, stronger and more vibrant communities. We are happy you decided to follow along over the next few days as we dive deeper than water in Flint Michigan to get to a bigger story on how we design and plan our cities IS our responsibility.

It’s important to note that we are not CNN, NBC or any of the major news outlets covering the actual water crisis.  While the headline news is devastating and our hearts reach out, we are leaving that coverage and information to the national news outlets. You will see throughout our coverage of the Flint Crisis small inserts about the current situation, however the focus will be on the city itself and how urban design has played a roll in where Flint stands today.

THE FLINT CRISIS: URBAN BEGINNINGS

One architectural blogger shared his opinions on the situation in Flint best, “It’s like another shade of New Orleans, caught in between states of devastation and piddly renewal, though instead of having been flooded, it’s all dried up.”

From very humble beginnings as a trading post between Detroit and the Bay area (Saginaw-Midland), Flint was just another spot on the road for many decades until the birth of the carriage wagon industry. William Durant and Josiah Dort had created the Flint Road Car Company which would change the path and growth of the city in a profound way as the company transitioned from carriages to cars and control nearly every aspect of the city as the company continued to grow. General Motors operated in Flint from the early 20th century and as the company continued to grow, so did the position of the employees and the community in which they lived. By the 1960’s, Flint had a population base of nearly 190,000 residents and half of them worked for General Motors. City officials touted that with so much growth from GM, the city was expected to reach 250,000 residents in the next decade, but all that would come to a crashing end very soon. Flint would soon feel the brunt force of globalization and the effects of not diversifying industry.

The July 15th 1983 article in The New York Times wrote a great piece about globalization.

As the final shift ended at International Harvester Company’s truck-building plant here today, an era came to a close. That point is best understood by the 2,200 workers whose jobs were lost with the closing. “I know things are going to be different,” said Jerry DeLeon, as he walking into Harvester’s sprawling, red-brick factory this morning for his final day’s work after more than 21 years with the company. What does concern Mr. DeLeon, and many colleagues who are joining him on the unemployment rolls, is the uncertainty of trying to find jobs in a community that already has an unemployment rate of 10.3 percent in a work force of about 165,000 people. These workers also know that the skills they learned in truck manufacturing are not the skills needed by business and industry today in an economy shifting toward high technology and away from heavy manufacturing. Dim Prospects for Graduates. Gone are the days of full employment, or nearly full employment, in Fort Wayne, when a high school graduate could land a good-paying job that offered security and stability by simply applying at the factory gate. None are more painfully aware of that change than Mr. DeLeon and his fellow workers, many of whom have worked only at Harvester throughout their adult lives.

The Flint Crisis is sadly nothing new or unique to Flint. In Fort Wayne, we nearly faced the same fate with the loss of International Harvester. In the early 1980’s, the company decided to consolidate a portion of the work in Springfield leaving nearly 2,000 employees without steady work. Both Springfield Ohio and Fort Wayne Indiana politicians were well aware of the impending doom and both had created incentive packages to lure Harvester to stay in their community, but after much effort placed by the government only once city won. As the jobs fled Fort Wayne, sadly did a portion of the population. Many know that the city had a struggle during the 80’s glitz and glamour era putting our region behind others by nearly a decade. With the jobs that left, so did the soul of several neighborhoods in the city, especially near the Harvester plant itself.

In Flint Michigan, the once bustling metropolis is now to some a barren wasteland of burned out homes, abandoned factories and empty stretches of residential lots where the grass is never mowed and the sidewalks are in severe need of repair. In the 1980’s General Motors, once the city’s largest employer with nearly 80,000 individuals calling it their career decided to abandon their home base and leave the city high and dry. Very similar to the situation in Fort Wayne, when the regions largest employer began abandoning the city, they did more than move…they destroyed entire neighborhoods, public services like police, fire, health, schools and the soul of Flint itself. However what they didn’t expect to happen was the surrounding industry would also collapse. Flint, just like Fort Wayne, Gary, Lima and many other Midwestern cities would often have one large central industry (such as General Motors) with several hundred supporting businesses. Companies that provided parts to GM also located in Flint would soon too find little to no work and would have to shutter their doors laying off additional employees only driving the unemployment rates higher.

With cities like Flint, losing the largest employer was bad, but the after shock was even worse. As people became unemployed the options to continue living in Flint were practically non-existent. The only solution was to stay and live in poverty or relocate to another city, which for many was the top choice for survival. As the population declined, neighborhoods became open gaping wounds because the staggering amount of outbound migration. Once filled corner taverns now are filled with stray animals, once manicured lawns in front of opulent homes are now filled with wild cabbage plants and trees that are reclaiming their natural habitat. One intersection in Flint features a makeshift memorial to 9/11 victims, the property was purchased from the city for a mere hundred dollars, a far cry from sales figures just a half century before. Neighborhoods where families used to interact and Sunday picnics after church were a regular occurrence are now dark, grim and filled with despair. While this isn’t the case for all of the neighborhoods in the city, when you lose half your population base you have to understand that it’s not all roses. Flint is shrinking, and the services the city had provided for a city twice its size must also adjust to the current demands, one that city officials were hesitant to make a reality.

One anonymous writer in M-Live (the successor to the Flint Journal) said General Motors is like a dead-beat. For one hundred hard years, it used every ounce of the city from the people to the schools and while it provided a good life for many the city that caved to its needs is now feeling the pain. Then just like a dead-beat it skipped town, leaving us high-dry and worn-out. Instead of them ever repaying us for their use, the judge continues to give them solace because that dead-beat is linked to another woman, Detroit. In what may be some of the most painful words written about the once long love affair between the auto manufacturer and the city, a pure sense of pain shines through in most everyone around the city. Officials aren’t quite as quick to point fingers at the former manufacturing giant, but insist that both parties had their fair share of faults that lead to the Flint Michigan we see today.

So why is there a difference in the outcome of Flint and Fort Wayne? One could easily say that Flint was not nearly as fortunate as Fort Wayne when the latter was granted a gift from the large auto manufacturer in the form of a new truck plant, but that would be incorrect. See, Flint too was given a second chance in 1985 with the consolidation of facilities and the birth of the Buick LeSabre. Buick City, which is now an abandoned wasteland along the banks of the ever popular, media centric Flint River once had several thousand employees working day in and day out building a new lower cost luxury Buick to compete with several Japanese auto manufacturers. To comply with this gift, once again Flint officials focused on “what was” instead of “what could be” and placed all their eggs in the large auto manufacturer. City streets were rebuilt to facilitate the one site, and marketing/research dollars were used to attract support industry, the same way they had in the past to lift GM. Fort Wayne, who was given the gift of General Motors new facility in Lafayette Township didn’t just settle on the new plant. While spending some money to support the new plant, it focused on diversification of industry attracting financial, insurance and music based industries to the city. Less than ten years after Buick City opened its doors to the people of Flint, the plant would become abandoned as lines were moved to nearby Detroit where they could consolidate facilities.

Soon, the city that had originally built the automobile would soon be left on the side of the road for better incentives, larger skilled workforce and cheaper labor. A city that had invested millions, if not billions in nearly one hundred years to support the one industry that it knew and loved would come to find itself millions in debt with no way out. With dwindling populations and depleated resources, a city that once had shone as the most promising place to relocate your family to would soon earn the tagline “America’s Most Dangerous City.”

A CRISIS IN FLINT | WATER

We often take for granted the things in which we aren’t directly responsible. The way the cake is decorated before it reaches the wedding party is the responsibility of the baker. The chair you sit in at work should stay upright at all times and support your weight which is the responsibility of the manufacturer. The computer you use at the office should be secure and virus proof, which of course is the responsibility of your IT department. These are just a few of the millions in which we take for granted every day, because while they have a profound impact on our lives we simply aren’t responsible of the process. So when it comes to our health and wellness, who is directly responsible? How about the city streets we drive on, the neighborhoods in which we call home, the schools where we send our children and so on? For many of us, these are just things we take for granted, and why shouldn’t we.

Until a few weeks ago, the average unassuming American had never thought twice of Flint Michigan, and with a city that has been quietly on a decline there is no reason to. It’s just an average small city of 100,000 residents about 70 miles northwest of Detroit. Then over the weekend, your news feed on Facebook and Twitter looked different because the Flint crisis was everywhere. Was this Michigan’s best kept secret or a really big mistake gone wrong and publicized by the right people? As you begin to watch the videos, read the stories and hear the pleas for help from the children, seniors and everyday residents of Flint, your heart begins to feel their pain and their worry. A city that had for many years just went with the flow was now facing one of the greatest disasters in history, lead drinking water. Flint, like all other cities has a well documented and tumultuous history. The once bustling automobile city of Flint had 200,000 residents at it’s peak in the 1960’s, then during the late 60’s and early 70’s the city began suffering from disinvestment, deindustrialization, depopulation and of course like most of it’s counterparts, urban decay. This lead to high rates of crime, unemployment and record levels of poverty. Flint has been facing a crisis for over 50 years, and who is responsible?

The best part of working for such a progressive architecture, engineering, urban and interior design firm is that we don’t just stop at the prettiest new building like many other firms. Instead, we take a whole picture approach to the communities in which we serve, because communities are what drive us.  We have created Hoch Talking Points as a place where ideas are nurtured and feedback is encouraged. So why is an architecture firm going to spend the next several days talking about the crisis unraveling in Flint Michigan?  We believe that no matter where we are in location or in life, our responsibility is to create better, healthier, stronger and more vibrant communities. We know that CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX and every other news outlet in America is chiming in with their stories on the water crisis, but at Hoch the water is just the tipping point and the sensational story that has brought Flint Michigan to the headlines. A city that has an outstanding 40%+ poverty rate is a crisis that has lead to the current water crisis we face today. This has more to do with the way our cities our built and designed than high levels of lead in the water.  Sure, that is an important headline and we have no disrespect for that issue or how the lack of support from the state government caused people to get sick and unfortunately die, but we will do our best to leave those topics to the national news agencies who are covering those stories more in depth.

We hope you will join us in our discovery of how Flint Michigan became “the most dangerous city in America” in an unfortunate way that has been decades in the making.  We will talk about why this is important for not only Flint, but other cities around the country and why it’s our responsibility as leaders, neighbors and residents to fix this now. While none of us may be directly responsible for the events unfolding in Flint, we should all have a sense of heart for the city in need.

IS FORT WAYNE INSTAGRAM WORTHY

Never did any city planner, urban designer or economic development division in cities across America imagine the day that your city would be judged not on the quality of education, the city political makeup nor the debt and bonding ratio, but instead what your busiest intersection near a Costco would look like followed by a series of hashtags and a vintage Clarendon filter. Well, it’s not just a possibility, with today’s advent of social media and the millennial generation using the power of social influence in decision making, the way your city looks and feels is more important than ever before. That’s why we ask, do city politicians ask Is Fort Wayne Instagram-Worthy?

In January of this year, I and a few friends gathered in Cleveland Ohio, the lovable rust-belt city that is starting to make a comeback in an ever so unexpected way. After years of political and social turmoil, rivers catching on fire and blight stretching for miles, Cleveland has embraced its raw, gritty identity and added a spark of Austin into the mix. The goal is to create this urban core filled with winter-loving lumberjacks, craft beer, so-so sports teams all displayed on a canvas of once-inhabited buildings that are being rehabbed into high-tech data communities, software startups, and millennial innovation hubs. Cleveland is unapologetic about its oil-slicked past but has put a focus on its downtown, gateways, bridges and uprising neighborhoods. They understand that first impression is essential to the success of a community that once was about to turn into Detroit. On that Sunday morning, we gathered in this little diner in the historic and once run-down neighborhood of Tremont just a stone's throw away from downtown.  As I walked near the kitchen, a large display board over the chef table said: “Is this Instagram-Worthy.” Below those words were two boxes, one said yes…the other said no. If the food was placed in the ‘no’ box, the food was sent back or thrown out (not certain of their food removal process) and never brought to the table. Even at Grumpy’s cafe, first impressions are extremely important because, in today’s world of social everything, even your pancakes must look good with a Nashville filter.

In the field of psychology, the term first impression is the event when one person first encounters another person and forms a mental image of that person. In the urban design field, you replace person with city (which let us not forget to mention that all cities are treated as a singular person because the shared emotions, unique traits, expressions, etc.) which would change that phrase to say ‘A first impression is the event when one person first encounters a city and forms a mental image of that city.’ The notion of the first impression is not new, in either the psychology field or city and urban design. Kings and queens of royal monarch days would plant lavish gardens and beautiful pedestrian lawns in their front yards, not necessarily as a symbol of good gardening and environmental protection, but to show a welcoming and good first impression. Realtors will often tell a homeowner who is listing to invest a couple hundred dollars on planting new shrubs and flowers to enhance your curb appeal because that first impression for a buyer is critical. Businesses today spend millions in upfront marketing and what they call gateway plans to welcome clients and potential new investors for the first time. Architecture firms like Hoch Associates will often work with medical facilities and business owners to design impressive front entryways because, in the end, first impressions really are everything.

So you might be asking why an architecture blog is asking, is Fort Wayne Instagram-Worthy? It’s simple really, first impressions ARE everything! June 13th, 2012 a quote said: “A community built for success understands the power of the first impression.” The quote comes from Front Door Fort Wayne, an initiative launched in 2010 and finalized in 2012that would look to improve and enhance several city gateways, bridges, and highways. The program was guided by a 14-member citizen advisory committee and sought extensive community input, identified key entry points and ways to enhance them. Completed projects would range from large to small including a rehab of the railroad bridges over Jefferson, Clinton, and Lafayette to beautifying public art, lighting, signage/wayfinding and bike paths. The plan called for key transportation corridors that need to be addressed including Ardmore Avenue, Airport Expressway, Coliseum Boulevard, Coldwater Road, North Clinton Street, Lima Road, Dupont Road, Jefferson Boulevard, Maysville Road, Stellhorn Road, Crescent Avenue, Washington Boulevard, Lafayette and South Clinton Streets. Key areas not only include the entrances from the highway but overall improvements to the areas around Fort Wayne International Airport, Downtown and Glenbrook Mall which has seen some urban blight since it was constructed 50 years ago.

it's even simple to read the objectives from Front Door Fort Wayne which clearly state that the goals are to identify and prioritize important gateways into the City and Downtown, Establish priorities for the use and function of the gateways and overall install a positive city image which ties into the question we asked. Quoting a 2009 Visit Fort Wayne impact report says that the city tourism industry welcomed over 5.7 million people each year to the city and those people spend nearly $466 million on a wide variety of goods and services. Nearly $14 million in tax revenues are generated each year for the city from visitors which is a significant portion of funds that go to enhance the city in a variety of ways. With so much positive impact that tourism provides the city, it’s amazing to see that some city leaders are so interested in cutting the funding to such a vital and important program.

From the study itself, the General Comments section includes things that Fort Wayne citizens said during the interview process.

• “First impression and consistency make a big difference to visitors. Was impressed with the difference even some of the lower-cost enhancements can make.”
• “With the ever increasing sports tourism dollars coming into our community, we should upgrade signage for our sports facilities.”
• “From a cost/benefit standpoint, what could be a better investment than people’s impression of our community. They only typically see a small part-put our money there.”
• “It’s the first thing people see in Fort Wayne. Gateways need to be well maintained. We need increasing signage as a part of the beautification project. People will feel more welcomed and comfortable if they know how to get around.”
• “The beautification of the city is the key to attracting businesses and individuals.”

So it seems that the citizens of Fort Wayne want the city to place additional funds into create stronger gateways and focus on better first impressions.

I go back to that sign on the wall at Grumpy’s in Cleveland.  Every part of the city from the design to marketing, to the restaurateur is looking at ways to enhance the city image on social media through first impressions. It might have been a stretch to say three years ago, but today first impressions take place on Social Media and a person who is looking to relocate a business, move their family or even look at a place to visit will begin research on Instagram over a polished website with glossy professional photos. They say the times have changed, and truly they have as authentic, raw, real photography and storytelling are becoming the currency in which economic development and business is handled.

TEN FEET TO SAVE YOUR LIFE

“The city is not a concrete jungle, it is a human zoo.”

— Desmond Morris, The Human Zoo

Those words from The Human Zoo still are as profound today as they were when the book was released. The book describes how cities, like zoos, are often unnatural habitats for creatures who call them home. However, people just like animals will rise to the new surrounding and find ways to either conquer or maintain and find their new role in the larger arena. We also will often, just like our animal like counterparts, become creatures of habit once we have made our mark or have settled into a routine. Because of this natural stage of growth in our life, change is considered evil and creates intimidating fear. Not necessarily the fear of change, but the fear of the unknown is what will often keep many awake at night and cause heartache, anxiety, and street. This fear we will often spread among others, because isn’t it just like a zoo…our support network needs to be in the same cage with us and we must get through it together?

A few years ago, leaders in Fort Wayne began discussing the idea of street diets on certain streets in the city. The concept behind street dieting isn’t anything new, often the plan is to reduce vehicular accidents because these diets will calm traffic and make people more aware. However once the plan was announced, a wave of fear and anxiety spread over the city like a cloud from Pompeii, the message boards on WANE-TV were reaching warp speed meltdown and many in the city who were comfortable with fifty feet wide downtown streets were faced with the fear of the unknown. Since the city began working on the project, roads in downtown Fort Wayne are now seeing more foot traffic than they have since the birth of the suburban boom and businesses are relocating to store fronts that were often thought lost and abandoned. In fact, an interesting statistic that many have forgotten is that just as thought, reduced lanes have also decreased the number of vehicular accidents in Fort Wayne. A recent study from the Midwest Research Center reported “A safety evaluation of lane widths for arterial roadway segments found no indication except in limited cases, that the use of narrower lanes increases the crash frequency and in fact indicate that narrower lanes were associated with lower rather than higher crash frequencies. 

So where did this fear of narrow streets come from in the first place? All we have to do is look deep into our city history to find out that roads were never this wide until the late 1950’s. The thought of twelve-foot lanes was almost a national standard and research continued to point out that drivers felt safer on a wider street than they would on a ten-foot wide lane. What happened was not what they expected at all. City thoroughfares began dying off from the traditional walkable neighborhood feel to a more decaying urban scene. Pockets of city streets had stretches of shopping, but many were set back over 100 feet from the primary road fronted with a gnarly mixture of pavement and cars in a place called “the parking lot.” In essence, what people used to consider a comfortable, walkable neighborhood were now in a concrete zoo and just as stated earlier, people began getting comfortable with their surroundings and settled in with a new way of life. The booming era of the personal vehicle made driving 15-20 minutes each way to the grocery store a part of the everyday life and traffic continued to build without any end in sight.

Then, something began to shift in the universe of traffic engineering. Cities began looking at their declining populations and globalization and decided that doing things the way they had been done for so long wasn’t going to work anymore. New York City was one of the first to push road diets, protected bike lanes, and walkable neighborhoods and just like Fort Wayne began upsetting the creatures in the zoo. Josh Benson, director of bicycle and pedestrian programs for the New York City Department of Transportation said: “I think there are those people who had the perception that travel times increased just because visually they saw the roadway looked different.” Local media outlets began pushing out stories that were false from start to finish with poorly researched data creating a cycle of fear that perpetuated borough meetings around the city and officials had two choices, back off or push harder. Armed with proper research from other nations and cities that had seen success, New York persevered and pushed forward, leaving bread crumbs of education, research and information for all to see and it took a lot of buy in before people started to experience that change isn’t always a bad thing. One of the first projects was finished in 2007 when 9th street was turned into a complete street with bike lanes, wider sidewalks and imagine this…ten foot lanes. A nearly 10 block stretch of the city was transformed and the last thing they had expected was the economic benefit that would soon follow. Businesses along the street saw an increase of 49% in spending while the rest of Manhattan only saw a modest 3% growth. Benson called the project a success and has now completed over 30 miles of improved multi-modal streets.

After an unexpected economic improvement along the stretch of roadway, two additional fears from complete street change were put to rest. The headline in the New York Post said “walkers and bikers will create havoc on 9th” but this of course was released without any substantial research or information proving the headline to be true. The article from the Post discussed the increased amount of traffic congestion on an already busy stretch of roadway as vehicles would lose two lanes for bicyclists and pedestrians. The concern was that with the increased congestion, it would cause traffic to back up and people to slow down making the commute longer. However, a recent study from an independent research firm found just the opposite happened on this ten-block stretch of roadway. The headline of the report called “Ten Feet To Save Your Life” said traffic flow actually has improved with ten-foot lane widths. Vehicles move safer down the stretch of roadway without the fear of bicycles or pedestrians that may block their travel as they have a dedicated space. In addition to the improved flow of traffic, the study found that the number of vehicles, pedestrian, and bike accidents have dropped by nearly 33% along the stretch of road.

While the fear continues to exist that road diets will cause traffic jams and lack of access to city essentials such as your $4.99 cup of Starbucks, time and time again it’s been proven that walkable, bike friendly streets work. While the city continues to place money improving neighborhoods and sidewalks, it’s time to invest in making them friendly for all modes of transportation. Maybe Fort Wayne, just like Indianapolis was onto something with the street diets and bike lanes. Maybe it’s time to get people solving the real issues facing our neighborhoods and focus on making them a vital, connected, walk able, bike friendly and vibrant part of the city.

FAST CARS

Over 100 years ago, fast cars are what put Indianapolis on the map. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has long been one of the economic drivers for Central Indiana and that image of speed even lent a marketing campaign for the state known as ReStart Your Engines. As the city grew, so did the roadways and the number of cars using said roads around the city. A large portion of Indy’s downtown was even removed to make way for fast cars including the horrid I-65/I-70 split that separated the Historic Fletcher Place Neighborhood and Fountain Square causing years of neglect and abandonment in some of the near neighborhoods. During the highway boom, nearly 60 years ago, neighborhoods were bull dozed in the name of fast cars and Indianapolis was no stranger. A 2009 story by WTHR even recognized the poor ranking by Walkability.com, a website that scores each neighborhood for their safe modes of alternative transportation. The city ranked #37 out of a total of 40 metered cities, making the capital city one of the worst in overall performance only beating Jacksonville Florida. While city officials pushed off the notion of bad street design, the image would continue to harm the city for the next several months, keeping Indy the car-centric community it had been for nearly a century.

As the depths of the recession continued to sink in for the city, Mayor Ballard who was considered an economic transitional Mayor recognized the only way to jump-start the economic growth and vitality of the city was to change the way of thinking. A city that continually designed for automobile over pedestrian or bicyclist began to realize the roadmap of progress took place on sidewalks, bike lanes AND street infrastructure combined. In 2010, the city had a mere five miles of bike lanes with a few additional miles planned, but it wasn’t enough. A report called Indianapolis Bikeways Plan was adopted by city leaders and would add an additional 200 miles of bike lanes across the city by 2020. Simply doing things the way they had been done for so long wouldn’t work anymore and a change needed to be made. Brian Payne, often noted as the creator of Indy’s famed Cultural Trail started to see the vision of an eight-mile neighborhood connector, protected bike lane come to life.  Little did the city expect that this one project would be a catalyst for nearly 1 Billion in economic investment along with a reduction in overall bike related fatalities. This one project has changed an entire city’s way of thinking and planning which may be one of the biggest reasons Indianapolis pulled through the economic recession so well compared to other cities similar in size.

Indianapolis at the time wasn’t ahead of the pack, but at the same time wasn’t in the last place. While the city had a few miles of bike lanes, it ranked nearly dead last in cities with a strong biking community which continued to plague the city for talent attraction and retention. A study in Washington DC found that on a street where there is a protected bike lane, the amount of bicycle traffic increased nearly seven times faster than the citywide rate. It’s been proven that there is a direct economic link between bike travel and business retention, talent retention and growth. The city decided to be proactive and took a lesson from the success in Washington DC when designing their latest protected bike lane for Pennsylvania Avenue, as it’s the first of many protected lanes to come. Downtown Indianapolis continues to see increased bicycle ridership and many recognize the city’s efforts to become a more walk-able and bike friendly city. In 2015, Metropolitan Magazine named Indianapolis the only city in the United States as the most livable place which is quite an honor when you recognize how many other cities missed the necessary marks to compete. That was partly due to the increased efforts by city leaders to ditch design for fast cars exclusively and make the city friendly for all modes of transportation. Since the article and latest investments by the city, Indy is now ranked the 3rd most walkable city in the country. Its bike friendliness score continues to increase as well, jumping into the teens which are quite a substantial improvement from just five years ago.

All we have to do is take a short trip to Indy and see the success of their recent bike friendly investments. Imagine if Fort Wayne had the funding to make North Clinton a bike-friendly multi-modal street with protected bike lanes. It could be the first in Northeast Indiana as the street connects three large schools, two shopping centers, neighborhoods and an apartment community.

How do we change the mindset from Fast Cars to Friendly Streets?

INDIANA REGIONAL CITIES | NORTHEAST INDIANA

Indiana Regional Cities | Northeast Indiana

With much anticipation, the Indiana Regional Cities Initiative bids are now due to the state of Indiana and last night, we all got a sneak peek of what to expect. Tim Pape of Carson Boxberger energized the crowd with his cheerleader stylized chant “No To Slow, No To No, Yes To Grow, Yes To Go!” A crowd of 200+ community and business leaders from all over the 11 county region stretching from Warsaw to Angola, Fort Wayne and Berne gathered in the beautiful new Mirro Center at Parkview Hospital. Everyone in attendance came to their feet and applauded the efforts of the entire committee who worked diligently for over 100 days non-stop on preparing our bid to win the $42 Million in Indiana Regional Cities funding.

“Today, we are more than halfway to the finish line” said John Sampson Executive Director of the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership. As the evening moved on, we were given information prepared by world leading economists Fourth Economy including the opportunities we have as a region if we change our mindset and focus on growth. Sampson and John Urbahns both exclaimed that because of the collaborative efforts from over 33 cross-sector Steering Committee members, 150 county working group participants, unanimous support of the 105-member Regional Opportunities Council members, Mayors’ and Commissioners’ Caucus, Legislative Delegation, Local Economic Development Organzation Council and the Millennial Leaders Alliance representing the collective, economic interests of eleven counties of Northeast Indiana that our application represents a decade of proactive, intentional effort to build a powerful regional collaborative that will step up and accept the challenge of being an Indiana Regional Cities community.The Road To One Million goal represents the vision to grow the population in the Northeast Indiana region from 780,000 today to 1,000,000 residents by 2031. Knowing that if we follow the current trends and growth rate we are expected to only grow by 53,000 in the next ten years, the vision of those involved will help us change that pace and help turn Northeast Indiana into a regional economic powerhouse. This would include an increase of 120,000 workers into the economy, a full doubling of our real GDP, an additional 40,000 children under 17, nearly 100,000 new young adults, 143,000 more housing units, 119% growth among adults with a degree and more!

The following projects were presented to the crowd last night and include a mix of prioritized projects that support the principles set forth by the IEDC (Indiana Economic Development Corporation). Some of the projects are both large and small but will all provide a great impact to the Northeast Indiana Region. In two years, the region will implement 38 projects totaling $400 million in investment. In total, the plan represents over $1.4 billion in projects. All of the items fall into four categories

CONNECTION TO NATURE: Greenways and Blueways such as the Regional Trail Network and Fort Wayne Riverfront Development.

CONNECTION TO COMMUNITY: Downtown and Community development projects that make the region a great place to live by investing $40 million per community in redevelopment and revitalization.

CONNECTION TO CULTURE: Arts and culture projects that support cultural districts across the entire Northeast Indiana region that build on the individual assets of the communities involved.

CONNECTION TO IDEAS: Education and industry driven projects that will help retain and attract entrepreneurs and the much needed student base. These include no less than five co-working incubator spaces anchored in downtowns across the region.

A list of projects that will expect to get match funding to begin within the two year time frame are listed in no specific order:

Fort Wayne Riverfront Development (Ft. Wayne) – $68 Million for the first phase which will include a promenade on both the north and south banks of the St. Mary’s River, expansion of Lawton Park, location of a rail-themed attraction and a large parking structure due to the displacement of surface lots.

Regional Trail Network – $72 Million for the development of nearly 110 additional miles of trails across every county represented in the RDA.

Kendallville Outdoor Recreation Complex (Kendallville) – Phase 2 of the center will include four additional softball/baseball fields to build on the successful first phase. A mobile community stage to support concerts, movies in the park and a children’s theater will also be included.

Decatur Nature Preserve and Greenway (Decatur) – A 40 acre nature preserve new downtown Decatur located along the River Greenway trail system will be a centerpiece for the thriving county seat.

Blue River/Eel River Canoe & Kayak Launches (Columbia City / North Manchester) – These two bookend launch points will connect paddlers to historic downtowns in Columbia City and North Manchester and their current/planned trail systems.

Roann Covered Bridge Park (Roann) – A park will highlight the historic covered bridge, create a gateway into downtown Roann and provide ample space for an expanded farmers market.

The Landing (Ft. Wayne) – A $20 million project will help redevelop seven buildings and two parking lots on West Columbia Street in the heart of Fort Wayne. The buildings will become mixed-use with a common theme and branding.

North Buffalo Streetscape and Redevelopment (Warsaw) – Infrastructure improvements within a two block area stretching from downtown to the lakefront, including redevelopment of the old Warsaw water treatment plant.

400 East Washington (Ft. Wayne)  – The entire block will be available for redevelopment including housing, retail and office space with a planned 45 residential units in the existing warehouse and 30 newly constructed units and row houses.

McMillen Park Scholar House and Grand Family Housing (Ft. Wayne) – A much needed redevelopment of 23 acres inside city limits which will include 50 new units of housing for families pursuing an education while raising children and 22 units for grandparents who are primary care-givers.

Huntington UB and Opera Block Redevelopment (Huntington) – Three historic buildings in downtown Huntington will be redeveloped to feature retail and potential office or residential space located across from the courthouse.

Rock City Lofts (Wabash) – Historic building renovation in downtown Wabash into 41 senior apartments with a first floor senior center.

Columbia City Aquatics Facility (Columbia City) – New outdoor aquatics facility that will include two water slides, play features for children, a six lane lap pool, vortex water feature and a grassy area to host picnics or other recreational activities.

Gatke Power Plant Redevelopment (Warsaw) – A vacant power plant in Warsaw will be converted into much needed community meeting space with supporting entertainment and micro-brewery.

Manchester Early Learning Center (North Manchester) – A new state-of-the-art facility will accommodate over 100 children, alleviating the current 54-child waiting list.

Warsaw-Winona Gateway (Warsaw) – Gateway beautification along Argonne Road will include a redesigned railroad underpass, “right-sizing” the driving lanes, sidewalks, streetscaping and a new roundabout at Kings Highway.

Bluffton Community Re-Investment Program (Bluffton) – A new matching program to support exterior facade improvements, interior improvements and demolition where needed in the city of Bluffton.

Wabash Playground (Wabash) – The specially designed playground will cater to children of all abilities and needs and connect to the nearby River Greenway Trail system.

Downtown Decatur Facade Improvements (Decatur) – Facade Improvement program will complement other downtown improvements, such as streetscaping, parking, and the sculpture tour.

Performing Arts Center (Bluffton) – A new live entertainment venue that would catalyze riverfront development and connect to the riverfront trail system would be a focal point for Bluffton residents and businesses.

Wagon Wheel Center For The Arts (Warsaw) – Expansion of the Warsaw arts magnet would include a symphony performance hall, visiting artist housing, education program spaces, studios and galleries.

Embassy Theatre (Ft. Wayne) – The remaining four hotel floors need to be renovated. The building has sat unused for more than forty years and the renovation would include ballrooms, rehearsal spaces, classrooms and a rooftop garden in downtown Fort Wayne.

Vice Presidential Museum and Learning Center (Huntington) – National center would be located in Huntington near the university offering education to visitors on the Office of the Vice President.

2nd Street Lofts (Decatur) – This co-work space would be located in downtown Decatur and include 30 affordable apartments targeted at artists and entrepreneurs.

Eagles Theater (Wabash) – Redevelopment of the second and third floors would allow the community to have a home for arts organizations and even provide much needed event space.

Clyde Theater (Ft. Wayne) – Redevelopment of the former Clyde Movie Theater in the Quimby Village Shopping Center that will include a multi-purpose arts and entertainment center. It will offer concerts and events a 2,200 standing capacity space.

South Whitley Arts Initiative (South Whitley) – Redevelopment of several downtown structures to leverage the presence of Fox Products as well as the creation of a downtown amphitheater.

Achbold-Wilson Park (Ossian) – New amphitheater located in Ossian would serve as an interactive and flexible community space designed to host several year round activities.

IPFW Center for Leadership (Ft. Wayne) – The new education building on the campus of IPFW will house the Doermer School of Business, the Hospitality Management Program, a public visual and performing arts gallerty and the IPFW Center for Leadership.

City Campus (Ft. Wayne) – A public-private partnership between Wunderkammer Company and Ivy Tech Northeast to support development, attraction, and retention of creative talent by developing a culinary incubator, live/work spaces, and arts studios and galleries.

University of Saint Francis (Ft. Wayne) – Revitalization of two historic buildings in downtown Fort Wayne will accomodate the School of Business and Entrepreneurial Leadership and the School of Creative Arts Music Technology, which will bring 300 students, faculty and staff to downtown.

Food Innovation Center (Bluffton) – A new 40,000 square foot center for innovators, the education of the workforce in the food industry and the expansion and value-added abilities within the entire Northeast Indiana food network.

Northern Lakes Country Enterprise Center (Angola) – Conversion of an existing 70,000 sf complex located on nearly 5 acres of land in Angola into a business incubator space. The building will include co-working space and a dedicated industrial training facility, complete with welding and CNC machining training equipment.

The Marina Entrepreneurial Center (Ft. Wayne) – A join venture between Saint Francis and the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center would house co-working space, business accelerator and immersive entrepreneurial programs.

Huntington University Digital Media Arts Program (Huntington) – Relocation of the program to a historic downtown structure would support entrepreneurship services for students and house the Digital Media Arts Program

Little Crow (Warsaw) – Renovate a historic building in downtown Warsaw to support new orthopedic companies.

Library Maker Spaces (Regional) – Creation of a variety of maker-space facilities in libraries across the region that will provide the community access to 3D printing, electronics, recording, artistic, engineering, and design equipment.

In less than 10 years, the City of Fort Wayne and Northeast Indiana have seen over $470 Million in public-private investments. We can do this because we are the contender in a land full of kings!

INDIANA REGIONAL CITIES | SOUTHWEST INDIANA

Indiana Regional Cities | Southwest Indiana

Hoch Associates has been a long time advocate of the Indiana Regional Cities initiative which was originally announced by the IEDC in November 2014 as a way to fight population stagnation and potential decline. Statistics have shown us that in the last 50 years, only two Indiana counties have grown faster than the nation as a whole. While our business climate is ranked among the best in the entire nation, most counties are still projected to lose people and potentially jobs at a rate that should concern most everyone in the state. This is why we believe that the Regional Cities initiative set forth by the state is essential in making Indiana really a “State That Works.” During the program reveal, state leaders shared a few benchmark regions that communities in Indiana should look to imitate including Austin Texas, Provo Utah, Manhattan Kansas, Denver Colorado and Boise Idaho. These communities have seen exponential growth by investing heavily in improving the quality of life that attracts and retains residents and jobs, creating healthy and vibrant communities. We truly believe the Indiana Regional Cities Initiative is a #powerfulidea that will help put Indiana on a path of success in the coming decades.

With the upcoming presentations to the state on Tuesday, October 6th and Wednesday, October 7th, we wanted to share a snapshot of each regions submissions to secure the $42 Million in funding. Each region had several steps to complete prior to presenting their projects to the state including the creation of physical regions that would work together as a collective to distribute the monies if received. While most regions rushed to complete each of the steps, others unfortunately couldn’t get full support from necessary counties and leaders. For example, in the 11th hour one fiercely competitive region “Southeast Indiana” couldn’t get all the necessary approvals from Floyd, Washington and Harrison Counties which then forced them to bow out of the race. Others, including Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership worked diligently on getting a consensus of leadership from several counties and joint agencies to compete for the quality of place improvement funds allocated by the state.

INDIANA REGIONAL CITIES: SOUTHWEST

Today, we are focusing on the presentation that will be submitted for review to the Indiana Regional Cities initiative by the Southwest Indiana Regional Development Authority.

Counties: VANDERBURGH, WARRICK, GIBSON and POSEY

Indiana’s third largest city and economic impact center is Evansville, nicely situated in what is called Indiana’s Great Southwest in this presentation. Boasting well over a quarter million people this bold plan calls for the increase of population which will then trigger several private economic development projects that will continue to enhance and grow the region.  Immediately, the report calls out the disparity of area populations with Posey County losing the most at 4.3% but places like Warrick County actually seeing an increase of 13.9%. No surprise as we have seen in other reports that a continued issue is the growing age gap pushing the southwest regions population about 2 years above the state average at nearly 39 years old. While the region boasts 8 independent schools for higher education, only 20,000 students are pursuing high ed and 21.5% of the population has a Bachelors Degree or higher, slightly behind the state average. As a region, it’s been “holding it’s own” and unlike other communities in the state, experiencing modest growth. Some key findings by the Greater Evansville: Place For Young Professionals study show that the region needs to keep working on a strong central identity, create a push to fill in and promote downtown Evansville and the city/region should place an emphasis on attracting and retaining the Millennial generation.

The region has a strong manufacturing heritage due mostly to its location on the Ohio River, but with most manufacturing jobs recently the area is also seeing some economic difficulties. Items include the decline of housing stock in traditional blue-collar neighborhoods where industry has moved out, millennials often complaining there is “nothing to do” citing several other nearby cities and their abundance of activity and the lack of high speed internet according to the National Broadband Map placing Evansville at 368 of 370 metros. While the region is facing some challenges, it also has many opportunities that can be transformational in their impact on growth. The Indiana University School of Medicine, Multi-Institutional Academic Health Science Education and Research University in downtown Evansville is a medical school campus that will be constructed in a six block area, with the likelihood of over doubling the investment of $75 million. A new downtown Evansville Convention Hotel constructed on an adjacent block will allow the healthcare industry to utilize the space to enhance the region. Agricultural production continues to be an unsung asset of Southwest Indiana, Posey and Gibson ranking among the highest providing a resource for food processing manufacturers. The Ohio River offers several leisure, recreational, commercial and scenic opportunities for residents and visitors which will improve the overall quality of life. Transportation Logistics with a newly connected Interstate 69 and the sixth largest U.S. inland river port district. Diverse Industry base and world-class businesses such as Berry Plastics, ALCOA, SABIC Innovative, AstraZeneca and Toyota have all provided resources to a growing community.

By 2025, the plan calls for the region to grow its population by 70,000 people helping Indiana achieve the goal of growing its population by 2 million persons in 10 years. It also calls to expand its employment base in the manufacturing and healthcare industries, with an emphasis on innovation, research and development, thus attracting talent to stay or relocate in the region. Reinforce Evansville’s role as regional city and leverage its strategic location to gain market share currently being captured by Nashville, St. Louis and Louisville. Repopulate urban centers, especially the city of Evansville with a focus on urban renewal and mixed-use development and transform Evansville’s downtown area into a vibrant 24/7 urban event with a variety of choices for dining, nightlife, entertainment, housing and overall unique experiences.

PRIORITY PROJECTS FOR THE SWIRDA

1. Indiana University School of Medicine Multi-Institutional Academic Health Science Education and Research Facility.
The project involves the construction of the Indiana University School of Medicine in downtown Evansville and the development of an associated research facility. The function is to help ensure that the region has adequate physicians and healthcare professionals to meet future demands of a growing population. The IU School of Medicine will bring a new dynamic to Evansville and the new medical campus will transform the downtown area. The investment in new structures, along with an influx of students, faculty and related resources will help to spawn and drive additional development in the area. It’s important to note that the project’s success is built upon the collaboration of competing healthcare providers including Deaconess, St. Mary’s Health Network, Memorial Hospital and Good Samaritan. The research facility component will be the larger economic driver for the project. Plans call for a separate 15,000 square foot structure adjacent to the IU School of Medicine including a neuro imaging MRI/PET scanner for imaging research in mental health, geriatrics/aging and other neuroscience clinical research.

Future phases of the project include the Ivy Tech Nursing School which will be connected to the IU school of Medicine Campus. Additional private investment includes upgrades by a local healthcare provider in investing $22,500,000 for its medical campus. Another healthcare provider will be investing $15,000,000 in upgrades to its medical campus and a public/private partnership plans to invest $5,000,000 to develop student housing options on the campus.

2. New Urban Living Research Center
Through a series of engagements between Vectren and Haier America a unique development concept that can help attract talent and create considerable economic development opportunity has been realized. The new downtown housing facility would serve as a platform for research and development associated with energy efficiency and “connected” appliances. The new structure would serve as a design standard for future downtown housing developments, another important design consideration will be the ability of units to accommodate the change out of appliances, products and construction materials and systems. It could also be of considerable interest to the University of Evansville engineering and business departments, as well as the University of Southern Indiana engineering school and engagement office.

3. Downtown Housing & Fitness Campus
The downtown Evansville YMCA project provides an important anchor development in the heart of the city. It is understood by development professionals that vibrant YMCA facilities are an important part of successful downtown urban areas. The YMCA provides downtown residents ready access to health and wellness resources and fosters the creation and maintenance of a healthy community and workforce. The project includes the construction of a new and modern YMCA just north of the existing facility. A portion of the existing YMCA would then be renovated to maintain the swimming pool, basketball courts and related sporting venues. The 1913 building would be re-purposed and available space in the current YMCA building would serve as much needed storage space and administrative back office area. Finally, the YMCA will re-purpose their former residential structure to create student-oriented downtown housing for potential use by students of the IU School of Medicine. The housing could provide 50 rental units and the entire building may accommodate as many as 80.

4. The Market @ Walnut
The regional development plan seeks to support the coming Market @ Walnut project which will enhance mixed-use development in the downtown Evansville area that is capable of changing the regions perspective on urban living. The plan is to build the space along the Ohio River leveraging one of the regions key valuable assets. In addition to downtown housing, the space will include much desired commercial space and hopes to attract a national pharmacy and urban scale grocery store. Another unique feature of the development is a public space for events, concerts and community gatherings.

Additional housing opportunities in downtown include a $15,000,000 investment in the renovation of the McCurdy building, $10,000,000 for the Sterling Brewery Facility which will also include commercial space and the hopes of transforming the 18 story 420 Main Building (former headquarters of Old National Bank).

5. Regional Connector Trails
Nearly $3 million in regional cities funding would go toward the efforts in implementing the regional connector trails projects. Trails include the North Main Connector increasing connectivity from downtown to the new north Main Street, IU School of Medicine to University of Evansville connector along Walnut Avenue, IU School of Medicine to West Franklin Street (an established entertainment and restaurant district), University of Evansville to Roberts Park and Haynie’s Corner to Greenway along Adams Avenue. Additional projects include the IU School of Medicine Loop, New North Main Street Trail Warrick County Trail Network and River Bend Trails in Mount Vernon.

6. Signature School Science Center
The first charter high school in the state of Indiana opened in Evanville in August 2002 recognized by the Washington Post as the 6th best high school in the country and #1 in the Midwest. The project would include the addition of new classrooms, labs and commons areas serving an additional 90 students. With the proximity to the new Medical Education and Research Facility, this will serve as an attraction for top Med School faculty and researches with the opportunity for a world class education for their children.

7. Oakland City University Downtown
Oakland City University realized that their residency halls are starting to become dated and needed to be updated or replaced. In the course of considering new locations for campus housing, the university recognized that the downtown was only 3 blocks away from the eastern boundary of the campus. Community and University leaders decided to collaborate and stop the slow decline of the downtown area. The housing project would be a mixed use development that would provide retail-commercial space on the ground floor and residential units above. An expanded mixed-use development concept includes a small hotel operation to serve the needs of the university and area businesses along with a number of market rate housing units. A new connector trail from the downtown student housing facility to the OCU campus would also be featured and plans to develop a new performing arts center located along the connector between campus and downtown.

8. Victoria National Conference Center
Victoria National Golf Club is located in scenic Newburgh, a private 18-hole course that was designed by a world famous architect. The goal is to host important programming such as the PGA and USGA major golf events on a regular basis. While work has progressed rapidly at the site, the Indiana Regional Cities Investment would help secure the additional items needed including an event center facility. The conference center would be located in the Friedman Park that is adjacent to Victoria National, Warrick County also intends to include additional park improvements that will be of value to residents and the future success of Victoria National. Additional improvements include trails, playgrounds, picnic shelters, restrooms, parking and staging areas and a pedestrian bridge between Friedman Park and Victoria National.

9. Warrick County Wellness Trail
Located near the former I-164 (now I-69) and the Lloyd Expressway cloverleaf is the Epworth Road/Highway 66 Medical District which also includes the Warrick Wellness Trail. Situated to become the regional healthcare hub withing 56 miles of ten Indiana counties, eight Kentucky counties and four Illinois counties, the major healthcare providers have all situated locations along this corridor. The Regional Cities funds would be to the benefit of Warrick County so it can complete the remaining infrastructure improvements to create a fully functional healthcare campus development. Future developments will solidify the regions role as a center of healthcare and wellness and include:
A new medical center that will create 175 new jobs and provide an estimated investment of $75,000,000.
A new hotel to begin construction in 2016 and create up to 50 jobs, a second hotel will begin construction in 2018 and support an additional 50 jobs.
Two new Medical Office Buildings, the first beginning in 2016 and creating 40 jobs, the second will start in 2017 and create an additional 40 jobs with an investment of $20,000,000.
The creation of a new continuing care facility that will create 75 new jobs and is slated to begin in 2016.
A new Life Style apartment development will begin in 2016.
Hospital related developments that will start in 2016 and create 60 new jobs.
Additional retail and commercial development to support the areas growth.

10. New Harmony Arts & Food Project
New Harmony has quickly gained the reputation as an arts and cultural destination for the tri-state region. The proposed New Harmony Arts and Food Project seeks to capitalize on the uniqueness of the New Harmony community and the experiences it provides. The project includes the conversion of a vacant high school into an educational center for arts and local foots. The goal with WMI (Working Men’s Institute) is to convert the space into a conservatory and will offer instruction in many areas including, but not limited to, those supporting the arts and local agricultural pursuits. The renovation of the Odd Fellows Hall into a storefront and childrens museum will add considerable value to the community and renovate one of the few unimproved structures along the Main Street corridor. A vacant lot on the southwest corner of Main and Church streets has been identified for an outdoor market. The project would include the construction of said facility that can accommodate three seasons, installation of a durable floor structure and the outdoor market will be the perfect complement to the unique shopping experiences in the community. Finally, to enhance the experience plans call for the repurposing of the New Harmony Way Bridge into a bike/pedestrian trail and park. The initial structure was erected in 1929 and closed to vehicular traffic in May of 2012.

11. Broadband Demonstration Project
$1,000,000 in regional cities funding would be dedicated to the expansion of regional broadband. The project begins in the rural areas of the region and help outlying areas better align with urban resources such as healthcare and education. This follows in the call of action set forth by Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann, who led engagement programs at the University of Southern Indiana and pursued to expand broadband efforts along the I-69 Innovation Corridor Project.

12. Evansville Regional Airport Terminal Renovation
Th terminal serves as the regional airport for three states and at 25 years of age, is considerable dated and does not meet current expectations. The updated terminal would add considerable value to the efforts of local companies to grow their businesses, attract talent, develop new customers and improve the quality of supply chains. Recent success has been the attraction of new flights to both Charlotte and Chicago, with industries such as Berry Plastics and Haier, an improved transportation hub is essential in the growth of the region. Evansville traffic is up 20-30% which is a direct result of not only the airline’s investment in Evansville but also the community putting money back into the airport through flights out, parking fees, etc.

INDIANA REGIONAL CITIES | EAST CENTRAL INDIANA

Indiana Regional Cities | East Central Indiana

Hoch Associates has been a long time advocate of the Indiana Regional Cities initiative which was originally announced by the IEDC in November 2014 as a way to fight population stagnation and potential decline. Statistics have shown us that in the last 50 years, only two Indiana counties have grown faster than the nation as a whole. While our business climate is ranked among the best in the entire nation, most counties are still projected to lose people and potentially jobs at a rate that should concern most everyone in the state. This is why we believe that the Regional Cities initiative set forth by the state is essential in making Indiana really a “State That Works.” During the program reveal, state leaders shared a few benchmark regions that communities in Indiana should look to imitate including Austin Texas, Provo Utah, Manhattan Kansas, Denver Colorado and Boise Idaho. These communities have seen exponential growth by investing heavily in improving the quality of life that attracts and retains residents and jobs, creating healthy and vibrant communities. We truly believe the Indiana Regional Cities Initiative is a #powerfulidea that will help put Indiana on a path of success in the coming decades.

With the upcoming presentations to the state on Tuesday, October 6th and Wednesday, October 7th, we wanted to share a snapshot of each regions submissions to secure the $42 Million in funding. Each region had several steps to complete prior to presenting their projects to the state including the creation of physical regions that would work together as a collective to distribute the monies if received. While most regions rushed to complete each of the steps, others unfortunately couldn’t get full support from necessary counties and leaders. For example, in the 11th hour one fiercely competitive region “Southeast Indiana” couldn’t get all the necessary approvals from Floyd, Washington and Harrison Counties which then forced them to bow out of the race. Others, including Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership worked diligently on getting a consensus of leadership from several counties and joint agencies to compete for the quality of place improvement funds allocated by the state.

INDIANA REGIONAL CITIES: EAST CENTRAL

Today, we are focusing on the presentation that will be submitted for review to the Indiana Regional Cities initiative by the East Central Indiana Regional Development Authority.

Counties: BLACKFORD, DELAWARE, HENRY, JAY, MADISON and RANDOLPH

We love that the regions presentation opens with a one sheet ‘by the numbers’ page making it easy for those who might be just glancing through the proposal. The 58 cities and towns combined provide Indiana with a population of 356,448 (roughly the population of Allen County). Stretching from Pendleton to Portland, the ADVANCE plan covers six east central Indiana counties with Muncie being the centerpiece. A well designed and thought out presentation opens with some serious key findings that the region is comfortable to admit. After a peak population in 1980, the region has slowly declined, with a decrease of nearly 2% since 2000, the hardest hit of all counties is Blackford losing nearly 11% of the population. Another issue for the region is the loss of younger adults, while the number of college-aged residents is higher than the state and national average, the 25-44 segment is smaller by nearly 3%. The region faces an aging issue as well, with the median age of residents moving from 37.2 to 39.8, this is a trend we continue to see around several communities in Indiana. While the statistics continue to stack up against the region in population, another blow comes from the number of families that are disappearing as of late, by nearly 5,500 households since the 2000 census (4%). Good news that the region is excited to share is that of the population 25 and over, levels of educational attainment have increased significantly reporting some college experience or degree. Other positive signs for the region include the growth of per-capita income while increasing slowly, it’s still moving up by nearly 14% since 2000.

The regional economy is worth about $17 billion dollars in annual production, this is a tremendous number for the region to hang their hat on. While the number is great, the concern is that of the region only Madison and Delaware represent the largest suppliers to the annual production coming in at a staggering 67%. The largest sectors for jobs are health care, social services and of course education, but the region is also a leader in STEAM graduates (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts/Architecture and Mathematics). A new area of growth for the region is alternative energy and leaders see this role continuing to expand. The Headwaters Wind Farm in Randolph County produces 200 mega watts of energy per year, over 200 wind turbines produce 400+ megawatts of electricity annually for the region making it a viable resource for the county. In addition to new industry opportunities, available shovel-ready land in the region is abundant, boasting 4,100 acres all connected to one of the states strongest fiber and broadband lines. While the region understands it’s facing an aging population which will significantly impact the workforce, the opportunity is to embrace and retain the potential impact a strong and healthy senior community can provide to the region.

Great assets for the East Central region include the exceptional low cost of living, with the affordability of the region being recognized nationally as the most affordable college town in America. An emerging arts community including the birthplace of Robert Indiana and a strong fine arts program at Ball State all provide a well rounded wealth of opportunity in the region. The abundance of outdoor recreational assets are a true strength and need to be better promoted. With 38 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents and over 120 miles of multi-use trails, the region stands out among others in the state for the natural landscape and recreation options. The region has also declared three benchmark cities in which to measure progress including Bowling Green Kentucky, DeKalb Illinois and Harrisonburg Virginia. Each of these communities have a lot in common in the sense of proximity to a large metro area, similar in population size and have a comparable employment base. The vision for the region is to build a new economy for Indiana and the population that calls the Advance area their home, to create destination communities and to unleash the potential of real estate and skills.

PRIORITY PROJECTS FOR THE ECIRDA

1. Flagship/Purdue Innovation Center – $18.8 Million
A collaborative partnership between Purdue Polytechnic and the Flagship Enterprise Center for sparking ideas, developing new products, building businesses, and growing jobs is a priority project for the region. The facility will be located in Anderson (Madison County) and provide a space, software, and equipment to students, entrepreneurs, and existing businesses for hands-on learning, idea-testing, tinkering, and prototyping. The center is expected to be 90,000 square feet and will include a Creator Space and an Advanced Manufacturing area. 

2. Cintas Makers Hub – $2.61 Million
A vacant 85,000 square foot former industrial facility located in the heart of Muncie will be transformed into a regional makers hub. The primary institutional partners in the initiative are the City of Muncie, Ball State University and Indiana University Health/Ball Memorial Hospital. The mission is to simultaneously restore a prominent structure in the downtown district to an attractive, useful facility and reintroduce the maker culture into the community. The theme for the project is expected to attract people and organizations that are inventive, innovative and entrepreneurial.

3. White River Canal District – $47.8 Million
In the last ten years, Muncie has continued to see growth, especially in the downtown core, but there is a serious lack of available housing and high quality of life areas to attract and retain the necessary amount for continued growth. The focus of this redevelopment plan is on providing the necessary urban-style housing options that do not exist in the Central City by building off the existing river and greenway. Plans call for new urban living options, leveraged and connected greenway investments, new restaurants and other lifestyle service businesses such as salons, fitness cafe, yoga studios and a bike shop, increased value and appeal of adjacent historic districts promoting the reinvestment of the Walnut Street Historic District and the Old West End Historic District.

4. 1400 Plaza – $450,000
A multi-purpose space that connects the Historic Jennings adaptive re-use project to the Henry County Arts Park is envisioned in the 1400 Plaza in New Castle. The LA Jennings Building is being converted into 20 apartments and four new restaurants and substaially will increase activity in the downtown area. The Arts Park and library is a great resource for the community and this plaza will help enhance the connectivity to the new residential space. The plaza is bound by Broad, Race, 14th and 15th streets.

5. Creagor Avenue Greenway – $349,000
A new bicycle and pedestrian path down the length of Creagor Avenue in Portland will connect several key community locations including Portland Place senior housings, Katelyn Place low income housing, Haynes Park and the Judge Haynes Elementary School.

6. Robert Indiana Arts & Cultural Campus – $100,000
At the intersection of 15th and Broad Street, banners and signage would direct visitors along a walking trail to the new Robert Indiana Arts & Cultural Campus. New crosswalks at sixteen highly traveled intersections would be stylized, echoing the artwork of Robert Indiana and several new key landscaped areas would be added to the walk. The New Castle-Henry County Public Library would also be involved in the project where a new outdoor clock would be a great gathering space for the local community. Just south of the library is the new centerpiece of the project, where visitors would be welcomed with a sculpture garden and an Indiana obelisk sculpture that says “MURPHEY”, a replica of Indiana’s famous LOVE sculpture and a plaque detailing the life of the beloved artist. An expanded trail would provide access to the Henry County Historical Society and connect with the Rose City Trail.

7. Safe Routes To School – $255,000
The creation of safe ways for children to travel from key parts of the community including the schools, library and community center would be the focus of this project. Building on a Safe Routes to School plan that the city of Portland and INDOT are developing, INDOT is funding 80% of the construction costs and this would assist the city and county to finish the project while enhancing the capabilities.

8. Wigwam Project – $15,535,000
The former Anderson High School and Gymnasium that closed in 2005 has a reputation across the country as the second largest high school gym in the country. The revitalization of the Wigwam (gym) will provide jobs, training, education, health resources and housing to the adjacent low-income community and residents of the county. With a total of 135,000 square feet of space available, the plan calls for 18,000 square feet of vocational/industrial classroom space, 9,500 seat arena, 840 seat auditorium that can be divided tino 4 classroom/practicum spaces, 6,400 square foot health clinic space, 8,200 square foot commercial kitchen and 36,000 square feet of education and training classrooms. The planned second phase will provide much needed improved housing and retail opportunities.

9. Muncie Cultural Trail – $40 Million
The Muncie Redevelopment Commission is working with the city, the Muncie Arts and Culture Council along with Ball State University to create and develop an innovative multi-modal urban trail that will link the city of Muncie’s four cultural districts, enhance recreation and alternative transportation and encourage infill and redevelopment. Known as the Muncie Arts & Culture Trail, the facility is intended to be more than a greenway or bicycle lane, but a multi-use path an urban amenity that will become a branding tool and destination facility for downtown.

10. Downtown Daleville Redevelopment – $4,390,000
Place making improvements are the key to show how other communities this size can attract a private developer to create a mixed use space in downtown. Improvements to Daleville include streetscape elements, sidewalks, streetlights, landscaping, benches, etc. The project includes demolition and redevelopment of the southeast and southwest corners of downtown Daleville.

11. Kitselman Energy Park – $10 Million
The former Indiana Steel and Wire site is a 50+ acre brownfield in the city limits of Muncie. The drive by view of the site shows acres of bare concrete, a landfill and a chainlink fence. The space, once heavy with contamination is now clean ad safe for development. KPEP have developed a $10 million master plan that brings “Live-Work-Play” concepts to the forefront in Muncie. Located on the White River and Cardinal Bike paths with great frontage on highway 32, the site restores and blends residential housing, jobs and recreation.

12. Interstate 69 Bridge Enhancements – $1,700,000
Pendleton is investing funds to construct a bicycle and pedestrian bridge over the interstate that cuts off portions of the community. The bridge will create multi-modla access across Interstate 69 to connect residential neighborhoods and a recreation camping site on the west side to historic downtown Pendleton on the east. The project, while minor is a catalyst for the community to realize the long-range comprehensive plan to expand multi-modal facilities to undeserved areas of the community. INDOT will act as the consultant as it already is planning for the interchanges at Exit 219 and State Road 38 along with intersection improvements the town is planning to construct on State Street just east of the interchange.

13. Pendleton Road Improvements – $3,500,000
The town of Pendleton is investing funds into intersection improvements on State Street adjacent to the growing business parks. The goal is to improve traffic flow and safety, but also include a multi-modal path to connect the business parks to historic downtown Pendleton.

14. Alexandria Park –  $440,000
Development of 23 acres as a new city park will enhance the quality of life in Alexandria. The space would provide three bridges over Pipe Creek, trails and picnic areas for community gatherings. The goal is to also create trail heads that would accommodate a northern connection for the Monon Trail and Cardinal Greenway.

INDIANA REGIONAL CITIES | WABASH VALLEY

Indiana Regional Cities | Wabash Valley

Hoch Associates has been a long time advocate of the Indiana Regional Cities initiative which was originally announced by the IEDC in November 2014 as a way to fight population stagnation and potential decline. Statistics have shown us that in the last 50 years, only two Indiana counties have grown faster than the nation as a whole. While our business climate is ranked among the best in the entire nation, most counties are still projected to lose people and potentially jobs at a rate that should concern most everyone in the state. This is why we believe that the Regional Cities initiative set forth by the state is essential in making Indiana really a “State That Works.” During the program reveal, state leaders shared a few benchmark regions that communities in Indiana should look to imitate including Austin Texas, Provo Utah, Manhattan Kansas, Denver Colorado and Boise Idaho. These communities have seen exponential growth by investing heavily in improving the quality of life that attracts and retains residents and jobs, creating healthy and vibrant communities. We truly believe the Indiana Regional Cities Initiative is a #powerfulidea that will help put Indiana on a path of success in the coming decades.

With the upcoming presentations to the state on Tuesday, October 6th and Wednesday, October 7th, we wanted to share a snapshot of each regions submissions to secure the $42 Million in funding. Each region had several steps to complete prior to presenting their projects to the state including the creation of physical regions that would work together as a collective to distribute the monies if received. While most regions rushed to complete each of the steps, others unfortunately couldn’t get full support from necessary counties and leaders. For example, in the 11th hour one fiercely competitive region “Southeast Indiana” couldn’t get all the necessary approvals from Floyd, Washington and Harrison Counties which then forced them to bow out of the race. Others, including Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership worked diligently on getting a consensus of leadership from several counties and joint agencies to compete for the quality of place improvement funds allocated by the state.

INDIANA REGIONAL CITIES: WABASH

Today, we are focusing on the presentation that will be submitted for review to the Indiana Regional Cities initiative by the Wabash River Regional Development Authority.

Counties: KNOX, SULLIVAN and VIGO

From all of the executive summaries submitted thus far, while not the smallest in size or ask of submission, it is the smallest of population centers. The very opening paragraph is interesting in that it directly calls out the competition in attraction pool in hopes to draw visitors and employers from Illinois. Calling itself a college and university powerhouse, the Wabash region boasts several well known and respected colleges including Harrison, Indiana State University, Ivy Tech, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, St, Mary of the Woods College and last but not least Vincennes University. Immediately following, a boast of healthcare and medical industries have also found roots in the region providing the area with a unique opportunity to provide research and laboratory space for companies looking to expand their R&D facilities. A key component of the regions unique recent success is the Rural Health Innovation Collaborative located in Union Hospital West. While these economic programs are a great asset to the region, the study makes it clear that the region is just under 170,000 in persons giving it a possible disadvantage in the competition of being a true “regional city.” However, it quickly overcomes this number by stating that the number of college students that populate the three county area in the course of the year makes up by giving the area a unique opportunity to retain the talent upon graduation and the regional cities initiative is necessary to make it happen.

One of the more interesting pieces found inside the pages of this executive summary is the visionary direction of the region. The region as a whole has seemed to notice one of the greatest assets has been severely underutilized and wants to correct that moving forward. The Wabash River region aspires to be as successful and thriving as cities noted: Council Bluffs Iowa, Little Rock Arkansas and San Antonio Texas. The pages are filled with several data points, comparisons to the other cities in regards to population, age breakdowns and industry opportunities. It’s one of the more forefront summaries we have seen. Instead of opening with a list of projects either priority or visionary, it brings out a list of several completed programs and projects as a region to outline the success of the community. First, building off the prior mention of healthcare, the Good Samaritan Hospital – Gibault Memorial Tower located in Vincennes is a point of community pride. The $111 million five story project includes 240,000 square feet of space and will ultimately enhance overall care and efficiency for Knox county residents. Vincennes has also had recent success in lodging, senior housing and hospitality projects with Clark’s Crossing, the adaptive reuse of the former Lincoln Junior High School that was converted into a 47-room affordable senior apartment complex along with an extended stay suite featuring 64 guest rooms located on Willow Street. Just a few miles north in Terre Haute, the region boasts a new Aquatic Center, Sports and Recreation Center, renovated historic Indiana Theater and a world renowned venture business program launched from Rose-Hulman. Sullivan, the smallest of the counties chose to tear down their old Central Elementary School in the center of the city to construct a new all-purpose community center in the former school gymnasium which host events like farmers markets, weddings and live entertainment. Nearly $2 million has also been awarded to the community for blight elimination programs that will remove 65 homes in the city that can be freed for new development and infill.

PRIORITY PROJECTS FOR THE WRRDA

1. ICON Building – $22 Million
The Indiana State University in collaboration with its higher education partners and a private developer are proposing to rehabilitate the former American Can Company location on the banks of the Wabash River. At 180,000 square feet, the three story former industrial space will be able to provide living and working space for emerging entrepreneurs. Because of the prime location of the facility, outdoor activities including, hiking, biking, boating and other athletic sports can be done close by. Nearly 125 market-rate apartments will also populate the newly renovated building. Another unique feature is the open and collaborative work space for freelancers, independents, and start-ups called Launch Terre Haute. Taking a page from the successful Launch Fishers, the space is meant to provide collaboration and entrepreneurial programming.

2. IVY TECH Precision Agriculture Center – $2 Million
An abandoned industrial facility in the South Terre Haute Industrial Park will be the new home of the Ivy Tech Community College Precision Agriculture Center. A new high-tech laboratory for precision agriculture and heavy-to medium diesel will help set Terre Haute and the educational programs at Ivy Tech apart from many other competing communities. Attracting students from around Indiana and especially Illinois, the center will provide geospatial technology, how it is used to control agricultural machinery and its impact on field operations. The demand for diesel technology experts to meet current and projected workforce shortages continues to grow, these facilities will allow the programs to blend their programming to equip students with a well-rounded education. Realization of this project will fill a skills gap, improve the quality of life for our students, and support businesses in a large geographic area.

3. St. Mary’s Of The Woods Equine Program – $4.9 Million
The St. Mary’s College Equine Facility will establish Terre Haute as the leader in equine events on local, state and national platforms. The proposed 30,000 square foot facility will be host to academic equine programming such as pre-veterinarian and the only equine assisted therapy program minor offered in the United States putting Terre Haute on the radar in a national light. The city plans to market and promote the facility to help attract and retain talent and visitors who might be interested in the programs offered.

4. Pioneer Oil Building – $5 Million
The old Hills building located in downtown Vincennes is 35,000 square feet and is being renovated at nearly $150 per square foot to house a new office. Vincennes and the Knox County Development Corporation partnered to provide resources to purchase adjoining real estate, pave a huge parking lot for employees and assist in moving Pioneer Oil’s headquarters from Illinois. The company currently employs 40 administrative positions and another 200 Indiana-hired employees working in Knox and other Indiana counties. This contributes nearly $19 million in payroll to the state once the move is completed.

5. Pantheon Theater – $2.1 Million
The historic Pantheon Theater located in the heart of Vincennes represents the large arts history in the city. The theater was originally designed to accommodate silent films, large road shows and concerts boasting over 1,200 seats. Since Vincennes is roughly halfway between St. Louis and Cincinnati, the theater would become an often regular stop for The Marx Brothers, W.C. Fields and Duke Ellington. The theater was closed in the 1950’s after low attendance and high maintenance costs and was purchased by a local development organization. The dream is to see the theater transformed into a Community Center/Meeting room providing 5,700 square feet of space. The remaining space would be turned into a Primary Care/Walk-In Clinic through a partnership with Good Samaritan Hospital and expect to serve 75-100 patients per day.

6. New Moon Theater – $250,000
A gateway building into downtown Vincennes is the New Moon Theater originally equipped with a stage and motion picture screen that seated 1,200 when opening in 1939. The 9,200 square foot building sits at one of the busiest intersections in the city. The plans call for the creation of a parking lot at the corner of 6th and Main to accommodate the anticipated visitor increase due to both the Pantheon renovation and the New Moon Theater.

7. Kimmell Park Revitalization – $2.5 Million
An 18-acre camping and park area is located near the Vincennes University campus and offers magnificent views of the Wabash River. The revitalization of the major riverfront park will create a hub of new entertainment opportunities where a current blighted campground exists. The plans all for a new walking path along the river to connect the park and the university eventually stretching into downtown Vincennes. The new recreation space along the edge of the park will include a water fountain and plaza, children playground, picnic tables, park benches, green space event space, new restrooms and an outdoor performance venue. Additionally new lighting, road surface and much needed trees and landscaping would be installed with the park to provide an intimate setting that can easily be transformed into a large space to host special local and regional events. The park will be designed to attract the thousands of students that attend the university as well as create a destination for families, friends and business associates.

8. Vincennes University Student Center – $4.35 Million
The oldest college in Indiana is expanding the current campus and most recently broke ground on their new, highly anticipated Student Center. The 20,000 square foot center will include a technology cafe, gaming lounge, study areas, multi-functional spaces, visual display boards, indoor fireplace and an outdoor seating area. Once completed, the facility will join other student amenities including the Student Recreation Center, Aquatic Center and Physical Education Complex all under one roof.

*One interesting note, while reviewing the study, it clearly stood out several times that Sullivan County was not participatory in much of the presentation. None of the priority of vision projects outlined in the report event mention Sullivan County or the benefit it could possibly have, and even in the demographic reports the county was left out because it does not fall within a MSA.

INDIANA REGIONAL CITIES | NORTHERN INDIANA

Indiana Regional Cities Northern Indiana

Hoch Associates has been a long time advocate of the Indiana Regional Cities initiative which was originally announced by the IEDC in November 2014 as a way to fight population stagnation and potential decline. Statistics have shown us that in the last 50 years, only two Indiana counties have grown faster than the nation as a whole. While our business climate is ranked among the best in the entire nation, most counties are still projected to lose people and potentially jobs at a rate that should concern most everyone in the state. This is why we believe that the Regional Cities initiative set forth by the state is essential in making Indiana really a “State That Works.” During the program reveal, state leaders shared a few benchmark regions that communities in Indiana should look to imitate including Austin Texas, Provo Utah, Manhattan Kansas, Denver Colorado and Boise Idaho. These communities have seen exponential growth by investing heavily in improving the quality of life that attracts and retains residents and jobs, creating healthy and vibrant communities. We truly believe the Indiana Regional Cities Initiative is a #powerfulidea that will help put Indiana on a path of success in the coming decades.

With the upcoming presentations to the state on Tuesday, October 6th and Wednesday, October 7th, we wanted to share a snapshot of each regions submissions to secure the $42 Million in funding. Each region had several steps to complete prior to presenting their projects to the state including the creation of physical regions that would work together as a collective to distribute the monies if received. While most regions rushed to complete each of the steps, others, unfortunately, couldn’t get full support from necessary counties and leaders. For example, in the 11th hour one fiercely competitive region “Southeast Indiana” couldn’t get all the necessary approvals from Floyd, Washington and Harrison Counties which then forced them to bow out of the race. Others, including Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, worked diligently on getting a consensus of leadership from several counties and joint agencies to compete for the quality of place improvement funds allocated by the state.

INDIANA REGIONAL CITIES: NORTHERN

Today, we are focusing on the presentation that will be submitted for review to the Indiana Regional Cities initiative by the Northern Indiana Regional Development Authority.

Counties: ST. JOSEPH, ELKHART, and MARSHALL

So far, the only report we have read (up to this point) that opens with a vision statement, and this is something we like. “Northern Indiana is a knowledge-driven, highly connected region that serves and provides access to a global innovation economy. We will be recognized for our World-Class Higher Education and Community Partnerships, Superior Access and Connectivity, and High-Performing Communities. Northern Indiana is the proud home to Notre Dame, and will become a region of connected hubs.”

In Section 4 of the Executive Summary, the Northern Region openly admits that the region is attracting a variety of people, Northern Indiana’s population growth is expected to slow and/or decline over the next couple of decades. An even harder statistic is that between now and 2030, the region will experience a negative population growth of nearly 1.04%. The median age of the region is also an issue as it has climbed from 36.6 to 38.9, which to many doesn’t stand out, but the continued aging means a declining workforce as companies are looking to relocate or expand. Overall, Northern Indiana’s GDP and per capita income growth lag state and national rates, and the region is facing a shortage of skilled workers.

While the statistics can look alarming, the Northern Indiana Regional Development Authority has much to be proud of in recent years. Talent retention programs such as Enfocus, a talent incubator, and social innovation engine based out of the Union Station Technology Center in South Bend aims to find new solutions that serve regional industries with new talent and spur economic development to communities. Notre Dame has spent an average of $95 million per year on construction for the last 6 years and will spend an average of $237 million for the next three. This is a total investment of nearly $1.281 billion in less than 10 years to the greater South Bend area. The university has also invested over $625 million in the Northeast Neighborhood since the partnership with the city began focused on revitalizing the neighborhood. Environmental research programs at St. Patrick’s County Park, a new boathouse on the St. Joseph River and the famed Notre Dame Center for Arts and Culture all have provided a fresh breath into the city. Millrace in Goshen, Elkhart robotics and STREAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Architecture, and Mathematics) programs available to raise education levels and the expansion of Metronet dark fiber to Plymouth in Marshall County have all improved the tech and innovation ranks for the region.

PRIORITY PROJECTS FOR THE NIRDA

1. SOUTH BEND INNOVATION DISTRICT
The goal is to develop Northern Indiana into a global center for technology companies and technologists. The Innovation District is located at the southern edge of downtown and features three core areas in Ignition Park, Renaissance District, and Four Winds Field. The region is proudly promoting this as “from the rust belt to the tech belt” as it sees new construction and inspiring millennials begin to call South Bend home.

A. What is Ignition Park –
The 140-acre technology, research and manufacturing center built on the former Studebaker site is a key component to the larger Innovation District. This is one of the locations making up Indiana’s first two-site State-Certified Technology Park.

B. What is Renaissance District –
Studebaker and South Bend go together like Andrew Luck and the Colts. The reclamation of the remaining Studebaker facilities now features the highly regarded Union Station Technology Center. Over 300 companies leverage the data center at Union Station every day. The new center development surrounding Union Station will feature a live-work environment and offer commercialization technologies attractive to growing firms and help companies identify new ways to create cutting-edge technologies, products, and services for the overall global marketplace.

Studebaker Building 113 – Phase II will leverage the platform being built in the Renaissance District offering multiple education partners space and the investments needed to fully occupy the building with the goal of making South Bend Technologically Relevant. Projects include the Indiana University Health Education Active Learning Lab, Purdue University Polytechnic Institute, South Bend Code School, Additive Manufacturing Demonstration & Training Center, The STREAM Factory (Michiana Science and Tech Center), St. Joe CEO Program in partnership with Gallup and Enfocus.

Studebaker Building 84 – Phase III is a $102 million project that will provide for reuse of Building 84 as a national data center, research, and technology grade office space and residential apartments. A total of 545,500 square feet of space, it will provide a live-work environment for millennials, technologists, and researchers.

Studebaker Administration Building project is an independent facility that will serve as an office space for a major technology company. It will reuse a vacant 145,500 square foot space and enhance the neighborhood to serve as an economic magnet, providing work and retail opportunities conducive for millennials, technologists, and professional workers.

C. What is Four Winds Field –
Just north of the growing Renaissance District, the Four Winds Field ballpark has developed substantially over the past three years, with plans for the transformation to continue in the blocks surrounding. Four acres of land surrounding the field will be developed into a “mixed-use” entertainment project by developer Berlin.

2. SOUTH BEND BLUE WAYS, EAST BANK VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT
A growing area of downtown South Bend that is well positioned to leverage the St. Joseph River will benefit if the region is selected by the Indiana Regional Cities board. From the South Bend Farmers Market to Seitz Park and the East Race the area will leverage over $40 million in private development improving and enhancing the current housing stock. The project includes Riverwalk upgrades, Howard Park Improvements, Cloverleaf Removal, Sewer Infrastructure upgrades, Residential Development of the former Transpo site into 90 units of attached and detached urban housing, Construction of the River Race Flats (8,000 square feet of retail space, 9,000 square feet of office space and 32 apartment units), the Notre Dame Boat House and Armory Regional Culinary Hub and Lofts. New amenities to Howard Park will also include a community center, ice rink, amphitheater, sand volleyball courts and mini-marina.

3. SOUTH SHORE TRAIN
Connecting Chicago is a $270 million eight-year project supported by an inter-regional collaboration that recognizes in working together, they will most efficiently and effectively be able to leverage the asset of the South Shore Line. The project is set in phases with the first focused on infrastructure projects between South Bend and Michigan City, upgrading the last 21 miles of aging overhead power distribution, 8.3 miles of rail, extended Bircham Siding with hi-speed turnouts and additional safety improvements. Trains also navigate a reverse “C” in order to access the South Bend International Airport terminal from the east. The route is long and trains are slowed by nearly 25-grade crossings, the realignment project would provide a more direct route to the west side of the airport terminal by eliminating three track miles, reducing travel time by up to ten minutes, and cutting the number of crossings to 7.

4. METRONET EXTENSION
High-speed access to the St. Joe Valley Metronet involves the construction of new dark fiber in Elkhart and Marshall Counties. New conduit and fiber would offer state-of-the-art telecommunications connectivity to all areas of the region, including the rural and suburban areas most in need. With South Bend vying to become the largest tech center in the Midwest, a vibrant and expanded extension of high-speed fiber is necessary to remain and be competitive.

5. ELKHART MARKET DISTRICT
The transformation of downtown Elkhart into a vibrant, full-service city center by providing the full scope of services, recreation, residential and commercial amenities the community has envisioned is essential to the region's economic prosperity. The city continues to move toward a vision of a healthy, walkable downtown and the plan calls for development over several phases. The first is to repurpose a shopping center, construct over 400 housing units (the first new housing in downtown since 1980) and develop a mixed-use residential and commercial complex. The next phase would be to construct a centralized $30 Million Wellness Center and Natatorium located only a block from the city center, the new center would draw event participants from a radius of more than 200 miles for swim competitions. Phase 3 is to connect the RiverWalk to the Mapleheart Trail, connecting two communities with a multi-use trail. The final phase and a key component of the project are to construct an outdoor field sports complex downtown along the river with six public outdoor multi-use fields, a public championship field venue and both turf and court activities all anchored with a new downtown hotel that could welcome out of town guests.

6. ENTREPRENEURSHIP CENTERS
The Marshall County Entrepreneurship Center/Business incubator plans to establish two centers in both Culver and Plymouth. Both will utilize dark fiber served via the Metronet Extension and leverage the education platform with various Indiana universities.

7. BETHEL COLLEGE FREE ENTERPRISE CENTER
A 4,000 square foot addition of dedicated conference space will provide an area to serve as an incubator for local businesses and start-ups. The addition will also feature the college’s academic business department. The location and the center's flexibility will provide much needed conferencing space for the region while offering the amenities of Bethel College and their business department.

8. IU SOUTH BEND HEALTHLINC
Renovations and expansion of an 11,250 square foot community Health and Wellness Center on the IU South Bend Campus will benefit the region with an expanded community health clinic. The expansion will provide access to primary medical and behavioral health services in addition to dental services for a population of students, faculty, and staff at IU South Bend as well as the underserved and disadvantaged populations in the local community.

9. SOUTH BEND RIVER HYDROPOWER PROJECT
The University of Notre Dame will construct a 1.83-megawatt hydropower facility on the city-owned dam in downtown. The power from the facility will be conveyed to campus by way of an underground transmission line, reducing campus carbon emissions, increase electric reliability, provide academic research and create stronger partnerships with local governments.

10. JOB TRAINING CENTER
A new Job Training Center in Marshall County will work with the Plymouth Community School Corporation in conjunction with the North Central Area Vocational Cooperative, Work One and Marshall County Economic Development Corporation. The center will be built in the old Lincoln Junior High in Plymouth and offer education to present employees who may need additional training and high school students from all Marshall County schools. The Job Training Center is expected to increase residents and businesses access to workforce and job training support which will enhance regional productivity.

11. COMMERCE CENTER MIXED USE DEVELOPMENT
The South Bend Commerce Center Flats is a mixed-use development that has been proposed in the East Bank village area. Adding 250 residential units, a full-service grocery store, and a pharmacy, the current facility is a 100-year-old building that houses several; technology and medical companies, the opportunity to provide additional infill will be supported by excellent fiber internet connectivity.

12. MISHAWAKA IRONWORKS PLAZA
233 market rate luxury residential units, 11,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space and a 390+ space parking structure will be the featured property on 2.5 acres near the Beutter Park Riverfront in downtown Mishawaka. The project creates density and will increase social connectivity by creating a centrally located space for residents and visitors to live, shop, work and play in one of the region's urban cores.

13. ELKHART ENTERTAINMENT AND EXHIBITION SPACE
Elkhart is known for their Recreational Vehicles, yet any space designed to host events around this industry just doesn’t exist. The project will include a hotel, convention center, office building and stadium located in the heart of Elkhart. Space will be an amenity for area residents and will support the region’s goal of high-impact communities by providing a space for resident recreation and tourism attraction.

14. GOSHEN THEATER RESTORATION
This 750 seat historic performing arts theater, closed in 1968 and ever since has suffered decay, water damage, and historic facade removal. The project will fully renovate the facility saving the community’s shared heritage and bringing new life to the region, restoring the historic cultural amenity and providing a source of entertainment.

15. GOSHEN AMPHITHEATER
The River Race Area redevelopment in Goshen is looking to complete its final piece with the construction of an open air amphitheater on the west side of the Millrace Canal. The site is currently 9-acres of open green space adjacent to the city greenway and blocks from the historic downtown. The site will maintain a natural feel with an open stage and seating in the grass offering a public space for many to showcase the arts, attract visitors and provide an amenity that is currently lacking in the city.

16. APEX CLIMBING AND FITNESS
The areas first full-featured indoor climbing facility will provide bouldering, top-roping and lead climbing opportunities for all ages. Climbing related activities such as a ropes challenge course, parkour, ninja warrior, Crossfit, basic cardio, massage, yoga, after school programs, day camps for kids and special events can all be held at the event making it a center for the entire family.

17. PLYMOUTH AQUATICS CENTER
Programming for recreation, education, health, rehabilitation and competitive sports on a year-round basis will be held at the newly constructed Plymouth Aquatics Center. The center would feature three pools, an outpatient rehabilitation suite, and community accessible exercise facility. Plans call for this facility to team with the planned Elkhart Natatorium and drive the region as a swimming sports tourism destination.

18. TENNIS COURTS AND PARK PAVILION EXPANSION
The Plymouth Youth Tennis and Pickle Ball Courts and Park Pavilion expansion project would add a much needed four new 36′ courts for a youth league, a new Senior Pickle Ball League, and regional competitions. The enhanced and expanded park pavilion will also allow the community to hold regional tournaments management and planning, city lesson & league operations.

19. TRAIL SYSTEM
The expansion of the Marshall County Trail System will create a regional connection by linking the Lake Max Bike Trail, Culver/Plymouth Trail, and an extension to Ancilla and connection to the Nickle Plate Trail which currently runs from Rochester to Kokomo

20. INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS
The project will include a water and sanitary sewer trunk line, electric distribution system and roadway construction in Plymouth for a new industrial park. The project will prepare several greenfield sites for new development  and will improve the regional economy as more businesses will expand into Marshall County.

21. SHELL BUILDINGS
A project that is being developed in the region is to attract new business and industry, while filling the void in the marketplace for “move in” ready buildings. The plan is to construct 4 shell buildings in various communities throughout Marshall County that will allow the region to be more competitive while attracting and landing new industries looking to locate.

22. BOYS & GIRLS CLUB
Developed based on community needs and to make the current Club more efficient, the dilapidated old restaurant building that has served as the Boys & Girls club in Plymouth will be razed and a new Clubhouse will be dedicated to innovating new programming. The one-floor building will provide safe, attractive, supervised and accessible spaces for youth in the community. It will also serve as a tool to help integrate more Hispanic residents into the population served by the club.