TEMPORARY SIDEWALK EXTENSIONS

Temporary Sidewalk Extensions

New York City, just like every other city in the country has seen an increase in bicyclists and pedestrians. The city of over 8 Million residents is struggling to keep up with the demand of better, friendlier pedestrian gateways because city planners several decades ago cut back the wide sidewalks in exchange for an extra travel lane. However, the lack of sidewalks and pedestrian pathways could be changing soon thanks to an innovative property owner and developer that has presented some powerful ideas to city administrators in the form of temporary sidewalk extensions. This spring, a few of the city streets will turn into pedestrian only pathways including the famed Broadway from 47th to 42nd street. Broadway will also be temporarily closed between 32nd and 36th near the world famous Macy’s department store.

The people behind this idea is Real Estate giant Vornado Realty Trust who proposed the car-free zones are only a three-month trial to last through the summer when pedestrian activity is at a natural all time high. The Department of Transportation for the city is using this as a trial in hopes to reduce crashes and injuries while allowing vehicles to travel more smoothly along several city thoroughfares. Vornado owns several premiere property holdings including the Hotel Pennsylvania, Penn Plaza and the Manhattan Mall. They will also be closing a near one block portion of 33rd directly linked to Madison Square Garden and One Penn Plaza on a permanent basis. The goal is to create a pedestrian-friendly open plaza which will reduce the number of accidents on one of New Yorks busiest segments. The plaza will feature tables for dining, a stage for musical performances, space for yoga and other outdoor programmed activities. The development company believes it will also improve the overall quality of life and increase property values.

We have already seen projects like the Indianapolis Cultural Trail and in Cincinnati Temporary Sidewalk Extensions in the forms of pop-up parks. It makes us wonder if this idea is successful and the Department of Transportation in New York City embraces the idea post trail, what other cities could pick up this idea. Vornado who is doing the experiment is paying for the planning, construction and monitoring of the extensions without any tax or cash incentives from the city. With a lot of discussion in place making and road diets, what streets would you like to see this tried on?

COLLEGE GRADS LOVE DAYTON AND FORT WAYNE

College Graduates Love Dayton and Fort Wayne

You can add another accomplishment for city economic officials in both Fort Wayne Indiana and Dayton Ohio, and this is a hot list that will provide for the economic good of both cities. ZipRecruit, a top website for hiring and recruitment has places Dayton Ohio number three overall and Fort Wayne Indiana number five for the Top 10 Up-and-Coming cities for College Grads to consider relocating to. Anytime a city makes a list like this, you begin seeing national attention placed on the value this offers to companies and firms looking to relocate offices, industrial manufacturing centers and more. Economic Development groups like Fort Wayne’s Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership sees this as another award on the shelf to help attract and retain major employers such as General Motors and Parkview Health.

The article says while moving to a big metro might be the perfect antidote to college town cabin fever, the large populations can often mean heavier competition for open positions and the high, often skyrocketing costs for basic amenities and living expenses can leave you broke. When graduating from college, the weight of a student loan added to the expense of living in a high cost of living position and aggressive entry level job market may not be the best option.

DAYTON OHIO
Working closely with consultants in the Dayton region, Hoch has had a proud history in the Miami Valley. This article highlights that Dayton’s top positions are in the research and production of aviation and aerospace technology fields which is to no surprise as it’s also the birthplace of aviation. Healthcare research is also an important industry for the city with institutions such as the Center for Tissue Regeneration and Engineering at Dayton. Add these to the fact that Dayton boasts the lowest median rent at just $671 a month and a high quality of life with several world renowned leisure based events such as an acclaimed opera and ballet, you can see why our fine city made this list. Another huge factor for Dayton is that safe, scenic biking routes make Dayton a ‘bike friendly’ city.

Dayton’s top positions are in the research and production of aviation and aerospace technology, still the leading industry in the city where human flight was invented. The economy is also bolstered by healthcare research with several prominent institutions such as the Center for Tissue Regeneration and Engineering at Dayton. Dayton boasts the lowest median rent of cities on our list at $671/mo, and also ranked highly as a regional cultural hub. Residents spend their leisure time enjoying acclaimed opera and ballet performances, and live music at events like the annual Blues Festival. Safe, scenic biking routes make Dayton a ‘bike friendly’ city, and allow its population to enjoy its natural beauty.

Top 5 Industries and their most available entry level position:

• Sales and Business – Account Executive
• Marketing/PR – Marketing Assistant
• Manufacturing/Operations – Field Service Technician
• Information Technology – QA Analyst
• Healthcare – Physician Wound Care

FORT WAYNE INDIANA
Hoch Associates’ home office is also located in the heart of this growing region. A recently announced 1.3 Billion dollar economic boost was announced this week from two of the cities top employers which will add jobs directly and not directly related to the companies. After a significant economic depression and horrific unemployment numbers in the 80’s, Fort Wayne was once declared another ‘Rust Belt’ city has been relabeled as the ‘city that saved itself.’ Of course this was no small feat, several key people and business decided to not give in and instead challenge the media and bad press by giving their all, staking claim to greatness rather than ‘the good ole days.’

While production and manufacturing is still key for the city, several new industries have agreed to give Fort Wayne a second look. Healthcare with companies such as Lutheran and Parkview have both invested over a billion dollars into the economy with new healthcare facilities including the recently announced $80 Million Cancer Research Institute. Insurance has also become a large employer with companies like Brotherhood Mutual and the exciting new project for Ash with a $99 Million investment only a block west of our home office. Bundle these exciting new projects with the second lowest cost of living in the entire country, top 35 cities for individuals under 35, a vision for a grand riverfront redevelopment and the top ten cities with the best quality of life, you can see why the list included Fort Wayne.

Top 5 Industries and their most available entry level position:

• Marketing/PR – Entry Level Marketing
• Manufacturing/Operations – Operations Supervisor
• Management/Executive – Entry Level Management
• Insurance – Insurance Agent
• Healthcare – Occupational Therapist

Congratulations and kudos to both of our amazing cities on these exciting announcements. We look forward for more to come.

Top Cities to Start A Business

Top Cities To Start A Business

Hundreds of metropolitan and countless thousands of micropolitans compete daily for business, tourism, residents, investment and the like. Stretching coast to coast, every community is in a fierce battle to have a positive and vibrant economy, and while all wish they were winners, not everyone can cross the finish line. The battle for economic development, entrepreneur retention and expansion is often costly and everlasting.

Just today a new list ranked 150 of Americas top metro areas to start a new business and to continue the path of achievements Fort Wayne has seen in the last year, we can add another gold star. Wallethub has given us another reason to love the Fort Wayne metro at the eleventh best city in the country to be an entrepreneur, quite the achievement beating out cities much larger. The list was ranked based on thirteen strategic metrics that provide a healthy atmosphere for young business leaders.

1. Accessibility of financing (total value of small business loans)
2. Cost of office rental/lease space per square foot
3. Access and availability of employees
4. Labor costs and median annual income
5. Corporate tax structure
6. Cost of living
7. Average length of employee workday
8. Educational level of the workforce
9. Entrepreneurial activity
10. Five-year survival rate
11. Number of small business per capita
12. Industry and business variety
13. Small Business acceptance and friendliness

What is most important to note is while these may be the best metrics for small business, some industries like tech/web are not looking at the same metrics. After reviewing every metro in the country from coast to coast, the findings have shocked several in the economic development community. Even more interesting to realize is the amount of communities not located along a major coast, but instead the heart of the country where several scholars have all but put on life support for future business expansion. It’s nice to prove them wrong.

1. Shreveport Louisiana
2. Tulsa Oklahoma
3. Springfield Missouri
4. Chattanooga Tennessee
5. Jackson Mississippi
6. Sioux Falls South Dakota
7. Memphis Tennessee
8. Augusta Georgia
9. Greensboro North Carolina
10. Columbus Georgia
11. FORT WAYNE INDIANA
12. Amarillo Texas
13. Columbus Ohio
14. New Orleans Louisiana
15. Birmingham Alabama
16. Wichita Kansas
17. Grand Rapids Michigan
18. Laredo Texas
19. Winston-Salem North Carolina
20. Nashville Tennessee

Hoch Associates is proud to call Fort Wayne our home, and it’s exciting to see another accolade for our growing metro. With Fort Wayne being named in the 35 Cities for People Under 35, Best Cities for Cost of Living, Best Quality of Life and now Best Cities for New Business, our future can only be brighter.

A LESSON FROM GROVE CITY

A Lesson From Grove City

Coliseum Blvd. is full of big box retailers, six lanes of traffic, countless access drives and some of INDOT’s most concerning intersections with high traffic accident counts. The thought of turning this primary corridor into a complete street with bike lanes may not be on the minds of many or any Fort Wayne city leaders because the amount of traffic that uses the road daily. The idea of a bike friendly Coliseum Blvd. seems over the top to many, but one community in neighboring Ohio has already created a plan and implementing it on its busiest roadway. Let’s take a quick trip and a lesson from Grove City Ohio on the outskirts of Columbus where you will find Stringtown Road as the primary roadway connecting hundreds of businesses and serving as a primary gateway to the community.

The roadway was in need of overall enhancements due to the nature of its gateway origin from Interstate 71 to the downtown core. Some may argue it’s not a Complete Street by definition, this sidepath (a sidewalk that is designed for bike travel over pedestrians) protects the bikeway from the road. The other issue is the design of Stringtown Road itself in that there are several commercial access points not necessarily reducing entrance and exit drives creating some minor potential conflict points with bicyclists. However, Grove City officials have began understanding the need to create complete streets no matter the neighborhood connecting areas in and around all parts of the city and while it’s not a perfect solution, it’s a step in the right direction.

As we look at Fort Wayne’s primary roadway connecting nearly 65% of the city’s population via roadway, the growing need to connect these neighborhoods by bike is escalating. City officials are working with Fort Wayne Trails to construct and develop several miles of bike and pedestrian walking paths including the much famed Pufferbelly which will run from downtown to Glenbrook in the coming years but it’s still several years off. What if we began talking about how to better connect our neighborhoods? What if our leaders began looking to other communities like Grove City for ideas on how to turn major thoroughfares like Coliseum, Coldwater, Lima and the list goes on into active pathways for both auto and bike travel. What’s next for us to create stronger neighborhoods linked together?

ROADS ON A DIET | FORT WAYNE URBAN IDEAS

Roads On A Diet

During Mayor Tom Henry’s neighborhood investment plan announcement, the call for additional road going on a diet including Oxford, Hessen Castle and others were a major part of the 20 Million dollar package for 2015. Earlier this week, we discussed how several cities are looking at declaring an end to one way streets as millennials continue to be focused on urban centers rather than vast suburban outreaches. This news is shocking to many as the previous generations looked at how widening roadways would create efficient travel opportunities to outlying destinations, essentially leaving the center of the city. In the 1950’s and until as recent as ten years ago, cities would spend millions each year on right of way and infrastructure widening projects. The concept of now going back into communities and putting these once wide travel paths on a diet are getting mixed reviews. Some leaders are concerned with the potential public outcry, yet many communities are now seeing the positive impact of complete streets and smaller, safer thoroughfares.

Another city recently made a huge step to reverse wide multi-lane roadways and enhance the neighborhood feel. Akron Ohio announced that a safety upgrade is planned for both Cedar and Exchange streets along a stretch between Portage Path and Broadway. City engineering officials are concerned that with so many lanes of one way traffic, the safety of people traveling continues to diminish as people are having weaving accidents, turning from incorrect lanes. Both Cedar and Exchange run near the urban center of the city and people often get confused with which lane to be in at specific intersections, which also increases the likelihood of pedestrian vs. vehicle accidents. City officials noted that in a three-year span, there were nearly 600 crashes, more than half of which were “categorized as sideswipe-passing.” The city is planning to spend $8.5 million dollars to “right-size” the number of lanes from five to two, adding bike lanes and street parking. It will also include upgrades to 21 intersections with new LED traffic control signals that will be interconnected through the area which will allow traffic to flow more efficiently.

It will be exciting to see additional upcoming street dieting and complete street projects in our cities. This is not just a trend but a new way our cities are being designed and built. The thought of several large open lanes in one direction to funnel residents and businesses out of the center to stronger and more vibrant downtowns and neighborhoods are the new normal. Fort Wayne is currently conducting a safer thoroughfare approach near downtown on Ewing, Main, Jefferson and Fairfield Streets.

FORT WAYNE RANKED ONE OF BEST CITIES FOR MILLENNIALS

Best Cities for Millennials

Hoch Associates loves to be centered in the heart of Fort Wayne and part of its exciting future. Vocativ, an online Internet blog released the 2014 livability index and Fort Wayne is no stranger to exciting lists regarding the livability for its citizens. The list was designed for the Millennial generation, those under 35. While the entire list is comprised of 35 cities, Fort Wayne was the only one to make the list from the Hoosier State. We are proud that Fort Wayne was singled out for being the real Cinderella story. After years of stagnant growth and even in the 1980’s losing several manufacturing jobs, the city created new programs and focused on diversifying the workforce, transforming neighborhoods and buildings, creating several new acres of beautiful green space, researching and developing its long forgotten riverfront and welcomed exciting new groups such as YLNI (Young Leaders of Northeast Indiana) and Millennial 2020 which work together to create a stronger and more vibrant community for the Millennial citizens.

With the city now being named one of the best for Millennials, this is an opportunity to unleash an exciting new future. Ranking in the top percentile in areas such as cost of living, housing (rent and ownership) and low unemployment, Fort Wayne has quickly ose among the ranks of its piers and now vying for the Regional Cities Initiative which will provide several million dollars in seed funding for future developments if granted. Hoch Associates continues to support the city and is excited to share in its future.