Five things to know about the planning process:
ONE: You can get involved! Tuesday evening at 6:30 the next steps in the Academy/Marvintown planning process will be discussed at a joint neighborhood meeting. It is taking place at St. John’s Church, 509 E. 26th Street. The more people who give their input, the more effective the planning process will be.
TWO: The City of Erie is making this happen led by Erie City Planner Kathy Wyrosdick. The Erie Refocused plan calls for each neighborhood to be researched and a plan for best practices in each neighborhood to be created. This might be happening whether or not the Academy Neighborhood organization existed - but the fact that this organization does exist has made it easier for the City Planning Department and “get the word out” to the residents of Academy Neighborhood.
THREE: The Academy-Marvintown area is big - it consists of two U.S. Census Bureau Tracts. The two tracts don’t exactly “jive” with our neighborhood map. Please see the attached pictures.
FOUR: Many people are working hard to make the plan a reality in the City Planning Department including Ms. Wyrosdic, Erin Carey, Paul Cancilla, and Krystal Otwerth. Mayor Schember has also gone door to door on a number of occasions to survey neighborhood residents and we have had a number of neighborhood volunteers who have completed property condition surveys.
FIVE: There are two ways information is being gathered about the neighborhood. 1. Property condition surveys 2. Personal and online surveys. That information will be used by the city to draw up a master plan based on the principles in Erie Refocused.
As the process continues it is going to be up to us, residents of Academy Neighborhood, to make sure that everyone’s voice is being heard and that decisions being made will benefit the most people.
Moving forward, we may need to rethink and reinvent just what this neighborhood organization IS. Is the work we’re doing smart and focused on what needs to be done to help the most people? Where should we focus our limited resources?
