City of Fort Wayne | Historic Northeast Planning Area
Historic Northeast Engagement Summary
Historic Northeast NEIGHBORHOODS Forest Park | North Anthony | Northside
HISTORIC NORTHEAST2035 City of Fort Wayne, Indiana November 2023
Historic Northeast 2035
TABLE OF
CONTENTS 03 Preface 04 Engagement Themes 05 Themes - Interviews 06 Themes - Surveys 08 Themes - Open Houses 12 Closing Remarks
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Historic Northeast 2035
Engagement Summary
PREFACE
The Neighborhood Planning and Activation workgroup (NPAW) has, Since Fall of 2022, interacted with, gained input from, and engaged well over 600 people who work, worship, or live in the Historic Northeast Planning area of Forest Park, North Anthony, or Northside Neighborhoods. The workgroup has carried out three types of engagements that will be broken down in this Engagement Summary: a large-scale area survey, specialized stakeholder interviews, and a series of open house events.
The Historic Northeast plan continues into the final few steps of the planning process. The information obtained from engagement efforts will be analyzed, narrowed, and overlaid with the “All In Allen Comprehensive Plan.” This will lay the foundation for the Plan’s strategies, goals, and action steps. The plan will be drafted in line with the community’s shared visions and vetted with the committee. Once a final review of the draft is completed by the committee, the NPAW will begin the finalization process which includes public comment and then plan adoption, making it the official strategic plan for Forest Park, North Anthony, and Northside Neighborhoods. Community input is essential to the development of this plan; therefore, it is important to understand and acknowledge the input that has been provided across the three engagements. The purpose of this document is to share a summary of what is representative of the community’s engagement efforts, and to highlight what the community has prioritized. The Historic Northeast community’s collective feedback and concerns will be broken down throughout this Engagement Summary.
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Community Engagement
THEMES
It has been made very clear through all levels of engagement that sidewalks, streets, and lighting among other infrastructure has been considered as the highest importance for the plan. East State Boulevard also carries a significant priority with interests on connectivity to the neighborhoods, businesses, traffic, and accessibility for pedestrians. The overarching themes in all engagement, can be generalized to connectivity, infrastructure, social infrastructure and capital, design, and beautification. The breakdown of the surveys, interviews, and open house, help to express and share the story of the community’s common themes. The following is a summary of those three forms of engagement, and will provide an overview to inform the plan.
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Key Themes | Interviews Stakeholder interviews were organized meetings with key stakeholders in the community, provided by the Plan Committee. These were based on snowball sampling, where the interviewee is asked to provide a couple names who would also be valuable to interview. There was a total of 17 online, in-person, and over the phone interviews throughout a three-week span in Fall of 2022. The input received often confirmed the surveys, but these allowed more specific and in-depth analysis to blend both qualitative and quantitative information. The questions asked were based on (1) the persons history in the neighborhood(s), (2) their thoughts on local assets, (3) any concerns (physical and social), (4) questions on the planning process, as well as other (5) qualitative questions that allow a better understanding of the neighborhood’s strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities. Some key themes from the interviews further enhanced the focus on connectivity within the neighborhood to its assets (e.g. parks, businesses), poor sidewalks and unsafe intersections, East State Boulevard in addition to rentals, landlords, and housing. Almost everyone felt the Historic Northeast has high value in its historic presence, sense of community, it’s location/connectivity to surrounding areas, and its friendly neighbors. The following outlined points represent a summary of the interviewees and their provided input. •
There were mentions of the area being very walkable and bikeable, but that there are still spots that need new sidewalks, safer crosswalks, and/or better bike lanes.
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Sidewalks mentioned: Crescent, State St., Tennessee Ave., Tecumseh, North Anthony
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Bike Lanes Mentioned: St. Joe, Lake, Columbia, Tennessee Ave., Tecumseh, North Anthony
Streetscape improvements along main corridors/streets and to/from the schools and universities were also emphasized. o
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Streetscapes mentioned: State Street corridor, North Anthony
Similarly, there were multiple mentions of better connectivity to the parks, riverfront, and greenways. With ADA accessibility being a concern in some of those areas.
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Almost all interviews shared thoughts involving renters, landlords, and housing.
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Most interviewees felt that they believe education and/or policies across the community are needed for landlords, tenets, and even homeowners related to rental units.
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Area businesses were mentioned in every interview, but the responses varied, residents felt: o
Current businesses needed improvements.
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Key Themes | Surveys The surveys conducted in 2022 both qualitative and quantitative data that expressed various concerns, potential opportunities, demographics, and trends for potential future strategies. In total there were 499 online, and 15 paper responses. Community members provided ratings for the neighborhood on sidewalk conditions, streetlights, park conditions, etc. There were also fill-in-the-blank responses for topics such as (1) three things they value most in the area, (2) what they felt would make Historic Northeast a better place to live, and (3) a chance to voice any of their concerns or suggestions for the community. The surveys overwhelmingly showed that people are satisfied living in Historic Northeast, and valued the area’s community, location, and overall sense of safety. A key identified theme throughout is the community views the parks as an important social asset. The neighborhoods sidewalks are of high concern for safety and accessibility, which will be a trend that will continually be seen throughout the several engagements. The points below are summarized from the survey data and make up broad highlights of the area’s surveyed residents, demographics, and their input. •
The Historic Northeast area survey is represented as 65% female, 99% English speaking, with about 70% of the group holding a bachelor’s degree or higher.
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Around 89% stated they own their own home, 66% work full time, 67% work outside of the planning area, 77% make $50,000 or more a year, and the average age of the survey is about 42 years old.
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20.1% stated they work from home.
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95.1% of the survey group use a car, 2% use a bike, and 1.6% walk as their primary mode of transportation.
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On average, people have lived in this area for 11 years.
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When asked to rate aspects of the area on what had the best conditions, parks/play spaces had the highest average rating at 4.09 (out of 5). Sidewalks were rated the lowest conditions in the area at 2.89 (out of 5).
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When asked what conditions needed to be addressed first, the top three were streets, sidewalks, and neighborhood businesses.
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For safety and security, people felt interacting with traffic and biking were the least safe, whereas parks and personal safety were the safest part of the area.
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When naming one thing that would make the area better, most could be generalized or related to: walking/biking infrastructure, vehicular infrastructure, beautification, social aspects or identity of the Historic Northeast, as well as housing, and businesses.
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St. Joe/Lakeside or Columbia/Tecumseh area have potential for development,
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Connection is the issue, not the businesses themselves.
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Anthony Strip needs improvement.
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State Street and Anthony businesses need physical and turnover improvements.
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Small shops are underutilized.
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There aren’t enough businesses, and the existing ones are not what the community needs.
Most reference an improvement to East State Boulevard: better crossings, slower traffic measures, more businesses, or business improvement (mostly physical) were common.
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Key Themes | Open Houses In October 2023, the Neighborhood Planning and Activation workgroup hosted six (6) different open house events across the planning area. The events were hosted at various days and times at Conjure Coffee, Oh Five Scoop Shop, Firefly Coffee House, ACME by Full Circle, Tecumseh Library, and Heartland Church. The strategy was to accommodate different locations in different sections of the neighborhoods, and to allow different time slots to provide some flexibility for residents to attend. In total, there were over 130 people who either work, worship, or live in either North Anthony, Forest Park, or Northside neighborhoods that attended an event. These in-person events were accompanied by online surveys, which tallied 39 responses. When accounting for non-registered people, it brings the total to well over 180 people who provided input for the Historic Northeast Plan. The goal of the events and survey was to gain a better understanding of what is important to the area, while simultaneously narrowing down the scope of potential strategies for the plan.
The process for in-person voting was done by providing six (6) green stickers and two (2) red stickers. The green stickers were placed next to what the person felt was most important to them and the neighborhood. The options presented were a narrowed cumulation from the survey engagement, Committee strategies, and the interviews. For example, when tallied, the highest number of green dots across all six (6) open houses were placed on “sidewalk improvements.” Making this, yet again, a high priority within the community. The red stickers were placed on a map of the planning area, to mark where people felt unsafe crossing the street. There were also opportunities to mark where people felt sidewalks needed redone, fixed, or simply did not exist. There were also some open-ended opportunities for people to provide their visions for East State Boulevard (Figure 1 and 1.1) as well as the neighborhood (Figure 2). The trends across all platforms were similar, most of which expressed infrastructure improvements, social and identity improvements, and opportunities for broad beautification. The input provided will also be highlighted in the following to help summarize main themes and potential points of enhancement.
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Closing walkability gaps by connecting sidewalks.
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East State Boulevard’s businesses, connection to the neighborhoods, and/or its identity within the neighborhoods.
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Improving safety and accessibility on streets, and improving/adding streetlights.
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Encouraging façade and/or landscaping improvements to businesses and residences.
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Intersection safety improvements along North Anthony and East State Boulevard.
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Encouraging better relationships among tenant, landlord, and homeowners.
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Develop opportunities for students and youth.
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Organizing and promoting neighborhood cleanup days and developing more neighborhood social activities.
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Provide adequate infrastructure for bikes.
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Continue to make improvements to Lakeside Park and Bob Arnold Northside Park, including improved connectivity and accessability to the neighborhood.
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Provide educational and outreach opportunities for Historic Preservation.
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Develop a shared identity and brand for Historic Northeast neighborhoods.
Open Ended Responses: In-person engagement also illuminated thoughts, ideas, concerns, or visions people had for the planning area and for East State Boulevard. Some expressed widening or making it easier for vehicle traffic to move, others expressed altering it to a three lane with center turn lane, others deferred to the beautification along the street. Across the general neighborhood, people expressed concerns about unsafe alleys, dangerous intersections or view sheds, trailway opportunities, and other streets that need traffic calming measures, to name a few. Overall, most of the visions trended around infrastructure changes, accessibility/walkability, and some beautification ideas within the neighborhood.
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What is your VISION for E. State Boulevard.?
Figure 1
Figure 1.1
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Figure 2
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Over the course of these three engagement sessions, it shows the story of the assets, concerns, areas of improvement, as well as the priorities of the community. Across the board, people want to see infrastructure improvements, specifically sidewalks, traffic calming, and intersections. They also want to see more social opportunities for their neighborhoods; such as neighborhood clean ups, meet-and-greets, or interact with one another. People are wanting more education and opportunities for homeowners, tenants, and landlords as well. The base of the Historic Northeast Plan will be created upon the specific, but overarching themes that these forms of share.
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