Macon Magazine

6 l MACON MAGAZINE AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2014 ˜ere is no question the economic landscape of Macon and Middle Georgia is changing. ˜ere is a movement back to the center of the city, as evidenced by lofts being built and immediately "lled, new businesses opening, restaurants thriving and events growing every year. Downtown Macon is on the cusp of something, which has been the hope for a long time. Many people have worked tirelessly to get to this point. ˜e question we have been striving to answer for a long time, however, is what cusp are we on? We have answered it in pieces, using microcosmic plans to bring about big changes in di•erent parts of the community. Plans and e•orts such as those created by College Hill, Historic Macon, NewTown Macon, Downtown Council, the chamber of commerce, the Second Street Task Force, city-county government and the Urban Development Authority have answered key questions. ˜ose e•orts have helped bring the "rst neighborhoods of Macon to some of their greatest heights. But there is a thirst for more. All of the above e•orts have e•ectively and deliberately addressed a speci"c aspect of the community. But no such planning e•ort has e•ectively created a uni"ed vision for the ongoing development in the urban core all in one document. ˜at has changed thanks to the generous support of the Knight Foundation and the Peyton Anderson Foundation. ˜ey have challenged the community to put together, "nally, a master plan for the urban core. As a point of reference, think of that core as an area from the hopefully soon-to-be Ocmulgee Mounds National Historic Park to the south downtown industrial and warehouse district to I-75. ˜e Macon Action Plan, as we have dubbed this e•ort, is aimed at taking the objective nature of past studies and pairing it with the best practices of today's urban design and the vision that comes from those who live and breathe downtown every day. ˜e project is being led by the Urban Development Authority, a steering committee of downtown business and property owners, representatives from downtown agencies and the Macon- Bibb Government. We are lucky to have UDA member Shannon Fickling as the chair of the e•ort. ˜e plan is currently in the information-gathering stage. A team from Interface Studio, an urban planning and design "rm, is researching business trends, tra£c data, demographics and all of the former and ongoing plans that have been developed over the years. ˜ey are also conducting interviews to establish a qualitative narrative to accompany the desperately needed updated quantitative data. No plan can be successful without a realistic picture of where it is starting. We are also easing into the hallmark of this e•ort, the shared visioning process with the community. ˜e Macon Action Plan needs to be informed by the people who live and work in the neighborhoods where the action will take place. We will need to hear from you. You can begin sharing your ideas with us - your speci"c actions for the plan - by visiting MaconActionPlan. com and by following MaconActionPlan on Twitter and Instagram and liking the e•ort on Facebook. You'll be able to share pictures, ideas and dreams with us and let the planners vet and plan the best way to get it done. Starting this fall, you will be able to help us make decisions on how to proceed with issues such as land-use planning, sidewalk design, park plans, transportation and other key public elements. ˜at will begin on "rst Friday in October when we will debut our open house for ideas and visual preferences. ˜e location is still TBA, so please keep up to date with social media and the webpage. ˜is is a huge opportunity for this community to establish the framework for how we will become the Macon we have all been waiting to become, that beautiful tomorrow of which we are on the cusp. We can only get there if we go together. ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ It's time to decide who we are and where we're going ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡by ALEX MORRISON

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