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Abundant Akron

In 2015 Akron joined the Reimagining the Civic Commons network, joining four other cities focusing on using public spaces like parks, trails, and libraries to help foster civic engagement, socioeconomic mixing, value creation, and environmental sustainability.

Dubbed Akron Civic Commons, the project focused on three neighborhoods along the Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition’s Towpath Trail, Downtown, Ohio & Erie Canal Park, and Summit Lake. The Program used its resources to build relationships with the residents in each neighborhood, working towards trust with communities that had often been over-promised and under-delivered.

After lots of honest dialog and deep listening in community meetings, Akron Civic Commons was able to engage the residents in a way where they shared ideas of what their public spaces could become. Then a temporary version of the idea was setup to see how it would be used. Then residents were invited back to the design phase for a permanent installation. The final design was built and then programming was supported in the area to keep the area active. All of this done through support brought together from a team of public, nonprofit, and private organizations and representatives.

This process was presented in the Abundant Akron strategy, a 16-page booklet and a one-sheet summary, as a way of working alongside the residents of Akron to get meaningful work completed and draw investment dollars to areas often overlooked. The strategy went on to present a road map for future projects that puts Safety, Connectivity, and Love at the center of the work as the core principles that need to always be taken into consideration when working with residents of the city.

Results

The one-sheet summary of the strategy was presented as an opinion-editorial in the Akron Beacon Journal. This led to new interest in the work Akron Civic Commons had been doing over the previous eight years and a recommitment from partner organizations. The national Reimagining the Civic Commons network shared information about the strategy with the other cities doing similar work.

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