Mending the Scars of Urban Renewal
Public space effort is an initial step in Akron
The urban renewal efforts of the 1960s and 70s have left deep scars in city neighborhoods across the country. In the name of “progress,” lower-income neighborhoods — many home to communities of color — were razed, with residents scattered or left behind in the process. The neighborhoods that weren’t leveled were left standing but were often isolated from the rest of their city by highway construction. Decades of disinvestment in these neighborhoods followed; many people moved out and never returned. For those that remained, a vast distrust in government was the result. For the most part, this trust has yet to be repaired.
But recent work in Akron, Ohio, a city with a population of 198,000, is making an effort at that repair in three connected neighborhoods, knitting together formerly isolated communities through collaborative reimagining of public places.
In Akron, we’ve begun the process of mending the divisions exacerbated by urban renewal. We’ve begun to rebuild trust.
Public Space as a Pathway to Equitable Growth
During the 1970s, Akron embarked on an urban renewal project that would build a new highway — a highway meant to become one of the city’s major transportation hubs. State Route 59 was built to make traveling between the suburbs and downtown Akron easier; however, the route ran right through the heart of a predominantly black neighborhood, leaving many residents displaced and/or disconnected from the rest of the city. To make matters worse, Akron lost more than 25 percent of its population in ensuing decades. And while part of State Route 59 was eventually decommissioned, there was no effort to reconnect people in neighborhoods cut off by its construction — nor did the decommissioning reestablish trust between neighbors and the rest of the city.
Like many cities with similar histories, Akron is seeking ways to reverse population loss while creating more equitable growth. Those of us working here have begun to see robust public space and public life as one pathway to a stronger, more resilient city. That’s why in 2016, Akron decided to invest in a different kind of transportation hub: the Ohio & Erie Canal and accompanying Towpath Trail. Built in the 1800s, the canal once served as transportation between Cleveland and the Ohio River. The 90-mile Towpath Trail running alongside it serves 2.5 million pedestrians, hikers and bicyclists annually.
More importantly, the trail lays the blueprint for cultivating a vibrant and engaging civic commons that connects three formerly divided neighborhoods: Downtown Akron, Ohio & Erie Canal Park, and Summit Lake. Here’s how that change has begun to take root in our three focal neighborhoods:
Downtown Akron
For the past 50 years, Akron’s downtown has seen a steady decline in investment and visitors, but that is starting to change.
When Akron Civic Commons started in 2016, there were specific points along the Towpath Trail where trail users would turn around before reaching downtown. As a result, Akron Civic Commons focused our early efforts on changing that behavior, by looking at specific connection points and destinations along the trail that could stop people from turning around and draw them further into the city’s core.
Initial work included new lighting, artwork, and landscaping at Lock 4 Park (located along one of the Ohio & Erie Canal’s historic “lift locks”) in northern downtown and the nearby State Route 59 Towpath Trail crossing. Because of our work, what were once seen as places to pass through have become destinations and places of rest and respite. Since the 2016 redesign, Lock 4 has welcomed many more people who now enjoy concerts, holiday outdoor markets, University of Akron events, and more. The State Route 59 pedestrian and bike bridge has even started to serve as a popular backdrop for wedding pictures!
Along with these capital improvements, programming in Akron has also evolved. Downtown Akron Partnership (DAP), the local special improvement district, has transformed Cascade Plaza, formerly an empty green lawn surrounded by office buildings in the downtown core into a vibrant outdoor venue, primarily through programming. It has welcomed more than 4,000 visitors to everything from happy hours, outdoor yoga, brunch, and Akron’s first outdoor Pecha Kucha. Its roller disco sees an increasingly diverse crowd, while Drum Fit and Zumba classes consistently bring new visitors to the plaza. In a recent survey a full 70 percent of evening and weekend programming participants had never been to Cascade Plaza before. Programming makes the space sing.
To further support thriving public life downtown, a new Main Street design plan is creating a more walkable and bikeable environment downtown. A robust tree canopy and bi-directional cycle track are both included in the plan to create a more seamless entryway to Summit Metro Parks and Cuyahoga Valley National Park. While DAP’s pop-up business assistance program encourages small business development in the central city and its expanded Downtown Ambassador program helps new and returning visitors navigate and fully take advantage of these interconnected spaces.
“The past three years have been an iterative process in programming our public spaces. There is never one solution, but a combination of problem solvers who are asked to work together and trusted to bring their energy to each programming initiative. Celebrating those problem solvers has been critical to our success and they bring together new audiences who combat fear and isolation as they play, exercise, meditate, roller skate and dance us toward a stronger, more connected community.” — Suzie Graham, executive director of DAP
The intentional focus on public space and public life is now a catalyst for new development. The city will soon be welcoming additional residents to downtown Akron, as a wealth of new residential housing opens, including 92 apartments adjacent to Lock 4 which opened in November 2019.
Through a strategy of incremental change focused on robust public life, Akron is rebuilding a downtown that is welcoming to all.
Ohio & Erie Canal Park
The Ohio & Erie Canal Park neighborhood is located in between downtown and Summit Lake, situated on both sides of the Ohio & Erie Canal and Towpath Trail. Though abundant housing of various types is situated around the trail, the Canal and Towpath have acted for many years as a divide. The park surrounding the Canal endured years of disinvestment, eventually existing with only shells of fountains, gazebos and other elements — elements that once made the park more vibrant. The neighborhood lacked typical opportunities for neighbors to interact, neighbors that include homeowners, seniors, and affordable housing residents. There were no ways for neighbors to exchange or build social capital and negative perceptions of the neighborhood internally and externally festered.
Bridging the divide between different populations of people — engaging them to begin shaping the future of a new neighborhood park — was a first step for Akron Civic Commons. After a variety of community and neighborhood partner meetings, a steering committee was formed, comprised of a diverse group of neighborhood residents.
It’s easy to see that Ohio & Erie Canal Park is becoming a more connected community. Community members have become paid Ohio & Erie Canal Park Ambassadors who greet people coming to the park, clean up litter, and keep a watchful eye over the space. The Ohio & Erie Canal Park Steering Committee partnered with the local young professionals’ group, Torchbearers, to install fit stations, encouraging residents of all ages to exercise in the park. And they’ve imagined and brought to life a new play area, sport court, and adventure course with the support of KaBOOM! and more than 150 local volunteers representing the neighborhood, local businesses, government officials, and community partners.
Local organizations are also stepping up to support public space. Alpha Phi Alpha Homes, owner and manager of senior living residences in the neighborhood, is now investing significant resources toward civic assets in Ohio & Erie Canal Park for both its residents and the larger community. In addition to partnering with City of Akron to support parks grounds maintenance, Alpha Phi Alpha has taken a lead on parks programs, with a free outdoor concert series that has welcomed more than 3,000 attendees over the past two summers. To make the concert experience even better, Alpha Phi invested more than $100,000 of its own funds to build an outdoor pavilion. When not used as a stage for concerts, the pavilion offers a space for picnics and other outdoor community gatherings.
Neighborhood residents and partners have also seen greater opportunity to hone their skills on a broader scale. As part of the 2019 Better Akron Fellow class, Ohio & Erie Canal Park residents and community leaders were brought together for leadership training by Heart to Heart Communications. The program focused specifically on Ohio & Erie Canal Park, with the class strategizing about ways in which to better support this community.
In three short years, Ohio & Erie Canal Park has seen a major shift. Where people once wanted to sit on opposite ends of a room from one another to air grievances, neighbors now converse about ways they can care for their shared community assets and each other. Community members are taking the lead in shaping the narrative of their community and advocating for its beautification. Recently, these efforts have led to a name change for the neighborhood— from Park East to Ohio & Erie Canal Park — that better represents the history and culture as directed by residents. And this is only the beginning as opportunities are continuing to grow, with plans to work with the City of Akron on developing a community brand that reflects the neighborhood and its assets.
Summit Lake
Summit Lake is the largest natural lake within the City of Akron. Once home to a famous amusement park, industrial pollution eventually drove people away and the neighborhood became cut off by the development of highways and railroads. By 2016, Summit Lake neighborhood, often referred to as the hardest hit census tract in Akron, had faced decades of disinvestment, with residents feeling ignored by local government and fearful of the lake, which over time required a reputation for being polluted and dangerous.
To counter these challenges, the Civic Commons team began building relationships with neighborhood residents to deliver quick results based on local desires, like the construction of benches and grills by the lake to facilitate community gatherings. Then improvements expanded to include lakeshore fishing spots, nature play, a variety of community led and supported events, and an expanded Farmer’s Market led by Let’s Grow Akron. Lakeside programming to change negative perceptions now features guided canoe trips and a design of a prototype trail around the lake, to connect the Summit Lake neighborhood with the Kenmore neighborhood on the opposite shore.
Along with these physical and programming investments, a key part of building trust was partners across northeast Ohio coming together to conduct an environmental assessment. The goal of the study: find the often sought out answer to the question, “What is in the lake?” Completed in 2018, the assessment found the lake’s health had dramatically improved since its mid-20th century days of industrial dumping, with an abundance of wildlife and the capacity for many types of programming, including kayaking, canoeing, and fishing.
Today, perceptions of the lake are starting to change for the better. There is increased interest in programs and stewardship to support a continued healthy ecosystem. In the last three years, cleanups led by Keep Akron Beautiful and Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition have brought out more than 1,000 volunteers from Summit Lake and surrounding communities. Summit Metro Parks’ pop-up nature center has hosted more than 19,000 visits from neighborhood residents and visitors, and there have been multiple requests for other programs led by community members, including craft clubs, sewing groups, and fitness classes.
The popularity of the nature center and Summit Metro Parks’ growing relationship with the community is leading to the county-wide park district to develop a permanent nature center at Summit Lake, expected to open later in 2020. The center represents a fully grant-funded investment in the Summit Lake neighborhood and will expand upon the interaction with the community, with neighborhood residents serving as naturalists and welcoming people to experience a lesser-known part of Akron’s ecology.
As trust is increasing, so is neighborhood pride and activity. Today, Summit Lake is emerging as a host of all sorts of city-wide celebrations. In spring of 2019, internationally recognized artist Nick Cave visited with the Summit Lake neighborhood as part of a collaboration with the Akron Art Museum. Cave worked with neighborhood residents and local artists to create a performance that premiered at the Summit Lake Community Center, before it was presented at the downtown Akron Art Museum. Meanwhile, this past fall the Akron Marathon included Summit Lake as part of its race route for the first time in its 17-year history.
The story of urban renewal and population decline is a familiar one in many cities. It is also where the work of the Akron Civic Commons project began. From the small steps our project’s leaders and Akron neighbors took together, much has been accomplished — and much more yet to be done. City leaders, community advocates and neighbors are starting to re-imagine communities across the city, born of the successful model set out by the Akron Civic Commons. As Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan says:
“In Akron, we have prioritized our public spaces because the investments we make in them have a protective function in our neighborhoods. These places are not just where people gather, but are central to our social, economic and environmental policy goals.”
Through a neighborhood-centric lens, our civic commons work is both improving a trail and shared public spaces, while also beginning to build meaningful relationships among the people who live, work and play there.
Reimagining the Civic Commons is a collaboration between The JPB Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, William Penn Foundation and local partners.
