Draft plan being released on future of Muncie
How you can help halt population loss, economic decline, eroding tax base
MUNCIE — Greater Muncie is facing continued population loss alongside rapid growth in nearby metropolitan counties; declines in jobs and economic output; a growing reliance on commuting, and an eroding tax base.
Today, Oct. 6, or tomorrow, Oct. 7, or later via Zoom is your chance to do something to help improve that state of affairs.
TogetherDM, also known as the Delaware-Muncie Comprehensive Plan, is presenting a draft of the plan and seeking public input at a pair of open houses, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Oct. 6, and from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 7, in Heartland Hall at the Delaware County Fairgrounds.
If you can’t attend an open house, you can join a virtual discussion and Q&A on Zoom starting at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 12. (Visit TogetherDM.org for more information).
Urban planning consultants from czb, Alexandria, Va., and Ingalls Planning and Design, Fairport, N.Y., will reveal the emerging plan using a dozen poster stations at the open houses, said Marta Moody, director of the city-county planning commission, which is spearheading the project.
The last comprehensive plan, created in 2000, achieved successes in downtown redevelopment; an extensive pedestrian-bicycle network including White River Greenway; a landscape ordinance to improve the appearance of retail corridors including McGalliard Road; recreation and conservation zoning to protect Prairie Creek Reservoir against overdevelopment; and steering industrial development to sites like the southside Industria Centre and Park One Business Park at Interstate 69 and Ind. 332, Moody told me.
Guidance on “what goes where,” aka land use, is one of the elements of a comprehensive plan.
Muncie residents made it clear at open houses during the 2000 comprehensive plan that they liked spending time at Ball State University, Minnetrista and downtown thanks to their attractions and walkability. And they disliked the auto-oriented, “Anywhere, USA” appearance of the McGalliard Road commercial strip
Despite Muncie’s population loss, economic decline and eroding tax base, the community has succeeded in retaining and attracting young adults, though keeping college graduates remains a challenge, according to a TogetherDM analysis.
The consultants also found a “growing awareness” in the community “that quality of life and quality of place have a big impact on economic competitiveness.”
Greater Muncie residents are generally optimistic about the future, but cautiously so, according to a TogetherDM survey of 466 respondents conducted in March and April. The survey found that:
Poverty and blight are viewed as the top issues that absolutely must be addressed, along with environmental protection and improving workforce quality.
Community amenities are recognized as a significant limiting factor to economic vitality.
Local government is seen as having an active role to play in strengthening the housing market.
Maintenance of basic infrastructure is viewed as a high-priority investment for the community.
Given a hypothetical choice of how TogetherDM should spend $10 million, the most popular verdict (21% of all dollars allocated) among respondents was maintenance of basic infrastructure, such as filling potholes. That was followed by investment in quality of life amenities, such as parks and recreation with 15% of all dollars, and neighborhood revitalization with 14% of all dollars.
Improving quality of place, strengthening housing conditions and housing options, and cultivating opportunities for upward mobility have surfaced as some of the plan’s “big ideas,” along with a commitment to becoming a more entrepreneurial, gritty, bold, thoughtful and inclusive community.
Since the last comprehensive plan, the place where people live and work has changed significantly, according to the consultants:
“Delaware County jobs held by Delaware County residents fell from 63% to 52%. The share of Delaware County residents who commuted to other counties rose from 34% in 2002 to 47% in 2018. Overall, this points to a growing reliance on commuters by employers in Delaware County — especially for high-skill positions — while more and more Delaware County job-seekers are looking farther afield.”
In contrast to population loss in East Central Indiana, “a very different pattern can be found in either direction on I-69, where counties around Indianapolis and Fort Wayne have grown.”
The new plan will address capital improvements, land use, housing and neighborhood policy, economic development policy, transportation and infrastructure, and parks/recreation.
“A great plan identifies a few issues that are so important to a community’s future that they require focused attention and resources to ensure they are handled correctly,” DMTogether says. “When attention is scattered or resources are spread too thin, inaction or half-measures become the norm.”
A great plan also recognizes that “the unforeseen happens everyday and provides a decision-making framework (tied to core values) for circumstances that cannot be predicted.”
The new plan, a project of the city-county planning commission, is being overseen by a 17-member steering committee.