Workgroup Members:
Charles E. Booth, Harriet Cutler, Chris Derry, Jimm Etters, James Foster, Melissa Hays, Mel Kent, Thomas J. Labbe, Holli Mallak, Diane Thomas McCort, David Swartz and Daniel Thomas

Downtown Living
A key component to maintaining a vital downtown area is to bring people to the central city area. The development of an attractive residential environment needs to be addressed by:

• The potential of residential units in the current innerbelt area should be explored.

• Overall attractiveness and appeal of the living environment needs to be included in any plan to ensure long-range viability.

• A high quality of public education needs to be available to attract families to live in the central city.

• Business development would need to be "family-oriented" in order for families to be interested in living downtown.

• Adequate green space for recreation as well as unstructured use needs to be included in any development.

• Adequate parking needs to be included in any development in order to attract people to conduct business, shop, take advantage of the entertainment opportunities, etc.

• Improving mass transportation to enable people to move easily from the central city outlying areas (Cleveland, Canton) for the purpose of business, entertainment, etc.

• "Gentrify" areas to encourage people who work downtown to live in close proximity to their job site.

Education
An educated workforce of productive and participating citizens will help ensure the future of Akron. This objective can be addressed by:

• Using technology to link schools into one system to access the best practices and exercise economies of scale.

• Develop a seamless system of public education that flows into the university/higher education and/or into the workforce.

• Develop education and /or training programs that emphasize the skills business and industry will need.

• Maintain and/or develop programs to train those for employment in the skilled trades.

Tourism and Recreation
Quality of life is highly integrated with the opportunities for recreation, entertainment, education and tourism. Akron can become a destination city by addressing the following items:

• Assure people are safe in the downtown area.

• Provide a diverse range of entertainment opportunities to attract people to downtown, especially for families.

• Expand and promote current museums and develop new venues that highlight those things that are uniquely Akron.

• More hotel space will be required as Akron becomes more than a day trip destination and to support large events.

• Larger convention center to attract larger shows.

• Construction of a large municipal arena to attract diverse and large events.

• Develop and promote current assets such as the Firestone Stadium (women’s pro softball.)

• Plan for the infrastructure (water, sewage, trash disposal) to support increased development.

• Consider the need for increased opportunities for social interaction in the face of increasing technology and the potential for people to become isolated from each other.

• As the canal is completed, develop strategies to bring people to the downtown.

• Develop/maintain relationships with federal entities to continue the development of the canal corridor to insure its perpetuity.

International Business and Technology
Traditional methods of business development may no longer be viable in 25 years. To address quickly evolving technologies, communication and related issues, Akron must respond by:

• Develop buildings that are "user-friendly" to technology.

• Promote the "incubator" concept by providing units of small square footage to encourage start-up businesses.

• Continue/revise tax incentives to encourage businesses to locate and stay in the central city area and surrounding areas.

• Expand air transportation options to the immediate area in order to facilitate easy access to the area for business and entertainment.

• Consider expanding the capabilities of Akron to be an air cargo hub to further increase the ease of transportation of manufactured goods.

Transportation
Ease of moving from one place to another is an important aspect of daily life. To encourage people to frequent the central city for business or pleasure, Akron must:

• Develop an efficient and extensive mass transportation system from outside the city and beyond.

• Increase parking and strive for close-in spaces to encourage the development of service businesses.

• Provide smaller multiple person vehicles that could move people quickly and efficiently from outlying parking areas, thus freeing up space for those visiting the downtown for brief periods of time.

• The expansion and improvement of Fulton and Akron-Canton airports (along with mass transportation options) would encourage easier access to the city and region by business.

• Pedestrian-friendly roadways to encourage walking, bicycling.

Support Services
In order to make downtown living an attractive option, much attention needs to be paid to the services that enhance the livability of the central city. To accomplish this, Akron must:

• Provide incentives for small businesses that support the needs of daily living such as grocery shopping, dry cleaning, banking, recreation, etc.

• Develop housing options around a "mall-like" area that include support services.

• Emphasize individuality of commercial business as an alternative to homogenous mall shopping.

Green space/Attractiveness
The development of a central city that wants to encourage residential as well as business growth, needs to provide an attractive physical environment. To accomplish this, Akron must consider:

• Improve the overall appearance of the city by planting trees, burying utilities, eliminating eyesore buildings, etc.

• Maintain existing green areas, wetlands, and fields in their natural states.

• Continue and expand the potential of the Canal and Towpath to create and maintain recreational areas.

• Develop "active" activity areas for children and youth.

Diversity
As Akron continues to grow in the 21^st century, it will be increasingly important to consider the impact of different cultures. The changing diversity may influence the need for:

• Consideration of voting practices (large number of non-U.S. citizens accessing public services) and issues that diverse citizens may or may not support.

• Evaluation of the impact that a diverse cultures’ attitude toward philanthropic support may have on the dollars available for capital projects, arts, education, etc.

• An increase of international business will bring more diverse and highly educated people to the area and consideration/integration of their cultural norms may impact the needs for education, cultural opportunities, etc.