Fourth Economy Consultant Emily Brown explains to Ford City Borough Council procedures that will be used in gathering information to create a comprehensive plan for the Borough.
by KP Intern Nick Marofsky
The Ford City Borough Planning Committee has hired Pittsburgh consultants “4th Economy” to create a comprehensive plan of a vision for the future of the town.
4th Economy was hired through a grant to survey residents and business leaders as a step in the process. 4th Economy is a national community and economic development consulting firm based in Pittsburgh.
Consultant spokesperson Emily Brown presented their research to the Ford City Borough Council on Monday night.
“We have been doing some really great community engagement and visioning sessions with folks in ford city.” Brown stated. “We also did vision boards when we were at the Summer FunFest and had large pieces of paper and asked people what their vision was for the river front development and for the high school site.”
Together with the Ford City Planning Committee, they plan to hold six build sessions in total over the next week.
“On Thursday of last week, we had the infill housing one. On Wednesday we had the one about river front development. On August 1st, we are going to have 4 more. Those are going to be talent attraction, capital improvements, economic vitality, and one on safety. We are really taking sort of a broad look on all of the issues that Ford City is facing.”
However, these build sessions are not open to the public. They are going to be invitation only. Emily went on to further explain what happens during each session.
“When I say build sessions, that means we get a group of 5 to 8 people together and we present information to them to give them an idea about the topic we talking about from a data perspective.”
Another major part of their research was doing a survey with the public. The survey received an overwhelming good response with over 462 people filling one out. Their choice of housing to be developed was one of those questions.
“28% of residents who filled out the survey were interested in having more senior homes in Ford City. 12% of people said that affordable housing was needed. And we know that, for the most part, the average income in Ford City is lower than those in and around the region.”
Improving the residents way of life was one of their top priorities as well as finding ways to improve the outdoor aspect of Ford City.
“The very biggest thing that came out of this survey was that people really want access to the river. They would like a place to put in boats or kayaks. Even just to walk along the river front. So that is our top priority for amenities.”
With income being lower than the state average, 4th Economy had solutions to solve it.
“(We want to) make sure that they have enough talent and workforce as well as development programs. People who want to upgrade their skills (should) have an opportunity to do so.”
Jim Kumon, an Executive Director of Incremental Development Alliance, will hold a lecture on how people can develop their own pieces of property and to encourage small business growth on August 20th from 6-7 PM at the Tenth Street Station in Ford City.