The Muncie Action Plan is poised to take on a number of different issues facing the city, including the need for bicycle lanes to be incorporated across the city and creation of neighborhood organizations.
These issues, along with increasing the importance of education and building community pride, were talked about among the estimated 130 residents who participated in idea sharing at Tuesday night's MAP meeting.
Bryan Preston, a Muncie resident who has been following MAP from its beginning about a year ago, said there are multiple ideas he is paying attention to.
"Making the city more bike friendly is long overdue," Preston said. "I think that would connect the Ball State campus with the rest of Muncie a little bit better. In the group I was in, people were talking about community gardens, using vacant lots, things like that."
The meeting began Phase 2 of the plan, which involves implementation of ideas provided in Phase 1 by thousands of Muncie residents on how they would like to see the city improved.
Angie Pool, executive director of the Cardinal Greenway, said she would like to see bicycle lanes in Muncie help complete the Greeway and better connect Muncie.
"We get a lot of visitors coming to the Cardinal Greenway and they want to know, ‘How can we get to Ball State?' ‘How can we get downtown to the restaurants?,'" Pool said. "Of course we have our trails but then to get them throughout the city we have to really think, ‘What road are we going to send them on?' So I can see the whole future to be able to say, ‘Here are our bike-friendly lanes.'"
Task Force No. 4 head Betty Brewer presented a map of possible bicycle lanes rated by their level of effectiveness, some of which linked Ball State to different parts of Muncie, including downtown.
The meeting split the attendees in various task forces dedicated to deciding how to address the implementation of each aspect of the MAP's goals.
Another popular topic of discussion was the formation of neighborhood organizations that would provide support for addressing issues within areas of the community.
Muncie native Lynn Thornburg said the issue of neighborhood organizations was top on her list because it benefits her community.
"One voice saying, ‘My street needs to be paved' or ‘There's a criminal across the street' and you'd be afraid to say it," Thornburg said. "But by grouping together and having a strong voice, especially if you're very well-organized, people tend to listen to you more."
MAP co-chairwoman Ginny Nilles said the creation of these organizations was one of the ideas she was most excited about seeing materialize because of the political power it could provide for sections of Muncie.
"What I hope to see is that more people in the neighborhoods are educated about the political process," Nilles said. "And then together we will have a voice and will be able to say, ‘This is what Muncie needs' rather than just having five or six elected people directing traffic so to speak."
MAP marked one goal off its list earlier this year when Muncie City Council approved a multimillion-dollar bond to renovate a pool in Tuhey Park near the center of Muncie.
In the months to come, the MAP task forces will be starting to implement their various projects, and the task forces will convene again in April.
MAP Task Forces
- Linking Learning Health and Prosperity
- Fostering Collaboration
- Strengthing Pride and Image
- Creating Attractive and Desirable Places
- Managing Community Resources
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