Southeast Neighborhood
Map of Mid-North Businesses, 2015
area’s business environment.” The plans
also look at aesthetics, issues related to
basic needs, crime and safety, education,
health, housing, senior advocacy, and youth
engagement elements. The Mid-North plan
includes six neighborhoods: Crown Hill,
Highland Vicinity, Historic Meridian Park,
Mapleton Fall Creek, Meridian Highland,
and Historic Watson Park. Mid-North is
part of Midtown which also includes the
neighborhoods of Broad Ripple, ButlerTarkington, Canterbury, Clifton on the River,
Forest Hills, Golden Hill, Keystone-Monon,
Meridian-Kessler, Meridian Street Historic
District, Rocky Ripple, and Warfleigh.
“The business development component
is a very important factor in forming the
plans as it contributes to an improved
economic situation for local residents
and local businesses,” Okantey noted.
“Specifically, the planners are focusing on
encouraging entrepreneurship within the
Mid-North area, creating an environment
that supports and grows area businesses,
and identifying and growing specific
neighborhood-serving commercial centers.”
The current trend in quality of life
planning is improving mixed zones of
residential space and businesses in an
appealing way so people can live and
work close enough that they can walk or
bike. The Great Places 2020 committee
is concentrating revitalization efforts on
three distinct sections of town: Englewood
Village (E. Washington St. & Oxford), Maple
Crossing (38th & Illinois Streets), and River
West (W. Michigan & MLK).
“I worked with The Polis Center and
SAVI to create maps of current businesses
in the Mid-North and Midtown districts
and a table showing crime trends in the
neighborhoods so that the committee
knows the lay of the land as they consider
improvements,” said Okantey. “It’s
important to understand where you are now
so you can create a realistic plan to get
where you want to go. SAVI can help you
get there. I encourage anybody working on
place-based projects to use SAVI. There’s
power in using data and maps to make a
difference in planning. People recognize the
geography of their neighborhood. That has
a huge impact on the outcome.”
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