NORA 2021: Vote for Our Community Priorities
On September 26th, a crowd that gathered at the Dean Evans Center (WTSC) on Woodfield Crossing and 86th Street to discuss the future of the Nora community. NORA 2021 is community-led planning focused on Nora’s future. The morning’s speaker, acting Director of City Planning, Brad Beaubien, was the perfect set-up to the larger conversation of how we as a collective community can influence and shape the future of Nora (view Brad’s presentation).
Nora Community Priorities Survey
The second half of the meeting participants provided fast-paced input to a community Liabilities, Assets, Needs and Desires (LAND) assessment. That input will feed the planning process and is provided below.
We want to know your priorities! Please click the button below and provide YOUR FEEDBACK (a brief survey of 4 questions).
THIS SURVEY IS NOW CLOSED. VIEW THE RESULTS.
Summary and Tally of All Responses
We collected and recorded every comment submitted on colored index cards during our group exercise, a Liabilities, Assets, Needs and Desires (LAND) analysis. On the asset side of the ledger, many comments revolved around the great neighborhoods and the amenity of the Monon Trail. On a related note, many of the desires centered on connecting those neighborhoods in a safe manner to one another and to the trail and capitalizing on the trail with more focused, ‘trail-oriented’ development as seen in some recent projects.
Liabilities -weaknesses within the community, and within the context of the City and region, that we should remain aware of and mitigate as possible | ||||||||||
86th (and Westfield, College at times) clogged, unsafe | ||||||||||
Aging and subpar apartment stock. | ||||||||||
Weak sense of community across cultural, generational lines | ||||||||||
Limited pedestrian-friendly areas | ||||||||||
Lack of an understood ‘center’ or ‘focus’ | ||||||||||
History of favor toward strip mall format of development | ||||||||||
Lack of identity | ||||||||||
Lack of control or input over development | ||||||||||
Poor infrastructure: sewers, streets, noise abatement, streetlights, street, street services | ||||||||||
Assets – the individuals, associations, and institutions in our community, as well as its physical characteristics–the land, buildings and infrastructure upon which the community rests | ||||||||||
Monon Trail | ||||||||||
St. Vincent Hospital, IU North: proximity | ||||||||||
465 proximity and accessibility by car to highway system | ||||||||||
Target (not Walmart) | ||||||||||
Jordan Y, FBA Athletics, et al. | ||||||||||
Cultural, generational diversity | ||||||||||
Washington Township Schools | ||||||||||
Neighborhood character defined by mature trees | ||||||||||
Shopping nearby; grocery choices | ||||||||||
Library branch | ||||||||||
Needs – gaps in our human capital, as well as the physical the land, buildings and infrastructure upon which the community rests. | ||||||||||
Identity, branding, placemaking | ||||||||||
Walkable streets, crosswalks and parking lots | ||||||||||
Traffic calming | ||||||||||
Center or focus of village | ||||||||||
Access to Monon from neighborhoods/Connectivity | ||||||||||
Developers who will maintain, build value | ||||||||||
Public areas, parks | ||||||||||
Efficient alternate transportation options | ||||||||||
Basic services: noise, sewers, streetlights. Attention from city | ||||||||||
Integration of diverse population into fabric of community life | ||||||||||
Desires – our aspirations as individuals, associations and institutions in our community. A positive statement of things you envision for your community. | ||||||||||
Safe, efficient connections to Monon Trail; especially 91st St. | ||||||||||
Improved infrastructure: sound(465), sewer, streets and sidewalks. | ||||||||||
Public gathering place or center | ||||||||||
Passable 86th St for foot and bike traffic | ||||||||||
Improved transportation options | ||||||||||
Reimagined retail – less strip, chain-based stand-alones (switch: form-based code) | ||||||||||
Big, identifiable Nora event | ||||||||||
Strong, positive, open neighborhood groups | ||||||||||
Parks, preservation, conservation | ||||||||||
Strong identity as a place of Indy’s future | ||||||||||