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Muncie is a typical mid-sized manufacturing city in transition.  We have experienced all of the usual growth trends (now extremely well-known as urban sprawl).  Though definitions of sprawl abound, one fairly common result is downtown decline and Muncie was certainly a prime example.  Mayor Dan Canan summed it up rather well in a recent downtown newsletter article stating “four years ago our inner-city was a disgrace”.

Five years ago, this same Mayor convened a group of approximately 100 people representing state and local government, downtown business, local finance, foundations, community development, planning, Ball State University, infrastructure, real estate development and residents.  After months of discussion and sub-group planning and design, a multi-faceted program started to emerge with the City’s commitment to infrastructure becoming the cornerstone based on the concept that you can’t expect private investment without the public side stepping up.  With then-Congressman McIntosh’s assistance, Muncie received five high priority  project designations in the TEA-21 legislation including the reconstruction and enhancement of Walnut Street in the heart of downtown.  (Two others will also have a positive downtown impact – a cantilevered walkway and a railroad/noise abatement study.)  

The federally funded Walnut Street project acted not only as a kick-off event, it signified government’s commitment and allowed people to really believe that revitalization could occur.   A Downtown Development Partnership Board was created and staffed.  Downtown event planning began in earnest as did marketing and redevelopment of downtown properties.  The value to be found in preservation was also recognized and another major project was implemented – corridor level historic façade renovation – through  cooperative efforts on the part of our banks, downtown property owners and the Community Development Office (overseer of CDBG funds).

Any how-to guide on downtown revitalization will include a couple of basic tenets – no one improvement is the answer and mixed use is the basis of sustainability.   We now have new streetscape with ornamental lighting, more on- and off-street parking, new apartments, new building facades, new retail and restaurant businesses, and entertainment.  It is still a work in progress, but as the Mayor also wrote, “it is much better than it was”. 

Federal transportation dollars provide much more than just bricks and mortar.  Sometimes our focus gets a little too narrow and a downtown revitalization project is one of the best venues for illustrating the big picture, the interconnections between transportation (planning and projects) and private investment, public investment, a healthy economy, community pride, and basic quality of life.