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Community vision can come from Springfield residents

The Greater Springfield Moving Forward intiative is looking at revitalizing strategic areas, like South Fountain Avenue. Staff photo by Bill Lackey

Bill Lackey The Greater Springfield Moving Forward intiative is looking at revitalizing strategic areas, like South Fountain Avenue. Staff photo by Bill Lackey

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By Samantha Sommer, Staff Writer Updated 10:01 AM Wednesday, May 19, 2010

SPRINGFIELD — The unique places in a community — be they old high schools, beautiful parks or strong neighborhoods — are what give it an identity and create a sense of place.

“Those are what make Springfield Springfield,” said Kevin Rose, president of the Springfield Preservation Alliance.

So the Greater Springfield Moving Forward initiative wants to know what places residents value, want to see preserved or think need revitalization.

The initiative is a community visioning project sponsored by the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, the city, county, Cox Media Group and the Turner and Springfield foundations.

It is surveying residents to find out where the community is and where it needs to go in the next five years.

The questionnaire is open-ended and asks respondents to think about five points, including revitalizing strategic community areas.

Some distinctive places that come to Mayor Warren Copeland’s mind are downtown, the former South High School and Snyder Park.

“Other people may think something else is more important,” he said. “This process is going to give everybody a chance to tell us what they think.”

When neighborhoods or other community assets such as parks are deteriorated, it can lead to residents feeling let down, said Rob Baker, a Wittenberg University political science professor.

But when they see improvements and projects such as the downtown hospital going up, Baker said, it also can create optimism and a feeling of well being both for residents and visitors.

“That brings a sense of excitement,” he said.

The steering committee doesn’t want to identify what residents think are the important places here, Chairman James Peifer said.

“We want to hear from the community what do they think is a good space,” he said. “There’s a lot of them we probably haven’t thought of.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0363 or ssommer@coxohio.com.