fostering development

Community involvement is essential in city development. Having neighborhood residents’ input about what they would like to see in their neighborhoods, retail space and park areas truly shapes and progresses growth. Embracing this emphasis on community involvement, Ward 7 Councilman John Pettis is hosting a town hall meeting on economic development on Sept. 29 that will specifically affect northeast Oklahoma City residents.

Pettis is providing a way for the public to voice their opinions on developmental matters and has worked with the Alliance for Economic Development of Oklahoma City in discussing change with community leaders. Pettis’ efforts in creating a tax increment finance district and an urban renewal blight declaration have aided in redevelopment of neglected areas of northeast Oklahoma City, including plans to build a grocery store and residential area at NE 23rd Street and Martin Luther King Avenue.

Page Woodson, the blighted high school building, is seeing changes because of the involvement of community leaders. And now, the Northeast Shopping Center at N. Kelley Avenue and NE 36th Street is starting to see signs of redevelopment because of community involvement. The greatest way to ensure that positive change happens is to listen to the people’s voice, and for people to use that voice.

Pettis’ town hall is an opportunity for residents of northeast Oklahoma City to help spark growth and change in their own neighborhoods. For those interested in attending the town hall meeting, it will be at 6:30 p.m. at the Greater Mount Olive Baptist Church, 1020 NE 42nd St.

Read the full article here in the September 23rd edition of The Journal Record.