Jonesboro, AR – JonesboroRightNow.com – The week started with an introductory open house on Monday, March 30. Attendees participated in hands-on exercises that will give the city insight into Jonesboro citizens’ priorities.
“Design Week marks a key milestone in the development of Plan Jonesboro, which will guide growth over the next 30 years,” Lynette Hirsch, community engagement and marketing coordinator for the city of Jonesboro, said in a news release. “During the week, a design team from DPZ CoDesign and Crafton Tull will establish an on-site working studio, developing draft concepts in real time based on community input. Residents will be able to review ideas as they take shape and provide feedback throughout the week.”
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Pop-up events throughout the week also allowed community members to take part in the planning process. The closing open house invited residents to the Jonesboro “Y” Youth Community Center to present Plan Jonesboro’s findings gathered thus far and collect additional data that will be used to refine development.
“Design Week provides the community direct input opportunities with the design team that will develop Plan Jonesboro,” Matthew Lambert, a partner with DPZ CoDesign, said. “The plan has not been written. We encourage the public to share, propose, and react to ideas this week, helping define the direction Plan Jonesboro will chart for the city’s future.”
A main topic of conversation at the closing open house was what could be introduced to Jonesboro to raise the city’s appeal. Information gathered from attendees listed everything from a ropes course to food truck plazas.
Hollis Witherspoon, a member of the Mayor’s Youth Advancement Council (MYAC), said she would like to see more outdoor recreation facilities.
“I would love to see maybe a zipline place, something that’s an outdoor activity that’s not just walking trails at Craighead,” she said.
Witherspoon and other members of the MYAC agreed that Jonesboro lacked entertainment options for young people. “Besides Hijinx and going out to eat, there’s not much,” Witherspoon explained.
State Representative Jack Ladyman brought his political insight to the planning, saying Jonesboro needs to improve residents’ quality of life by recruiting corporate headquarters.
“In order to increase the quality of life, we need to increase the average income,” he said. “We are the very best city in the state of Arkansas in recruiting factories. But those are not high-paying jobs; they’re your average wage. If you go to Northwest Arkansas, they’ve got Walmart headquarters, they’ve got Tyson headquarters, they’ve got JD Hunt headquarters. Those people make a lot of money, putting money back in the community so you can have new things. So you can work an average job, where you want to work, and still have access to those things.”
Plan Jonesboro’s survey results as of April 2 show that of 593 people surveyed, 291 people have said that Jonesboro is ‘becoming a little better’ in recent years, while 109 people said it’s becoming ‘a little worse,’ 91 reported ‘much better’, 66 people reported ‘not changing much’ and 36 people stated the city ‘becoming much worse.’
Though Design Week may be over, Plan Jonesboro is still seeking community input. The Plan Jonesboro Community Survey is available online.
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