
A TRAILSNext™presentation
Akron is reconnecting people, not online, but in our trails, parks and community centers.
by Dan Rice, President & CEO, Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition
You see it in the news every day. Nearly every trend line shows that the U.S. is in the grips of increased polarization, segregation, social isolation and economic inequality. Health, happiness and trust in free fall. There is an urgent need to reverse these trends. Akron is starting by reconnecting people, not online, but in place through our trails, parks and community centers. A cross-sector collaboration of more than a dozen organizations and hundreds of community members, Akron Civic Commons is recommitting to our civic assets with the intention to deliver outcomes that matter. Through investments in three neighborhoods and the Towpath Trail that connects them, it is knitting together isolated communities through collaborative re-imagining of public places. Temporary and permanent design features and programming is reestablishing a 100-acre lake as a place of civic pride and play, bridging diverse neighborhoods and fostering economic development and public life in Akron’s downtown. Learning Objectives:
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