Priority Action Item - Southside

Southside Enhancements

Objective

Targeted empowerment, engagement, and beautification of Southside neighborhoods and the business community.

Note: This was also a 2021 Commission Priority.

Key Team Members

Planning Director Nic Hutchison

Expectations

Focus on residential and commercial development in the Walter Jetton area
Support and enhance the Southside Steering Committee in its efforts to guide policy and incentives decisions
Expand the recruitment of businesses to the Southside residential and business district through incentives

Stay Informed

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Accomplishments - 2021 to present

Engagement

In March 2021, the City partnered with the community to hold two live-streamed Southside Neighborhood Public Meetings (see videos below) at Soiree's Events Center which were attended by approximately 180 city and county residents. City provided a thank you email and social media post with an update on the themes heard at the meetings on March 26.
As part of Good Neighbor Day (September 28, 2021), a week-long campaign for Paducah Neighbor Week was promoted to encourage neighborhood leadership, community, and safety with information posted on the Paducah Neighborhoods webpage and social media.
Southside Steering Committee held its first meeting held February 1, 2022, and has been meeting nearly monthly. The committee's role is to facilitate community engagement and inform policy and programming decisions. The Committee held a public engagement event in October 2022, to provide input for improvements to Robert Coleman Park with more than 200 participants. The Committee also began reviewing in December 2022, draft incentives for residential stabilization and beautification.
A postcard mailer was sent in late 2021 providing the various ways to engage with the City and receive communications.
Informational meetings were held with bank representatives.
In the beginning stages of a potential public art project to create a gateway sign.

Visioning Sessions Mayor Bray and Commissioner Henderson along with several City staff met March 24, April 21, May 13, and May 26 to review the themes from the Neighborhood meetings and start working on an action plan. The 11 themes from the town hall meetings have been narrowed to five areas of development. Summary from April 21, 2021, Meeting Data analysis and modeling are in progress for the five areas of development: economic development, parks and recreation, infrastructure and connectivity, housing, and neighborhood vitality.

Businesses on the Southside The City has identified 460 businesses in the Southside region with the City holding business retention/expansion meetings.

Grant The City applied for the 2022 EPA Brownfield Assessment Grant to cover the environmental assessment of brownfields. Information gained from these assessments will inform future development and to help gain access to additional EPA funds.

Southside Rise & Shine Neighborhood Spruce Up Since beautification emerged as one of the themes from the March neighborhood meetings, the City team established the Southside Rise & Shine Neighborhood events which began in June 2021. Through Southside Rise & Shine, the City initiated a partnership with CFSB to provide financial literacy in underserved neighborhoods. Rise & Shine was accomplished with 104 volunteers, 788 hours of volunteer service, and 815 city staff hours. More than 130 tons of garbage was collected in addition to the filling of 60 large dumpsters and the disposal of 1032 tires.

Infrastructure

The Bridge Street Road Improvement Project is completed with paving, striping, sidewalk, accessible ramps, curbs and gutters, and drainage improvements. This project improved Bridge Street from Broad Street to Irvin Cobb Drive.
The tree boulevard on Walter Jetton Boulevard has been extended at Leake Street with accessible ramps also added at Leake Street.
Road improvement is underway on South 9th Street from Husbands Street to near Fisher Street with the replacement and addition of curb, gutters, and sidewalks with accessible ramps.
The design is underway for roadway improvements to South 25th and South 24th Streets. A stormwater detention area will be created on South 24th Street.
Parks and Recreaton has received a grant for new playground equipment for Robert Coleman Park.

Incentives Planning staff is developing an incentive program for housing stabilization and for beautification of the initial target area, the Walter Jetton Neighborhood. The Southside Steering Committee began reviewing the incentives in December 2022.

Award The Kentucky League of Cities (KLC) named Paducah as the 2022 KLC City Government of the Year in September 2022. The award recognizes a city that has elevated its community through quality governance or done something transformational for the city. An independent board of judges from around the state selected Paducah which applied based upon the City Commission’s decision to prioritize the Southside and develop the Southside Rise & Shine Neighborhood Spruce Up initiative. “Community innovation is a pillar of the Kentucky League of City’s mission statement, and we are excited that this year’s City Government of the Year award winner exemplifies that goal,” said KLC Executive Director/CEO J.D. Chaney. “Paducah city officials and employees made a unified commitment to embrace neighborhood empowerment and grow pride in areas of the city that have not always been at the forefront. The city’s impact is testament to the ability of city officials to reenergize communities, create new economic development opportunities, and enhance the quality of life. We are proud to recognize the City of Paducah and look forward to seeing the long-term impact of its Rise & Shine program.”

Southside Steering Committee

Leslie Ballard
Rev. Charles Dunbar
Tommy Hollimon
Mike Muscarella
Kristian Prather
Connie Ragsdale
Tami Snyder
Sonya Thompson
Bryson Wells
Susan Ybarzabal

Note: Meeting location is included on the agenda.

Neighborhood Public Meetings

Southside Paducah residents and business owners provided input about their neighborhoods at public meetings held March 4 and March 11, 2021. Approximately 100 people attended each meeting.

Southside Neighborhood Public Meeting - March 4, 2021

Southside Neighborhood Public Meeting - March 11, 2021

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Commission Priorities

Read all Commission Priorities and Continuous Improvement Items including each action item's objective, key team members, and expectations by visiting Commission Priorities.