Macon, Ga.’s Historic Pleasant Hill Neighborhood to Receive Major Public Space Investment

Reimagining the Civic Commons (RCC), a collaboration of national foundations and civic leaders dedicated to revitalizing public spaces in ways that benefit communities, has announced its third round of investment in 10 U.S. cities, including Macon-Bibb County, Ga.

The funding will be used in each city to transform public spaces in ways that counteract harmful trends facing America, from social isolation to economic segregation to climate change.

Macon, along with the other communities receiving money, will use the investments to create or enhance a variety of civic spaces, including trails, parks, community centers, neighborhood main streets, active transportation corridors and public gardens, the municipality noted in an Oct. 11 news release.

Macon-Bibb County will receive $750,000 over the next three years to continue the neighborhood-led, multi-organization collaborative work happening in its historic Pleasant Hill neighborhood.

It will include continuing the work to reconnect the neighborhood and mitigate the damage done by the construction of Interstate 75 decades ago, funding capacity-building for leadership to improve outcomes of impoverished neighborhoods through public spaces investment, neighborhood events and more.

“Our team has been dedicated to creating a stronger sense of belonging in the Pleasant Hill neighborhood through cultural preservation, community engagement and collaborative planning with partners,” explained Tonja Khabir, a Macon community planner. “We are excited to continue the work we’ve done in connecting with over 400 residents and community members to shape a vision for the future. With this support, we’re pumped to push forward with our plans, heal past wounds from divisive infrastructure, and power up our neighborhood for sustainable growth.”

Alex Morrison, executive director of Macon-Bibb County’s Urban Development Authority, said, “Macon’s RCC efforts stand apart because of the broad array of partners at the table together focusing on solving issues in real time. Participating in the network has unlocked new potential for projects and healing in Macon’s urban core.

“It has been a joy to lead it for the last several years, and this expansion and funding will take our work to the next level,” he added.

Macon’s Ambitious Improvement Plans Cited By RCC

In April 2023, Macon was host to a design studio entitled “Investing with Intention: Our Four Outcomes,” when RCC officials spent three days learning about the city’s public spaces and revitalization efforts, exploring the downtown’s connection to historic Pleasant Hill, and learning about the collaborative efforts to turn nearby Ocmulgee Mounds National Historic Park into Georgia’s first national park.

Macon was selected by RCC for funding because of its work to advance civic engagement and strengthen democracy through public spaces.

In fact, RCC has recognized the Macon Action Plan (MAP) as a prime example of how cities can creatively involve residents in improving their communities. The organization’s report notes the Macon team’s use of “democratized implementation,” meaning they actively engage people and groups in planning, designing and building projects, as opposed to centralizing it with one organization.

It was approved in 2015 after an 18-month-long planning process that was open to the entire community and included input from more than 2,000 people through engaging public meetings, events and online forms.

Due to an initial $1.5 million in funding from both the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Peyton Anderson Foundation, as well as grants from the Community Foundation of Central Georgia, the downtown Macon community and its surrounding neighborhoods have completed 80 percent of the strategies and projects in the original plan.

Through the success of its MAP, downtown Macon has also attracted more than $400 million in additional public and private investment.

“Some people say you can’t fix the wrongs of the past, but our work through Reimagining the Civic Commons and Macon Action Plan [is] showing that we can make things right moving forward, that we can come together to make life better for everyone,” said Mayor Lester Miller. “What’s happening in Historic Pleasant Hill — from the Blight Fight to new affordable housing, to creating new parks, to reconnecting the two halves, to downtown, to eating, to services and more … is just the start of what needs to be done. But it will have decades of impact.”

The Macon-Bibb County Urban Development Authority is the convening agency for the effort. Its active and engaged partners working together include AARP, Bike Walk Macon, Causey Construction Consulting, the Community Foundation of Central Georgia, Friends of Rosa Parks Square, and both the Macon-Bibb Community Enhancement Authority and the county’s Consolidated Government, among several other groups.

Reimagining Civic Commons Works for Urban Change

Based in Philadelphia, Pa., RCC is an ambitious national initiative demonstrating that strategic investments in public spaces can connect people of all backgrounds, cultivate trust and create more resilient communities. It has worked with a network of leaders across the public, private and nonprofit sectors to change how they design, manage and program urban public spaces.

The initiative’s innovative model supports cities to invest in civic spaces like parks, trails, community centers, libraries and public gardens in ways that deliver critical social, economic and environmental benefits. The next phase of the initiative is funded by The JPB Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and The Kresge Foundation.

Launched in 2016 in five cities with an initial $20 million investment, the initiative expanded to include additional communities in 2020. Besides Macon, other cities receiving funding from this round of investment are Akron, Ohio; Camden, N.J.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Detroit, Mich.; Lexington, Ky.; Memphis, Tenn.; Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn; Philadelphia; and San José, Calif.