Macon Action Plan Refresh and Downtown Challenge from Alex Morrison on Vimeo.
Email us at maconactionplan@gmail.com to get involved in MAP!
Within five years of the completion of the first plan for Macon’s Urban Core in 2015, Downtown had attracted $5 million in foundation grants and over $400 million of additional public and private investment. MAP's partners and the Downtown community had implemented eighty percent of the strategies from the original plan! It was time for a refresh!
The Macon-Bibb County Urban Development Authority [UDA], the City of Macon, and their partners undertook another community-driven planning process, which resulted in the MAP Refresh an update of the original plan, looking at what’s next for Downtown Macon. To jump start implementation of the MAP Refresh, Macon launched a new Downtown Challenge in January 2020 with the generous support of its long-time funders.
We are happy to announce that the 2015 roadmap for the future of Macon’s Urban Core - the Macon Action Plan (MAP) - is now complete! Next up? Implementation… ready, set, ACTION!
Download the Executive Summary, the final version of the Macon Action Plan, or browse MAP online. If you would like more details and data, Appendix 1 includes an atlas of analysis maps and a record of MAP's public outreach, and Appendix 2 includes supporting documents from the consultant team.
Macon Action Plan (MAP) is a comprehensive, community-driven, plan that envisions the future of Macon’s Urban Core. The Macon-Bibb County Urban Development Authority received generous grants from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Peyton Anderson Foundation to fund this effort to plan for our collective future. Facilitated by the Macon-Bibb Urban Development Authority, Macon-Bibb County, and their partners, MAP is our roadmap to guide change and decision making in coming years.
The original Macon Action Plan was approved in October 2015. It summarized a year-long planning process, and because the A in MAP is for Action, the MAP movement began with a running start towards implementing the plan’s recommendations. With funding for many of the projects provided by the Peyton Anderson Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation – each organization provided $1.5 million in support – and the dedication of the Urban Development Authority and its partners, 95 of the over 120 recommended strategies were either completed or underway within five years.
The "Urban Core" refers to Downtown Macon and nearby neighborhoods. The urban core is where the City was first established, and it remains a center of employment, entertainment, and institutions, as well as home to a collection of historic and diverse neighborhoods and communities. The urban core is the heart of Macon.
MAP unites neighbors and stakeholders under a cohesive vision, create a roadmap for future redevelopment in Downtown and surrounding neighborhoods, and showcase our city as a prime opportunity for reinvestment. MAP contains strategies to realize the full potential of the heart of Macon by maximizing private investment, sustaining the historic mix of land uses, and connecting people with each other in a beautiful place to live, work, and play. YOU are a critical part of establishing a shared vision and roadmap for the future of Macon’s urban core.
The A in MAP is for Action, now. Indeed, positive change is afoot in Macon’s urban core, and it’s that change that the Macon Action Plan builds upon. Current efforts by Macon-Bibb County elected officials and agencies, non-profit organizations, businesses, institutions, and individual community members, alike, are already turning inspiration into reality, implementing ideas from previous planning efforts and introducing new ideas that the community stands behind.