Online Map Shows History of Blight Elimination Share

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After months of col­lab­o­ra­tion, the City of Mar­i­on has released an online map for the pub­lic to bet­ter access the his­to­ry of blight elim­i­na­tion. The map is now acces­si­ble on the City web­site from the Build­ing Depart­ment page (city​of​mar​i​on​.in​.gov/​b​u​i​lding) show­ing an archive of demol­ished prop­er­ties from 2016 – 2022.

One may see the accom­plish­ments by walk­ing the streets, but the intent with pre­sent­ing it in an online ​‘bird’s eye’ for­mat is to cre­ate a sim­pler way to access it, to bet­ter edu­cate what local gov­ern­ment is doing for its cit­i­zens with regards to blight elimination.

The map was com­piled by Neigh­bor­hood Asso­ci­a­tion Coor­di­na­tor Kay­la John­son with help from IWU stu­dents using data pro­vid­ed by the Build­ing, Plan­ning, and Com­mu­ni­ty Devel­op­ment & Mar­ket­ing Depart­ments. It is the first phase of more maps to come, but blight elim­i­na­tion through demo­li­tion was the first priority.

John­son explained, ​“In talks with neigh­bors, many express that, ​‘the City is doing noth­ing in my neigh­bor­hood.’ The hope with the map is to make the data eas­i­ly acces­si­ble to have more informed, data-dri­ven conversations.”

Phase 2 will include a live map set to unveil in Novem­ber which will be updat­ed con­sis­tent­ly. Addi­tion­al infor­ma­tion on the phase 2 map will include streets paved, city lots sold, struc­tures approved for demo, and notes on prop­er­ties as they move through City Court. John­son said the phase 2 map will show what has been accom­plished late­ly in each neigh­bor­hood. ​“When it is not right next door, it can feel like noth­ing is get­ting accom­plished, when in real­i­ty, accom­plish­ments are hap­pen­ing daily.” 

John­son added, ​“The feel­ings expressed are com­plete­ly under­stand­able when a con­cern takes time to move through the sys­tem. It’s a good thing that solu­tions take time; oth­er­wise the city would be exer­cis­ing too much pow­er. The sys­tem allows a legal process in which rights are respect­ed and main­tained while ordi­nances may also be respect­ed and main­tained. Togeth­er, we are all aim­ing to build and main­tain safe, wel­com­ing neighborhoods.”