Open House Survey Results Part Five: Random Citizen Comments

Here are all of the comments that citizens wrote on their survey forms.

Re: Reserving and encouraging more sites for retirement-oriented housing developments would require development of commercial services in, close proximity. Lack of sidewalks on North 11th Street, between Water Street and Burns Avenue (Oak Street)
Re: More retail stores, shopping centers, etc., fill center before going west. Make it more pleasant for pedestrians—fix sidewalks, plant trees, hang flower baskets in summer, ease vehicular flow, etc. DON’T CLOSE SMALL SCHOOLS

It seems that the caliber of students accepted by IUP has decreased, and they have become more prone to crime and unsavory activities. Traffic has become heavier and people are much more aggressive in the past two to three years. There should be more monitoring of, and penalties for, aggressive driving. I’m afraid to ride my bike in town. Young families should be encouraged to stay in the area. Sure, you can have retirement communities, but the young people will be around longer if they have good jobs, safe neighborhoods, and low cost of living.
If the Borough plans to replace the existing jail with a parking garage, I would love to see an entrance to the library from the garage and some free spots dedicated to library patrons. It would be wonderful for the elderly and handicapped to have easy access to this wonderful resource.

Re: Issues of concern – All issues are “concerns.” These items are interrelated. Examples – more paved surfaces cause runoff problems. Improve some issues, and crime is lessened. We should have regional policing. Making Indiana more pedestrian/bike-friendly helps with traffic congestion.

Re: Potential for neighborhood school closings – Is it needed? Re: Reserving and encouraging more sites for business parks, etc. – Where do you have the space? Working with White Township should be a high priority.

Get rid of metered parking. Make parking free in the downtown, or at least cut it back to 5 p.m. again. Have the police department cut back on looking for people walking home from the bars intoxicated if someone is accosting them. Too many are harassed by the police department. Have them concentrate only on DUIs, except in extreme cases. Encourage new businesses to use existing structures before building a new building in an open space; avoiding “urban blight” offer tax incentives.

Source water protection – Since the Borough’s drinking water supply is located in the Township and is a surface water supply, is there a plan to handle any incidents?
Tear down existing structures to make way for new development. Build high-rise complex for 50-plus residents in the downtown area.

Centralize student housing near the IUP campus. Re: Encourage more retail stores, shopping centers, etc. west of the downtown, but not past the tracks. I would like to suggest any changes that will encourage pedestrian travel (bike lanes, sidewalks, trails, connections to major recreation areas – White Township Recreation Center, Mack Park, Hoodlebug Trail, White’s Woods Nature Center). White’s Wood s is an invaluable asset to this community. A sizeable portion of it lies in the Borough. The Borough needs to flight for its health and future.

Concerns: Light pollution, especially from County buildings. Noise pollution (trucks, buses, etc. on residential streets). Air pollution (idling buses) – Unfortunately, the Borough cannot do anything on its own about the County-s coal-fired power plants.

I would be strongly against increasing property taxes.

We definitely have been affected by the college students and rentals. We moved, for this reason, from Church Street to Klondyke to get away from the noise. It was not a good place to continue to raise our family. We would have loved to stay near the heart of town, except for the students. We love living in the Borough, and like being able to walk downtown. More businesses need to open later in the evening so we can walk downtown after dinner and get ice cream or something. Everything shuts down at night and on Sundays (when we would go downtown).

Keep residential areas residential and college with college; lower taxes.

Make businesses hire more of the general public.

Promote IUP safety when crossing in front of traffic. Add stop light to 6th and Carter.
I find it odd that student population in the Borough schools has declined and school taxes have increased. It is a smart idea to close some schools with declining enrollment. Will net result be smaller school budget?

I am glad to see this approach – a true community involves people working together toward a common result. That, to varying degrees, benefits everybody. Preparing for the future and becoming a destination. Welcome people. Make it a town that people look forward to coming to. Capitalize more on areas of interest to people outside of Indiana (Jimmy Stewart Museum, other events of interest).

Merging White Township and the Borough into one city, shared municipal services.

While I prefer a restaurant to a vacant storefront, really, we need a greater variety of independent stores in the downtown (hardware, music, specialty stores that capitalize on the largely untapped student market.

Require IUP to assume costs it creates for the Borough. Seek reimbursement from White Township for its use of Borough services. Impose street rules of operation on downtown bars, including payments for use of police.

Downtown retail businesses fuel Borough development. Don’t lose sight of that.

The flood zone along Marsh Run needs immediate attention. New sidewalks for Philadelphia Street are not a priority.

Would like to see trees planted on Chestnut Street, between Third and Fourth Streets.

Due to declining student population – Closing two elementary schools, turning the junior high school into a middle school (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th grades) and the senior high would consist of 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th grades. This would be better for the sports programs. And put a halt to raising our property taxes.

Open House Survey Results Part Four: Future Choices

Click on the image to see how citizens reacted to a list of possible future choices for the Borough's Comprehensive Plan

Open House Survey Results Part Three: List of Citizen Concerns

Click on the image to see a list of citizen concerns.

Open House Survey Results Part Two: Why People Like Living Here

What do you like best about living here?
Three months of peace and quiet, normally summer months;
County seat, neighborhood, diversity
I can walk everywhere I need to go (school, groceries, library, doctor’s office, etc.)
Small-town life
Low cost of living and close proximity to shopping, fitness centers, recreation
Indiana is a wonderful, safe, and friendly community to live in
Small town, but the advantage of IUP and surrounding natural areas, parks, and bike trails
Pedestrian and bike access to destinations
Small-town environment/ready access to Pittsburgh
Not one thing comes to mind. It’s more of an overall concept or atmosphere Convenience
Being able to walk to businesses, church, schools, and library/courthouse
Small-town atmosphere, friendly, schools; Walking to work
Ability to ride or walk to shopping
Restaurants, move theatre, some stores, etc., within walking distance
Small town, walking community
Having everything in walking distance
Ability to walk
Small town, friendly people
Most of the people
The people
Quality of life, cleanliness
Schools, safety
Convenience to post office, church, library, park, medical services, even, yes, IUP
Convenience, selected shopping, churches, post office, bank, medical facilities
Walk to town, cultural events, small town, friendly (many at IUP)
Small-town life, low crime rate
Close to work, friendly community
Walking to destinations and leaf and recycling pickup
Small town with plenty of services available (Indiana and IUP)
Small town, close, but not too close to Pittsburgh
Being able to walk to almost everything
Walkable downtown, Memorial Park, still possesses range of services (groceries, theater, etc.)
Nice community feeling
Close to everything
Walking distance to facilities
Closeness to business district (walking)
The only thing I like about Indiana and now is that it’s my home.
Residential, small-town environment. My home
Convenience to work, shopping, social activities

What is your favorite place in the Borough?
Northern part of the Borough (7th Street West)
Memorial Park
Memorial Park
Memorial Park, Philadelphia Street
Café Amadeus, Benjamin’s (We need more aesthetically pleasing places like them); The IUP campus and Main Street
Library, some restaurants, like Cozemel, Kim Moon; Uptown
Main street area
Not sure
My home
My desk
Memorial Park (but I don’t get there much)
The Coventry Inn
Quiet neighborhoods away from IUP and other downtown areas
Downtown
Old courthouse
Historical Society
Philadelphia Street
Philadelphia shops, library, theatre; Indiana Library and Jimmy Stewart Museum, and residential sections without students
Residential areas with fewer students
Mack Park
Vinegar Hill
Unfortunately, I don’t have a favorite place.
Downtown
Courthouse courtyard
Home
Library
CBD—Philadelphia Street
Chestnut Street
Memorial Park
Library
Downtown
The history house
Outside of our home, shopping uptown
Mack Park
My mom’s house and Mack Park
My home

Open House Survey Results Part One: Who Responded?

There were 46 citizens who chose to fill out the survey. When asked how long they had lived in the Borough, responses ranged from 6 months to 73 years, with a mean of 15 years. Thirteen respondents have lived in the Borough for fewer than six years, so the respondents were a good mix of “old-timers” and “newcomers” As shown below, the vast majority of respondents were not IUP students.

Survey Question: Are you an IUP student?

Yes 3 No 43

These three students were asked the biggest difference between Indiana Borough and their hometown. Here are their answers:

Lack of public space
Supposedly less crime, friendly people
Parking

Open House Meeting Report

The Indiana Borough Comprehensive Plan Open House well held on March 19, 2008 from 4:00-7:00 pm in the Borough Building. Officially, 53 people signed in, but actual attendance was closer to 70. The stated purpose of the meeting was to share some of the information collected during the comprehensive plan update process, promote discussion about some proposed plans, and identify additional issues that were important to citizens. In each of these three respects, the Open House was a success. In discussing these three purposes of the open house, it is important to note, this was not meant to be a scientific survey of opinion. As input at the open house is collected through a series of conversations, the results are somewhat subjective. The survey results which will be posted later represent a more representative sample of opinion.

Information Sharing: Citizens are intuitively aware of many of the major problems, such as population loss and declining retail trade, One citizen saw it as a linked trends wherein, as the Borough loses people, it cannot support businesses. Some understood the concern that this decline will challenge the ability of local government to provide consistent public services without raising taxes. Others saw a link between the problem of population loss and the growth of off-campus student housing. These persons stated that they know of people who left the community because of various problems living near students whose behavior ruined the neighborhood. One man stated that he believed regional loss of jobs was probably the largest factor in local demographic decline.

In spite of these problems, the vast majority of residents in attendance are happy with the community, and somewhat optimistic about its future. A number of young families were presented who had made a conscious choice to live in the Borough due to it small town atmosphere and pedestrian accessibility.

Citizen Response To Sketch Plan Concepts: There was an interesting range of opinions. When the subject of supporting some form of retirement housing came up, there was universal support for the concept. There was very widespread support for any ideas to either limit the geographic extent of student housing in the Borough, or curb the more outrageous behavior of students. In terms of business development, there was less consensus. While most people would like to see more business, some are concerned that new business would later community character. For example, one member of the community stated that re-use of older buildings would be fine; he would hate to see these buildings torn down and replaced by strip malls. Another stated that large parking lots were inappropriate in the area of downtown. Yet other voices expressed the explicit need for more public parking, and even offered locations. Another resident was very adamant that the best commercial development opportunity would be one Philadelphia Street West, where there is currently little commercial development.

Among the three ideas posted on the idea board (incorporating as a third class city, land value tax, and form base code), the most support seems to be for the re-incorporation of the Borough as a Third Class City. While several residents asked about potential negative consequences of this, most thought it would be worth exploring. There was some reservation of the potential for a land value tax to negatively effect existing businesses, even while benefiting resident homeowners. Form based codes, as presented, brought the most concern. Residents are concerned that a complete shift to from based codes would jeopardize the stability of residential neighborhoods. There was support for the idea of better design standards, but consensus seemed that it should not result in more commercial development or student housing in every residential neighborhood.

Additional Issues Important To Citizens: Citizens came with many broad and particular concerns that had not been previously discussed. These are listed below (in no particular order)

Two citizens are very concerned about localized flooding on Marsh Run. This was the only idea formally added to the sketch plan board.

Three separate citizens were concerned about the removal of street trees, or the condition of street trees in various residential neighborhoods. One older lady stated, that the loss of trees along her street left the neighborhood looking devastated.

Condition of sidewalks was also raised, again in various locations. The importance of this issue seems to be related to the fact that many people consciously choose to live in the Borough because they can also choose to walk.

Two separate attendees were concerned about improving the network of access for bicycles.

One person raised the issue of source water protection. Though the water supply is outside the Borough, they are concerned that development in White Township would create pollution that would make the reservoir unsafe.

A woman expressed a concern about code enforcement of rental properties, which she would like to see as strictly enforced as possible.

In conclusion, it again is important to note that these comments should not be construed as a valid reflection of the opinions of the whole community. However, the result of these conversations, in concert with the survey results, can provide a basis for issues that the Comprehensive Plan should address.