“No one is coming to rescue us. It is us. Everyone who doesn't care about Marion has up and left. All that remains are those who have dedicated themselves to this place, who call it home, and who are hellbent on making tomorrow better than today. Other towns like to throw money at their problems. We ran out of that option decades ago. If problems in Marion are going to be addressed, it is going to be from everyone bringing what "fishes and loaves" they have to the table to see what they may assemble together. Our local governments, schools, nonprofits and community leaders have learned to band together and to dream of a better tomorrow.” — James Walker, a planning commissioner in Marion, Ohio
In Marion, there’s no such thing as an unbuildable lot. When the city adopted zoning, they recognized that many existing lots wouldn’t meet minimum setback or frontage requirements. To address this, they built flexibility into the code: for every foot that a lot falls short of the minimum, the zoning inspector can automatically reduce the minimum accordingly. Setbacks are also modified based on the average of surrounding lots. All of this can be done by permit without having to go before the board of zoning appeals.
Marion embraces the Strong Towns approach to public investment through the Love Your Neighborhood initiative. Throughout the year, the city brings its people and equipment to various neighborhoods throughout the city to improve and clean them up. It’s amazing what they can accomplish in a few short days. At times, lots that have been overgrown for years with crumbling structures can be made safe again.
But more important than any sprucing up are the conversations that happen. When the residents of a given neighborhood see their city staff and volunteers caring about them, they eagerly share information at the street level that city staff never would have known about otherwise. Residents can share the struggles they face, whether its houses that have sat abandoned for years or neighbors who struggle to get around.
Once these struggles are shared, Marion’s mayor pulls people together across agencies and nonprofits to find a way to address these needs. Sometimes that looks like prioritizing the demolition of a particularly hazardous structure. Sometimes it looks like clearing out junk vehicles or tires that have been sitting untouched for years. Sometimes it looks like fixing a sidewalk or getting someone a bus pass. Each situation is unique, and through the Love Your Neighborhood initiative and a dedicated mayor and staff, each one stands a fighting chance of finding resolution.
Marion’s city administration has recently gained new members who are open to reforming the city’s codes and are eager to squeeze value from every part of the city to benefit the whole city. They have asked the regional planning staff to prepare presentations for each meeting on parts of the code and where they could focus their efforts for reform.
That readiness, combined with the credibility of Marion’s former regional planning director — who is still an active voice in the community and is familiar with places in the code that mandate too much parking — means that it is only a matter of time until serious minds execute serious work on reducing barriers to development like parking minimums.
In addition, Marion is piloting a transit program where local transit offers night service on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. This increased level of service brings tourist traffic from the hotels by the freeway into downtown, further eliminating both the real and perceived need for parking.
A few years ago, Marion reconfigured the central block of Main Street from four lanes of traffic to two by adding diagonal parking spaces. Recently, recognizing the foot traffic that flourishing businesses brought, the Marion City Council also voted to lower the speed limit on that block to 15 mph.
Thanks to the work of the former president of the Marion Chamber of Commerce, a humble neighborhood association has grown to be a force for good in the northwest section of town. As a group, they have been able to add mid-block crosswalks near parks and schools and have gotten a private, for-profit partner to install extra street lighting at a hazardous intersection.
Marion has many new elected officials who go above and beyond to hear from their constituents. County Commissioner Mark Davis especially stands out. Don't try to stop by his office to see him — he likely won't be there. If there is a food pantry handing out food, he will be there. If there is a local watering-hole open, you can grab a drink with him there. If there is a neighborhood event, he'll be there.
Most significantly, he started attending the MLK Park Neighborhood Association’s monthly meetings. Prior to his involvement, the group had regular meetings with regular attendees, and they’d even had some small successes at getting improvements around the neighborhood. However, when Commissioner Davis started attending, the feeling in the room palpably changed. Just by showing up and listening, he transformed the group from one that had complaints to one that had solutions. He has done his part to bring solutions to the table too, but more than anything, his presence and leadership gave this neglected neighborhood the power to enact change where they could do so themselves and to demand it where they couldn't.
