Officials unveil ambitious, comprehensive plan for Jackson's future

Justin Vicory | Mississippi Clarion Ledger

Show Caption Hide Caption Comparing Jackson and Montgomery downtown development The downtown area of Montgomery began seeing growth after the installation of a minor league baseball team downtown which spurred the growth of a successful entertainment district.

City officials unveiled a strategic plan Monday whose broad mandate includes ways to jump start a stagnant economy and turn the tide on a decreasing population and tax base.

Chief Administrative Officer Robert Blaine, standing beside Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, presented the plan for a "dignity economy", one that "invests in the inherent dignity of every citizen in Jackson."

The multi-layered plan is the result of discussions between department heads, many who were culled from the academic world, since after Lumumba was elected in July.

"As we talk about some of the historic challenges our city has seen, one of those challenges has been that our city has gotten into a historic pattern of chasing projects instead of chasing a vision," Lumumba said.

The plan's principal focus is on the five areas of healthy citizens, affordable homes in safe neighborhoods, a thriving educational system, occupational opportunities in a growing tax base and a city that is open and welcoming to visitors.

Blaine laid out initiatives to go along with each focus, each with timeframes, but without a specific source of funding.

To increase the physical and mental health of the community, the city proposed a commitment to the elimination of food deserts "regardless of zip codes," where healthy food options are unavailable.

Blaine addressed the city's role in providing a "thriving educational system" to Jackson residents following the partnership between the city, Gov. Phil Bryant, W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Jackson Public Schools. One initiative is a "K-20 Action Table" that would help students continue their studies at institutes of higher education.

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Blaine gave broad strokes on incentivizing downtown development, which aims to bring in residents to fill up recently opened, or about to be opened, apartments and lofts downtown, and also encourage developer investment to grow the city's tax base.

Farish Street is mentioned, although no concrete plans have been made.

Circling outward from downtown, the mayor said he is committed to a blight elimination strategy that reduces citywide blight by 25 percent by 2021, and the completion of an integrated infrastructure plan.

"We don't want to see downtown as an island of wealth surrounded by a sea of poverty," the mayor said.

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Finally, the plan considered ways to bring in tourism, such as the creation and marketing of a 52-week tourism schedule and the showcasing of public art throughout the city.

Other highlights include the mayor's aim to provide universal pre-K to all Jackson students, create a carbon neutral footprint in the city, convening corporate, banking, small and minority business CEOs and developing 100 gigabytes of high-speed broadband Internet access.

"If we can make it to two percent, grow the population, grow the corporate base and see a two percent growth in property and sales tax, we'll be well on our way," Blaine said.

"We're prepared to build a city that is a model to the rest of the world," Lumumba said.

Contact Justin Vicory at 601-961-7251 or jvicory@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter.