The Jacobsville Redevelopment Area Plan Update is being developed to create a long-term community vision for redevelopment and investment into the heart of the Jacobsville neighborhood. The Jacobsville Area Community Corporation (JACC) asked us to create a plan that will support the community’s desire to become a lively, walkable, and safe destination for residents and visitors.
The historic Jacobsville neighborhood is nestled north of downtown Evansville, Indiana. It has remained a mostly residential area since its establishment in 1852, though some areas have been converted for industrial and commercial uses. We have a long history of work with the Jacobsville area and Evansville, most recently the Complete Streets project done on North Main Street, completed in 2018. The current redevelopment area contains a great deal of empty lots and dilapidated or outdated structures that are prime for redevelopment. It is also home to a large medical campus and several large manufacturing centers, significant players in the plan.
Another factor that affects our team’s decision-making in this project is the financial demographics of the community; around 64% of the households in the Jacobsville area earn less than $40,000 a year. We must overcome obstacles created by high-cost rehabilitation and greatly needed improvements to existing buildings without alienating current residents in the redevelopment efforts.
Our team is creating the framework for the plan through significant community involvement, analysis of relevant past plans, and projecting future data. We are working to create a plan that addresses a variety of concerns and aspirations for the Jacobsville community. Preliminary workshops and public meetings have found that residents would like to see a focus on beautification efforts, improved public transportation, and identifying external incentives for redevelopment.
Our vision for the completed master plan incorporates the residents’ desires as well as neighborhood preservation and enhancement, public safety, transportation and mobility, economic development, and job creation. Through the project’s process, we will build strategies and implementation goals for the community to reach throughout the next two decades while also remaining flexible to any future changes.