City of Jackson Planning & Development's Carl Allen sees opportunity for growth, expansion and revitalization as overseer of the Highway 80 Corridor revitalization effort under Mayor Harvey Johnson.
by Carl Allen
The City of Jackson has had the good fortune to see its Downtown Central Business District go from a tired, lifeless downtown into a vibrant, revitalized community of commerce and residential conversions. Not too far from this resurgence is the once thriving Highway 80 Corridor that runs through Jackson from the Clinton city limits on the west and the Pearl River as its eastern boundary. This corridor, once the hub of commercial activity in Jackson encompasses manufacturing, office and retail coupled with residential pockets in and around Highway 80.
The truth of the matter is that the area has shown a marked decline in economic activity. In addition to the blight that is evident in certain areas along the corridor, the area has also been adversely affected by two major storms which resulted in Federal Disaster Declarations.
Even though this area has been plagued by the downturn in the economy, having more than its fair share of vacant buildings, and suffering from the ill effects of the previously-mentioned natural disasters; there is still a great deal to offer potential business and industry and especially its citizens who have long endured through the good and the bad.
This is where I come in. I see opportunity! We have the opportunity for growth, expansion and revitalization. The end result of these opportunities being a better quality of life that every citizen is entitled to.
Harvey Johnson, Jr., Mayor of Jackson has made good on his campaign pledge to make the revitalization of the Highway 80 Corridor a priority of his administration. That pledge has resulted in a major undertaking to address not only existing problems but to establish a strategic plan of action to address growth issues all along the Highway Corridor. The Economic Development Administration (EDA) awarded Jackson a grant of $500,000 total to undertake the development and implementation of an Economic Development Strategy for the Highway 80 Corridor. It's a long term (one-year) undertaking that will look at the existing inventory of businesses and infrastructure, land use and many other aspects to bring about a concrete and doable plan to revitalize all of Highway 80.
I am proud and honored that Mayor Johnson asked me to come back and help the City and insure that the end result will be something we can all be proud of and see definitive results. This is a team effort made up of highly seasoned professionals such as Central Mississippi Planning and Development District, JBHM Architects, Sol Engineering Services and Quicksilver Creative. I am overseeing the project on behalf of the City of Jackson.
My background in Planning and Development started many years ago and my educational training and early career focused on urban sociology and small town community planning. I have served on the faculty of my alma mater, The University of Mississippi, and since returning home to Jackson, I have served on the faculty of Jackson State University as adjunct and my last assignment as Visiting Professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning.
Speaking of home, I always knew that I would return to Jackson one day, where I was born and raised, and bring my knowledge and expertise in community planning and economic development and help in its growth, prosperity and revitalization. While it took more years than I thought it would to get back home, I was honing my skills in north Mississippi by guiding and directing the tremendous growth that took place in DeSoto County (and still continues). I have been the county planner in DeSoto County, Mississippi and Director of Planning and Development in Southaven, Mississippi, on the State line at Memphis and "Graceland" and eventually moved further east to Germantown, TN where I was appointed Chief of Planning and ended my tenure there as Contracts Administrator, where I oversaw and managed all Capital Projects for the City.
I came home willing to undertake any challenge the City might throw at me. After a brief stint as Senior Planner, I rose to Deputy Director of Planning, helping to oversee four (4) divisions within the Department of Planning and Development. I eventually became Director of Planning before leaving the City (hopefully a better place) and concentrated on my teaching and research and consulting on various developments in the Jackson area.
As I reflect on a career that now has spanned more than twenty five years and as I evaluate all the projects that I have had a hand in; some big, some small, I have come to the realization that the Highway 80 Corridor study just may be the most important one of all. This time it is not about thinking up the ideal development scenario and watching a building rise out of the earth but of a need to succeed in the revitalization of one of our existing resources. This resource is so important to Jackson but most of all to its citizens who deserve a good return on their tax dollars.
