A student from the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service coordinated community engagement and outreach efforts in the Park Hill and Levy neighborhoods in North Little Rock for the development of improvement plans.
In conjunction with Fit 2 Live of the City of North Little Rock, Clinton School student Jenna Rhodes of Kansas City, Mo., developed and implemented an engagement strategy, including demographic data collection, to increase participation by key stakeholder groups in multiple community meetings to determine what future improvements are desired.
The student’s project focused on the Park Hill and Levy neighborhoods, both of which received $200,000 in Metroplan funding to complete the planning process in conjunction with the Imagine Central Arkansas campaign. The plans will include elements dealing with pedestrian-oriented design, transportation options, housing choice, public gathering spaces, healthy communities, economic development, educational opportunities and the environment.
Bernadette Rhodes, project manager of the Park Hill project, said that the project has provided a way for different groups, such as residents, business owners, city staff, and community organizations to come together and work toward a better future for the community.
Rhodes presented her research findings to city staff and provided recommendations to the project managers regarding next steps for project implementation.
The City of North Little Rock intends to use this information to create an implementation plan to begin enacting some of the design changes identified during the planning process in both communities.
Rhodes completed the project as part of the Clinton School Capstone program, which is the culminating field course and sends students into the field to complete a comprehensive public service project to demonstrate their expertise as part of the Master of Public Service degree program.
About the North Little Rock Fit 2 Live Initiative
Fit 2 Live is an initiative created in 2009 through a joint partnership between the City of North Little Rock and the North Little Rock School District to focus on healthy eating and active living for residents and employees. Fit 2 Live’s mission includes “creating an environment that empowers our community to recognize and adopt healthy life choices, collecting evidence-based data, building partnerships to identify and share resources, developing and reinforcing policy initiatives that support these goals, and promoting and implementing innovative programs and practices”. Fit 2 Live recently completed a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, National League of Cities, and CDC grant to increase access to nutritious food and opportunities for physical activity. The seven focus areas of Fit 2 Live are: healthy food options, community gardens, employee wellness, joint use agreements, built environment, safe routes to school, and school wellness.
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