Events Calendar
In This Section
Most Read Stories
Police accuse bank robbery suspect of gobbling up note (with dashcam video)
Victim of beating in Kent last week is declared dead at Akron hospital
Can DNA tests free ex-Akron captain?
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Does it work? Test team returns to try out new products advertised on television
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
Blogs:
Pets:
Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Sunday Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
Browns sick after sick loss in Detroit
Akron Zips:
Zips advance to Sweet Sixteen
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Post-game defensive quotes
Kent State Sports:
Kent State defeats Rochester College, 63-44
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
The Sunday Sanity Challenge
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (69) The Brookings Institute Study on "Bending the Curve" – Four General Strategies
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
George is looking for a Thanksgiving buffet in Akron.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
A Random Rant on Testing
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
Don't take the city's award lightly. It reflects the collaboration required to keep pace with the many challenges and changes facing Akron
Published on Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008
An All-America City isn't flawless, its problems all solved. Rather, the award recognizes promising ways of addressing difficulties, through partnerships and a shared sense of purpose.
Telling is that Akron has been recognized since the departure of thousands of jobs in the tire industry. That points to the city's resilience, and its effective leadership, from those who pushed Goals for Greater Akron in the 1970s to the tenure of Don Plusquellic, the mayor for the past two decades.
Read the city's application, and you begin to appreciate how the many players must come together to move a community forward. The city highlighted three efforts, starting with the cooperation among the Akron Public Schools, the Urban League and city government to advance the Helen Arnold Community Learning Center, bringing new life to a battered section of town. Yet the hard work hardly stopped there. Marco Sommerville, the City Council president, pressed vigorously for rebuilding the neighborhood. The Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority has set in motion the Hope VI project.
Others contributed, too, and now there is a refreshing sense of possibility. The same goes for the others featured in the city application, the momentum at the Global Business Accelerator, reflected in 37 budding companies and the link to the Israeli Targetech incubator, and the Perkins Activities Central, an after-school program of city schools, supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Too often, amid the troubles surrounding foreclosures, a struggling economy and schools lacking sufficient resources, the community advances, large and small, are missed. In that way, the All-America City Award provides perspective and reassurance. Return to the application (which can be found at www.ci.akron.oh.us), and you are struck by the range of collaboration, from the city, neighborhood groups and the Akron Community Foundation launching the Neighborhood Partnership Program to Summit County juvenile court's Crossroads Probation Program.
Managing a city isn't so much about solutions as keeping pace with changes and challenges. That requires a collective effort, and learning from those who are doing better. This year, the National Civic League advised: Look at Akron.
Get the full article here.
