Connect Jackson comprehensive plan discussed at New Horizon Church

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - The city of Jackson’s vision for the next 20 years and the blueprint to achieve that vision was laid out at New Horizon Church on Ellis Avenue Tuesday night.

The special council and joint planning board commission meeting, called by Council President Aaron Banks, is the first in-person engagement event for the Connect Jackson comprehensive plan.

It’s the result of over 2,100 surveys, 14 focus groups and contact with many citizens and city leaders about what Jackson’s future will look like and how to get there.

Many of the issues, like dilapidated housing, infrastructure and crime, already come up at regular council meetings. The question now is when will the talk turn into action.

Jordan Rae Hillman, Jackson City Planning Director, said, ”Tonight, this is really hitting the surface level of are we working on the right issues? But as we transition into deep diving into those issues, our goals are to make a list of recommended policies and projects with an implementation schedule, so some things we can do in our first year, some can be three years in. Some can be five years in and we measure.”

Hillman said getting home improvement loans to red-lined communities, improving J-Tran and overall mobility were also topics of Tuesday night’s discussion.

She said they expect to reveal a draft of the plan by October. You can get more information and see the plan and offer input by going to ConnectJackson.com.

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