Business View Magazine | March 2019

216 Regarding amenities for city residents, DeBaun says that it has built eight miles of trails over the last two years, upgraded many sidewalks and parks, and, several years ago, created a co- alition called Livable Communities. “We found that the needs of the elderly are the same as the needs of families with young children as far as mobility goes,” he states. “Everybody who has a stroller, a walker – we want those people to be able to get from Point A to Point B efficiently, safely, and comfortably. So we’ve created a program where we identify target neighborhoods based on the input from the Livable Communities Coalition and we go in and do wholesale changes of sidewalks and curb ramps, to make sure that we’re creating connectivity. And then, we instituted a bike/ pedestrian master plan for the same reason. So, in our budgeting process, we’ve got a five- year, capital improvement plan that says we’ll handle this neighborhood at this time, the next neighborhood, next year, etc., etc. We’re doing the same for the downtown. In 2019, we’ll be in the design phase of a wholesale revitalization of our downtown area. We’ll be reconstructing everything – paving the side- walks and adding green space to make it more pedestrian-friendly.” Shelbyville is also intent on listening to the voices of its younger residents. “I created a group called Emerging Leaders in the com- munity,” says DeBaun. “It’s mostly all 20 and 30-something leaders that are from here, or work here, because we want to understand how to attract the younger talent and from that, we’re creating new programming and impacting policy development. We just started in September, but we’re already looking at programming based upon their recommenda- tions: parks programming, government policy, and things of that nature. These are people in leadership positions early in their careers. We want them to feel like they have positions of representation and ownership in the commu- nity.” Shelbyville is also cognizant of the need for more housing options for both its current and future workers. “We had a company called SHELBYVILLE, INDIANA