Page 12 - The City of Smyrna GA 2019 Annual Report

SMYRNA TODAY: SUCCESS STORY
The City of Smyrna has enjoyed the success that comes from dedication to a well-rounded plan and the willingness to adapt that plan to changing conditions. That success in redevelopment and community building has long served as a model for other cities. The following outlines the timeline of redevelopment and development leading to the Smyrna that you know today. It covers how Smyrna changed the look and function of the downtown area with the Village Green and the Market Village. The City of Smyrna, acting as anchor tenant in the new downtown, sparked a “Halo Effect” that produced a remarkable turn in Smyrna and served to attract to Smyrna powerful resources and value.
Beginning – 1988: Smyrna started with a vision, developed a plan, relied upon leadership to hold fast to the plan and remain dedicated, and achieved the first power punch of success within 14 years instead of the 30 all predicted. It was in 1988 that Smyrna’s name appeared in a National Geographic Magazine article about Atlanta and surrounding areas. The article described the entire Atlanta area as “adolescent.” The article described Smyrna in even less flatteringterms.Thewritermissedsomething important, however. What went unmentioned was the heart of the community and the potential. That article marked the beginning of a desire to change and that desire required a plan. The plan required action. Action was taken. The result is a resilient and welcoming city that other cities wish to copy.
Elected leadership and citizens began by meeting in public forums and in planning sessions to decide what they wanted to remain and what they wanted to change. Changing the downtown was at the core of all desires. It was decided that City government would act as anchor tenant and bring usefulness back to the downtown area. The concept of the Village Green was formed. The Village Green would include common space,a library and a community center. A timeline for future construction was set and work began.
Result - The result of the initial plan, the dedication and all the hard work, is a community that is not only a model of mixed-use development and careful, thoughtful planning, but is also the reflection of a great deal of heart and soul.
Village Green - In the mid-1980s, Smyrna was beginning to experience a loss of identity to suburban sprawl in Cobb County. Mayor and City Council took unprecedented steps to reverse this trend and to revitalize. They knew that the new downtown had to be a place with a sense of family and community - a village to call home. Council felt that there needed to be a common meeting ground, a focal point where people could come together and they envisioned a town center with a library and community center, private housing, retail and office space, a city hall and a public safety facility. This concept is a thriving, successful reality. It is the Smyrna “Village Green.”
Smyrna Market Village – The Market Village is the heart of downtown - the new social center. The first phase of the design features 16 townhomes, 40,000 sq ft of retail space and another 18,000 sq ft of office space. The two buildings of the second phase facing City Hall are home to retail space. Whatever you think you know about mixed- use today, rest assured that if it works, the idea got an early start in Smyrna. The success experienced by Smyrna encouraged others to apply the formula. Whatever you think you know about local “Live, Work, Play,” rest assured that it is at its best in Smyrna and got started in the Smyrna Market Village.
The Halo - A local saying goes that “Smyrna is a city with a halo.” What this means is that, historically, bad weather and major mishaps seem to bounce right over Smyrna. Economic Development professionals know that there is another explanation for the halo over Smyrna. Smyrna is a champion in sparking the “halo effect.” Smyrna’s revitalization efforts began in earnest with redevelopment of the 30-acre downtown Market Village and Village Green. The success of this New Urbanist mixed-use development created a positive halo effect on surrounding property values allowing the City to lower property taxes by as much as 30 percent.
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