Neighborhoods 

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Our focus has been to make our neighborhoods places where residents can live with pride. Among the many features that make a neighborhood great is easy access to quality schools and quality parks. It’s also beneficial to our neighborhoods to have access to a vital community center where people can come together to visit with one another and recognize individual and community achievements. In Elyria, our community center is our downtown, and that’s why it is so important for us as a community to work to ensure that it is full of vitality.

The Grace Administration worked with south side residents and existing neighborhood groups to bring them together to form the South Elyria Neighborhood Development Corporation (SEND). It is a non-profit 501(c)3 neighborhood development corporation empowered to increase the capacity of the neighborhood. This provides the neighborhood the opportunity to receive grants to hire a professional staff. These professionals can focus on making improvements by assisting neighbors that want to help themselves by helping each other. It is the Grace Administration’s plan to further assist SEND. The hope is that from their success additional neighborhood development corporations will be created throughout the city.

Mayor Grace initiated the creation of the Elyria Bicycle Advisory Committee. It focuses on improving bicycle and pedestrian access within our neighborhoods, as well as connections between our neighborhoods.

• The city has kept safety forces on the streets to patrol our neighborhoods. It makes it possible for residents to walk the streets with pride, not fear.
  
• An accessible sidewalk curb ramp program has provided easier travel for those with disabilities, the elderly, children on bicycles and parents with strollers.
  
• A Community Reinvestment Area was created to provide neighborhood tax incentives to encourage investment.
  
• The Grace administration supported the start of a neighborhood watch program in the St. Jude area.

There have been many neighborhood park improvements over the past four years, they include:

• John A. Howard Recreation Center at South Park
• Softball field improvements at East Park
• Expanded playground equipment at South Park
• New soccer fields for GESA at West Park
• Softball field improvements at Hilltop Park
• Renovation of tennis courts at South Park
• Relocation of Little League North to North Park
• New playground equipment at the Bell Avenue Tot Lot
• New concession stand and restroom building at Cascade Park
• New softball field lights at West Park
• Renovation of tennis courts at Hilltop Park