The third iteration of the Macon Action Plan (MAP) has officially been released and it has some exciting features that will benefit all of Macon-Bibb County. On Wednesday, October 22, the MAP Steering Committee, Urban Development Authority (UDA), NewTown, Community Foundation of Central Georgia (CFCGA), Knight Foundation, Peyton Anderson Foundation, and Macon-Bibb County celebrated the release of MAP XL at Long Leaf Distillery. You can watch the full ceremony here.
“We knew, sitting around the table in 2023, that one, the work was not done, and two, there was so much more to that story and that we had to take it to the next level,” said UDA Executive Director and Director of Planning and Public Spaces Alex Morrison.
MAP XL includes more family-friendly areas, such as closing part of Cherry Street. This would create a closed space between the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame and the Tubman African American Museum. Part of the plan also includes connecting more areas together with trails.
“This was built by you,” said Interface Studio Principal Scott Page, who helped create MAP XL. “These ideas, your priorities, your hopes for the city are what we’re trying to capture in this project.”
MAP XL was made possible thanks to hundreds of community members who shared their input about what they wanted to see in the third version of the MAP. People shared their opinions through an online survey and during two open houses at Fall Line Brewing Co. in August 2023 and Tubman African American Museum in January.
The Macon Action Plan (MAP) is a comprehensive, community-driven plan that envisions the future of Macon’s Urban Core. The Macon-Bibb County Urban Development Authority received generous grants from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Peyton Anderson Foundation to fund this effort to plan for our collective future. Facilitated by the Macon-Bibb Urban Development Authority, Macon-Bibb County, and their partners, MAP is our roadmap to guide change and decision making in coming years.
“This plan is bigger, it’s better, and it’s taking us to the next level. That’s why it’s called MAP XL,” said Morrison.