Annual report (1982)

              Housing Program
The City's housing program is
one of Community Development
and Planning's major responsi­bilities.
Within this program,
the staff of Long Bange Plan­ning
has severai duties. One
of the principal duties of the
staff is to compile, maintain,
and disseminate housing infor­mation.
One such example is
the City's multi-family sur­vey.
The staff used the in­formation
obtained from the
survey to assist in the prepar­ation
of an Urban Development
Action Grant and a Small Multi­Family
Demonstration Program.
Another responsiblity of the
staff is to coordinate the com­munity's
housing program. This
task is accomplished in part
with the Housing Coordination
Committee. The Committee
brings together representatives
of City and County agencies
to inform and assist one an­other
on housing programs.
Finally, staff was instrumen­tal
in assisting and monitor­ing
a housing market analysis
that was completed for the
Fort Wayne community in 1982.
Information System
A major challenge assigned to
the staff of Long flange Plan­ning
is the development of an
information system. Develop­ment
of this system began in
earnest in 1982 with the com­pletion
of a comprehensive
data book and the updating of
the City's vacant industrial
site profile. In addition,
the staff and a computer ser­vice
bureau installed computer
capabilities within the Depart­ment
to provide information
on complex and lengthy data
requests. A complete analysis
of the service bureau system's
applicability to the Depart­ment's
needs is scheduled for
1983.
In an effort to complete an
adequate information dispersal
system, the Department present­ed
its present data base and
information needs to an evalua­tion
committee to purchase
micro computers. The commit­tee
granted preliminary approv­al
for the purchase.
NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING AND URBAN DESIGN
The major responsibility of
the Neighborhood Pianning staff
of the Division of Planning
is to assist neighborhood
groups in the revitalization
of their neighborhoods. This
task is accomplished by work­ing
with these groups to de­velop
and implement neighbor­hood
plans and revitalization
strategies. The Neighborhood
Planning staff is also involv­ed
in flood protection plan­ning,
energy planning, and
neighborhood commercial revita­lization.
The Urban Design
staff complements the planning
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services of the Division of
Planning, by providing in-house
urban design, graphics design,
and technical services. Urban
design tasks have ranged from
signage suggestions for small
businesses to designing major
streetscape projects in Fort
Wayne's commercial areas.
Community Development Program
The extensive program of com­munity
development in Fort
Wayne was continued in 1982,
supported primarily by the Com-