Community engagement is the cornerstone of any effective revitalization.

The planning process is grounded in the values and aspirations of the Van Wert community, providing a shared framework to guide local leaders and stakeholders toward a common vision. To the right are preliminary concepts for the Downtown Redevelopment Master Plan and the Downtown Van Wert Parking Study. These ideas can serve as guiding documents for future detailed projects, plans, design work, feasibility studies, and ongoing community engagement.

Downtown Van Wert Parking Survey Results

In July 2021, Van Wert Forward surveyed 385 community members to understand their perceptions of downtown parking. The results reveal a range of insights that can help guide future improvements:

• 40.5% of respondents do not like coming downtown if they cannot park close by — even though there are over 700 public parking spaces within a five-minute walk of the Van Wert Courthouse.

• 31% are comfortable parking a block or more away from their destination.

• 27.9% reported no current difficulty finding parking downtown.

• 52.6% recommend adding or reconfiguring parking spaces to address future parking challenges.

• Only 8.9% support the use of metered parking downtown.

• Downtown workers expressed a greater need for improved signage and additional parking lots.

• Visitors were likelier to cite concerns with angled parking, semi-truck traffic, and the parklet.