Park Road Area Community Meeting Recap
On Wednesday, January 20, about 30 people attended the Park Woodlawn Business District Community Meeting to discuss potential names and logos for the area. The meeting was held at Pfeiffer University on Park Road.
Most participants lived in the area surrounding the proposed district, with the vast majority living in the 28209 and 28210 zip codes. There was a variety of ages represented, from young professionals in their 20s to retirement age.
Participants were first given a map of the general area and asked to identify on maps the area that should be part of the renaming, along with a card to write words that describe the personality of the area. Some words included:
- diverse / inclusive / eclectic
- hip,
- walkable / active
- mid-century modern / retro / historic
- up and coming / transitioning / vibrant / dense
- active
- welcoming / friendly
The maps typically identified the Park Road corridor that included Park Road Shopping Center down to Selwyn Avenue, east to either Little Sugar Creek or Selwyn, and the commercial area along the west side of Park Road (some included the entire Madison Park neighborhood). South and Tyvola also were clear boundaries. A cohesive map showing individual responses is posted below.
Yellow Duck Marketing discussed the process up to this point: A survey of 286 interested people completed in August revealed the inconsistency in names for the area. A group of small business owners, property owners and a representative from the Madison Park Neighborhood association formed a committee to spearhead the branding effort and hire a firm to help facilitate the process, but that they wanted to use names that were already being used and didn’t want a “made up” name. After scoring through the previous survey responses and suggested names, the top 5 names were selected for another December survey of 646 participants, which revealed the top two names of the five: Madison Park and Park Montford and variations of those. The survey responses were divided on whether or not Mad Park was favorable or not, however the majority leaned away from Mad Park.
Some attendees talked about why a name was necessary/desired and one of the realtors present said it could help with identifying it as a desirable location and could help with property values.
Participants then split up into four groups to discuss and present their top name preferences or even if a name was necessary at all and reported back their consensus. All four groups unanimously felt that Montford should be part of the name, and that it should be the primary (first) word since people are attracted to a place first by its entertainment and restaurants. A few participants felt that Park was unnecessary, but most expressed that the word Park incorporates Park Road, the many surrounding neighborhoods that include “Park” in their names, and the park-like setting of the area, which includes the Little Sugar Creek Greenway extension that will be built. Three of the four groups preferred Montford Park over Park Montford and even just Montford. They said they thought Park made it sound like a broader area rather than just one street. One person added that the public’s vernacular will likely shorten it to Montford anyway (e.g. Montford Dentistry). All in all, the group was more unanimous than most we’ve ever seen with only a few people who disagreed with the group and preferred Park Selwyn, Montford or Madison Park, though deferred to the broader group and felt comfortable with the process and moving forward with the name.
Following the group discussions, six different logo concepts were revealed – three for Park Montford/Montford Park and three for Madison Park, though it was expressed that the name could be changed for the design concepts. Three logo concepts clearly came out on top, which will have been adapted for the Montford Park name and presented to be voted on via an online survey to the general public (link below) before February 24th.
Thank you to everyone who has given input thus far!