MILFORD, Del.- Since its adoption in 2014 by a unanimous vote in the Delaware General Assembly, the Downtown Development Districts (DDD) Program has helped cities grow.
"The purpose is really to spur capital investments in commercial business districts and other neighborhoods as well as stimulate job growth, improve commercial vitality, and build a stable community," Delaware State Housing Authority Director of Public Relations Laurie Jacobs said.
Milford has been one of the leaders of the participating districts, completing $24 million in projects over the last five years. Planning Director Rob Pierce says in the past year, new townhouses have been built and spaces have been permitted for business and housing combined mostly using older buildings.
"We’ve had four or five of these mixed use projects come through in the last twelve months and really looking to renovate and generate some additional housing options in the downtown area," Pierce said.
It’s now easier to report issues in Milford with the MyMilford app. People can take pictures of and explain any problems related to things like road conditions, trash pickup, or flooding.
City staff is alerted when a complaint comes in and this will in turn lower call volumes. Community Engagement Administrator Sara Bluhm says the app allows people to connect based on the things they are seeing around the city.
"Based on your address, you can see what other neighbors are posting in the nearby area and then again if the same people see the same problem then you can like it and follow it along until the resolve comes through," Bluhm said.
Milford has a master plan drawn up that lines up what it would like to see accomplished through the DDD program next. That includes a streetscape project with DelDOT which is expected to start in the next six to twelve months.
Playing, connecting, and growing as one community and one city.