The Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities, in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency, is providing planning assistance to the Department of Neighborhoods and the East Central Neighborhood to address extreme heat in East Central. The Jennings Center, Indiana Tech, and the Foellinger Foundation have also partnered in the project.

Why East Central?

The East Central Neighborhood applied to the City's Department of Neighborhoods as an extension of a partnership built to develop the East Central Forward Neighborhood Plan (https://eastcentralplan.com/).

Why extreme heat?

Did you know that urban areas can be up to 10 degrees warmer than rural areas, and that extreme heat is the most fatal weather event, even more than tornadoes, floods, or riptides? The City of Fort Wayne mapped heat in the entire city in the Summer of 2024 and is working to analyze the data for a Summer 2025 release.

The Environmental Protection Agency will review all of the community input from the open house, walking tour, and workshop sessions held in July and provide an action report to the City by Fall 2025. The goal is to begin working with neighborhood partners in East Central to implement several of the action steps over the next three to five years.

Continue to follow this page for updates on the project.