Ward 5

Geographically and metaphorically, Ward five is the heart of Kent.  It is nestled among five other city wards, and both Kent State University and Kent’s rapidly developing downtown bring a sense of liveliness to the ward. Although the university and the expanding downtown may bring vigor and energy to Ward five, the university and expanding downtown can sometime cause problems and challenges in the community.

 

[rpavideo width=”300″]Team5_MTN_Cindy[/rpavideo] Cindy Benning

For Ward five resident Cindy Benning, moving away from her hometown was on her bucket list.

“I was born in Dayton and lived there for 55 years within five miles of where I was born. I thought before I die, I want to live somewhere else. Just for grins and giggles,” Benning said.

Benning has been living in Kent for a year now, but her “biggest beef” with the city is the litter she finds on the streets after parties.

“I think it would be great if on party nights, Sunday morning you get up with some trash bags and go walk the streets, the corner of Lincoln and Summit and pick up trash,” Benning said.

 

[rpavideo width=”300″]Team5_MTN_Marlin[/rpavideo]Marlin Mankamyer

Marlin Mankamyer was born and raised in Kent, but he now is a part time Kent resident. Mankamyer says he is not happy with the city of Kent because it has “give everything away to Kent State.”

“To take all those houses, demolish them and give the land to Kent State for a shortcut to walk up to campus, I am not pleased about that at all,” Mankamyer said.

Mankamyer wants to move to North Carolina, but he admits that Kent was a good community to grow up in. “I don’t have too many complaints about it,” Mankamyer said.

 

[rpavideo width=”300″]Team5_MTN_Jerry[/rpavideo]Jerry Gambaccini

While Mankamyer may be disappointed with city and the University, his friend and lifelong resident of Kent, Jerry Gambaccini has another issue. Gambaccini’s only issue in the community: bad drivers.

“I can complain about the student drivers. I know there are a lot of student drivers out there that don’t like the way I stop at a stop sign. That is my concern bad drivers, but we had bad drivers before the students came. So, it is not their fault,” Gambaccini said.

Gambaccini likes the transformation of downtown Kent, and thinks the transformation is what the city really needed.

“The traffic is getting worst. I hate to complain about the traffic because it is good and it brings people in to support the new business. I’m glad to see the parking deck build that was sorely need in this town,” Gambaccini said.

“All in all, I like the way Kent is going. I wasn’t happy to see some of the homes torn down, but some of them needed it, some of them were pretty sad. So, I guess that is progress. I think it looks great.”