Kent’s Ward 3 is rich in history and culture

By Sophie Giffin and Audra McClain

More than 100 years ago Kent, Ohio had a bustling and thriving railroad industry that brought immigrants looking for work. The Germans, Italians, Irish and Poles, along with the already existing Black community created communities in harmony that made up the city’s population. 

In 2020, Kent’s overall population was 28,215, with a 79.7% majority white population according to the Census Bureau. The next two largest populations are Black individuals at 8.6% and Asian individuals at 5%.

Kent is broken up into six wards, each with their own unusual neighborhoods. Wards are usually created to ensure there is direct representation for different areas of a city.

Today, Ward 3 is going through a revitalization. Walking down the streets near Franklin Avenue, there are construction signs, new sidewalks and fresh pavement. 

Kent’s poverty rate was 29.6% with a per capita income of $21,485 in 2019. Households have different thresholds for falling into poverty depending on how many members they have, but a family of three’s threshold was $21,960 in 2019 according to the ASPE.

The median household income in 2019 in Kent was $32,993 in comparison to Cleveland’s $30,907 and Akron’s $38,739.

Census data isn’t available down to the ward level, but Robin Turner, the Ward 3 council member, said the area has many low-income residents, but that it is beginning to improve.

Turner said the South End, a community in Ward 3, is “one of the more economically challenged areas,” but the city of Kent is focused on providing infrastructural improvements. “Our engineering, central maintenance and community development departments have targeted this end of town, which has been slumping over the years,” he said. 

For nearly ten years the city has worked to improve the neighborhoods in these low-income areas. “The city’s been investing a lot of our CDBG funds, community development and background funds, and really kind of rehabbing the streets and sidewalks in those neighborhoods,” Economic Development DirectorTom Wilke said. According to Wilke, the city plans to continue renovating these areas for the “foreseeable future.”

The ward is home to Ben Anderson, the first Black elected official in Portage County and Albert Peoples, who helped found Kent’s chapter of the NAACP. Now, Anderson’s family continues to be heavily involved in the community.

Doria Daniels, Anderson’s daughter, has lived in Ward 3 her entire life. The self-titled community advocate started a Facebook group with some other community members called Kent South End Friends of the Village. They discuss the history of the ward, their concerns and practice a community watch.

“We look out for each other,” Daniels said.

The ward’s history, which goes back to Black communities that lived in old boxcars but were welcoming and caring to each other, was something of great pride to the group. “We all got together and decided we wanted to do something more formal.”

The friends’ group met with Kent’s community development director, who helped them present their plan to council to formally recognize the South End historic district. It was ultimately approved in 2019.

The designated area of the Historic South End stretches from Mogadore road and Summit street to Franklin avenue and Cherry street. With the council’s approval came a few small signs to denote the entry to the region, but the group was able to raise more than $14,000 in partnership with local businesses to add additional larger monuments of recognition around the region.

Having the designation brings a great sense of pride to people who have roots in Ward 3.

“The South End is like the mother of a lot of communities because a lot of people came out of the South End,” Daniels said.

Since the area’s designation, the group continues to work on increasing community involvement. “There are several sections of Kent that have their neighborhood block parties,” Daniels said, “South End block parties have been going on for over 70 years.”

This summer, on the same streets that are being repaved, the friends’ group will host a party. Daniels said the parties started as a way for community members to interact with the city and get things done in the South End.

Residents in the South End also recently built a community garden that is rooted in history.

Located on Walnut Street, the Thomas-Anderson Memorial Garden was founded in honor of Anderson and Rev. Fred Thomas Sr., who was a minister at Kent’s Union Baptist Church on Dodge Street for 42 years.

The garden brings green space to an area that was previously a vacant lot, while paying homage to the community’s elders with several sections dedicated to some of its significant members. The space also received the Edith Chase Conservation Award of 2021, thanks to the habitat for pollinators the garden created.

SBUHEAD HERE- The people who live in Ward 3

Lo Lofter, 73, was raised by his mother in the Ward 3 house his father grew up in. He’s lived here for a better part of his life and said he enjoys the quiet neighborhood and appreciates the city is starting to make improvements.

“They’re fixing some of the streets around here,” Lofter said, “I wish they’d get over here to Elm Street—there’s no curbs.”

He’s seen the signs posted about the historic South End and recalled the neighborhood when he was younger, when “this used to be a predominantly black neighborhood, but now I’d say it’s 50/50.”

Musician Timothy Koehler said he loved the small-town feel Kent had when he moved here 25 years ago. He came for the music scene and stayed to become a student at Kent State University and raise his daughter.

“It’s a historical town. I like it here. It’s cozy,” said Koehler, who lives in Ward 3. 

Koehler watched the city change—most of it was for the better, he said. In addition to removing part of the historic Kent Dam located downtown and cleaning up the Cuyahoga River, Koehler enjoys that “there’s way more wildlife than there used to be.” 

Kent has a few different shopping complexes and the PARTA bussing system for public transportation. Lofter said there are “decent” shopping areas adjacent to the ward, as well.

Unlike Koehler and Lofter, Robert Wiseman is a new resident of Ward 3, where he moved to spend more time with his children., including his son, Nick. As a person who walks most places, Wiseman said “everything’s convenient and a walking distance” from his home.

While these residents seemed satisfied with how their ward is laid out, there is a potential large project for the State Route 261 corridor that would make the south end of the city more accessible to pedestrians.

Currently SR 261 is a four-lane highway system that has very low traffic volume for its size. The city recently did a study to evaluate safety concerns within the corridor with the help of AMATS, an organization that conducts studies and provides funding for projects in the Akron Metropolitan region.

“Some of the worst crash intersections in the city are on 261,” Kent City Engineer, James Bowling said. Having a four-lane highway with high speed limits leads to increased crashes due to poor timing judgements.

The project is in the very early stages of planning and has not reached approval, however, there are a few categories in which this project would benefit the city according too Bowling.

First, the safety concerns with the high concentration of crashes. The second being wasted resources to maintain a four-lane highway that could easily be reduced to two.

“We could more effectively use public dollars so whatever money is being used to pave the road, could be used for something else,” Bowling said.

Currently SR 261 is an old highway that never got its intended volume of traffic, which means it’s labeled as a limited access street with no driveways or utilites. If the lanes were reduced, the additional space could be used for other amenities to benefit Ward 3 residents and the rest of the city through economic development.

“If the whole nature of 261 changes from what was at one point in time an interstate, to a time in the future where it could be a city street that can help foster development,” Bowling said.

One part of the city’s vision is greater connection of bike facilities with the additional space so residents could travel the south end of the city more easily. If the SR 261 project were to be accepted and completed, quality of life from the amenities and housing prices in the area would increase according too Bowling.

SUBHEAD- Business within the ward

Ward 3 has the second most sought out location, after downtown, for new businesses in Kent, according to Wilke.

The abundance of retail and commercial businesses, both local and chain, provide employment for Kent’s residents, but things have gotten more complex since the beginning of 2020 and the start of the pandemic.

Some businesses in the ward struggled financially during this time, while others thrived. “It has had a tremendous impact for a long time on retail and hospitality businesses,” Wilke said. Restaurants struggled during the pandemic, but grocery stores like Marc’s on South Water St. saw an increase in customers.

In addition to retail and commercial businesses, Ward 3 is also home to several industrial buildings. These industrial buildings provide numerous jobs for those who live in the city of Kent and in the Ward.

Enterprise Plastics is one of these companies that thrived during the peak of Covid-19. The company produced a product for Purell, the hand sanitizer brand.

The product being produced by these industrial buildings determined their success during the pandemic, but Wilke said that. “Most manufacturers either pretty much stayed the same, or their business actually went up during the pandemic.”

Daniels, community advocate from the historic South End, said she wants to see more jobs for Ward 3. “We need industry jobs in Kent,” she said.

Joe Henderson, 26, had to stop his independent landscaping business because of the pandemic. “One of my employees got it,” Henderson said. And the fear of catching the virus himself and not having help from his coworkers who may become ill, led to his decision to halt his business.

Turner, the ward councilman, became ill with the coronvirus early in 2021 and is considered a COVID “long-hauler.” He’s struggled with not being able to see his constituents face to face or to be able to go door to door. “It’s been really difficult to determine whether or not we really have our finger on the pulse of the neighborhood,” Turner said.

Although Turner hasn’t had direct contact with his residents, he knows the pandemic placed a burden on businesses within his ward.

“Kent State University would pretty much make us recession proof,” Turner said of his previous stance on the economy of the ward. But when the University shifted to remote instruction, many students returned to their hometowns and left Ward 3 with fewer residents and fewer shoppers to patronize the city’s businesses. 

Turner is still hopeful for the future. “We do see some glimmers, some light at the end of the tunnel with a lot of our business community,” he said.

Kent State University’s Recreational Center and baseball and softball complexes are located in Ward 3. Also in the ward is Fraternity Circle, fraternity and sorority houses. The university provides a bulk of jobs within the city. “Kent State University is by far the largest employer in the city, and has the biggest economic impact of any single entity within the city,” Wilke said.

All learning will return to in-person at Kent State beginning next semester. This shift is expected to bring a boom in business. “We love having our students here in the city. They spend a lot of money in our downtown restaurants and bars,” Wilke said.

Ward 3 is rich with local businesses and landmarks. The Kent Post Office, University Hospital Kent Health Center and Holden Elementary School are all located in Ward 3. Restaurants, a movie theater, a bowling alley, ice cream shops and more line the busy streets in the area, like Cherry and South Water. Mike’s Place sits at the end of South Water and is a staple of the ward.

Ward 3 is also welcoming a few new businesses to South Water. A new business called Pitstop Hub is being added to the University Plaza and a Dunkin’ Donuts is being currently being built.

Skullz Salon, owned and operated by Amanda Boyd and Angelique Mann, relocated to a property on Cherry Street across from University Plaza in January 2021 after several years in the downtown area.

The pair said it’s as if their business gets just as much recognition as it did in their previous location. “I think the University Plaza area is very recognized. I think it’s as recognizable an area as downtown,” Mann said. 

While downtown is home to many businesses, co-owner Mann said the location was not friendly to their business type because clients struggled to find parking or had to continuously go back outside to put money in the parking meter. 

“We discussed things like that with the city,” Mann said, “but it was never a priority for them.”

In the midst of the pandemic, before vaccines were available to the general public, the couple found their new space on Cherry Street. The pair dedicated their time to redecorating the space and making it uniquely theirs. Boyd created artwork that hangs on the walls and fake skulls are placed throughout the interior. Near the entrance hangs a rainbow pride flag. 

The salon always had strong community support from LGBTQ clients who found the salon to be a comforting place for them. “We’ve always had lots of trans clients that are comfortable coming here because they say ‘I don’t know how to tell anyone else what’s happening in my life or where I want to go with my image,’” Mann said. 

The diversity they attract is important to the community too, Mann said.

People from all walks of life come to the salon for a new look. “You could literally look out there on any day of the week and you’re going to see an 80-year-old woman next to a 21-year-old college student next to a soccer mom,” Mann said. 

Along with their core clients, there is an influx of people coming because of the stringent COVID practices the salon employees follow since they reopened.

“We have always taken our sanitization really serious,” Boyd said. “Even now, having mandatory masking for clients and staff is something people are looking for, someplace safe to go.”