Marietta Downtown Plan

Results-Driven, Inclusive Planning Process Leads to Core Vision and Plan for Historic Downtown

Located at the convergence of the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers, Marietta is rich in history and culture with vibrant businesses and charming neighborhoods and is home to the Marietta College campus. However, the lack of a central vision for the Downtown area led the City of Marietta and Marietta Main Street to partner with OHM Advisors to create an actionable plan for its revitalization and development.

Our team worked with a steering committee of strong leaders in the community including City and Main Street staff, Marietta College, business owners and community advocates in a broad outreach and engagement strategy to create a vision for the future and outline a set of transformative projects to focus on in the coming years. We reached residents, employees, businesses and visitors through public meetings, pop-ups at events like Downtown First Friday, and online through the Enrich Marietta website to discover people’s aspirations for their Downtown community.

The completed plan is a comprehensive placemaking strategy to reimagine and reinvigorate this historic Ohio waterfront Downtown. It includes a set of actions and priority projects centered on improving access to open space, creating multimodal connections and spurring residential development and redevelopment. It will serve as a guide for future City policy development and for enriching the experience of Marietta’s infrastructure, arts, education, and recreational assets.

Project Highlights: planning, community engagement, urban design