Meadville, PA

A Strong Future Vision

Where Quaint Charm Meets Bold Ambition

Meadville might be small in size, but it is mighty in vision. With a historic downtown, a long-standing manufacturing base, and new investments in housing, safety services, and infrastructure, this forward-looking city is preparing for the future while maintaining the character that residents cherish.

“Meadville always thinks, and is, bigger than we are,” remarks City Manager Maryann Menanno. “We have a lot of amenities that most municipalities of our size do not have. We have a recreation complex, and we have a municipally run ambulance service. We’re always innovating and trying new things. That’s what makes us a different and very exciting place.”

Recognizing that growth is important, Meadville is also focused on preserving its welcoming atmosphere and sense of place. “Community input has been at the forefront of all conversations,” notes Menanno. “We are trying to keep that small town Mayberry-esque feel, while still being able to provide several amenities and innovations.”

Revitalizing the Heart

Downtown Meadville is a major focus of current planning efforts, and the city is working closely with the Meadville Community Revitalization Corporation to guide future improvements. Community Development Director Renna Wrubleski shares, “The MCRC will be applying for Main Street designation through the state. That application will really be the guiding document for downtown revitalization, particularly around streetscape, wayfinding signage, and other things that help improve the physical infrastructure and feel of our downtown.”

At the same time, the city is looking at ways to support existing businesses and attract new enterprises. “Another big focus is really strengthening our entrepreneurial support ecosystem,” Wrubleski explains. “We’ve identified that we do need to have resources and one-on-one support for businesses that currently exist and those that are looking to start up and move into our downtown.”

One advantage for potential entrepreneurs is that the city does not require a separate municipal business license beyond standard state requirements. “So, it’s really easy, for the most part, to establish business within the city of Meadville,” asserts Menanno. Going forward, the creation of a business improvement district to further support downtown revitalization is also being considered.

Housing at the Top of the Agenda

Housing is a key priority in Meadville, where significant new residential development has not been seen for decades. Menanno says Common Roots, a nonprofit partner, is helping lead new construction efforts, while additional projects that could bring more homes into the market are also being explored. “We’re actively pursuing a brand new housing development right within the city,” she expands. “We’ve had a housing market analysis done to show that mid-market housing is lacking in the city.”

Wrubleski points to the need for workforce housing, sharing that Meadville is also looking at rehabbing existing housing stock. “We’ve got some abandoned and blighted houses, so there’s an opportunity to tackle both of these issues at once and get these older housing units back online and available for incoming workers and families moving to the city.”

Mixed-use development in the historic downtown is also being considered. “That includes apartments right above businesses. The buildings all date back to the early 1900s. So, we are trying to work through fire code and all of those things to actually make them usable spaces at not an exorbitant cost to property owners,” Menanno reports.

Services for Residents

As it works to revitalize the downtown and add more housing, the city has also been strengthening public services. “A priority for us in Meadville has been the safety component, what makes residents safer, thus hopefully incentivizing businesses to come in,” says Menanno.

“When I started as city manager four and a half years ago, we were down to 18 police officers, which is ridiculously small for even a municipality our size and our geographical location between three major cities, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh.”

To address this, Meadville reinstated police pensions that had previously been replaced with 401K style plans, making them more competitive with other departments in the region. The city also entered into a 20-year service agreement with neighbouring Vernon Township. “That expands our jurisdiction for about 60 square miles, and that’s huge,” Menanno relays. “It’s not regionalization, where two police departments merged. They disbanded their police department, and now you see the city of Meadville police patrolling throughout the township.”

Emergency medical services have also been improved. Noting that Pennsylvania faces widespread EMS shortages, Menanno says Meadville was once considered an EMS desert served by a single private company responsible for 22 other municipalities. “We came up with this idea of just doing it ourselves,” she recounts. The city quickly purchased ambulances, hired paramedics with onboarding incentives, and established a new service that now responds to calls across the region.

“Our guys get out of the station and to a call within the city of Meadville in under two minutes,” Menanno highlights. “We get frequently called to other municipalities, and they get to these farther away municipalities in under five minutes. So our level of service is excellent, and we pride ourselves on being able to do that.”

Meadville is also exploring new ways to connect emergency services with healthcare providers. “We were just awarded, through federal appropriations, almost $1.2 million for our fire department to pursue telehealth in partnership with local hospital institutions,” she elaborates. The goal is to allow paramedics to connect patients with physicians remotely when a hospital visit may not be necessary. “This really saves the hospital facilities from having their emergency rooms bombarded with folks who maybe just need a little less attention than you would need at an emergency room.”

The city is working closely with the local hospital, Meadville Medical Center, to develop the telehealth program, along with additional training opportunities for EMS providers. “They just launched an educational arm of the medical center, so we hope to have them coordinate paramedic certification as part of that educational programming,” she says.

Manufacturing Heritage and Future Innovation

Meadville’s economy has long been tied to manufacturing, and that sector remains a vital part of the local economy. Among the city’s most recognized employers is Channellock, a tool manufacturer that is celebrating its 140th anniversary. “We are looking for ways to continue to partner with them,” says Mennano. “Our local Market House is the longest continuously run indoor market house west of the Mississippi, and we’ve partnered with Channellock to sell tools there.”

While large-scale industrial land is limited within the city itself, Meadville has found creative ways to support the manufacturing sector. One example is the Allegheny Lab for Innovation and Creativity, known as ALIC, an initiative of Allegheny College.

Wrubleski describes, “Their mission and focus are largely aimed at supporting manufacturing in the city and the region.” The center provides training equipment, microcredential courses, and skill development programs that allow manufacturers to train employees without disrupting production. “ALIC is serving as an incubator hub for small manufacturers starting up,” she details.

“They’re working to upskill local workers so any of the manufacturers in the region can send their employees to ALIC.”

Menanno points out that collaboration is also a defining feature in Meadville: “What makes us unique is that all of the stakeholders communicate. We sit down, we discuss what needs to happen, what each would like to see happen. We may not know every single intimate detail about projects one or another is working on, but where we can collaborate, we absolutely do that.”

Growth and Potential

Looking ahead, the city is investing in the infrastructure needed to support development while also upgrading aging systems. “For any new housing development, the land that could be viable doesn’t have the lateral water and sewer lines established,” Menanno outlines. “We are actively working on getting those things in place for a developer to come in and want to do the project. We are setting the stage, having lots of conversations with people who lay out subdivisions.”

One milestone is the completion of a $27 million upgrade to the city’s wastewater treatment plant. An additional $750,000 will go towards lift station improvements in an area known as French Creek. “We’re working on capital improvement plans to make sure that the infrastructure, which is 100 years old, is updated and ready for developments and businesses to come in,” she asserts.

As Meadville looks toward the next few years, Menanno says attracting middle-market housing development remains the number one focus, followed closely by continued downtown revitalization.

For Wrubleski, these efforts are all part of the bigger picture. “It’s all connected in our efforts to bring people to Meadville, to our downtown, and to better serve the people who already live here,” she imparts. “We want to continue to make sure that this kind of growth and renewed energy and investment that we’re seeing is benefiting as many people as possible.”

AT A GLANCE

Who: Meadville, PA

What: A small, but progressive city

Where: Crawford County, PA

Website: www.cityofmeadville.org