The ‘real power’ of neighborhoods + how Fort Wayne’s work

Hey Locals,

A few weeks ago, we interviewed Fort Wayne’s new City Clerk John McGauley who thinks we’re seeing a “historic increase” in the number of residents speaking at City Council’s biweekly public comment sessions. Topics, like Flock cameras, data centers, quarries, homeless service centers, and more are drawing residents to the mic to advocate for causes they care about. 

While speaking at City Council meetings is an important and sometimes effective mode of civic engagement, it’s not the only opportunity residents have to make their voices heard. As Head of Fort Wayne’s Department of Neighborhoods, Dan Baisden believes the City’s neighborhood systems can serve a vital role in allowing resident voices not only to be heard, but also to create results.

“At the neighborhood level, that same concern (exhibited in City Council’s public comment sessions) can turn into a coalition or collective action,” Baisden says. “Someone shares an idea, others work together, and build on it, and it eventually can become a sustained push instead of a single comment. That’s the real power of neighborhoods – not individual complaints, but collective action that can make a real difference.”

Still, there’s a knowledge gap. Understanding how local neighborhood organizations function – and how you can get plugged in – isn’t always easy. This week, we’re breaking down how Fort Wayne’s neighborhood systems work, how you can get involved, and how neighborhoods are evolving to make their impacts more effective.

To report this story, we spoke to:

• Dan Baisden, M.P.S., Head of the City’s Department of Neighborhoods
• Rohli Booker, City Council representative (D-6th)
• Kody Tinnel, Vice President of the Packard Area Planning Alliance (PAPA) and Past President of PAPA and Foster Park Neighborhood Association
• Joel Sauer. President of West Central Neighborhood Association (WCNA)
• Grant Schouweiler, Board Member for the Southwest Area Partnership (SWAP)

We’ve also reviewed recent local reporting and City press releases related to the subject.

Let’s start with the basics.

1. How do Fort Wayne’s neighborhood systems work?

If you want to get more involved in your neighborhood, it’s helpful to have a basic understanding of how the City’s systems function, and these systems have evolved a lot in recent years, too.

Here are a few things to know:

• The City primarily engages with neighborhoods and quadrants through its recently created Department of Neighborhoods. As mentioned, Baisden manages this department, which started as a work group in 2021 and became a full-fledged City department in 2024 – the early days of Mayor Tucker’s administration.
• The Department of Neighborhoods has several roles. They serve as a bridge between the Mayor’s office and neighborhood associations by building strategic plans for neighborhoods, training neighborhood leaders, doing neighborhood-level research, and more.
• Their core responsibility is being the City’s boots-on-the-ground doing community engagement, Baisden says. “You won’t usually find our staff behind a desk,” he tells us. The department engages in a concept called “embedded planning,” developed by the national urban planner Jonathan Pacheco Bell, which means staff are often out in the community, connecting with neighborhood leaders and liaising between residents and City departments.

Now, let’s talk about individual neighborhoods themselves.

• All together, Fort Wayne has more than 450 recognized neighborhood associations. That’s six times as many neighborhoods as Chicago, and of those 450 neighborhood communities, a little more than half (270) are “active” (or City-registered) associations that host meetings.
• These associations vary from suburban HOAs to voluntary civic associations bound by geographical areas (like West Central Neighborhood Association, or WCNA). “These civic associations run purely on people showing up and giving their time and talent,” Baisden tells us, and yet: “Our most active associations are often the civic associations closest to Downtown, partly because of how they are structured – running on volunteer energy and donations rather than mandatory dues. However, the core idea of neighborhoods holds everywhere in Fort Wayne: A neighborhood is just people working together for the common good.”
• Neighborhood sizes vary widely. For example, West Central Neighborhood Association (WCNA) has nearly 2,200 households in its geographic bounds, while Foster Park Neighborhood Association has about 140.
• Perhaps not surprisingly, associations vary greatly in terms of engagement and investment, too. Sauer calls WCNA “rare” regarding its membership engagement and board activities. On the flip side, a recent report in Input Fort Wayne highlights challenges faced by the Bullerman Park Forest Neighborhood, whose formerly active association waned over the years, leading to confusion and frustration amongst residents. 
• Recently, some neighborhoods whose associations have been relatively dormant are making strides to reactivate and engage residents. Input cited the example of Crestwood Colony Neighborhood Association, which voluntarily joined forces with its adjacent neighborhoods to work together as a larger group.

This brings us to an important point: There are a few different types of neighborhood groups and partnerships in Fort Wayne.

Here are quick things to know:

• All Fort Wayne neighborhood associations are grouped into one of the City’s four quadrants – Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, or Southwest. Each quadrant has its own Area Partnership or joint meeting on a monthly basis, which serves as a primary point of engagement between neighborhoods and the City – since City representatives might not make it to all individual neighborhood meetings.
• Fort Wayne’s quadrant model brings a diverse array of neighborhood associations with different needs together as one organization. For instance, the Southwest Area Partnership (SWAP) includes everything from suburban HOAs in Aboite Township to condo buildings and historic properties in West Central and homes in Southwood Park.
• These area partnerships act as “a conduit of information, rather than as an advocacy organization,” according to Schouweiler, a Board Member for SWAP. Overall, he says the monthly meetings help residents stay on top of relevant City hearings, potential zoning changes, and other land use issues in their area. They also offer opportunities for City department heads to share updates on current events and important stats with residents, Sauer adds.

2. So how are neighborhoods evolving? 

With so many individual neighborhoods in Fort Wayne and only four large (and extremely diverse) quadrant area partnerships, there could be more opportunities for neighborhoods to band together along common geographic bounds and interests, as mentioned with Crestwood Colony Neighborhood Association.

One local example of this to watch: is the Packard Area Planning Alliance (PAPA) – a paragon of local (and national) neighborhood engagement and planning, Baisden says.

• You may remember: PAPA was recently featured in our reporting about the potential sale of Lutheran Park. The organization formed in the mid-2000s during the development of the group’s original Packard Plan.
• Today, PAPA is a coalition of 18 neighborhoods in South-Central Fort Wayne, and Baisden calls it a “trailblazer…not just locally, but as a national model.” PAPA also recently gained nonprofit status, allowing the group to apply for and receive funding.
• The group has worked with the City to create the Packard 2030 Neighborhood Plan. This outlines the shared vision of its constituent neighborhoods to guide planning and development activities, neighborhood design, public improvements, and future investments.
• The existence of PAPA and the Packard Plan allows these neighborhoods to coalesce around a shared vision and hold the City accountable for future investments and funding decisions. “The existence of these plans has made it much easier to advocate for key things,” explains Tinnel, who serves as VP of PAPA.

Looking to the future:

• The Tucker administration is encouraging collaboration with its Connected Neighborhoods Initiative, which funds neighborhood revitalization projects. These grants go to groups of at least three active, registered, and recognized neighborhoods in a shared geographic region of the city, allowing neighborhoods to partner with each other on important projects. The grants ($1 million each) are funded largely by money from the Google data center land sale, with the first round of funding going to East State Village and Northwest Central Collaborative.
• Booker is encouraging Southeast neighborhoods to work together, given their geographic proximity, shared concerns, and unique community connections. She highlights a recent event supported by three neighborhood associations there (Eastside, Memorial Park, and Harvester) that partnered with local nonprofits to serve area children and families. “When neighborhoods are already working together to meet community needs, it becomes much easier to draw on those relationships to collectively advocate for the investments Southeast needs,” Booker says. 

The City is seeing similar small, location-oriented partnerships form in other areas, as well.

Baisden says that while the quadrant system (which predates much of the City’s 90s-era annexations) still plays a vital role in neighborhood development, “it’s these smaller, self-organized partnerships that actually move projects forward.”

A few more factors we're watching:

• The effects of SEA1 (state property tax cuts): We’re interested to see how the City and City Council address neighborhood funding in the upcoming October 2027 budget cycle. Booker says she’s "concerned about how Southeast neighborhoods will fare as the city navigates the impact of SEA1 and tighter budgets.”
• The expansion of CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design): The City’s High Street CPTED pilot project, recently featured in WANE 15, led to a 40.3% reduction in crime there, and earned the 2026 Project of the Year award from the US CPTED Association. The City continues to leverage CPTED in its Oliver St. project, part of the new Safe Neighborhoods project.

Want to learn more about getting involved in your neighborhood?

Here are a few quick things you can do:

• Register for upcoming Power Lab workshops! This is our free dinner event on Aug. 19 at 5:30 p.m. at the Allen County Public Library. The Local's Editor and Co-Founder, Kara, will be presenting as part of the City’s Neighborhood Power Lab series on: “Making Headlines – A Citizen’s Guide to Local Media.” We hope to see you there.
• Mark your calendar for the 2026 Inspire Neighborhoods Conference on Sept. 11 at Electric Works. (Register by Aug. 31.)
• Send us your feedback! What’s your experience with your neighborhood been like? Are you part of an active association? Are you wishing for a more engaged neighborhood? Would you like to see more coalitions built between neighborhoods in your area? We’d love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading, Locals. Have a good weekend!

Your Reporter,

Rachel Horton