City of Olean

This Plan identifies projects to improve quality of life for residents, value-of-location for businesses, and municipal efficiency for the City of Olean. Olean can achieve this plan because we have already demonstrated outstanding civic planning and project delivery:

• The “Walkable Olean” vision yielded projects to make streets safer, attractive, and easier to maintain. More multi-modal makeovers will revitalize neighborhoods and renew infrastructure.
• Renovations of recreational assets such as Bradner Stadium, the William O. Smith Sports and Recreation Center, and War Veterans and Forness Parks, have yielded an active cluster of facilities at a fraction of the cost of green-field construction.
• Downtown revitalization and beautification have preserved historic structures, added a popular farmers market, and leveraged volunteer effort to create a botanic garden along Union Street. This has stabilized downtown property values and attracted new stores, restaurants, and amenities to Olean.

The city still needs to renew or replace infrastructure, much of it a century old. Crucially, the city must also reinvest in residential neighborhoods to encourage families to choose a city home. Their commitment of money and time will renovate Olean’s housing stock.

Olean relies on partnership with State and Federal sources to help fund both operations and reinvestment in civic infrastructure. Therefore, we address fiscal prudence in this Comprehensive Plan. Growth will one day return Olean to a self-sustaining basis but to achieve that growth, the city must perform bold projects that will inspire private developers, businesses, and families, to embrace Olean’s bright future.

This is why, even while managing tight budgets, Olean must fund capacity in the Department of Community Development – to win and manage capital grants, and in the Department of Public Works – to continuously execute multiple grant-funded projects while they also maintain existing infrastructure and services. Our plan explains our need for civic courage, to invest even when it seems least affordable.

Here is a plan to win. The enthusiasm of our residents, our positive momentum, and our recent track-record of successful transformational projects justify Olean’s commitment to “make no little plans.”