Once the vibrant heartbeat of the West Side, Sullivant Avenue now stands as a shadow of its former self—neglected, weathered and often overlooked.

I’ve been civically active in our community since 1997 and have used my personal Facebook page for advocacy since 2009. In 2011, we created the South Central Hilltop Block Watch and in 2014, launched Bring Back Sullivant Avenue to shine a light on the serious issues impacting the Sullivant Avenue area and advocate for meaningful change.

Goals:

Safe Routes for Children: We work to ensure that children at Burroughs Elementary School and area preschools have a safe path to and from school.

Safe Place for Families: We advocate for a clean and secure environment where families can raise their children with pride.

Business Owners’ Safety: We aim to create an atmosphere where business owners can feel safe and supported in the places where they make their living.

With nearly 700 members, this page is focused on restoring Sullivant Avenue to its rightful place—a thriving, vibrant space that honors both its rich history and its immense potential.

Sullivant Avenue is named after Lucas Sullivant, the founder of our city. For over 50 years, it has suffered from disinvestment. However, its prime location—surrounded by neighborhoods, schools, and businesses—gives it incredible potential for revitalization. With the right investment, Sullivant Avenue can once again become a bustling hub for commerce, culture, and community.

In recent years, we held multiple meetings with Mayor Andrew J. Ginther and his office staff to develop a plan for restoring the corridor and making it safer for everyone. During these discussions, we presented a collection of photos documenting the deterioration of Sullivant Avenue over the decades.

While many officials had seen these pictures, Mayor Ginther was the only one who took the time to truly examine each one, seeking to understand the full scope of the problem.

The Mayor then supported several initiatives to improve the Sullivant Avenue area, including:

The Sullivant Bright Initiative

The Safe and Clean Corridors Project (which also includes Livingston Avenue, Parsons Avenue, and North High Street)

Sullivant Avenue Clean and Safe included a ‘Neighborhood Pride’ type blitz this past summer, focusing on cleaning up Sullivant Avenue from South Hague to South Central Avenue.

We’ve personally taken action to clean up the area between South Wayne Avenue and South Hague Avenue—an area we’ve effectively adopted over the last two decades. We’ve removed trash from this corridor more than 1,500 times, contributing thousands of hours to make this area cleaner and more safe. Friday Lunchtime Cleanup of Sullivant Avenue has been a staple every Friday for almost two years, alone.

We’ve also partnered with various City departments including: Refuse, Code Enforcement, Police, and the City Attorney’s Office to address issues. However, there’s still so much work to be done.

Through conversations with neighbors and local business owners, it’s clear that improvements to infrastructure and a dedicated law enforcement presence are crucial to making Sullivant Avenue a place people can be proud of—whether they’re calling it home or running a business.

With the right investments, vision, and community support, we believe Sullivant Avenue can return to being the thriving epicenter of the Hilltop that it once was.

We invite you to be a part of the Bring Back Sullivant Avenue renaissance. Join us on our Facebook page and/or participate in one of our Friday Lunchtime Cleanups.

Our next cleanup (number 89) will take place Friday September 12th from Noon to 1pm at the SW corner of Sullivant Avenue and South Harris Avenue.

Together, we can revitalize this important corridor and ensure that Sullivant Avenue once again becomes a place where history, community, and potential meet—just as it was always meant to be.

Let’s work together to bring back Sullivant Avenue.

-Lisa Boggs

(www.facebook.com/Bringbacksullivantavenue)