DICE efforts roll into Kennedy Park neighborhood

GREEN BAY – The city of Green Bay is moving into the next phase of its 2026 Data-Informed Community Engagement (DICE) initiative — an effort to gather resident input, strengthen neighborhood connections and guide targeted city investment.

“When it comes to building healthy and vibrant neighborhoods in the city, it’s something that every department keeps as a priority,” said Green Bay Neighborhood Development Specialist William Peters. “In years past, we may have seen departments kind of work a little bit siloed or amongst themselves and we felt that it was very important to take more of a concentrated, holistic approach to addressing neighborhood vitality and neighborhood safety.”

DICE began in 2023 as a multi-department, community-focused effort to direct City resources where they can make the greatest impact.

The initiative draws on calls for multiple types of service, requests made through GB Services, infrastructure condition reports, tree canopy information and then pairs that with resident and business surveys to develop city responses tailored to neighborhood needs.

That strategy may include traffic calming, tree planting, park improvements and other quality-of-life investments, along with work to activate or strengthen neighborhood associations.

“The City has been investing in neighborhoods and bringing residents together for a long time, but what we emphasized on Western Ave. last year and what we’re bringing to Kennedy Park this year is a greater focus on the data we collect, the ways in which we deliver services, and true experiences of our residents,” said Mayor Eric Genrich.

The Kennedy Park effort follows the city’s 2025 DICE focus in the Western Avenue and Badger Tracks Neighborhood.

Last summer’s work there established an example of how data analysis, resident engagement and place-based investment can be paired to improve resident quality of life and address neighborhood priorities over time.

“We know that safe and strong communities and neighborhoods provide high quality services that are responsive to citizen needs,” said Mayor Eric Genrich. “Every resident in every neighborhood deserves to know that the City listens to them, understands their needs, and responds accordingly, and that’s what DICE demonstrates.”

In the Kennedy Park neighborhood, the city will continue gathering input and using that information to help determine what improvements are in line with resident desires and can best support a safer, stronger and more connected neighborhood.

“We feel the most important aspect of this is really a community-centered approach, because as a city we can make as many investments as we want into the infrastructure and the physical environment, but if neighbors in a neighborhood don’t feel like there is a sense of trust, that’s where we see that sense of safety degrade and deteriorate,” Peters said. “We want to walk forward, when it comes to building up communities and investing in communities, by bringing the residents along with us.”

Over the coming weeks and months, city staff will continue outreach in the Kennedy Park neighborhood through digital and door-to-door surveys, conversations with residents and community-based engagement.

That feedback will help inform the city’s next set of recommendations and investments as the 2026 DICE initiative moves forward.

“We have a lot of data and numbers that we can look at to help guide some of our decision making, but nobody really knows what’s in the best interests of a neighborhood better than its residents,” Peters said.