May 29, 200619 yr A few well placed letters to the editor of the Dispatch would be a good start. You and KJP have both expressed thoughts that a wider public than what is on this website should read. I don't think a letter from a Clevelander would go over too well in Columbus, except perhaps to say that you in Columbus are where Cleveland was 30-40 years ago. Isolate the urban poor from job growth in the outer areas and see what the result is -- a brush fire that chases the outward push of development and devastates older neighborhoods in their wake. One of my favorite smart-growth, anti-sprawl slogans is: "Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell." "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 30, 200619 yr Imagine if we could "sell" the impact of sprawl as the societal cancer it is and attack it with proportionately the same energy and dollars as we would the real disease? Man, we'd be getting some things done!
May 31, 200619 yr Now that the Dispatch has brought this to peoples attention, why not build off of this? Anyone want to write a letter to the editor?
June 1, 200619 yr Sprawl result of people pursuing a better life Thursday, June 01, 2006 I respond to the Sunday Dispatch article "Years, and still sprawling." There is no need to demonize sprawl. Sprawl is simply the result of people making individual choices to provide what they see as a better life for themselves and their families. The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission and its backers seem to think people are too stupid or misguided to make their own decisions. Read full letter at: http://www.dispatch.com/editorials-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/06/01/20060601-A10-07.html How about putting together a response on behalf of Urban Ohio?
June 1, 200619 yr We're past the point of "saving Lewis Center." Mr. Pierce should try saving Clintonville instead.
June 2, 200619 yr I can't blame him. He made a personal decision based on his own observations. I said in another post, the four most important factors for young families in choosing where to live are: New Construction Good Schools Safe Neighborhood Close to family It is taken for granted that the new home must be affordable. Access to parks, cultural amenities, and walkability are also factors, but they are farther down the list. In general, it is hard to find something with the first three factors in established urban areas, while it's easy to find it in the outer suburbs. Just look at the home ads in the paper. Maybe instead of blaming the suburbanites who buy McMansions, we should ask, Why are developers building in greenfields instead of in core urban areas? Why are suburban school districts so well respected compared to city schools? Why is crime concentrated in cities? What can we do about it, if anything?
June 2, 200619 yr Okay everyone... Here is a a first stab at a letter to the editor: “You can run, but you can’t hide,” might be a good way to describe what is happening to those who move to the exurbs in search of a better life. These folks are not going to willingly change their perceptions or lifestyle. They firmly believe that the further they are from the urban areas of Columbus, the better off they are. The problem is, they won't escape for long. Everyone else who has the same idea will make the same move, bringing overdevelopment with them. A lot of these people have what they think are valid reasons for moving away from problem areas to the exurbs. These areas are brutally ugly and noisy, with housing stock that is in decline, with high crime rates and poor schools. Columbus and other cities have yet to find an answer to these problems. This is a key reason why things are the way they are. Another key reason is that public transportation policy and zoning has favored the private auto over anything else for better than 50 years, leading to near total dependence on the auto for all daily tasks. Currently, the average suburban resident makes eight daily trips and drives farther than ever before. In an age of ever-increasing energy costs this is going to become a very expensive lifestyle. The sprawl issue is very serious. Aside from being flagrantly wasteful when it comes to energy use, it is gobbling up some of the best farmland in the world. You can see the farmland practically disappearing before your eyes. This is an irreplaceable resource that must be protected. Still, we keep eating up the land in a never-ending maze of strip plazas, big-box stores, fast food joints, and bland look-alike subdivisions. The problem is that too many don't see this as much of a problem. Powerful interests such as road builders and developers like things just the way they are, since they profit tremendously from the status quo. Retailers and chain restaurants have geared their entire operations around the auto and are resistant to other non-sprawl development. The average exurb resident is usually too involved in day-to-day life to give these issues much thought and really doesn’t know any other way anyhow. However, if oil prices continue to rise and land becomes scarce and more expensive, this sort of lifestyle will become unsustainable for many. The game could be over for the exurbs under this scenario. They might have to adapt new lifestyles to compensate and that could mean looking for housing closer to work, forcing many back into the cities, which would be ill-equipped to handle their return. Columbus has no rail transit, inadequate bus service, lousy schools and only 60% of the city's streets have sidewalks. A sudden influx of new residents would easily overwhelm the city's resources. Not mention what this would do to real estate values, which would explode, forcing out many current residents. Where would they go? Things could get ugly. At the same time, I do think that within a few years that public outcry will come as gas prices keep rising and with it a demand for a long-term solution. People are already beginning to adapt by buying fewer gas-guzzling SUV’s in favor of hybrids, so larger-scale change in the face of continuing high gas prices is not out of the question. The movement of their residents back to the cities will lead to a greater call for better transit and walkability, as well a development patterns that lessen dependency on the auto. Even now, we are witnessing a profound change in some areas of the city. The Short North, German Village, Clintonville, Victorian Village and other areas are seeing new construction of businesses, condos and loft apartments. Downtown is seeing the rise of many new lofts or reconstruction of existing buildings. The Arena District is a booming area in what was a collection of parking lots and seedy buildings. The auto-centric exurban lifestyle might change, but road builders and others need not despair. There will be plenty for them to do from building new light rail lines, to new rail lines to rebuilding streets/sidewalk/bike paths for more efficient use. Likewise, developers might find it lucrative to redevelop old inefficiently laid out neighborhoods and revamp them to suit the demands of an energy-short society. The key is to allow us to have a choice and to be able to readily adapt to changing conditions. Change is constant and we owe it to ourselves to be ready through the use of any strategy that produces positive results.
June 2, 200619 yr "I don’t think you can find a builder who went into a zoning meeting and was told his densities were too low." What a sad and powerful quote.
June 2, 200619 yr Affordable is a subjective term. 200k can "afford" a 3,000 sq. ft. home in Delaware, or a 2,000 sq. ft. home in Clintonville, or a 1,500 sq. ft. home in Grandview. So how much space does an average person need?
June 2, 200619 yr ^^I like it, but it's like 500 words over the recommended 200 words limit. :) You're being too wordy, or in other words, giving a complex description of a complex problem. You need to dumb it down for the masses. I'll give my suggestions for what to keep later.
June 2, 200619 yr The first try is usually too wordy...I see a couple of areas I want to change anyway.
June 4, 200619 yr SO TO SPEAK What’s great about a city lost in sprawl? Sunday, June 04, 2006 JOE BLUNDO Everyone complains about sprawl, but we just keep sprawling. The Dispatch reported recently that sometime this year the number of central Ohioans living outside I-270 would exceed the number inside. I find that unfathomable. Read full column at: http://www.dispatch.com/features-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/06/04/20060604-I1-00.html
June 5, 200619 yr The first try is usually too wordy...I see a couple of areas I want to change anyway. Here's my suggestions; keep the first paragraph, sum up the 2nd in one sentence, shorten the 3rd and cite a reliable source for that "average suburban resident makes eight daily trips" statement, make the case for keeping farmland as a vital longterm investment for which there is no alternative, maybe scrap the 5th even though the history of sprawl is important &save for another LTTE), for the 6th I would make a big change and not say "if" _ happens then the suburban/exurban will be come unsustainable, because there is no "if" situation, it will happen, toss out the 7th, combine and shorten 8 and 9, 10 and 11 and if you can the fact that city life hasn't really ever been fairly presented as a viable living option and basically only offers strip malls and isolated subdivisions. I hope that helps cut down on the word count enough. Maybe you can send it in your name AND on behalf of Urban Ohio. The mods will have to approve first.
June 5, 200619 yr Sprawl produces no German Villages ....yet there are quite a few sprawly german villages in Germany....eurosprawl. Its international. Back in the 1950s and 1960s and early 70s people where writing books and proposing solutions to sprawl. The Costs of Sprawl came out in the early 1970s, Gods Own Junkyard in the 1960s, and so forth....30 years on, sprawl continues...tho the sprawl we have nowadays is much more "planned" and tidied-up. Good comment about geese as suburban pigeons. They also disrupt traffic here, too, as cars stop when geese are crossing the road. One can get a ticket for running them over.
June 6, 200619 yr Letters to the editor in the Columbus Dispatch: Communities thrive outside the Outerbelt Monday, June 05, 2006 As I read the May 28 Dispatch article "10 years, and still sprawling" and related stories, I see that once again the newspaper quotes the same players who continuously feel it necessary to bash the suburban and township governments they are a part of. I would question whether these individuals have ever ventured outside the Outerbelt, but I know that they have, as the Building Industry Association of Central Ohio continuously is involved with the yearly Parade of Homes, which I don’t think has been within the city limits since the Victorian Village remake. Read full letter at: http://www.dispatch.com/editorials-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/06/05/20060605-A6-03.html Overregulated city drives people away Monday, June 05, 2006 I respond to the May 28 Dispatch article "Belt-busting sprawl." For decades, urban planners have tried to dictate how and where we should live. We, the unwashed, have voted with our feet and our checkbooks against the congestion, crime, corruption, noise and dirt of the city. Full letter at: http://www.dispatch.com/editorials-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/06/05/20060605-A6-09.html
June 9, 200619 yr Update on MORPC Executive Director Search: Since Ohio's Metropolitan Planning Organizations have a lot to do with transportation planning, I thought this post belongs here. Kind of excited about the choice, since this fellow comes from Hartford, Connecticut: an area that has excellent rail-based mass transit and intercity passenger rail. Commission Taps Metropolitan Planning Expert as Final Candidate (COLUMBUS, June 9, 2006) – The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission’s Administrative Committee has extended an offer to Lyle Wray, Ph.D., to serve as the Commission’s new Executive Director. According to MORPC Chair Virginia Barney, Wray is considering the offer. “We think Dr. Wray is a great candidate with 29 years of related government experience serving large, complex government agencies,” Barney said. “We believe he has the vision, passion and energy to lead MORPC’s mission.” Currently, Wray is the executive director of the Capitol Region Council of Governments in Hartford, Conn. This regional planning organization serves Hartford and 28 surrounding towns with a combined population of 740,000 addressing issues in the areas of transportation, community development, housing, environment, public safety and homeland security. Including his current role, Wray has spent the past 14 years working in planning and public policy organizations. His vast experience includes regional planning and development, community involvement, housing, public policy issues and transportation programs and funding. Wray serves as co-chair of the Transportation Policy Committee of the National Association of Counties and is a member of the National Association of Regional Councils Executive Directors Committee. He has extensive national and international experience in consulting, researching, teaching and writing on issues affecting local governments and metropolitan regions. Wray was selected from a large pool of local and national candidates. “We were impressed by the depth and breadth of experience of the candidates whom we interviewed,” Barney said. “We wanted to be very deliberate about our choice and finding the right fit of experience and leadership to lead MORPC into an exciting new era of its history as a regional convener.” -30- www.morpc.org
June 10, 200619 yr Wray will replace Bill Habig, who had been with MORPC as it's Exexecutive Director for over 34 years. A good guy whose shoes will be tough to fill. But Wray sounds like he's got the "chops" to take MORPC to a new level, and his experience in Connecticut could bring in some fresh ideas we need here. BTW: Here is the Dispatch story from this morning: MORPC names new executive director Connecticut man charged with uniting seven-county region Saturday, June 10, 2006 Debbie Gebolys THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH The group charged with planning central Ohio’s future has chosen an outsider to draw the region together. The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission offered its executive director’s job last week to a man who runs a similar organization in Hartford, Conn. Lyle Wray, executive director of Hartford’s Capitol Region Council of Governments, emerged from a field of 42 applicants for the job that Bill Habig left in February after 35 years at MORPC. MORPC officials and Wray are negotiating an employment contract and could reach an agreement within weeks. More at: http://dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/06/10/20060610-D3-01.html
June 10, 200619 yr Habig is finally retiring? Hopefully he stays in town for awhile. He would have so much information to share with everyone still. Though Habig leaving and finding his replacement sort of flew under the radar as far as UrbanOhio is concerned (obviously, not living in Columbus, I can't speak to the local media coverage of this).
June 10, 200619 yr It was fairly well-covered locally. Habig (BTW) is now running his own consulting business. He is also now a board member of One-Thousand Friends of Central Ohio ( www.1kco.org ). Though he is "retired", he is far from uninvolved and that's a good thing for Central Ohio.
June 10, 200619 yr This is an issue Columbus really needs to address; affordable housing throughout the city. I just don't see why it isn't worth putting aside money for subsidized housing vs blight, a high rate of homicides, robberies, etc. Revitalization hurts those in need of housing Friday, June 02, 2006 Columbus’ "Downtown revitalization" that has been going on for the past few years is wonderful. It has made the Downtown area look nicer and feel safer, and undoubtedly has attracted economic growth. ANNIE HOLLIS Columbus http://www.dispatch.com/editorials-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/06/02/20060602-A8-03.html
June 14, 200618 yr Theres always so much to read in all of these articles. I wonder if Grasscat actually reads all of them lol it would take forever
June 14, 200618 yr I wonder if Grasscat actually reads all That would take forever. I don't even read 10% of them, but I skim them all.
June 17, 200618 yr City alters plan for parks offices Columbus Dispatch, 5/28/06 The city of Columbus plans to spend $5.15 million to buy an East Side building to house offices for its Recreation and Parks and Technology departments. The city had planned to renovate the former Deaf School building at 400 E. Town Street for the offices, but found that would have cost $13.5 million, said Columbus Finance Director Joel S. Taylor. Instead, the city will buy the CNA Insurance building at 1111 E. Broad Street, a 228,380-square-foot complex just east of I-71, and move 150 city workers there by next year. The city and property owner, Buckeye Union Insurance Co., signed a letter of intent on May 18. Taylor said administration officials knew of the $13.5 million cost to prepare the Deaf School building when the Columbus City Council voted April 24 to spend $2 million to acquire it. But city officials learned soon after the vote that the CNA building was available.
June 18, 200618 yr GROWING POPULATION Downtown living offers its own set of advantages Sunday, June 18, 2006 Bob Moser THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Bill Flannery says he’s living "the simple life" Downtown. Since he moved into a condominium at 60 E. Spring St., he’s had no yard to mow and no siding or shingles to replace. His office is just a five-minute walk away. The underground parking protects his car from the dangers of street parking. Inside, exposed beams and air ducts define the condo’s industrial look. His dog, Abbie, slips and slides on the concrete floor’s glazed finish when she runs toward the floor-to-ceiling windows to bark at passers-by. More at: http://dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/06/18/20060618-C1-03.html
June 18, 200618 yr I love it, glad to see Ohio is getting on the city living bandwagon. I would love to see pictures of these places. I am sure they will get a grocery store before long. We are selling our second car, and have just purchased a scooter. it will be great for those places that are so close you are a little ashamed to drive to by car (or does not make sense to pay bus fare for), but walking is a little far. I wish I had invested in scooter stock -these things make more and more sense every day (about 80-100 miles per gallon).
June 18, 200618 yr I've been thinking about getting one of those scooters...for a few hundred bucks it would be great for cruising around the neighborhood. Are the gas powered ones very loud? They also have motorized skateboards.
June 18, 200618 yr Actual street legal scooters cost a little more than a few hundred dollars-unless you are really handy and can get one used. You may be thinking of mopeds- which I found out much to my dissappontment, are not street legal in Ohio (so do not waste your money unless you don't mind doing something illegal and possibly getting hassled and fined). not sure about those little ones you see on the sidewalk that you stand on, those might be legal. I got the scooter below in black. I expect it to last for years as I will not drive it on salt or anything. I did a bit of research and it should be reliable, plus it rocks! I guess you have to be careful these days getting scoots, b/c they can be cheap knock offs bought off the internet from China that are not even legal, not to mention dependable . Scooters do require a motorcycle licence as they can be quite fast (ours can go up to 70 mph, but I do not dare try), Once we sell the car , we will be down to one car and one scooter for two people (I guess that is better than two cars) . Although, while I was the one who wanted the scooter, the husband is pretty much taking it over, I should have gotten the pink... http://www.genuinescooters.com/buddy.html
June 18, 200618 yr Actual street legal scooters cost a little more than a few hundred dollars-unless you are really handy and can get one used. You may be thinking of mopeds- which I found out much to my dissappontment, are not street legal in Ohio (so do not waste your money unless you don't mind doing something illegal and possibly getting hassled and fined). not sure about those little ones you see on the sidewalk that you stand on, those might be legal. I got the scooter below in black. I expect it to last for years as I will not drive it on salt or anything. I did a bit of research and it should be reliable, plus it rocks! I guess you have to be careful these days getting scoots, b/c they can be cheap knock offs bought off the internet from China that are not even legal, not to mention dependable . Scooters do require a motorcycle licence as they can be quite fast (ours can go up to 70 mph, but I do not dare try), Once we sell the car , we will be down to one car and one scooter for two people (I guess that is better than two cars) . Although, while I was the one who wanted the scooter, the husband is pretty much taking it over, I should have gotten the pink... http://www.genuinescooters.com/buddy.html I was just refering to one of these and planned on riding it on the sidewalk. Are these illegal? :cry:
June 18, 200618 yr Actual street legal scooters cost a little more than a few hundred dollars-unless you are really handy and can get one used. You may be thinking of mopeds- which I found out much to my disappointment, are not street legal in Ohio (so do not waste your money unless you don't mind doing something illegal and possibly getting hassled and fined). not sure about those little ones you see on the sidewalk that you stand on, those might be legal. I got the scooter below in black. I expect it to last for years as I will not drive it on salt or anything. I did a bit of research and it should be reliable, plus it rocks! I guess you have to be careful these days getting scoots, b/c they can be cheap knock offs bought off the internet from China that are not even legal, not to mention dependable . Scooters do require a motorcycle licence as they can be quite fast (ours can go up to 70 mph, but I do not dare try), Once we sell the car , we will be down to one car and one scooter for two people (I guess that is better than two cars) . Although, while I was the one who wanted the scooter, the husband is pretty much taking it over, I should have gotten the pink... http://www.genuinescooters.com/buddy.html I was just refering to one of these and planned on riding it on the sidewalk. Are these illegal? :cry: mmm I have no idea. Definitely not in street, but I do see those on the sidewalk. I would ask a cop when you see him or her, that is usually how I get my info on things like that.
June 19, 200618 yr Rezoning tabled on mixed-use plan ThisWeek Westerville, 6/1/06 The Westerville Planning Commission has tabled indefinitely a rezoning request for a mixed-use development that is producing strong opposition from residents in the Sunbury Road area. The development, applied for by Tabco Development LLC, would place a 116-unit residential/mixed use development on 24.5 acres at the southwest corner of Sunbury Road and North Street. According to a staff report to the planning commission, the intent of the development is to deliver the westerly piece of the New Urbanism traditional village development concept that was started on the east side of Sunbury Road with various plans dating back to the early 1990s. New Urbanism is a style of development that seeks to eliminate traffic and urban sprawl. Homes and businesses are clustered together in a design that allows residents to walk to shops, businesses and other points of interest instead of driving. In a May 24 report to the planning commission, city staff wrote that new buildings designed under the New Urbanism concept should complement the scale, proportions and materials of their surroundings. According to the report, many of the historic buildings in the area were constructed of lapped siding or brick, and many were constructed between 1841 and 1920. That's a promising little tidbit. Although in typical Columbus fasion, it's being met with opposition. "We love our cars and will fight any developments that threaten them!"
June 19, 200618 yr Hey!! No fair. I posted this first yesterday, and now it disapeared. :x :shoot: Where did my post/thread go?!?! :whip:
June 19, 200618 yr The Dispatch has been doing a nice job covering the human side of downtown living lately, as well as the progress being made downtown. Hopefully the testimonies described in the article strike a chord with more people in the metro area to consider downtown housing, or at least take up an interest in it. I like that an underlying theme is the subject of accessibility. Hopefully the planned streetcar system will come to fruition and help tie everything together.
June 19, 200618 yr Gas and groceries are all within three blocks for Karen Thomas, 33. She has lived in Sterling condos in the Brewery District for two years, and walks practically everywhere: to the store and to work every morning at Nationwide. She often takes her neighbor’s dog out for walks at night. Three blocks! Try two! ;) Just trying to get a little plug in for my condo. I don't really think we need to have another grocery store downtown. Kroger is within walking distance to a few condos/apartments, and will be extremely accessible once that streecar line gets built :). It's also a closer car ride than the vast majority of suburbanites have.
June 19, 200618 yr It's nice to know that she has a convenient walk to the gas station. Maybe that's what we need in downtown Cleveland. Maybe that should be our new use for Public Square.
June 19, 200618 yr aww man it only talks about columbus? its interesting that the residential is actually pushing for more transit options... so whats columbus' critical mass need to be? does 3500 really feel like a decent amount right now? cleveland's 9k doesnt seem so bustling quite yet.
June 19, 200618 yr It's nice to know that she has a convenient walk to the gas station. Maybe that's what we need in downtown Cleveland. Maybe that should be our new use for Public Square. HAHAHAHAHA
June 19, 200618 yr It seems like Columbus' downtown residential scene is a different game than Cleveland's. Cleveland's downtown is very isolated by infrastructure and industrial areas, and thus so are it's 9,000 residents as a group. Columbus' residential neighborhoods are on the fringe of it's downtown, and closely tied to surrounding neighborhoods: Arena District is close to Short North/Victorian Village Brewery District is close to German Village Discovery District is close to Old Town East But, they are all tied more to those surrounding neighborhoods than to each other, as they are quite seperated by the large expanse of downtown itself. It will be interesting to see what kind of community develops around the developments near High and Gay and that area.
June 19, 200618 yr aww man it only talks about columbus? its interesting that the residential is actually pushing for more transit options... so whats columbus' critical mass need to be? does 3500 really feel like a decent amount right now? cleveland's 9k doesnt seem so bustling quite yet. It's nowhere near critical mass yet. The mayor's goal is to add 10k new units by 2012. That should add around 15k residents to the already 3.5k that already were there. It's getting really nice in pockets (german village, brewery district, victorian village, short north) but downtown proper is still dead after 6. Give it a few more years and a few thousand more units and we'll see some great things. I really believe that.
June 20, 200618 yr You got that right, David. Development of the Whittier Peninsula and the Franklinton area (West of the downtown) haven't even begun. When they get going (and they will), downtown Columbus will have thriving neighborhoods in all directions. Factor in a streetcar system and (hopefully) a connection to intercity passenger rail and wow !!!!
June 20, 200618 yr While visting my brother in Franklinton (I think he lived on McDowell street? off of Broad..) definitely not the best neighborhood but I noticed a few really big factory buildings on those side streets and couldn't help visualizing their potential as condos. It woud definitely look out of context with ther rest of the neighborhood but with a little effort they could fix up that whole area.
June 20, 200618 yr You got that right, David. Development of the Whittier Peninsula and the Franklinton area (West of the downtown) haven't even begun. When they get going (and they will), downtown Columbus will have thriving neighborhoods in all directions. Factor in a streetcar system and (hopefully) a connection to intercity passenger rail and wow !!!! Don't forget RiverSouth and all of those surface lots that will be developed. That will fill a huge void between the heart of downtown and the riverfront. I think that, coupled with a streetcar line, will be the formal tipping point.
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