CSCC Pours $737M per year into local economy

There’s a Dispatch article in today’s paper that showcases Columbus State Community College as an “economic powerhouse” that adds over $737 million dollars per year into the local economy through increased earnings of students, employee payments and supplies purchased locally, and spending on school-related items by current students.

This brings us back to a point that’s been raised a few times here on Columbus Underground… CSCC (and it’s next door neighbor CCAD) have no neighborhood appeal. The immediate area surrounding these two colleges is made up mostly of flat parking lots. Why is there no student housing?

Imagine if just a portion of the 23,000 students enrolled at Columbus State were given the option to live in affordable student housing within walking distance of their classes. Imagine the businesses that would spring up in the neighborhood after this influx of new young downtown residents.

An area currently known for nothing more than parking lots could turn into a thriving 24 hour neighborhood full of young professionals living in mid-rise housing with a blend of neighborhood restaurants, bars, art galleries, shops, and more. The success of the commercial strip adjacent to OSU along High Street, and the massive off-campus student population in the University District could easily be replicated in a more dense, urban setting along Spring, Long, Cleveland, Grant, and Gay Streets. Student housing could even spill over east of the campuses onto new I-71 highway caps and into the northern end of Olde Towne East, an area that could greatly benefit from some new young residents contributing to the revitalization and culture of the neighborhood.

Now imagine how much money CSCC would be pouring indirectly into the local economy. Add in a nearby stop on the downtown streetcar circulator and you’ve got a mobile young demographic living downtown in an area where there is currently nothing but asphalt and painted lines.