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There was an initiative launched in 2008 that held a community engagement meeting and established a Bicentennial task force and website columbus2012.org. No one has explained exactly what happened, but the task force is not meeting and the website is gone. However, there was great framework that came out of it and some pieces are surviving under existing organizations, so there will be events to celebrate Columbus' 200th Anniversary in 2012.
Below is the list of ideas that used to be posted on the columbus2012.org website. Hopefully they can live on and grow here on Columbus Underground.
Columbus2012 Commission Recommendations:
- Create a community safety institute to bring together police, city
agencies, research institutions and community members to develop ways
to reduce crime and increase safety. - Launch a healthy-community program to promote healthy living that
addresses obesity and physical activity. (Happening through the
Active Living Institute at Columbus Health) - Develop neighborhood learning networks overcome non-academic
barriers to student achievement. - Support public arts programs.
- Create a neighborhood transformation and improvement program in
which the city, businesses, educational institutions and residents
work together to transform neighborhoods. (Celebrating the
Neighborhoods is what inspired the WOSU Documentary and Community
Discussion Project which has launched with the Short North and will
highlight German Village this fall. The website is
http://www.columbusneighborhoods.org/ - Focus on revitalizing retail businesses along High Street and
redeveloping the Columbus City Center mall site as a mixed-use
property. (HAPPENING!) - Continue strategic investments in key industry clusters such as
logistics, automotive manufacturing, life sciences and health care,
business and financial services, arts, tourism and entertainment. - Create green business and arts incubators for ideas in their
early stages of development. - Develop a regional study of transportation improvements that
includes buses, streetcars, light rail and biking. - Create a green streets program to ensure roadway safety for
pedestrians, cyclists, public transportation riders and motorists. - Implement the city's recently completed Bicentennial Bikeways
Plan for on-street and off-street bicycling. (Happening in various
initiatives of the city, MORPC, Consider Biking, etc) - Establish a Bikecentennial to promote biking through a series of
events, clinics and organized rides. (One current example is Bike
Columbus http://www.bikethecbus.com) - Form an arts revitalization community fund for support of key
cultural anchors. - Form a diversity development task force of leaders from business,
law, government, education, nonprofits and community groups to
position diversity in discussions at the highest levels of the
community. - Organize a Diversity Super Festival in 2012 to serve as the
finale of all bicentennial celebrations. - Establish a nonprofit foundation charged with restoring City Hall.
- Commission a series of works such as a comprehensive history
book, children's book and neighborhood and landmark encyclopedia on
Columbus history. (The Columbus History project is happening at
http://www.columbushistory.org/)
Source and Full Article: Columbus gets blueprint for bicentennial improvements Business First of Columbus, by Jeff Bell, 6/12/2008
What are your ideas?
Are there other groups that have adopted some of these initiatives?
Launched in August 2010, TheMetropreneur.com is a local online resource devoted to small business development and entrepreneurship. Its aim is to tell the stories of Central Ohio's business community, foster regional economic development and assist entrepreneurs with its resource-heavy focus.