I only got to say hi to Walker at the beginning and I only made it to half of the tables and got to hear some good insight from the Zettlers. I'm hoping for the graphics to be available online, but I about did a palm-to-face when I saw a Downtown District map and lo and behold: Discovery District South. Why, God, why? They also insist that the land across the river with COSI & Vet's is not Franklinton.
As far the intro I was very much in agreement with what I heard, but when it comes to the details I find myself agreeing quite a bit less. I know it was mentioned elsewhere that retail spaces are too expensive there, but now that I think about it how does one explain the carryouts that would fit right in with those in the Near East side like the American Food & Drink Center just north of Broad & High? How are they able to afford the prohibitively high rent that's supposed to be scaring away other entrepreneurs?
The renderings for Columbus Commons included no restaurant/bar/cafe/retail components to interact with the park. The tables and chairs didn't seem to have anything fastening them to the ground = easy stealing. There were chess tables in the rendering of the Scioto Mile park space, why not here?
For mobility it's all about two-way conversion and/or calming and one of the reps at the brainstorming session said that for emergency evacuation reasons they (the city or ODOT? I should have asked) want to keep several one-ways as is.
My suggestion for the red-light cameras at Easton and Polaris isn't going to take, because I was told that cities nationwide have been on the end of very negative reactions to them and they're being removed en masse. So, motorists that are breaking the law complain that they're being punished for breaking the law and we're appeasing them?
Visitors are confused and put off by the high-speed one-ways. One driver asked me for how to get to High St from State St and mentioned she had been going the wrong way down the one-ways. Which raises the point that not only is Downtown not pedestrian-friendly overall, but that it's not friendly to visiting motorists unfamiliar with Downtown. The looming parking rate increase still needs to be done away with once and for all if Downtown is to be a destination for visitors.
Of course, I'm still against bike lanes Downtown.
The split of course, is just more of the same from ODOT and there's no reason to believe they're going to follow through on anything to improve their plan. Any way you slice it, it's going to hurt businesses in up and coming neighborhoods and up-and-coming areas of Downtown.
As far as buses go, I'd just like to see COTA maps with neighborhoods highlighted and 3-day visitor passes.
For residential development, I'm not sold on some magic number for critical mass. For example, we have 5,500 residents and we had 30,000 at our peak. Now if we were to build a few Dubai-type apartment/condo buildings for the remaining 24,500 residents, (I don't care if they're next to each other or spread out around Downtown) you still won't have the kind of vibrant, intact Downtown that is being envisioned (just imagine the parking demand). We need to focus on filling in the gaps where there is already some sort of density and build out from there.
I was able to fill out forms for the tables I didn't make it to including the neighborhood connection one. Since bringing back the street level grid where the highways cut off Downtown is unlikely, I suggested wayfinding signage from Downtown to other neighborhoods and vice versa, especially when it comes to connecting Downtown to OSU whether it's High, Neil or Olentangy River Rd. They've really been missing the large impact that would have for a small price.
Fortunately, you'll be able to add your input in online forms once they're up.
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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. 