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Keep in mind, this is pure fantasy assuming unlimited funds, but here are some of mine, not necessarily in order of importantce:
1. Completely enclose 70/71/670 through Downtown, creating a massive park with landscaping, public artwork and connecting buildings similar to the 670 cap.
2. Install a first rate mass transit system including a subway, light rail, and BRT. Main lines would radiate out from Downtown, connecting all suburban and urban core downtowns as well as city destinations such as the airport, the zoo and Easton.
3. Completely renovate every single vacant home in the city that has some historical value (mostly pre-1940), and fill every vacant lot with new housing that would match the existing neighborhood but in a historic context. Eventually, there wouldn't be an empty residential lot within 270. Also, provide assistance to residents that are living in delapidated housing to do renovations as well.
4. All Downtown surface parking would go, and I mean all of it. I would go with high-density structures that had mixed heights (no less than 8 stories) that all included residential units as well as ground floor retail. Other, smaller lots, would be turned into pocket parks with public art space. Even others would be used for small food cart venues. The new buildings would each have underground garages built to accomodate all residence and some surplus.
5. Rebuild Broad and High into park avenues, similar to, but even more ambitious than what was proposed in the 2010 city plan. Both would have central medians with bike/walking paths, fountains, etc. I would also like to see the Short North arches extended down through the city, returning Columbus to its former glory as the Arch City.
6. Build more markets, one for each end of the urban core at least. The North Market is great, and we need to expand the concept in other areas.
7. Remove all low-head dams on the Scioto, rebuild the rest of the riverfront similar to the Mile, and install the pedestrian/bike bridge from North Bank to Franklinton.
8. Build the blue glass snake on the Broad Street bridge.
9. Similar to the rest of Downtown, fill all empty lots across the river in East Franklinton with high-density residential and commercial space. Either rebuild Vets or get rid of it altogether and use the prime land for development. I'd like to see soemthing better built Downtown to replace it.
10. Get rid of the awful Convention Center and start from scratch. This prime corridor should not be wasted by one of the worst buildings for street level presence ever built in the city.
11. Something I always liked about a place like Bexley is all the greenery. And then you go further east into Whitehall and it's nothing but concrete and strip malls. I would have the city plant thousands upon thousands of trees on every main road in the city, and anywhere else they could be fit into.
12. I would require all new construction, no matter where it's built within the city, to have 0 setback from the sidewalk. There's really nothing more unappealing than a 300 space parking lot in front of a Wal-Mart.
13. I would promote that all new retail construction contain upper floors for residential. I always thought that strip malls and such were a waste when they could bring even more tax revenue and customers to respective areas just by adding in residential units.
14. Bike paths would be built everywhere possible and bike rentals would be available throughout the city at convenient locations. People could rent the bikes for however long they wanted, similar to how you pay for a parking meter.
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