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Six I-70/71 caps still on city’s wish list
Thursday, July 19, 2007
By Tim Doulin
The city has identified six preferred locations to build caps over the I-70/71 freeway Downtown, but finding the money to build them remains an issue.
Spring, Long and Broad streets are favored sites for caps on the eastern leg of the project, and 3rd, High and Front streets on the southern leg.
It would cost an estimated $53 million to $65 million to build the six caps, which essentially are widened overpasses. They could include trees, even buildings. The more grand, the more expensive.
ODOT has the final say on the location and design, Kelsey said.
City and state officials and others think the caps will better connect nearby neighborhoods, such as the Near East Side, German Village and the Brewery District, with Downtown.
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Six I-70/71 caps still on city’s wish list
By: Walker
47 Comments
You must be joking right? Creole kitchen? While I do like this place, 99.999999999999999% of ummmm how do I put it, white people, are not going to stop anywhere near Mt. Vernon ave in order to get a bite to eat. You have projects all around that area, with drug dealers hanging out in front of the corner stores, and a vacant, half way torn down, 10 story nursing home right next to pointdextor village, which itself looks “scary” to many people.
In addition to Walkers point, I think you need to leverage the sucessful development and allow things to spread into downtown. With southern caps, RiverSouth and the Red Brick District can feed off of German Village and the Brewery District’s momentum. With the Eastern caps, you’re currently connecting noplace with nowhere.
It’ll be an improvement over what’s there, but caps are a way of connecting two places, so why not connect success with potential? It beats connecting two places that we still classify as “potential”. Perhaps when Gay St.’s momentum swings further east, it’ll change things.
Also think about it in terms of being a potential downtown homeowner. Would you rather make the largest investment of your life next door to German Village, or Old Towne East? That’s oversimplifying things a bit, but people put a lot of emphasis in that when they’re spending $200,000.
I like the priority caps mentioned. I think the southern caps have
more potential and should be top of the list. Keep in mind ODOT
should prepare all sites to be “future caps” so when funding arrives,
one by one can be built. Columbus should try to bring in a major
employer to the discovery district and as part of an agreement the
new company can build a cap as part of the development. Better the
community right off the start.
BUTerrier-
Not to digress, but the food at Creole Kitchen really is worth going across the freeway and north of Long for. While I agree that I would love for it to be on Parsons or Long, I think it is good for people to go out of their comfort zone every once in a while, especially for really good food. In addition, I think Chef Butcher wanted to give back to the community. I have never been there when I didn’t have to wait if I didn’t call ahead so I think his business plan is doing fine. But is def. an attraction for me, but yeah 99.9% will never experience some of the best food in town.
Brewmaster- Are you really concerned that much about German Village needing to gentrify more. Hell, most of my friends consider it a burb (in that everyone looks the same, it has lost its artistic and eclectic population, all most everyone gets in their car and drives to work i.e. it is not urban)
Coleman has downtown tax abated and is doing a decent job of getting his 10,000 condo’s built and the new courthouse. – Downtown (i.e riversouth) will make it just fine. I guess I see it of connecting success with success- the rich get richer.
In terms of real estate I think Olde Towne is a better long term investment. In addition, there is a lot more interesting and eclectic population over there, which I dig. I don’t know if you read the Columbus monthly’s article on GV being the best historic part of town, but `Elly Cambell, a resident of German Village for 36 years, remembers a livelier, more freewheeling German Village. “There were parties all the time,” she
says. She longs for the days when the village was a bit more
eccentric, recalling that it wasn’t unusual to see front-yard gardens
of “tires with geraniums growing in them.” Such signs of
individuality largely have disappeared.’ This quote made me laugh
and reminded me of somewhere in Columbus that Elly should probably
move to.
CbusIslander- That would be great to get a large biz in discovery district. Again, I think all of the money would be better spent redeveloping Main and turning Broad back in a Blvd, but in addition I believe that Olde towne has been most disadvantaged from the freeway and the most just location for the Caps is the East Side.
Creole Kitchen
POST KATRINA PRICES
ENTREES
Blackened or Fried Catfish Creole (2 sides) $6.95
Breast of Chicken (2 sides) $6.00
(Jerk, Grilled, Blackened)
Regular or Creole Meatloaf (2 sides) $4.50
Red Beans and Rice $4.00
(With Andouille Sausages and Piquant Sauce)
Shrimp & Chicken Etouffee (2 sides) $6.95
Crawfish Etouffee (2 sides) $7.95
Pork Loin Etouffee (2 sides) $6.95
(Etouffee Smothered in a Brown Sauce w/Onions)
Chicken Andouille Jambalaya $4.50
Seafood Jambalaya $7.95
Fish’en Papillote (Healthy Choice) $6.95
(Served with Creole Rice)
Creole Fettuccini $4.50
(With Tasso Ham and Andouille Sausage)
Chicken Fettuccini $4.50
Fruits De Mer $7.95
(Crawfish, Gator, Oysters, Fried Vegetables)
Fried Gator (2 sides) $7.95
Fried Oysters (2 sides) $6.95
Walker-
I guess I am trying to say that there would be more attractions over there if it were not for historical injustices done to that area. So while people don’t go there because there are not more attractions, I believe there are not more attractions because.
1. Olde Towne, more than any other area, had its housing stock and commercial districts reduced by the freeways.
2. The freeways played a major role in the isolation of Olde Towne from the city.
3. Historically Olde Towne has had a disproportionate amount of social services (e.g. half-way houses, nursing homes, drug rehabs) to other parts of the city with little attention to improvement to infrastructure.
I think this is a great time to correct those injustices.
Mercurius wrote Brewmaster- Are you really concerned that much about German Village needing to gentrify more.
You clearly misunderstood me. German Village and the Brewery District are gentrified and have allure. I think attempting to spread that into southern downtown is a given – should caps provide a physical connection to them. The current problem is, RiverSouth feels like its miles away from German Village. Caps will instantly help that.
most of my friends consider it a burb (in that everyone looks the same, it has lost its artistic and eclectic population, all most everyone gets in their car and drives to work i.e. it is not urban)
Strangest thing I’ve read in awhile. I don’t think any two houses in the village are the same. I’m not sure what your point is either about being “urban”.
Coleman has downtown tax abated and is doing a decent job of getting his 10,000 condo’s built and the new courthouse. – Downtown (i.e riversouth) will make it just fine. I guess I see it of connecting success with success- the rich get richer.
Who is jumping up and down about how great RiverSouth is? It’s a bunch of crumbling surface lots that developers have avoided like the plague to date. And according to my post a few weeks back, Coleman has no chance at 10,000 by 2012 unless things pick up exponentially…soon!
As far as your, “rich get richer” claim, it sounds like sour grapes. OTE will eventually come around b/c of the quality housing stock, but I don’t know if caps will really speed things up much. In addition, I don’t think the area inside of the innerbelt would be kick-started like RiverSouth would be.
In terms of real estate I think Olde Towne is a better long term investment.
I agree with you. As we’ve already said, German Village has been gentrified, so good luck finding a good deal there. Again though, I’m not sure what your point is and how it relates to this conversation. I think you missed my point about trying to promote development in contiguous areas to give future residents a sense of stability. Hell, German Village being next door was one of the reasons that I bought my place in the Brewery District.
I guess this argument is going in the direction of justice vs. economy. I believe that all government decisions should not disadvantage the least well off more than anyone else.
Strangest thing I’ve read in awhile. I don’t think any two houses in the village are the same. I’m not sure what your point is either about being “urban”.
While it is an urban mixed use development as opposed to a suburban development, I was referring to the people not the housing stock. In my mind it is not just the type of development that makes something urban or suburban- rather the mindset of the people who live there.
Coleman has no chance at 10,000
I completely agree- but that should be market based- all Coleman can do is development plans and taxes- he has done his share. It will happen, but I would imagine not till 2020 or later What he really should be doing is focusing on attracting jobs for the creative class and trying to make Columbus distinctive from anywhere else. That will lead to downtown development more than anything else. The owners of the surface lots have made a fortune and rarely are they not full of cars. That is how Wexner started his fortune.
In terms of my rich get rich I am more referring to the near east side rather than Olde Towne East. I’m saying the most just location is the east side.
Sorry, I am new at this having trouble with this crazy quote machine.
I guess this argument is going in the direction of justice vs. economy. I believe that all government decisions should not disadvantage the least well off more than anyone else.
Strangest thing I’ve read in awhile. I don’t think any two houses in the village are the same. I’m not sure what your point is either about being “urban”.
While it is an urban mixed use development as opposed to a suburban development, I was referring to the people not the housing stock. In my mind it is not just the type of development that makes something urban or suburban- rather the mindset of the people who live there.
Coleman has no chance at 10,000
I completely agree- but that should be market based- all Coleman can do is development plans and taxes- he has done his share. It will happen, but I would imagine not till 2020 or later. 10,000 is just an arbitrary number. What he really should be doing is focusing on attracting jobs for the creative class and trying to make Columbus distinctive from anywhere else. That will lead to downtown development more than anything else. The owners of the surface lots have made a fortune and rarely are they not full of cars. That is how Wexner started his fortune.
In terms of my rich get rich I am more referring to the near east side rather than Olde Towne East. I’m saying the most just location is the east side.[/b]
Every neighborhood around downtown is in a different stage of redevelopment and is in need of different treatment as far as what sort of redevelopment services that the city should be providing. I don’t think the city is worried too much at all about helping German Village at this stage. If anything, I agree with Brewmaster that the downtown side of the split would benefit more from caps bordering German Village to lure those residents northward. Living in German Village myself, it does feel like crossing a 90-decibel canyon when walking over top of the split. Especially when you can directly compare it to the 670 cap.
I’d love to see caps on every road, but I have to admit that the ones on the south would make more sense than the ones going east, at least as far as a “commercial” cap goes. There’s a lot more foot traffic, and nothing would be more embarrasing for the city if they installed some high-rent commercial cap on Long or Main or Oak only to have it sit empty for 5 years while the rest of the neighborhood still catches up. Honestly, I don’t think the 670 cap would have worked out as well 10 years ago. The Short North wouldn’t have been ready for it then.
Mercurius wrote 1. Olde Towne, more than any other area, had its housing stock and commercial districts reduced by the freeways.
2. The freeways played a major role in the isolation of Olde Towne from the city.
3. Historically Olde Towne has had a disproportionate amount of social services (e.g. half-way houses, nursing homes, drug rehabs) to other parts of the city with little attention to improvement to infrastructure.
I think this is a great time to correct those injustices.
Physically, I don’t think OTE was carved out any differently than German Village. But as of 2007, German Village has redeveloped simply because the initiative to do so started there sooner. That’s all.
And don’t get me wrong… I do think it was a big mistake in hindsight to carve up our neighborhoods with highways like we did, and an injustice was definitely done. I want to see all of the neighborhoods turned out nicely and urban infill return to Columbus in every corner.
Mercurius wrote Are you really concerned that much about German Village needing to gentrify more. Hell, most of my friends consider it a burb (in that everyone looks the same, it has lost its artistic and eclectic population, all most everyone gets in their car and drives to work i.e. it is not urban)
I’ve only lived in German Village for a few years but I think the population is fairly diverse. While the homes for sale are very expensive and seem to only be occupied by older folks or well-off gay couples, there are quite a few inexpensive rental units spread throughout that attract a variety of younger folks as well. And while Columbus as a whole is still a city where 95% of the population is going to have to drive somewhere every week, I do think German Village is a very walkable neighborhood. That’s one of the main reasons I’ve remained renting here. Walking distance to downtown, and plenty of amenities (grocery store, shops, restaurants, library, etc) within a mile.
Personally, I’ve contemplated an apartment in OTE before, but I didn’t think there was quite enough there yet for it to be considered too walkable. It is largely a residential neighborhood just like German Village, but the commercial streets need to revamp a bit more before it’s really considered much of a walkable neighborhood for most residents. I’d be more inclined to move to OTE when I’m in the market to buy though, becuase it does currently have a lot of potential for ownership investment.
In this case the city is referring to one treatment- caps over the freeway.
This historic maps shows that German Village mostly stayed intact after the freeway, it only was cutoff from downtown. Olde Towne East was actually cut in half by both 71 and 70.
Even in the city plans there are no plans for commercial caps over anywhere on the east side- only park caps- which are cheaper. Again I agree that Near East side doesn”t really need caps- the money would be much better spent turning Broad into a Blvd or redeveloping Main but alas we are debating this one treatment- caps south or caps east.
I’m just saying the most just place is East- a nice park cap over Broad that turns into a historic boulevard would really be awesome. If that was done along with some redevelopment on Main the whole East side would take off- not just some measly parking lot downtown right next to where they are all ready building a bunch of crap.
I tend to buy places rather than rent and have lived in Olde Towne and Italian Village. But I’m a cyclist not a walker so all of Columbus is easily accessible from either.
it would be nice if a couple of developers could step to the plate and build one or two caps like the one up north. i also hope they build the parklike caps and cover as much of the highway as possible. i think if they build these parklike caps it could spur development along the edges of downtown and olde towne. the concept pics they showed a while back, which included alot of parks, sculptures and archways, was right on the money.
What about the Dublin cap? 8) :wink:
The Dublin cap will be a good idea once Dublin bulldozes all of the crappy sprawl and develops a place that encourages community, small ecological footprints and sharing of ideas and knowledge. You couldn’t pay me to live there.
Before this thread gets completely derailled, let me say that I agree with jpizzow regarding the use of the caps. I liked ODOTs initial renderings, but would like to see some integration of commercial like the 670 cap. Perhaps have shops lining the west side of Front and the east side of 3rd with everything else in between becoming a pedestrian plaza?
I’m also glad that the city seems to have prioritized the south side options correctly. My ranking would go something like High, Front, 3rd. 4th st. is a distant 4th.
And here’s what Front St. looks like currently. Can’t get much worse…
I vote for Olde towne, at least a Broad St cap. However, that money would be much better used to revitalize Main St. or turn Broad back into a Blvd.
http://www.neighborhooddesign.org/web/main%20st.%20web/home%20page.htm
Once grand mansions were divided into apartment buildings and converted into nursing homes. The Broad St. Boulevard that extended through the neighborhood from the state capitol to Franklin Park was removed to make room for more car traffic lanes and the zoning was changed for commercial offices. The Interstate Highway System introduced in the late 1950’s was also a cause of the decline (see figure 23). It physically divided the neighborhood from its city center and created an inner city “islandâ€Â. The so-called “white flight†had begun with the introduction of the freeway system and the neighborhood became by the 1970’s a predominately African-American community. They had not been included in the prosperity of the 1950’s. Olde Towne still provided easy access to jobs and necessities by foot or public transportation, and the many large homes and apartments were affordable compared to the new suburbs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olde_Towne_East
I know it would be much more expensive, but why can’t we just put all of 70/71 in one giant tunnel from Front all the way to Spring. The whole highway through that stretch is below street grade anyway, and it would give back a bunch of reclaimed land that would really tie the adjacent neighborhoods back with downtown again.
8)
I guess I can’t speak for the OTE connection as I don’t go over that way very frequently, but the city seems serious about reviatalizing RiverSouth, and GV/BD residents really feel like this is thier once in 50 year chance to right the wrong that was done when that moat was built. Also, from what I remember, those east side caps were each about 3x as expensive as the south side caps due to thier length.
I’m completely biased though, so take it for what it is. 8)
I think you rather made my point of why there should be more of a focus on revitalizing Olde Towne or Franklinton rather than Short North or German Village. SN and GV do not need government help in revitalization (e.g. thriving businesses and wealthy residents are taking over). I would say their focus should be retaining affordable housing and diversity now that they are gentrified.
It’s a shame that not more people go over “that way†more frequently. The main reasons people don’t go over “that way†(other than suburbanites being scared) more I believe are:
1. Olde Towne, more than any other area, had its housing stock and commercial districts reduced by the freeways.
2. The freeways played a major role in the isolation of Olde Towne from the city.
3. Historically Olde Towne has had a disproportionate amount of social services (e.g. half-way houses, nursing homes, drug rehabs) to other parts of the city with little attention to improvement to infrastructure.
The results of these three things are what you see on Main now. If Olde Towne didn’t have these three unjust things happen it would be in much better shape. However, since it did I believe justice dictates that a larger or equal proportion of the money goes to the areas more historically disadvantaged.
http://assets.columbus.gov/development/planning/NearEastAreaPlan.pdf
I think what keeps people away from OTE is the fact that there’s no major destinations there if you don’t live there. There needs to be some sort of focus on building up some commercial corridors to bring people outside of the neighborhood in to visit. I think Parsons, Broad, and Long streets are all posed well for commercial redevelopment, but the ball just really hasn’t started rolling yet.
Exactly! Now how do you get the ball rolling? I would say stop wasting money on areas all ready gentrified and focus on areas that need revitalized. Olde Towne once had a thriving commercial district on Long, but it was bulldozed to build a freeway.
http://assets.columbus.gov/development/planning/NearEastAreaPlan.pdf
http://www.neighborhooddesign.org/web/main%20st.%20web/com_mixed%20use.htm
no major destinations there
Well other than:
Franklin Park Conservatory
Olde Towne East Spring Tour
Columbus Music Hall
Carabar
Ohio to Erie Trail http://www.ohiotoerietrail.org/
Best historic residential architecture in Columbus
Bryden Road
Black Creek Bistro
Lincoln Theatre
The Creole Kitchen