The city’s new strategic plan for its downtown area met with general approval from the public during a presentation last week.
About 150 people attended Wednesday evening’s public presentation of the final draft of Envision Columbus in the Cal Brand Meeting Room at City Hall.
David Rubin, founding principal of Philadelphia-based DAVID RUBIN Land Collective, the landscape architecture and urban design firm hired to guide the project, shared with attendees the elements contained in the plan, which he said reflects the voices and enthusiastic engagement of residents in the process.
More than 400 people attended three major public input meetings, more than 2,000 survey responses were received and meetings with 12 focus groups were conducted.
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Brooke Hawkins, a self-employed graphic designer who attended one public input meeting and participated in a focus group, said she was impressed with the plan and the thoroughness of the creation process.
“I think the Land Collective did a great job collecting a lot of voices during the process,” she said.
She shared hers during a question-and-answer period following the presentation, asking Rubin if continuing the city’s design heritage was specified in the document.
Rubin said that while that’s not specifically noted, the city needs to continue that because “that’s what Columbus is.”
Hawkins said one of her primary interests in Envision Columbus is the residential aspect, because she and husband Josh Ratliff bought a house in the downtown area. Neighborhood reinvestment in the near-downtown area is considered one of the catalytic aspects of Envision Columbus.
“There have been some thefts in the neighborhood, so we’re interested in the idea of making alleyways as pathways more accessible,” she said.
The townhome pilot program also interests the couple, Hawkins said.
Envision Columbus’ neighborhood aspect also interested Mandie Cobb, who has lived in Columbus for seven years. Cobb and her husband, David, plan to buy a house soon, and the strategies expressed in the plan will help them decide if they want to buy in the near-downtown area or elsewhere, she said.
Since selling their previous home near Columbus Regional Hospital and moving into a rental home near the downtown library, the change in atmosphere has been surprising, particularly the increase in foot traffic, Cobb said.
Cobb said she has particular interest in the townhome and neighborhood concepts as they might relate to improving quality of life, even though their home purchase will come before those concepts become realities.
“We’d have to buy on faith that the plan will come through,” Cobb said.
Overall, Cobb said she was impressed by the new downtown strategic plan.
“It will be really exciting to watch it happen,” she said.
For Dennis Tibbetts and Rebecca Lorenz, both of whom walked to the public presentation from the 1600 block of Franklin Street, they said their interest is in the connectivity aspect of the plan, such as with the parks and People Trail system, so that pedestrians have good options to avoid motor traffic.
“What I really hate is the fast traffic on Washington Street and Franklin Street, and people do not stop at cross sections,” Lorenz said.
Tibbetts said that he was nearly hit by a vehicle while walking to the presentation.
Improving connectivity to downtown is important in making it a robust access point, Tibbetts said.
Katelyn Kutemeier, a community wellness coordinator in the nutrition education program with Purdue Extension Bartholomew County, said she was excited to learn how the strategic plan would impact the quality of life and health and wellness of residents.
An urban grocery is a good idea, and it would be beneficial if the grocer accepted Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to aid low-income individuals and families, Kutemeier said.
An urban grocer would be especially beneficial if it utilized local farmers and sold their produce, said Stacy Findley, project and resource development director for the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department.
The parks department is the umbrella agency for the downtown Columbus Farmers Market, which Findley manages.
Finsley also expressed excitement about Envision Columbus’ attention to trail connectivity, park spaces — specifically Noblitt — and the Crump Theatre.
Envision Columbus calls for greater connectivity between the city’s public parks and surrounding neighborhoods, and ways to reuse the Crump as a performance venue.
“The Crump pulls at my heart strings,” said Findley, who grew up in Columbus.
