Downtown Columbus is the heart of the city and the greater community. It’s where thousands of people work, stop for meals, enjoy festivals and appreciate the Modern architecture.
That’s a strength, and what many visitors associate with the city.
But the area could be better, which would make the community better.
That’s why we’re heartened by what’s proposed in the city’s new downtown strategic plan, called Envision Columbus.
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It sets forth some solid ideas for making the area a greater hub of activity and an even more attractive place to live, work and play.
Notably, the plan calls for:
An urban grocer
Conference hotel with performance venue possibilities
Townhomes
Neighborhood reinvestment
Park enhancements
Greater connectivity with street changes
The proposed development strategies have a lot of appeal — as shown in a thorough public-engagement process that involved an online survey, 12 focus group meetings and three public-input meetings to gather feedback to create the plan.
An urban grocer fills a gap sorely desired by those who live downtown, but also those who work in the area or visit. A hotel with a sizable conference center fills a vacuum created with the closure of the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center.
A townhome pilot block would provide a housing option for young professionals — a group that would find downtown living appealing. And a program to rehabilitate or add onto existing homes near downtown also would increase the appeal of downtown living while providing more options to do so.
Completing connections between parks and along the People Trail to have seamless connectivity has always been desired, and enhanced park programming would add to the quality of life.
And, improving traffic flow for motorists and pedestrians through street and alleyway changes and improvements could improve the functionality of the downtown.
It will be interesting to see how Envision Columbus unfolds over the next decade, but the plan has a lot of potential to build upon strengths, address weaknesses and make the downtown better.
Cities without vision, goals and continuous investment wither into decay. This bold plan can be the catalyst for incredible economic investment down the road.
