Future of city will arrive with CbusNext

Some of us in the Dispatch newsroom are feeling a little like kids a few days before Christmas.

On Friday, we will unwrap the first installment in our CbusNext series about the future of this place we call home.

In April, I wrote in this column about how we were launching into a reporting project that will play out across the second half of the year, with new installments in print each month through December and on a highly visual, interactive, alwaysaccessible site online.

For the past three months, we have been planning, reporting, shooting photos and video, and designing sections and a remarkable online portal to the future.

As I write this, I’m looking at proofs for the section pages. I also spent some time looking through the web pages. They are impressive, and I am eager for you to see them.

When you pick up Friday’s paper, you will find an extra 32 pages of CbusNext content. It’s a foundation for the series — looking back at where we have come from and where we are today, and taking a first look forward at what we think or dream that we as a city will be in 20 years.

It’s not all rainbows and flying cars. The series will look at some of the hard truths about the challenges we face if we are going to become a big city that is big enough, for example, to acknowledge that we have a big problem with income inequality.

In fact, our income gap is among the biggest in the country, and that means that as the larger community moves forward into the future, some people will be left behind if we don’t do something to address that problem.

We also have a big drug problem, growing concerns about crime, and a significant

challenge to make sure that, in this rapidly changing world, we train the next generation for jobs that will still exist when they graduate.

This project was inspired in part by the federal Smart Cities grant won by city and community leaders, and the millions of dollars that grant has leveraged to create a living, learning laboratory here in Columbus to help drive the way Americans will

use technology for communication and transportation in the future.

Our look into the future is made possible in part by support from the Ken and Judy Pierce and Lois S. Chope Memorial funds of The Columbus Foundation, with support from the Columbus Partnership, and by the commitment of a number of advertisers.

Our goal is to show how the spirit of Columbus, which has inspired bold ideas here for decades, has molded this vibrant city and, as best we

can, show where the spirit is leading us.

Since we announced this series, Columbus has moved up a spot in the U.S. population rankings to become the nation’s 14th largest city. The U.S. Census Bureau reported in May that Columbus (population 860,090) had squeaked past Indianapolis (855,164) and is just 10,000 people short of overtaking San Francisco.

We told you that we wanted to harness the brainpower of experts and dreamers alike to look two decades into the

future and consider what Columbus will look and feel like in 20 years. We hope that CbusNext will inspire people to think boldly. We seek to empower dreamers to dream big and be part of what we become as a community. So, we stress again that we want and need you to be part of this. We are eager to hear from you in various ways to express your thoughts and ideas as we roll out the series — in forums, on social media, through comments online, via email and letters to the editor.

So, what’s next, Columbus? We have heard from some of you, and we’re just beginning this seven-month journey into the future. We can’t wait to hear from many more of you about your hopes, dreams and great ideas for what the Columbus of tomorrow will look and feel like.

Send thoughts andsuggestions to cbusnext@dispatch. com, or tweet using the hashtag #cbusnext.