City seeks input on reviving Downtown
Columbus is launching series of public meetings
With Downtown still stumbling from the pandemic, city leaders are reaching out to residents to find out what they want the center city to look like moving forward.
The city and the Columbus Downtown Development Corp. are launching a series of public meetings to help shape a new Downtown Columbus Strategic Plan.
“Downtown has achieved tremendous success since 2010, but not all of our residents feel connected to that success,” Mayor Andrew J. Ginther said in a news release.
“As we face new challenges and opportunities for Downtown, we must meet them with an inclusive and equitable approach. This is why it is paramount for us to hear the voices of all of the residents in our great community.”
The push is a follow-up to a similar effort in 2010 that proponents say led to the Scioto Greenways riverfront project, Columbus Commons park, the Scioto Mile and The Peninsula mixed-use development next to COSI.
“All those things you now see
Downtown, many of those things we take for granted, came out of that vision in 2010,” said Michael B. Coleman, the former mayor who now chairs the Columbus Downtown Development Corp.
“Going forward, we’re coming out of COVID, going into a new period. A city that stays the same, falls behind. We have to always look to change, improve, get better. What are the interests going forward? This is everyone, every neighborhood, what do they want to see? I have my ideas, but we want to hear from citizens. We’ll take that information and use it to look at the next iteration of what Downtown will be in the years to come.”
As Coleman noted, Downtown has evolved considerably since the 2010 plan, with the population doubling to more than 10,000 residents and the area attracting considerable private development, in addition to the public park projects.
But the pandemic hit Downtown particularly hard, with offices emptying,
protests leading to buildings being boarded up for months, and well-publicized crimes raising safety concerns. Office vacancies are the highest they’ve been in a decade, with at least four Downtown towers at least 60% empty.
While parts of Downtown, such as the Arena District, held their own during
the pandemic, the Capitol Square area around the Statehouse suffered.
“We’ve got a circle around Capitol Square,” Coleman said. “We have to figure that out.”
Ginther, Coleman and City Council President Shannon Hardin will host the first of three planned workshops at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 25. A location, or a website, will be announced later. Those interested can also participate online at the 2022 Downtown Strategic Plan website.
After gathering the input, the CDDC will release a new strategic plan in the summer that will “serve as a guide and blueprint” to the future of Downtown.
Coleman said he doesn’t know what residents will highlight in the sessions, but he hopes many will participate.
“There’s so many things to consider – diversity and accessibility of housing, continuing to get the business community to expand or relocate Downtown. I can think of 10 or 20 things that need to happen. The need for more open space, for example,” he said.
Despite the pandemic’s impact on the Downtown, it remains the heart of the city, Coleman said.
“Downtown’s still the center of our economy; it contains 1% of the land mass in Columbus and about 16% of the city’s revenue. Even today, that’s the economic importance. It’s the living room of the city, the playground of the city, and where most people work in the city, even now.” jweiker@dispatch.com @Jimweiker