I admit that when the call was first made that Issue 3 had passed and that Ohio would be getting casinos, I was ready to give up and let it happen. What’s done is done, right? Wrong. While folks in Cleveland and Cincinnati and Toledo might feel differently, the voters in Central Ohio said that [...]
Posts under ‘Development’
Parking Meters: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
In many instances, I’ve been impressed with some of the parking-related adjustments that have come out of City Hall lately. The scooter & motorcycle parking initiative that was rolled out last year was done in a swift and effective manner to provide not only additional parking revenue for the city, but also to provide a [...]
I-70/71 Split Fix Post-Meeting Update
As I mentioned yesterday, I attended the 70/71 Split Fix “Stakeholder Meeting Announcement” last night. I’ve posted the overview of what went down over here on Columbus Underground, which should give you a pretty good idea of what transpired. ODOT presented the plan…. everyone was unhappy with the plan… ODOT seemed to be listening. More [...]
Untangling the I-70/71 Split Fix
I’m headed to a meeting this afternoon where ODOT is supposed to be announcing some of their finalized plans for the Interstate 70/71 Split Fix project. This area is one of the most congested and crash-prone sections of highway throughout the entire state. I’m in favor of doing something about it… but there’s much more [...]
Will Crosswoods Be The Next Victim of Sprawl?
On Wednesday, This Week News reported that both the BW3s and Panera locations have recently closed at Crosswoods. This dining, hotel, and shopping center was one of the most thriving commercial developments in Central Ohio just 10-15 years ago. But after Polaris opened just a few miles north in 2001, activity at Crosswoods has slowly [...]
Trash fees being considered again for Columbus
Currently, the city of Columbus does not charge residents for trash pickup services, but the idea has once again resurfaced to help combat the city’s budget shortfall. While nothing is official yet, officials are predicting that the fee could fall somewhere in the range of $5 to $17 per month, which would help to cover [...]
Dear Everyone, Please stop complaining about NRI
The biggest crux of “downtown” development is that it is generally cost prohibitive for individual or entrepreneurial real estate ventures. There are plenty of large expensive parcels of land downtown ripe for development, but the number of corporations who can both afford to build AND see the value (both monetary and socially) is fairly limited. [...]
The City Center Skywalk is Finally Coming Down
In case you haven’t been under it in awhile, the ugly and defunct City Center skywalk over High Street has been prepped for demolition, which is being kicked off tomorrow morning with a small ceremony that also includes the revealing of some new renderings of the ground-floor retail slots along the revamped Lazarus building. I [...]
Why I’m Voting for Barack Obama – Part II
As I mentioned previously, I don’t post a lot on my personal blog about national politics. Even though there’s been a lot in the news the past week that has had me fired up, I’ve refrained from turning my personal blog into just one more place for a dude to rant about the candidates. Instead, [...]