Strengthening Inner-City Columbus
A proposal by Andrew Miller 4/2007
Introduction
Background
I am a transplant from Chicago who likes to take advantage of all of the benefits of living in a major metropolitan area. I see the ideas and solutions that are presented here as part of a larger plan to advance Columbus’ role as a dominant economic and cultural force in Ohio, the Midwest, and the Nation.
There are many organizations currently doing great work to promote large scale business operations and development here in Central Ohio. This proposal will focus on small scale operations, local entrepreneurs, and residents who would benefit from a neighborhood support system. The current support systems for local businesses and neighborhoods don’t currently have substantial coordination between groups. This coordination could be used to harness the strengths of these groups and the neighborhood. This coordinated effort would serve as a benefit to everyone. Columbus can use this coordination to build effective coalitions and a stronger inner-city.
The marketing of these varied groups should be intensified. Without effective marketing these groups are invisible to many community members and possible new residents. A large part of central coordination would be the formulation of proper marketing plans to promote these diverse resources. The city needs effective outreach both to the groups it hopes to pull into coalitions and the community members who could benefit from these coalitions.
In just the few years that I have lived in Columbus I have noticed a positive change in some neighborhoods; I would like to see this change occur city wide. Some of these improvements have come at a cost to other neighborhoods. These ideas will help to stop this pattern and provide every neighborhood the positive growth.
Overview
Through the promotion of local, neighborhood initiatives we can strengthen the economy and improve our community. Communities that support themselves from within take on a pride which helps to reduce crime, pollution, health issues, and promote growth. The solutions advocated here would utilize groups and funds that are already in existence without interrupting larger efforts and initiatives that are currently underway by other arms of the government and private industry. Through the use of a central coordinator for these resources, Columbus has an opportunity to implement initiatives that can create real solutions to our local issues.
This is a vision for the promotion of local first efforts in Columbus. Vibrant neighborhoods like the Short North will be created throughout the city. These neighborhoods are more than just a place to find high-end products or formula stores. Our neighborhoods will celebrate the people that live within them, on that block, on that street, and around the corner. Why shouldn’t people be walking up and down the streets in the King Lincoln neighborhood or the Hilltop, supporting local businesses that support them? Bodega’s that sell fresh vegetables from the vast number of local farms surrounding Columbus, instead of selling only processed and prepackaged foods? Why not create mural opportunities where local artists can be given space to create something that brings the community together; public art that has meaning to those in the neighborhood instead of just markings for gangs? Efforts should be combined to help neighborhoods undertake block projects that they feel would be beneficial. Bring a true farmers market to downtown Columbus neighborhoods, one that supports the many farms surrounding Columbus and would cater to the city’s residents.
How can we make this sort of change happen? An aggressive campaign for local businesses and for responsible consumption would be a good start. Why not take local farmers markets such as the Lynn/Pearl market and provide the spaces for free or low cost as long as the user is local and maintains a clean stall? What about involving the student artists that we produce so many of here in Columbus, or the agricultural students? Imagine providing free spaces to these people, particularly art students during the Arts festival. Support business ownership by creating funds for people who own a store within 1 mile of their home. Use business students as a resource to help with business administration for startups. These are the ideas discussed in this document.
Columbus has so many untapped or underutilized resources that we should be taking advantage of. No longer should Columbus watch as businesses build outside of 270 and people flee to the suburbs. Strong inner-city initiatives can and will work when we give them the proper support. This will require the leadership of an extremely driven set of individuals who are determined to make Columbus an even better place than it is today. I believe that through building on Columbus’ Area Commissions and Chamber of Commerce we can make this happen.
Document Organization
This document is organized as follows:
- Introduction
- Building on the Area Commission Plan
- Current Resources and Initiatives
- Moving Forward
Building on the Area Commission Plan
Buy Local
Studies have been done to show that revenue generated by local business is likely to be reinvested in the community at a rate of 45% while the same revenue generated by a national chain is reinvested in the community at a rate closer to 15%. Obviously it is to the benefit of Columbus to promote a Buy Local program as a route to improving the neighborhoods.
The Area Commissions could be used to promote the ideals of buying local through special events. At these events local businesses could promote themselves which will create greater awareness of these businesses to residents and visitors.
These events may include neighborhood festivals, street markets, and charity events. In the case of charity events they will be setup to benefit charities that directly affect that neighborhood.
If you look at cities such as Chicago you see that the neighborhoods all host separate festivals which celebrate many things – heritage, ethnicity, music, and food. Without interfering with the major festivals held as a showcase of Columbus’ downtown the neighborhoods still have a great opportunity to bring in new visitors while making current residents proud.
The more time residents spend participating in events here in the city is less time they will spend at malls and shopping centers in the suburbs. Holding these activities in neighborhood shopping areas mean that participants will be more likely to notice the local businesses and hopefully spend money at these businesses. At these events the Area Commission can highlight how shopping locally saves transportation costs; plus the tax benefit to the city saves residents money.
Pedestrian Friendly Shopping
The promotion of pedestrian friendly shopping will allow people more opportunities to interact – to become more familiar with each other – and eventually, to feel more comfortable with each other. By making streets more pedestrian friendly and by targeting business development to designated areas we can draw people out of their houses and cars and into neighborhood stores.
People who are out and about on foot or bicycle are more likely to stop into a store for a look than people driving around in a car. Complete Streets – streets which consider the needs of pedestrians, the elderly and handicapped, cyclists, public transit, and automobiles – can be built here. This major commitment to infrastructure can be another point of pride for Columbus and a draw for visitors or new residents.
Currently there are organizations and government grants that can help provide resources to make these streets a reality. For suggestions on how this would work communities such as Copenhagen, Portland, or Chicago could be looked at. Completestreets.org is a great resource as well. The Columbus Re-Wired program is a vital asset to making this vision a reality.
The expansion of street markets could be used to jump start these shopping areas and to provide the opportunity for businesses to start out on a very small scale. These markets will be scheduled when the most people are able to go shopping. This will vary depending on the neighborhood. As the markets grow they will be expanded to other days or longer hours. These markets will also be tied into the neighborhood festivals held throughout the year.
If we look at the way street markets function in other cities we can start to see the types of booths that draw people out. By talking with residents of the specific neighborhoods we can find out what services they feel are missing that could be provided through these markets.
Street markets will act as incubators and will be setup near buildings and store fronts in need of tenants. By targeting specific areas with these markets we can fill storefronts which can be quickly occupied with a minimal amount of renovation. In this way successful street market venders would then see the permanent space as the next logical step for their business. As small local businesses begin to open the city can then approach formula stores to help round out the residents’ options. By requiring the formula stores to fit in to the scale of the neighborhood and the residents shopping habits the local businesses will maintain some equality with these national chains.
The existence of the national chains will occur as the neighborhood economy reaches a level that the chains feel it will be a profitable move for them to enter the market. This will appear to outsiders as a sign of pedestrian safety in the neighborhood and will help draw outsiders into the neighborhood while the neighborhood businesses will help to maintain identity and provide diversity for both residents and outsiders.
Education and Student Participation
When dealing with artisans, craftsman, and home based industries we are likely to be working with individuals with more enthusiasm than actual business knowledge or experience. As an incentive to these startups Columbus may offer creative ways of training individuals to build productive and sustainable businesses.
Free business courses can be made available to small business owners. Columbus State or other local educators can provide non-credit courses which are free as long as the business owner completes the course; if they sign up but do not attend then an agreed upon fee would be accessed.
Business students could be used to support the administration of these small businesses as a part of their program of studies. Offering these services both during the planning stages of a business as well as later in the business’ lifecycle can help provide business owners with a strong foundation to keep their business open and productive. The students will make real world connections that can lead to local employment immediately upon graduation.
Art, advertising, and marketing students can be used to design interesting, challenging, and most importantly – effective – marketing schemes for local businesses. These services can be used in place of college credits. This would essentially provide businesses with free, in depth marketing plans that they could never afford to pay for. Effective marketing is the key to the success of any business which is a problem for many small businesses.
High School students could be recruited to work with college students in opening market stalls throughout the city at the Area Commission sponsored street markets. These stalls could be provided at no cost and the students could be given support by an academic advisor. This would help to foster a desire to learn more about being an entrepreneur. The Mayor’s Office of Education has the resources to put this mentoring system in place.
Green City Plan
Mayor Coleman released his Green Memo which focuses on building to LEED certification and meeting several other green goals over the next few years. The current push for a green city is commendable and should be taken even further into each of Columbus’ neighborhoods. Currently we have an opportunity to jump on the front end of the green revolution which will give Columbus the distinction of leadership in green technology. Combined with promotion of local agriculture it would be possible to draw a distinction for Columbus that many communities do not have – sustainability. Columbus is sadly at the bottom of the list for sustainable cities in the US, we can turn this around.
While the city government focuses on becoming “greener” Columbus should extend support or special benefits to residents and local businesses that adopt green technologies. The Area Commissions can work with the Green Team to compile a list of opportunities in each neighborhood for the promotion and use of green solutions.
City officials should lead by example in this area and use public appearances to show how they are being “green”. This will be done by using COTA or ride-sharing, riding bicycles, walking, being energy efficient at home, etc. The key is that we have city leaders, both public and private, who show us the way.
As part of this green revolution Columbus should consider putting locally grown food back onto more of our residents’ tables. Why not provide a better local market for central Ohio farmers? Locally grown crops can be grown using fewer pollutants which means a healthier watershed and food system.
Agriculture students could work with local farmers to help determine the best solution for that particular farm so that they could participate in this program. This direct connection between the farmer and the family will provide residents with a better understanding of how the food gets to their plates. Locally produced foods on this scale would make them more affordable to everyone as opposed to being a specialty or niche market.
The Area Commission can recommend vacant land currently going unused where urban farms can be setup. Currently there are several community gardens scattered around the city run by various groups and individuals. By centralizing some level of administration these urban farms can be subsidized through free market space, seed distribution, or possibly even free compost.
These urban farmers will be partnered with local schools and youth organizations to get more young people involved. The city would provide an irrigation arrangement through use of city water connections, adjacent homeowners, and or rain barrel water collection. The rain barrel water collection program would relieve stress on our storm water treatment and can free up funds to be used in other ways.
By involving more low income residents in these programs, an increase in their food supply at little or no cost to them would give them more money to pay for education, healthcare, or entertainment that they currently are unable to afford. The effort required to maintain land like this would cut down on crime. The removal of empty lots through this new use would cut down on the number of places trouble minded individuals would be able to wreck havoc.
As the Columbus Multi-modal system becomes a reality canoe parking could be offered downtown. Paddlers could park their vehicle near the Linworth multi-modal station, canoe down the Olentangy Scenic River, fish, etc. Once downtown they could lock up their canoe at the West Bank Park and then catch the transit back up to Linworth to retrieve the automobile and come back for their canoe. The same service could provide walkers, runners, hikers, and cyclists with the opportunity to discover downtown while enjoying nature along the way.
Live-In Businesses
The city should promote live-in work spaces for artists and young professionals in the city. These accommodations would allow greater diversity of people living downtown and provide more desire for business.
Artists and creative businesses are known to bring new people into neighborhoods. The creative people that associate with these businesses often try to build productive communities and thus have a positive affect on neighborhoods. Unfortunately these people often can’t afford separate living and business quarters.
If the city provides options for some business owners to use live in work spaces this would increase the ability for more creative young people to plant roots in our community. The Area Commission’s can identify locations which would satisfy this type of development. Our neighborhoods are full of buildings which could be used for this type of development as long as the zoning permits it and proper incentives are put in place to initiate it. Once this option is in place it could be used by the city as a marketing tool to attract and retain young creative talent.
Establishing live-in business standards at the city level will allow the city to ensure the safety of its residents while promoting new business ventures.
Public Art
One final component to reviving our neighborhoods and getting people out in the street is the introduction of public art. Columbus has several schools which produce world class artists yet the city does not take full advantage of their talent. The Area Commissions should look for opportunities in which to include public art displays throughout the neighborhood.
At festivals local art students should be given space to display their works. This can be extended to the public markets which would help to diversify the offerings of the market and give local artists an opportunity to establish themselves in our community; to grow roots.
The city’s Graffiti Taskforce should work with the Area Commissions to identify problematic areas where local artists, perhaps even graffiti artists, could be given an opportunity to do a mural which has been shown in the past to deter future “tagging”.
These efforts will add to the vibrancy of the neighborhood and give people a reason to get out on their streets. Experience Columbus will produce city maps which highlight the location of all of the public works of art and a “gallery hop” style event can be created to highlight the works once a year.
Business Alliance for Local Living Economies
BALLE is an organization which provides support and resources for communities that want to implement many of the ideas I have discussed under the previous topics. A number of US and Canadian cities are taking place in this alliance and are having great success with it. I have talked with friends about the positive impact this program is having on their businesses in Chicago and how they feel it would be beneficial here in Columbus.
Creating a local BALLE style organization will allow for the community to have a unified voice when lobbying for laws that benefit Columbus. This unification will also provide a single point for certain grants to be awarded, allowing the money to be spread out in the most productive ways. In some cases grants would be obtainable due to the diverse goals which come from a larger organization. The role of the coalition builder should be to search out funding sources that the community can take advantage of.
The organization of community building coalitions must take advantage of any and all resources available. The strength of this coalition will allow for very effective use of resources. Anticipate that the list of resources will grow exponentially during the organization building process.
Current Resources and Initiatives
Columbus has many resources currently working to improve our community and to help individuals start businesses. It is important to recognize these resources and find ways to exploit all of their strengths. In many cases the only weakness of these resources is their lack of visibility. Often this is as much by design as anything else, the idea being that someone who searches out the resource is much more likely to use the help they receive. While I agree with this in part I think more outreach should be done.The Area Commissions should be the foundation of this plan. In the process of creating a bond between organizations even more groups will surface.
In the broad picture Columbus is in the unique position of being the largest city in Ohio as well as the state capital. There is a plethora of government agencies, public interest organizations, private foundations, and private organizations that take action on specific interests who could be brought together to participate in local initiatives that made sense to their individual mandates. We are fortunate to have such a huge pool of resources to draw from.
The numerous local universities are capable of providing support to current business owners as well as to students who might like to open a business. These resources have not been properly setup for maximum benefit to Columbus. I think that the opportunity for students to work with current business owners, other students, and residents to develop new businesses is something that these educational institutions can facilitate. Why not use these schools as real world incubators for Columbus’ benefit.
Columbus has a Small Business Association which serves small business owners in the greater Columbus Metro area. The services they provide are excellent but are very poorly marketed and even the agency’s website is difficult to navigate for purely local issues. The Central Ohio Minority Business Association serves the minority business owners well but for obvious reasons they are focused on only a small portion of our community. Both of these organizations could benefit from a larger coalition. These are organizations that could take on leadership roles in the promotion of “Buying Local”.
The city’s current Neighborhood Pride committee can be utilized as a springboard in the neighborhoods it currently works in. There are literally hundreds of community organizations, churches, and charities that serve small niches within our city. All of these organizations can be utilized to provide ideas and resources that can make a difference on the neighborhood level.
Several initiatives are underway in and around Columbus to help bolster the economy and promote civic pride. These initiatives should be adjusted to work better with each other as a more complete and well rounded program. Columbus’ recognition as a 2006 All-American City shows that we are doing a great job. This plan is to improve upon our current level of excellence. As with personal growth, Columbus’ positive growth is never done – it is a continuous journey.
City initiatives like Keep Columbus Beautiful and Neighborhood Pride would both be active partners in this plan. These initiatives serve a purpose as separate groups but they could also serve as part of larger teams that can accomplish even larger goals. Unfortunately without better promotion these campaigns are often something that most residents go unaware of. A network of neighborhood representatives who are given proper communication resources will be organized. This will allow us to give the residents targeted information that could open up doors residents didn’t realize even existed.
The Columbus Chamber of Commerce has appointed Andrea Applegate to lead the workforce development program. This program is meant to attract and retain young professionals for the greater Columbus Metro area. These programs are helping to create viable internships which will hopefully produce long term relationships between employers and interns.
Initiatives to actively work on the clean up of the Olentangy River by groups such as Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed (FLOW) could be approached along with other neighborhood and environmental groups to work for the larger benefit of the city. These are groups that currently have organized efforts but just don’t have enough backing from the larger community due to a lack of message. We can combine these efforts and spotlight them to turn their work into successes.
Neighborhood watch initiatives as well as other public safety based initiatives should be included in the coalition building as well. Anything that fits into the overall idea of healthier neighborhoods and improved small business growth should be brought in for consideration in the building of coalitions. The enhancement that these initiatives receive from the building of the coalitions will include better promotion and enough resources to increase their successes. This is good for the city and for the city’s leadership.
Moving Forward
Columbus can be a champion city, a modern American city that sets standards for how our nation looks at community building. With all of the competition around the country I believe in Columbus’ ability to creatively solve its problems and to come out on top. I especially believe in the people of this city, their work ethic, their morals, and their desire for a strong community. We can be a city that is more than just mottos; we are a community of action.
The effect that we will reach through this hard work will be a stronger community that attracts, retains, and grows creative and productive residents. As our community fills with life it will become safer and more attractive. No longer will our young people feel the need to take their talent elsewhere.
In a few years, when we look back, we will wonder how we accomplished so much, with so little, in such a short time. Together we can make this city a model for others to follow. So let’s start talking, start planning, and start working!
