the urban news for the week ending Monday, September 8, 2008
I'll tell you what...it ain't easy letting go. I've been running RetroMetro for over 4 years now. In that time I have had an opportunity to meet scores of people ranging from urban enthusiasts, civic activists, and business owners to architects, developers and city officials. It has been one great ride so far and I'd like to think that I have come away with such a deeper knowledge of the inner workings of Columbus and its urban communities. With RetroMetro my main objective has always been, and remains to be, to help aggregate the individual stories that occur here in Columbus and around the country that show a bigger picture of where the future of our downtown is headed. RetroMetro has been my own small contribution to Columbus' efforts of urban revitalization. But times, they are a changin' here at RetroMetro...
Paul Bonneville   Bexley
The four galleries recently dubbed the Bexley Arts District will open their doors Friday night for the city's first art walk, featuring the visual arts, entertainment and food.
City Scene
The city says its revenue is off by 8 million dollars and it has overspent by 6.3 million dollars.
Clintonville
Once the water lines are completed on High Street, new sidewalks, street lights, traffic signals, street trees, storm sewers and pavement will be added between Arcadia Hudson.That entire project is expected to be finished by fall 2009.
Downtown Columbus
Much like the crack house, CVS draws a crowd of bedraggled souls and creates a zone of disorder in the surrounding neighborhood.
Grandview Heights
Mayor Ray DeGraw said the building probably will be razed this month, after asbestos is removed.
Nationwide Realty Investors Ltd.ââ¬â¢s planned redevelopment of Grandview Heightsââ¬â¢ industrial district has snared a familiar anchor tenant to help its bid for $3 million in state funding.
The improvements to Goodale would be made for the Grandview Yard project.
The Drexel Grandview, the oldest movie theater in Franklin County and one of the region's few venues for art films, will close Sept. 27.
Harrison West
Two Columbus developers have postponed plans to seek state money to help them redevelop the Columbus police heliport.
Police, Public Safety & Crime
The helicopter unit has responded to nearly 14,000 calls for service in the first eight months of the year, arriving on the scene first more than 4,100 times. Their average response time is 1.3 minutes.
CPD will use seizure fund money to fuel its helicopter fleet. The funds will run out in February.
RetroMetro Updates
A few years back, when Paul Bonneville wanted to buy a duplex in the Campus area, he began to scour the web for information about local neighborhoods: trend stories, population stats, neighborhood guidelines, residential data.
I'll tell you what...it ain't easy letting go. Things are changing up a bit here at RetroMetro.
Short North
All utilities have finished rerouting lines and "big dig" construction should be occurring within the next couple weeks and site work occurring now.
South Side
The walls of the former Schottensteinââ¬â¢s department store on Parsons Avenue came down Tuesday, paving the way for a major redevelopment effort in the south-side Columbus corridor.
The hospital and city government will begin an effort to concentrate existing programs and create a few new ones to improve housing, health, education, safety and job opportunities in the struggling area around the Children's campus on E. Livingston Avenue.
Nationwide Childrenââ¬â¢s Hospital said it would spend $3 million to $5 million toward renovating homes as part of a neighborhood health initiative announced in partnership with City of Columbus officials on Wednesday.
After sitting vacant and abandoned for several years, the former Schottensteinââ¬â¢s Department Store located at 1887 South Parsons Avenue was demolished this week by Mayor Michael B. Coleman and area residents to make way for the John R. Maloney Health Center.
State Scene
The money will be distributed across seven business areas ââ¬â bioproducts and biomedical, advanced energy, transportation and infrastructure, logistics and distribution, historic preservation tax credits, Clean Ohio Fund for environmental cleanup and preservation projects, and a co-op/internship program for colleges and universities.
n the heart of the cityââ¬â¢s theater district, 120 businesses and 1200 employees in the local industrial design economy are establishing the Cleveland District of Design within a defined 28 block area.
The state no longer can tax your baked beans, frozen waffles or that Big Mac from the drive-through, a state appeals court ruled yesterday.
Strickland released a strategic plan Wednesday that identifies key industries needed to improve the economy. They include advanced energy, polymers, bioscience and aerospace.
Urbanism
In a CoolTown retail study, 44% of the downtown businesses in five of the most progressive college towns are restaurants.
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