the urban news for the week ending Sunday, August 17, 2008
 
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 Arena District
Cool? Well, yeah. If there's one thing that's obvious from the steel and concrete already in place, it's that there are going to be lots of places in the Hunt for people to hang out.
The scoreboard is expected to be installed by the end of January, said Will Ellerbruch, a regional sales manager for Daktronics.
Arts & Culture
Parents magazine has ranked COSI the top science center in the country for families.
Brewery District, German Village, Historic Issues & Preservation, Italian Village, Victorian Village
The City Historic Preservation Office, previously staffed by five people, is as of this week, being staffed by two. Two people who will now account for reviewing applications and staffing the German Village, Italian Village, Victorian Village, Brewery District, and Historic Resources commissions.
..."The city is facing an extremely challenging budget for the remainder of the year and it affects the staff in the city," Black said. "We are looking into how best we can serve the neighborhoods given these tough economic times."...
City Scene
Twelve city departments have until Friday to pick the targets of 42 layoffs Coleman ordered Aug. 1 as a head start on closing a looming budget deficit in 2009.
The campaign is designed to grab potential visitors' and meeting planners' attention with outrageous attractions that can't be found in Columbus -- or any other city in the United States for that matter.
Income growth in the Columbus area lagged the national pace in 2007, though it was better than in the stateââ¬â¢s other largest cities, says new data from the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The financial pinch at City Hall has prompted the Columbus Department of Development to pull its support for the agency that has led inner-city redevelopment projects for the past 12 years.
The owner of the Columbus Dispatch is planning job cuts for a production facility on Columbusââ¬â¢ west side that could affect more than 100 workers.
It's a guide to improving Columbus' economy and creating a dynamic and inspirational urban heart.
Clintonville
Clintonville residents weighed in last week on how to spend more than $500,000 given to the community by the city six years ago for improvements along High Street.
Following positive feedback from Clintonville residents at a public meeting last month, city planners are moving forward to finalize a draft of the Clintonville neighborhood plan.
Downtown
The city will begin work next month to turn S. Front Street into a two-way street between Broad and Rich streets as part of a $9 million project to improve streets in the RiverSouth area and make the area friendlier for pedestrians.
German Village
Condominium sales have tumbled this year in central Ohio, but the developers of Beck Place aren't worried.
According to a press release issued by ROAR, a proposed raceway is in the preliminary stages and Arshot is not ready to discuss details. Nonetheless, the company made it clear they are committed to moving forward.
Grandview Heights
Grandview Heights City Council's economic development committee voted 2-0 Friday to recommend council approve an ordinance to accept and adopt the blight study of the Grandview Yard project area.
Grandview Heights, Harrison West
Developers of the Grandview Yard project in Grandview Heights and a Columbus site nearby were the only ones in the seven-county region to submit plans to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency in time to qualify for the fifth round of Clean Ohio funding since 2002.
Historic Issues & Preservation
Columbus city staffers are still reviewing applications for the neighborhood conservation pilot program, one of which is from Merion Village.
Real Estate Affairs
U.S. foreclosure filings were up 55 percent in July from a year earlier and up 8 percent from June, with Ohio posting the third-largest number as the housing market remained on life support.
Foreclosure filings in Ohio barely increased in July, but the state still found itself with one of the five highest foreclosure rates in the nation, RealtyTrac Inc. reported Thursday.
"Home prices in the U.S. are likely to start to stabilize or touch bottom sometime in the first half of 2009," he said in an interview.
Regional Scene
Why don't you give your surplus money directly to the taxpayers?
More people than ever were working in central Ohio during the first half of the year, as employment rose to 950,800, according to a report yesterday from the Columbus Chamber.
The economies of most cities in Ohio are in a recession, but not Columbus, a leading economic research firm has reported.
RiverSouth
Construction continues on a new condominium and apartment complex in downtown Columbus.
(Columbus) Work on the $9 million RiverSouth Phase 1 Project begins this week on Wall Street, with construction to follow in September on Front Street and Ludlow Street, and on Rich Street in June 2009. The revitalization project, which includes...
Schools & Education
Columbus' top business leaders are withholding their endorsement of the city schools' November tax request until the district explains how it will limit spending.
State Scene
Several months after Governor Ted Strickland ordered about $700 million in spending cuts to keep state government out of the red, another shortfall in tax revenues is developing.
State tax revenue was $139.8 million below estimates in July, a gap of 9.8 percent.
Transportation & Roadways
The city of Columbus will convert Milton Avenue into a bike boulevard this fall, resurfacing the road and adding road markings and signage alerting motorists to the presence of cyclists.
Urbanism
Housing, which peaked at 324 permits in the city in 2002, has declined steadily. As of the end of July, only 17 permits had been issued this year.
As malls across the country start to fade into obsolescence, what is to become of these massive structures?
Westgate
"We're the Upper Arlington of the Hilltop,"...
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