In Search of a City: Stop Rewarding Sprawl
Dear Legislators:
Fifty years of public infrastructure investments and tax policy that reward unsustainable development at low densities is enough! Stop bleeding your cities to subsidize cornfield construction.
People may want to live or open a business someplace with new roads, schools, sewers, water lines, sidewalks, gas lines, electric lines, parks and other services, but they should not expect someone else to pay for that privilege. Likewise, if someone wants to build a big box store or live on a half acre or larger piece of property in a sprawling community, they should pay the full cost of delivering mail, distributing utilities, maintaining roadways, and other elevated expenses.
For all you fiscal conservatives entering the Statehouse, be smarter about how you dole out money. There is a connection between how you spend money and land use. Not seeing that connection is like not seeing the connection between sexual intercourse and pregnancy. And the child support payments are a whole lot more expensive.
December 16th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
I live on the outskirts of Columbus in a 1300 sqft home that I bought for $92k in ‘92 (built in ‘89 on a cornfield). I am in the no mans land of Franklin County, with Columbus Services, Worthington Schools and Powell Mailing address. When people ask me where I live, I don’t know how to answer. In my area, small homes are very dense and there are no interesting features in this section of town, no neighborhood parks, community center or even any interesting features or bike paths (however I understand the Hard Rd expansion will include a bike lane). We do have a VERY nice Worthington library on Hard Road (in driving distance), so I do want to note that. I visit downtown Columbus regularly for good restaurants and night life. I write because I want you to know that even people that live in the poorly planned, overbuilt outskirts of Columbus still care about the city. I spend plenty of money at downtown festivals and walk in the Pride parade with my Lewis Center church. I would love to live closer to the center of town, can you tell me a place where I can get a comparable home, at an equivalent price, good schools, in a safe area, with a 2-car garage and fenced back yard? I enjoy visiting older neighborhoods with pocket parks and historical memorials, it is kind of soul-less living in a community that is just built for selling the homes and not much thought toward the quality of life. I may live in the sprawl, but I am not the enemy. I want Columbus to be a better community for all our residents and not just the hip, urbanites who live in the inner rings. I hope you appreciate the great features that are integrated into the center city that sprawlers like me envy greatly. I guess the grass is always greener. I just want you to know that I voted for the Columbus Bonds because I want to improve the city even though I will most likely have to get in a car to enjoy any of the benefits. – Loving Columbus from afar.
December 16th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
I’d like to say that as someone who also is in the sprawl of Columbus – in Worthington Schools with a Powell address – that this is an unfair representation. I work downtown, I play downtown (and on campus, on occasion). I go to school downtown. My money? Yup, all wrapped up downtown. I may not have been able to convince my wife to buy in in German Village, but we went *gasp* and bought a house we could afford in an area that wasn’t crowded or dealing with any evidence of crime.
I love my home and my neighbors – I agree it wasn’t the best thought out area, but I love my Columbus, inside and out. I wish I lived downtown, but with a child that I want to be able to run around and play, I have other concerns than just thinking “wouldn’t it be cool to live in the Short North” and think “where do I want my child to go to school?”
I’m with Jody – the grass is always greener, but don’t make assumptions based on some areas and lump everyone outside the outer belt into one mass.
December 17th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Keif: I want to respond to your comments about city crime and schools. Why do you think all urban neighborhoods have crime? The safest precinct in the City of Columbus among all precincts, including your neighborhood, is Victorian Village in the Short North. I suspect there are many urban neighborhoods that are as safe or safer than your area of Columbus. This information is published information. As far as schools are concerned, Columbus City Schools have more schools rated effective, excellent, ane excellent with distinction than any other school district in central Ohio, including Worthington. The state report card is public information. Yes, there are also many struggling schools in the City. Most are struggling because of high poverty rates. But finding a great school is not difficult in Columbus City Schools system. And why do you need to live in Powell for your kids to run around and play?
My point about sprawl is not that people shouldn’t be able to choose where to live. My point is that new, auto oriented development is much less dense than central city neighborhoods. There may be pockets of density on the fringe, but overall densities are much, much lower than central city neighborhoods and much more expensive to service. These costs are not carried by the people who generate them.
December 18th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
In defense of Cleve’s original post, it sounds like he’s mostly commenting on how the system is set up to develop new land with no incentive or regard for preserving what we already have. It’s not that the people buying into the suburbs are the problem, it’s the system that has made that scenario the only viable option for many people that is the problem.
On a personal note to relate to what Jody said… my wife and I bought our first home a year ago in the King Lincoln District, located within spitting distance from downtown. We paid $80k for a beautiful 2000+sqft 100-year-old brick home. It’s in great shape, was move-in ready, and gives us a lot of options for remodeling and expanding as we see fit. We’ve got off-street parking (no garage, but we could build one) and a good sized fenced back yard.
As far as safety goes, danger is everywhere and a healthy dose of common sense can keep most people out of harm’s way. Most days I’m more worried about being fatally wrecked into on an icy 270 rather than being gunned down on my walk to the coffee shop around the corner. Our street is fairly busy, and well lit, and we don’t feel any less safe than we did renting in German Village for the past 6 years. Granted, our neighborhood lacks in amenities right now, and suffers slightly from “broken window syndrome” but it’s something we’re willing to put up with as the neighborhood continues to improve over the next 10-20 years.
Schools are a concern to us, as we have a 15-month-old son, and plan to have more children over the next few years. Our default CPS schools are not very good, and if they don’t improve we will be aiming to enroll our children in the lottery/alternative schools in CPS, many of which are ranked very highly. Of course, if he/they don’t get in, we may swing for private schools, but it’s something we’ve alloted for in our budget if need be. Our mortgage payment is a fraction of what it would be for us to live in something comparable in another neighborhood, and neither of us have commuting expenses to worry about.
Additionally, being surrounded with rich culture is something that attracted us to the idea of raising our family downtown. We’re a 30 second walk from the Lincoln Theater re-opening in April. We’re about a minute walk from Mayme Moore Park and the King Arts Complex. We’re a five minute walk from CCAD, the Thurber House and the Columbus Museum of Art. We’re a 10 minute walk from the Columbus Metropolitan Library (the top ranked library in the entire country) and the Topiary Park. We’re a 20 minute walk from the Ohio Theater, Palace Theater, The Franklin Park Conservatory, and OSU Urban Arts Space. We’re a 30 minute walk from COSI, The North Market, The Convention Center, Nationwide Area, and so on and so forth. You get the idea. Many of these institutions offer free/cheap childrens’ programming and extra curricular activities. These are the neighbors that I want my children to grow up with.
To make a long story short, my point is this: there are many options for urban living. The choices may not be the easiest, because as I think Cleve was originally pointing out… the system has made suburban living the easy way to go. I definitely identify as being a bit of a risk-taking pioneer by making the choices that I have made, and I know that it’s not for everyone. To each his/her own.
Personally, I’m just glad to hear any suburbanites chiming in on the fact that they do value the city and enjoy downtown for what it is. It’s all too often I hear people afraid to venture downtown for one reason or another. A lot of good people are missing out on a lot of fun stuff.
…
Walker
December 18th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Great conversation going on here. Thanks for sharing perspectives, I guess I was making some generalizations about lack of affordable homes. I am pretty excited about the new Land Bank cooperative they are creating in Cleveland designed to reclaim vacant properties. AP Article: http://is.gd/crXT I listened to the Ohio General assembly discuss it yesterday and I think they removed a sharing of the equity measure to discourage inappropriate seizure and reuse. I am hopeful that something like this in Columbus could allow for revitalization of areas in need of a makeover, which may also spur the building of more moderately priced homes, closer to vibrant heart of the city. (Not that Columbus needs to build more when we already have a surplus of existing homes, I am hoping we will attract new people from other countries/cities to help balance our supply)
December 23rd, 2008 at 12:22 pm
I skim through the Land Bank website listings occasionally here for Columbus. Lots of great opportunities for anyone looking for a deal: http://td.ci.columbus.oh.us/Bizdevelopment/BuyCityProperty/Index.asp