Right Now Downtown

JACK ATTACK
Based on the sheer volume of votes, we now know that y’all love downtown restaurants… a lot. After weeks of eating and voting and eating some more, we have the public’s pick for Show Your Love: Jack’s Diner.

The owner, Chris Kowalski, took a little time out to tell us about the winning strategy. For the full effect, hum the Rocky Theme Song while reading on…

1. Surround Yourself With Affirming Messages
The diner put up signs and made carryout flyers. There were table tents, and its Web site’s front page continued the campaign. Jack’s went all out.

But what would you expect from a place that celebrates every holiday with more seasonal bling than a Kindergarten classroom?

2. Take One for the Team
Chris insists, “We weren’t really trying to win, just to get people to vote.”

3. The Secret Weapon
That’d be the double cheeseburger, on a grilled bun. Then he adds, “with a milkshake… and fries.”

If you voted for a different downtown eatery, they’re all winners in our book. You can give the other joints a prize too: your patronage!

Hurray for Capitol South for demolishing City Center and creating a site for future, long-term development.  Finding an adaptive reuse for City Center is next to impossible.  The building is about as versatile as a vacant big box store.

Small-scale, incremental development on a traditional street grid is what makes a downtown work.  The best downtowns evolve over many years.

BIG IDEAS often get cities in trouble.  In the 1950s, the BIG IDEA was building highway canyons into downtown areas and ripping down tens of thousands of houses.  The 1960s brought us urban renewal, which cleared hundreds of acres of “slums,” further destabilizing urban neighborhoods and fueling flight from the center city.

The BIG IDEA in the 1970s was skywalks, built as part of a plan to make downtown one big bunker.  The bunker plan got refined in the 1980s, when downtown malls were built to make downtown feel just like the suburbs.  Neat!

Now is the time to get out of the way and let entrepreneurs rebuild downtown one building and one storefront at a time.  A little patience will get us the best result.

Press coverage about Columbus Commons from February 4, 2009.

Mayor Coleman during a press announcement on February 4, 2009 at The OSU Urban Arts Space.

Guy Worley during a press announcement on February 4, 2009 at The OSU Urban Arts Space.

Hugh Dorrian and Michael Mentel during a press announcement on February 4, 2009 at The OSU Urban Arts Space.

SQUARE DANCING ON THE SCIOTO

Has anyone else noticed all the mysterious “ade” words in the Scioto Mile project?  There’s the Balustrade, the Promenade and Colonnade.  These aren’t normal words.  They sound like something people do while square dancing.

This mystery was compelling enough to drive a little project.  What the heck are these ade-things?

Wikipedia says that a Promenade is a dance position where both partners face forwards as they move.  That’s actually not too far off.  It’s a thirty-foot wide green corridor that links the elements of the Scioto Mile.  The space is wide enough for several people to promenade through on the walkways past the canals and gardens.

Colonnade: this term is actually used pretty conventionally.  It’s a series of columns, so it’s a decorative element.  On the Mile, the columns (aka the Colonnade) will also have swinging chairs built into them.

Lastly, the Balustrade: it was part of a 1920’s floodwall project.  It’s like heavy-duty banister railing.  The Scioto Mile will start restoring the old limestone balustrade this year.

One more thing: the Scioto Mile people aren’t pronouncing the “ade” like it rhymes with “shade.”  The “ade” in Balustrade, Promenade and Colonnade rings more like “odd”… or “awed,” that sounds even more impressive.

Harvard researchers recently completed a three-year study of crime and confirmed what we in downtown Columbus have known since 2002, when Capital Crossroads began operations.  A clean, orderly environment reduces crime.

Researchers identified 34 “hot” spots in Lowell, Massachusetts.  In half of the “hot” spots, researchers cleared trash, fixed streetlights, discouraged loitering, enforced building codes, made arrests for misdemeanors, and provided outreach services.  The other “hot” spots received only regular city services, including regular police services.

Crime in areas of Lowell that received alternative safety services dropped 20%.  Crime did not drop in areas with traditional services.  Researchers point to the results as evidence that disorder breeds crime.

Downtown Columbus has seen good results from its holistic approach to safety.  Capital Crossroads and, more recently, Discovery SID work with the Columbus Division of Police to supplement traditional police services with outreach, cleaning, strict enforcement of misdemeanor laws, and attention to conditions that can lead to crime.  The Harvard study validates the common sense approach to safety taken in downtown Columbus.

To read the complete Harvard study, click here.

As has been the tradition for the last five years, Capital Crossroads Ambassadors will be passing out thousands of chocolate candies at the major Downtown intersections this Friday, February 13, in celebration of Valentine’s Day. Should you need your chocolate fix, you will find them between 730-9am and 11am-1pm sweetening the streets.

And…Happy Valentine’s Day from Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District.