Recent Articles from the Dispatch

Overview of articles:
The websites below are from the local newspaper, The Columbus Dispatch. The articles address some of the current conditions that exist in Columbus and some oppurtunities that the city feels would be viable solutions to the current climate of the downtown area.
The first articles deal with streetcars, a topic that the mayor has championed as his cause for re-invirgorating the downtown area and the local economy. The first article examines the past layout of the streetcar system and how it was connected to local suburbs as well as the transformation of the streetcar system into the current method of transportation of transit buses. The second article is an editorial on the concept, stating that the current plan only covers less then 3 miles.
The Dispatch also ran an article relating to the retail trend of downtown, which is virtually non-existant. The article offers some interesting figures, the amount of people that lived in downtown the past +/-50 years has dropped from 30,000 to 5,000 people. It also states a very real fact, that no major retailer has any interest in developing in downtown, they are in fact interested in developing in the suburbs, so downtown is left with a huge economic void. According to the article, the outlook is very dim for the next 40 years, which is the estimate that developers give for downtown to rebound.
The last article is about the riverfront (Scioto Mile) and how construction will begin in the next few months. The riverfront remains a huge oppurtunity for the city to create a destination as many festivals are located along the river during the summer months.
Response:
The development of the streetcar remains an interesting topic in Columbus, does the city develop the streetcars which mimic the local bus system. The real question is what is the overall plan for Columbus development? The city currently has an estimated 5,000 residents spread over a large area (weak connection between various developments), and no destinations in the core of downtown. The city offers very little in terms of lifestyle, no retail, no acceptable parks or greenspaces - these issues along with other issues remain the bigger issues that the city should focus on first, creating a holistic urban enviornment that would cater to the daily lives of the residents. The solutions that will be investigated in the coming weeks looks to create this holistic environment rather then relying on a strategy based on a "gimic." The streetcars will eventually have a place in the downtown area, but first the pieces need to be in place prior to implementing the streetcars. The streetcars will probably suffer the same initial fate as the buses, where they will be the toast of the town for the first few years, but become a haven for the less fortunate (currently buses in Columbus are preceived as dirty and disgusting).
Along the lines of "gimics," the Civic Center drive project seems a little contrived, it will be a greenspace along the riverfront for various vendors and retailers, unfortunately, it seems that the developers may not have completely focused on the needs of the various events (see editiorial).

Articles on Streetcars in Columbus:
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/04/14/OLDTROLLEY.ART_ART_04-14-08_A1_P59S41B.html?sid=101

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/editorials/stories/2008/04/12/Sawyer__SAT_ART_04-12-08_A11_RN9T7PV.html?sid=101

Downtown Retail Outlook:
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2008/04/07/ZONE0407.ART_ART_04-07-08_C10_DU9QVOI.html?sid=101

Civic Center Drive:
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/04/10/CIVICWORK.ART_ART_04-10-08_B4_LK9SUE6.html?sid=101