Introduction

University Neighborhoods Revitalization Plan CONCEPT DOCUMENT

I. INTRODUCTION	Purpose and Structure
	Revitalization Plan Development
	Plan Goals, Vision, And Core Values
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A. Revitalization Plan Purpose And Structure

Purpose: The University Neighborhoods Revitalization Plan is a two-volume "family" of documents that includes the University Neighborhoods Revitalization Concept Document and a still to be developed University Neighborhoods Implementation Strategy. Before reading these two documents, it is important to understand what they are and are not and how they are structured.

The University Neighborhoods Revitalization Concept Document (Concept) is a decision-making tool for the city of Columbus, The Ohio State University, and various neighborhood groups and commissions to be used as they fulfill their respective responsibilities for managing or taking actions that affect the University District. The Concept document establishes the goals and core values for the revitalization process and presents a set of long-range objectives, policies, and recommendations that future actions should be directed to accomplish. It is intended to provide a vision of what the District can be, and how the community can realize that vision through clear actions. It is not, however, a detailed prescription meant to solve every problem that besets the District.

Whereas the Concept document establishes the core values, objectives, policies, and recommendations for the revitalization process, the University Neighborhoods Implementation Strategy (Strategy) will define the specific actions, timing, responsible parties, and estimated costs to implement these recommendations. The Strategy will be a living document that will require continual update and refinement as some programs meet success and others do not. It is intended that the Strategy would be endorsed by the city of Columbus and The Ohio State University as the best available approach at this time, but would not be adopted as a binding document due to the evolving nature of its contents.

Although the Revitalization Plan has greatly benefited from extensive community input, it is not intended to be a consensus document. Campus Partners, in their role as catalyst and facilitator, has forged a series of recommendations that will afford long-term, sustainable change within the community. While the actions required to effect this change will not be embraced by everyone, it is for the greater good of the overall community that the Revitalization Plan and its recommendations are put forth.

Structure: Following an introductory section, both documents are organized around the Revitalization Plan’s six Core Values. Each Core Value is supported by individual chapters containing specific information developed by the planning team during the course of this study.

In the Concept document, each chapter places the Objectives, Policies, and Recommendations at the beginning of the chapter so that the casual reader or individuals responsible for oversight of the Revitalization Plan can quickly identify the major thrust of the document. These are followed by supporting information for the policies and recommendations. Each chapter contains the following sections:

Objective: Each chapter begins with an introductory paragraph that summarizes the major objectives to be achieved by the policies and recommendations that follow. The objective should be the desired end state.

Policies: Policies are stated to guide the recommendations. By adopting the Concept document, community organizations, the city of Columbus and The Ohio State University will be adopting these policies for guiding future decisions in the University Neighborhoods.

Recommendations: Recommendations are the planning team’s best ideas to fulfill the policies.

Setting and Current Issues: This section provides an overview of the current issues, the major findings of the planning team’s analysis phase, and any relevant data necessary to support the recommendations.

Programs and Concepts: This section provides more detail for the ideas and proposals, as well as potential models to support the recommendations.

The Strategy document will continue where the Concept left off. Every recommendation made in the Concept document will be repeated and followed by a series of actions intended to lead to achievement of that recommendation. Each action will be accompanied by a table of related information including:

Timing: When the action should begin and will most likely end.

Responsible Party: Who should assume primary responsibility for initiating, facilitating, or supporting the action.

Additional Input: What other hearings or approvals will be required to enact this recommendation.

Related Documents: During the planning process, a number of supporting documents were reviewed or generated. While a full bibliography is included at the end of this document, the reader may wish to review certain documents that were produced during development of the Plan. Supporting documents include the University Neighborhoods Vision Workshop Summary Report (April 1995); University Neighborhoods Alternatives Workshop Summary Report (May 1995); Results of Merchant Interviews in the University District (June 1995); Urban Land Institute Briefing Book (July, 1995); Urban Land Institute Advisory Panel Report (November 1995); Summary of Public Comment (January 1996); University Neighborhoods Social Demographic Profiles (February 1996); and University Neighborhoods, Technical Memorandum, Circulation and Parking, (April 1996).

B. Revitalization Plan Development

Formation of Campus Partners and the Planning Team: In response to growing concerns regarding the quality of life in the University District, Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee and Columbus Mayor Greg Lashutka established the University Area Improvement Task Force in January 1994. This Task Force selected representatives from University faculty, staff and students, University community organizations, and the city of Columbus. Findings and recommendations were presented to Dr. Gee and Mayor Lashutka in June 1994. Among the group’s many recommendations, the primary action presented was to create a non-profit redevelopment corporation to spearhead revitalization efforts and develop a comprehensive Revitalization Plan.

In September 1994, Dr. Gee and Mayor Lashutka announced their joint commitment to the revitalization effort, and in January 1995 Campus Partners for Community Urban Redevelopment was incorporated as a non-profit 501(c)(3) and Ohio 1728 Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation. The Ohio State Board of Trustees approved an annual allocation of $500,000 to Campus Partners for operating expenses, and assigned the organization two priorities for its first year of operation:

To develop a comprehensive neighborhood Revitalization Plan accompanied by an Implementation Strategy.
To actively promote projects and programs that can have an immediate, positive impact on the Neighborhoods.

To meet the first objective, The Ohio State University contributed $600,000 and the city of Columbus contributed an additional $187,000 for developing a Revitalization Plan. In February 1995 Campus Partners brought together experts in traditional areas of planning such as urban design and land use, housing, retail and commercial markets, circulation and parking, code enforcement, trash collection, and public safety. However, unlike most urban revitalization efforts the team also included a consultant that focused on human services and quality of life issues. The Campus Collaborative consortium of colleges and academic units at Ohio State, and the Interprofessional Commission of Ohio, worked with residents and human services professionals to assess education, health, economic development, and social services in the University District. This unique collaborative is comprised of faculty and graduate students from thirty-one different colleges and units of The Ohio State University and provides some of the most unique aspects of the Revitalization Plan.

The list of those participating in the collaborative includes: Architecture, Board of Trustees Committee on Student Affairs, Campus Partners for Community Urban Redevelopment, Campus Planning, City and Regional Planning, Council of Graduate Students, Off-Campus Student Services, Education, Federal Relations, Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Health Sciences (including Allied Medical Professions, Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health, Optometry, University Hospitals, Veterinary Medicine), Human Ecology, Interprofessional Commission of Ohio, Law, Mershon Center, Ohio State Extension, Public Policy and Management, Rardin Family Practice Center, Social Work, Undergraduate Student Government, University Architects Office, University College, and University Libraries.

Planning Process: The Campus Partners consulting team followed an accelerated planning process that covered all areas of their individual disciplines in less than eight months. A traditional inventory and analysis phase made use of an extensive Geographic Information System (GIS) constructed for the project from primary and secondary data sources. Interviews were held with numerous residents, businesses, and merchants. All of the analytical work was presented and reviewed during a series of public meetings and task force sessions. A seven-day workshop was held at Campus Partners’ office after the project’s first three months of analysis to test preliminary concepts. As these alternatives were refined, preliminary recommendations were developed and documented for a "reality check" by both the community and a special panel of experts assembled by the Urban Land Institute (ULI). Following the ULI’s review, the Revitalization Plan was refined further. A working draft of the Revitalization Plan was issued to the public in November 1995, eight months after the study had started. With the addition of valuable public input, the Revitalization Plan was refined with the final plan issued in June 1996.

Urban Land Institute Panel Review: In July 1995, five months after the planning process had begun, the ULI was invited to help evaluate the planning team’s work to date. The intensive one-week review was put together by ULI’s Advisory Services Panel, and draws on the volunteer services of ULI members experienced in all aspects of inner-city revitalization and redevelopment issues. The Panel is an extension of ULI’s Inner-City Community Building Program that was launched in 1993 to involve the private sector more extensively in inner-city issues.

The Panel’s final series of recommendations both confirmed the progress to date and added valuable new direction to certain aspects of the study. The Revitalization Plan’s review by experienced private sector development and public sector officials was aided by extensive community interviews. While the Panel provided a strong endorsement for the team’s work to date, many of the Panel’s additional suggestions were incorporated into the final Revitalization Plan.

Community Involvement: From the start of the planning process, Campus Partners and their consulting team have involved neighborhood organizations and residents; major property owners; business owners; and University faculty, staff, and students. As a part of the Campus Partners staffing plan, a full-time Director of Community Relations and part-time community outreach assistant were appointed to formulate a community involvement program and ensure constructive outreach efforts. These efforts included:

Public Participation: Public participation in the program was extensive with over 500 individuals participating during the development of the study through:

A Community Advisory Council composed of over 90 representatives from neighborhood and community organizations as well as local government and University offices. This group met five times to review concepts and plans at various points in the development of the Revitalization Plan.
Six public task forces which worked with the consultant team in specific areas of concern. These included: market and finance; safety and law enforcement; planning, design, and architecture; transportation, circulation, and parking; public services; and social services which include education, health services, human services, and economic development. Additionally, a special sub-group was established to address student quality of life issues. These task forces were composed of representatives from organizations participating in the Advisory Council as well as individual citizens.
Community-wide meetings held to present updates on the work progress and to test ideas. This effort consisted of five evening meetings held in various locations throughout the District, in addition to a five-hour open house held one Saturday, early in the process, to review preliminary concepts. Attendance at the evening meetings ranged from 50 to 300, and the open house was attended by over 350 individuals.
Neighborhood meetings with small, focus group representatives of specific areas within the District. These meetings, typically held in living rooms and community centers, were conducted with seven different groups on two separate occasions.
The ULI Advisory Services Panel, which conducted interviews with over 115 people from the neighborhood, City, and University and whose publicly presented final report drew over 125 representatives from the community.

Community Outreach: Efforts included development of a special Campus Partners Newsletter mailed to every household in the University District and distributed to Ohio State faculty, staff, and students through insertion in The Lantern, The Ohio State University student newspaper. Each issue had a circulation of over 50,000 copies. In addition to the newsletter, residents and property owners were contacted before all public meetings with a personal mailer. Prior to any public meetings or workshops, extensive television, radio, and newspaper outreach was undertaken.

Document Review: All documents prepared by the planning team were made available for review by the community, either through their placement at three library locations (Whetstone, Northside, and OSU Main) and at the Campus Partners office. Additionally, most documents were made available for purchase through Kinkos, Grade A Notes, and Cop-EZ, for the cost of reproduction. Finally, direct delivery of specific documents were made to members of the Campus Partners Board of Trustees, the leaders of community organizations, and individuals from the community who have been active in the process.

C. Revitalization Plan Goals, Vision, And Core Values

Revitalization Goals: First and foremost, the overall goal of this revitalization effort is to improve the quality of life for individuals who live and work in the University District.

Four supporting goals have been identified for the revitalization effort by the Urban Land Institute and the planning team. These are:

Increase homeownership in the University District, including affordable housing opportunities to stabilize the Weinland Park neighborhood and maintain a diversity of residents;

Improve the core student area so that it is competitive with housing which students can rent in the suburbs; and

Enhance and expand retail and commercial activity on High Street.

Secure the involvement of Ohio State’s faculty and staff in the neighborhoods of the University District;

Achieving these goals will require overcoming 30 years of inertia that has stalled past revitalization efforts. Working with a group of 25 leaders selected from the community, a Vision Statement and set of Core Values were developed during a two-day workshop held in March 1995 to guide the revitalization effort.

Vision Statement: "The University District shall become a high-quality ‘city within a city,’ characterized by diverse, enriched, safe, livable, and commercially viable neighborhoods with community features and programs connected by a district-wide framework of transportation, open space, amenities, and human services."

The Vision Statement captures a positive image of what the University District’s future can be. At the heart of this vision is recognition of the District as a collection of individual neighborhoods, each with a great diversity of lifestyles, housing choices, income levels, and priorities.

Core Values: The overall vision for the University District embodies six Core Values that serve as the organizing element for all recommendations and actions. Core Values are firmly held beliefs that establish the continuity between all future actions. The refinement of these Core Values has occurred over the nine-month planning process, shaped by public input and responses to the Revitalization Plan.

Core Value #1: The University District shall be a model for university-community relationships:

by optimizing University investment in the community according to a mutually agreed upon Revitalization Plan;

by enhancing human services through University sponsorship and commitment;

by capitalizing on the synergy of academic and community goals;

by providing lifelong learning opportunities; and

by supporting a world class institution in a community of comparable quality.

Core Value #2: The University District shall be a place of pride by maintaining buildings, and conserving and enhancing architectural quality and character:

by providing an abundance of open space, recreation, and parks;

by providing accessibility to all uses and services for the entire neighborhood; and

by ensuring adequate levels of public maintenance and service.

Core Value #3: The University District shall be culturally and socio-economically diverse:

by providing diverse housing opportunities;

by actively promoting home ownership;

by providing housing opportunities for University faculty and staff; and

by providing opportunities to live and work in the same neighborhood.

Core Value #4: The University District shall be a neighborhood of choice:

by being friendly to traditional and non-traditional families;

by including diverse student populations;

by being safe and secure 24 hours per day; and

by ensuring balanced transportation systems to support business and employment while promoting pedestrian/bicycle/transit options.

Core Value #5: The University District shall demonstrate new leadership and investment partnerships to reverse the decline in retail and housing:

by coordinating positive investment partnerships between State, City, University, community, and individual investors;

by expanding the economic base;

by upgrading market standards; and

by working positively with University-related residential and commercial cycles.

Core Value #6: The University District shall accomplish its larger civic goals through the active participation of community individuals and agencies:

by maintaining open communication among all participants;

by removing barriers and disincentives to participants; and

by forging a new leadership collaborative of University, City, and community.

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Back to the Plan’s Table of Contents

University Neighborhoods Revitalization Plan CONCEPT DOCUMENT

I. INTRODUCTION

A. Revitalization Plan Purpose And Structure

B. Revitalization Plan Development

C. Revitalization Plan Goals, Vision, And Core Values