This is one of three chapters that address the character, integrity, and visual quality of the Neighborhoods. Issues surrounding code enforcement, the degradation of the open space, and accumulation of trash, litter, and graffiti can have a profound effect on the quality of life for the residents, and accelerate the decline of the Neighborhoods. In addition, a poorly perceived image can send a negative image to potential students and faculty desiring to live in the Neighborhoods, as well as potential investors in residential and commercial property. The issues and recommendations suggested in each of these areas are critical to the success of the revitalization concept.
Parks and Greenways |
Back to the Plan’s Table of Contents |
The health of any inner-city neighborhood is often tied to the accessibility of adequately sized public parks and open spaces. The University Neighborhoods suffer from a shortage of parks, and also from access to natural areas. Further compounding the park shortage is the lack of greenways that link open spaces, neighborhoods, and important community centers such as university and community services. Chapter 3.0 describes where parks can be added in the Neighborhoods and what streets should function as greenways.
3.0 PARKS AND GREENWAYS
A. Objectives
One of the most obvious physical issues associated with the University Neighborhoods is the lack of open space and parks; indeed, there is a significant shortage based on even Columbus’ own standards. The health of a community is often gauged by access to and the amount of natural and developed park and open spaces. The University District also suffers from a lack of "green streets" or landscaped paths that could provide connections to important places such as the Ohio State campus and community centers, distinguish neighborhood boundaries, and encourage pedestrian vs. automobile transportation.
The following objectives will guide Campus Partners, the City, and the university in developing a parks and open space component to the Revitalization Plan:
Objective 1: Increase the amount of park and open space within the University Neighborhoods to reflect the standards as identified by the city of Columbus.
Objective 2: Develop a system of "greenways" within the Neighborhoods that will serve as important streets and paths and link individual neighborhoods parks and the overall District.
B. Policies and Recommendations
Policy 3.1: Identify parcels within the University Neighborhoods that can be acquired and converted into public parks and open space to achieve a net increase of five acres per neighborhood.
Recommendation 3.1.1: Locate a large public park central to the Indianola, Weinland Park, and East, North and South Campus Neighborhoods.
Recommendation 3.1.2: Identify small parcels on a block-by-block basis for pocket parks. However, development should only occur when clear ownership and maintenance responsibilities have been established.
Recommendation 3.1.3: Expand Indianola Middle School grounds south to 18th Avenue.
Recommendation 3.1.4: Expand Weinland Park to include the entire block between the Fourth and Summit Street pairs, on the south side of 7th Avenue. This policy is established in the University Area Plan.
Recommendation 3.1.5: Explore creation of a new park north of the existing fire station on the west side of Indianola Avenue between 8th and 9th Avenues.
Recommendation 3.1.6: Rehabilitate the Iuka Ravine with landscape and lighting improvements.
Recommendation 3.1.7: Create small, vest pocket parks along High Street at key roadway street closures.
Recommendation 3.1.8: Develop an Ohio State outreach program to permit community use of campus recreation facilities, and assure they are available.
Recommendation 3.1.9: Develop recreational facilities for students in the Neighborhoods as an extension of university programs.
Policy 3.2: Create "greenways" in the Neighborhoods that follow existing streets and connect significant parks, community centers, and the Ohio State campus and Oval.
Recommendation 3.2.1: Develop greenways along 15th Avenue; East 12th Avenue;; Summit Street; Fourth Street; Indianola Avenue; East Woodruff Avenue; Lane Avenue; East 11th Avenue; Seventh/King Avenue, West Tenth Avenue, Patterson Avenue, Neil Avenue, Arcadia Avenue and High Street, including coordinated street tree programs, new lighting and signage.
Recommendation 3.2.2: Develop a series of gateway treatments that may be simple landscape or signage solutions to announce entrance to the University District. Recommended locations include Conrail Underpass at East 11th Avenue, East 17th Avenue, and Hudson Avenue; the Lane Avenue Bridge. Architectural Gateway solutions should be incorporated in new or renovated structures at East Ninth Avenue and High Street and Norwich Avenue and High Street.
C. Setting and Current Issues
The University Neighborhoods are underserved by open space and public amenities. The current deficit exacerbates the appearance of congestion and blight, and results in idle youth conducting illicit activities in some neighborhoods, and overgrown front yards converted to volleyball courts in the East, South and North Campus Neighborhoods. In addition, there is no organized street tree planting program to reinforce key pedestrian streets in the Neighborhoods
Based on the City’s standards for open space of 10 acres per 1,000 residents, the University Neighborhoods requires over 200 acres of open space. Weinland Park, south of 7th Avenue between Fourth and Summit Street one-way pairs, is the only City-owned neighborhood park within the entire study area. City-owned and maintained athletic fields are provided in Tuttle Park, on the west bank of the Olentangy River just north of campus. Other open space includes a new community-built playground at the Indianola Middle School.
The following summary shows just how acute the shortage of open space is when population and open space are compared in each of the six proposed neighborhoods. The analysis shows that only 10% of the required open space based on existing population is currently provided within the Neighborhoods.
| Indianola Terrace |
Iuka Ravine / Indianola Forests |
South Campus | East Campus | Weinland Park East | Weinland Park West | |
| Population (per 1990 Census) |
4,369 | 3,313 | 3,403 | 6,034 | 2,225 | 2,295 |
| Existing Open Space (acres) | 8 | 4 | 3.9 | 0.4 | 4.7 | 0.6 |
| Recommended Open Space (per City standards) | 43.69 ______ |
33.13 ______ |
34.03 ______ |
60.34 ______ |
22.25 ______ |
22.95 ______ |
| Surplus/Deficit | (-35.69) | (-29.13) | (-30.13) | (-59.94) | (-17.55) | (-22.35) |
Note: Totals do not include Tuttle Park (38 acres) and University Facilities (115 acres) as they lie outside of neighborhoods analyzed.
The study area does, however, include one of the most impressive natural landforms in the City. The Iuka Ravine, which stretches from the intersection of 16th Avenue and Pearl Street to Fourth Street in the northeast corner of the study area, provides a striking contrast in topography to its relatively flat surroundings. In particular, it forces a curved alignment of adjoining streets and provides an attractive contrast to the dense, gridiron layout of District streets. It contains a public street which is paved in a richly mottled brick paving. However, deterioration of the Indianola Avenue overpass has cut off vehicular circulation along Iuka Avenue, resulting in a dead end condition until the bridge is repaired (currently underway). This condition, coupled with the fact that the space within the ravine receives little maintenance, pathways are poorly lighted, and its edges are overgrown, greatly diminishes its use as the area’s major open space feature.
The Ohio State campus, in contrast to the University District, is blessed with vast acreages of open space. While written policies do not preclude neighborhood use of campus facilities, operating limitations (e.g., students take precedent over residents in scheduling athletic facilities, which effectively eliminates any neighborhood use) and philosophic approaches (e.g., the Oval is rarely used to host neighborhood functions) have essentially separated Ohio State from the community’s major open space elements.
D. Programs and Concepts
The intent of the Revitalization Plan is to not only identify where parks and open spaces can be added to the Neighborhoods, but to emphasize the importance of those spaces in an urban environment. The quality of life in any urban area is significantly increased by the addition of access to recreational opportunities and the natural environment.
The Revitalization Plan identifies several locations within the Neighborhoods that would be suitable for future park spaces, and significant streets that could be converted to greenways as pedestrian and bicycle corridors.
While these improvements will help solve some of the open space shortages in the Neighborhoods, providing a minimum of five new acres of open space per neighborhood should be established as a revitalization goal. The benefit of this amount of open space will result in not only an improved quality of life, but if properly designed, will go a long way to helping to relieve overtaxed storm drainage capacity within the Neighborhoods.
Neighborhood Parks
Indianola Middle School Park.
One of the major green space initiatives for Indianola Terrace entails leveraging improvements already made to the Indianola Middle School park in the summer of 1995. Additional improvements will include expanding the park south to 18th Avenue to displace non-conforming uses that are incompatible with family residences and the middle school. Other revisions include providing direct pedestrian and bicycle access from Lane and 20th Avenues, both of which currently dead end at the park, as well as opening up the north end of the park visually and providing parking spaces off of Norwich Avenue to improve both access, surveillance, and safety.| 12th Avenue Park. The old commercial center just south of 12th Avenue between Fourth and Summit should be redeveloped into a park, addressing a severe need for public space by surrounding neighborhoods while also displacing an underutilized, poorly located commercial site. The park will enhance the property values of adjacent residences, while providing a common space for the Weinland Park, East, South and North Campus, and Indianola Terrace neighborhoods. The location is further enhanced by the removal of arterial traffic from 12th Avenue. The existing commercial uses should be relocated to the new neighborhood center, located directly south where the site is both more visible and accessible to traffic. | |
| A proposed park at 12th Avenue between Fourth and Summit Streets would provide a major new open space feature for the Indianola Terrace neighborhood. |
Weinland Park.
Weinland Park should be expanded to include the entire block between the Fourth and Summit Street pairs, on the south side of East 7th Avenue. Expansion of the park will make better use as a part-time parking lot and capture existing tax delinquent properties while providing increased opportunities for community, cultural, and recreational activity.| Indianola/8th Avenue Park. A series of blighted, crime ridden, tax delinquent properties along the west side of Indianola Avenue between East 8th and East 9th Avenues could be replaced by a two-acre neighborhood park that will adjoin the existing fire station, a church, and the Community Directions for Youth center. The park would provide a new focus for a struggling neighborhood, while creating an anchor for the surrounding homeownership incentive zone. |  |
A new neighborhood park proposed for 8th and Indianola would turn a block of blighted properties into much needed open space. |
Godman Guild East.
The area surrounding the headquarters of the Godman Guild East should be redeveloped into a higher quality neighborhood park or playground, displacing much of the existing asphalt parking lot. Improvement of this park has been considered for some time but lack of sufficient funding to become a reality has hampered implementation.High Street.
There are three locations along High Street where plazas are suggested in the Revitalization Plan. These plazas would occur where the east/west streets of 16th, 14th and 13th Avenues terminate at High Street. These areas should be developed as plazas and programmed for cart vendors and movable furniture. The plazas should be maintained by the Special Improvement District.Iuka Ravine:
Perhaps the most significant natural feature remaining in the University Neighborhoods is Iuka Ravine. The long-term health and protection of the ravine should be a high priority in the Neighborhoods. Currently suffering from low maintenance, poor lighting, and security concerns, the unique topographic feature is in danger of falling into severe neglect. A Master Plan that demonstrates a conservation and rehabilitation strategy as well as offers design guidelines for future improvements should be developed.Greenways:
Significant streets within the Neighborhoods that should receive landscape and other amenity upgrades include East 15th Avenue, East 12th Avenue, Summit Street, Fourth Street, Indianola Avenue, East Woodruff Avenue, Lane Avenue, 7th/ King Avenue, and West 10th Avenue. In particular, 15th Avenue should feature a double row of street trees and historic lighting standards to highlight its importance as a ceremonial corridor leading from the District’s eastern edge into the Ohio State Oval and campus.Greenways will also connect commercial and human service centers in the Neighborhoods to help anchor homeownership and affordable rental zones. The West 10th Avenue greenway will establish an edge to the campus that is currently fragmented and negatively impacts the neighborhood to the South.