That would be really applicable jaw, if we were using highway or bridge money for the streetcar...or building a 40 mile line.

p.s. if you can find me ANY public transit used by "the majority of American commuters" I say build it right away.

i don't have a portfolio

what do i do

I'm a 6,3" 12" waisted 24 year old male.

Semi-related article

This shit reminds me a lot of the development they were trying to put into downtown Green Bay for a few years before I moved. Wasted millions upon millions of dollars and now we have a big gaping hole in downtown with even less people around than we did before. It's cool though because a bunch of people in the city gov't had ties to these development companies and they all made bank on it. The only people that suffered were the poor, and we're used to that already. Plus, now that there are ONLY poor people downtown we can feel free to rob, fight and kill each other without worrying about the lousy police interfering.

"Don Casto and Frank Kass hate Downtown Columbus" would have been a much better headline for that Dispatch article because obviously, not all retailers are shunning downtown. Just these two guys got up and complained.

While I'm not going to go on a total rant like the guys over on (nice job BTW), I will say that I was disappointed to read the opinions of these speakers at this event last week. Their suburban developments contributed a lot to the demise of downtown retail, and their bleak visions of the future make it sound like they're going to continue to chase the money wherever's easiest.

While downtown isn't going to be easy, it's not going to be impossible either despite what Casto & Kass might want you to believe. What is needed isn't a traditional retail approach. The anchor-stores of yesteryear are either going under or consolidating, so there's fewer of them to fill in the large spaces. Downtown retail needs to consist of smaller stores, more local developments, entrepreneurialism, and a creative energy that you can find in the Short North, but you can't find at Polaris. Once that's established, some of the retail chains will then tag along for the ride.

Some people have also been quick to say that "retail follows rooftops", which to some extent is true. But the real problem with downtown Columbus retail is transportation. The streets have been reconfigured so that downtown is a place that's easy to drive into and park, work 8 hours, and drive home, all as quickly as possible. Pedestrian traffic has taken a back seat to the drivers and retail hurts because of it.

Look at the way the "town center" portion of Easton is configured. The streets are a single car wide and the sidewalks are just as big on each side. It's much less intimidating to patronize stores there when you don't have a roaring highway (ie: Third St, Fourth St, Spring St, Main St, Long St, Front St, and on and on) 5 lanes wide with cars zooming 45 MPH next to you.

If we want downtown retail to return we need to start by reconfiguring the environment to be something more pedestrian friendly. The Gay Street revamp is a good start. Let's get the rest of the streets done and the retail blanks can start to fill in by themselves.

The story was related to me by someone who would be in a position to know-but I have no idea how accurate it is especially since it's before I even lived here. (I believe this is around the time they were planning City Center.)

I thought this was a pretty well-known story, though.

Is there a bike shop downtown or in SN yet?

I know there wasn't when i lived there. Couldn't even get a tube anywhere in the area.