Ideas to address the intersection at 7th ave and High Street. Pocket park, housing/condo. Condos/Aparements taller than surroundings to become focal point of the area and to provide unobstructed views to campus and downtown from upper floors. Pull buildings to sidewalk to create building corridor and make the area more inviting. Streetcar line down center of high street will cause property values to increase and should entice people into the area.
2.What was the state of the area when you first moved to it? What caused the site to be in its current state? Were the changes in the neighborhood gradual or abrupt, were they based on zoning changes, demographic changes, or something else?
3.Do you know what this area was like in its prime, do you think it has had several "primes" since it was first started?
4.What district of Columbus do you enjoy hanging out in (for entertainment, for basic needs, for occasions only a few times a year) and why? (i.e. Art, Downtown, Campus, etc)
5.What is the most occupied/inhabited part of the site on a consistent basis? Does it vary from weekday to weekend? Day to night? Seasonally?
6.What aspects of the site programs are economically successful and should not be removed?
7.What aspects of the site programs are not successful on urban, economic, and social levels?
8.What site programs do you think the area is lacking, what do you feel needs to be done to tie the site in with the Short North and Campus areas to complete the transition through the site?
9.Would an introduction of green space (i.e. parks, gathering spaces, landscapes) have a positive impact on the site? if so, what location(s) would this green space be most successful? What kinds of green space would be the most beneficial? (basketball courts, tree-planted boulevards, parks with benches, playgrounds etc)
10.What activities do you believe would be successful to incorporate into the green spaces (i.e. benches, water features, trees, outdoor amphitheatre, dining, public transportation stops, etc)
11.Are there any times of day/year when the site most utilized and abundant with street life?
12.Are you familiar with the Weinland park revitalization proposal? What aspects of it would be helpful to utilize on the current site?
13.What impact do you expect the street car line to have on the site and the real estate values within a 1/2 mile of the area, or will the current state of the area be a factor?
14.Would revitalizing the area beyond high street (boundaries of Neil Ave. on the west, 5th Ave. on the south, and campus on the north) help or hurt the revitalization of the area? why? If it would help do you think the area west of high street would thrive as a residential community for college students, young professionals, and/or families?
15.What are your thoughts on introducing new mixed use retail, restaurants, and commercial structures along with apartment and condos into the area to promote entertainment and destination points (whether they be new construction or reuse of existing buildings)?
16.Do you think creating a building corridor along the site (similar to Short North, pulling the building facades towards the street and hiding parking lots in alleys) would help tie in the site with the surroundings and make the area aesthetically pleasing, both in architecture and economically?
17.What would be the best building style for the site (all new construction or a mix of the old and new to maintain the historical look of the area)?
2.What was the state of the area when you first moved to it? What caused the site to be in its current state?
3.Do you know what this area was like in its prime?
4.What district of Columbus do you enjoy hanging out in and why? (i.e. Art, Downtown, Campus, etc)
5.What is the most occupied/inhabited part of the site on a consistent basis?
6.What aspects of the site programs are economically successful and should not be removed?
7.What aspects of the site programs are not successful and should be done away with?
8.What site programs do you think the area is lacking, what do you feel needs to be done to tie the site in with the Short North and Campus areas to complete the transition through the site?
9.Would an introduction of green space (i.e. parks, gathering spaces, landscapes) have a positive impact on the site? if so, what location(s) would this green space be most successful?
10.What activities do you believe would be successful to incorporate into the green spaces (i.e. benches, water features, trees, outdoor amphitheatre, dining, public transportation stops, etc)
11.Are there any times of day/year when the site most utilized and abundant with street life?
12.Are you familiar with the Weinland park revitalization proposal? What aspects of it would be helpful to utilize on the current site?
13.What impact do you expect the street car line to have on the site and the real estate values within a 1/2 mile of the area, or will the current state of the area be a factor?
14.Would revitalizing the area beyond high street (boundaries of Neil Ave. on the west, 5th Ave. on the south, and campus on the north) help or hurt the revitalization of the area? why? If it would help do you think the area west of high street would thrive as a residential community for college students, young professionals, and/or families?
15.What are your thoughts on introducing new mixed use retail, restaurants, and commercial structures along with apartment and condos into the area to promote entertainment and destination points (whether they be new construction or reuse of existing buildings)?
16.Do you think creating a building corridor along the site (similar to Short North, pulling the building facades towards the street and hiding parking lots in alleys) would help tie in the site with the surroundings and make the area aesthetically pleasing, both in architecture and economically?
17.What would be the best building style for the site (all new construction or a mix of the old and new to maintain the historical look of the area)?
The top image is what the master planning site now encompasses. The addition of the blue area is to revitilize the housing areas as the streetcar line will have real estate value within a 1/2 mile from the track. The area is in bad shape, currently low income and run down student housing. The bottom image is a breakdown of the land use in the surrounding areas of my site.
Reasoning behind why this area needs revitalized and addressed immediately:
The two precedent studies on the Nice and Portland Street Car Lines help clarify the reasoning and potential for my thesis area to be revitilized. As noted above the real estate for the sites along a street car line become high value and are an immediate "place of destination" and a regeneration of the public realm. This is the main thing lacking from my site: the public. With the initiation of the street car line and the other greenspace/revitilzation projects in the area the site now has a reason to be re-utilized to complete the transition from campus to short north to downtown Columbus.
Aspects to be incorporated into site:
Pedestrian Spaces (parks, benches, landscapes)
Mixed use retail/office spaces along street car line
Housing/Condos to revive life in area and entice people to live there once again
Street Car Stop (since line is not constructed yet adding a stop or moving an already proposed stop could probably easily be accomplished.)
Hidden parking (keep street edges free of parking, remove parallel parking from High street in this area to not prohibit views of area from street car line. Parking can be hidden in alleys and behind buildings to maximize views from buildings out and from street car line "into" site.)
Provide links from site to surrounding areas (Campus, Short North, Weinland Park)
Links can be as simple as views down streets to other areas or parks connecting site to surrounds.
In 2002 there was a proposal for several zones of high street (from short north up through campus) to be redeveloped. Zones 1 and 2 (above) were the two zones that affected my site. Many of the goals listed above in the failed attempts can be re-utilized in my revitalization attempt.
The two revitilization areas above (Columbus Commons and Scioto River/Bicentennial Park) play a very important role in the Vision Columbus 2015 project. Not only is there addition of green space to these areas but there is also new housing and shops that are part of the 2015 vision for downtown. The Scioto Mile and Columbus Commons area will be the initial end stop on the first phase of the street car line. Since the initial beginning of the line is near my thesis site I felt pulling a connection from beginning to end points on the line into my site would lead to interesting comparison of what my site needs on it. The aspect of the Scioto Mile/Columbus Commons areas as being destination point for people is a very important key concept that is needed on my site. The revitalization of these areas will defiantly make the area more lively and a destination point. This concept needs to be utilized in my site as well to carry the liveliness through downtown and down the streetcar line.
Architecture can do only so much. Without sensitively designed streets, plazas, and landscapes — a so-called “public realm” — even great buildings end up as solitary objects, wonderful to look at but lifeless and forbidding.
This article from the February 2010 Architectural Record proved to be a good reference for my thesis. There has been a long term revitalization project in Dallas for the last 31 years. The project revived a moribund downtown into a "city of the arts". The project centered around Flora Street and is/will be comprised of a shrine, apartments, theater, performance hall, high school, opera house, and Symphony center. A large part of the consturction is done and although the area is very nice there is no street life, due to the lack of shops, cafes and apartment/condos.
This case study relates very well to my thesis in the fact that I am attempting to revive a rundown part of Columbus, Ohio to become a new district of its own. I have the same problems as this article where the area at one time was a stretch of car dealerships and parking lots. My area also has very little to no street life and at this point is in no way a destination point.
I think that the relations between some of the problems in the article are in direct relation to my site, although my site can still fix these problems. One major problem w/ the Dallas Art District is the lack of connection to the rest of downtown. The city didn't include this district on the stops of the light rail. My site is already projected to have stops of a light rail (making the real estate of my area a large selling point). The dallas art district also has little to no housing. Although its being considered in teh future, it is assumed that it would take several thousand residents to help make the Dallas Art District successful and full of life.
With that said I have more proof that the important programs to involve in a revitalization project are shops, cafes, housing, public events, etc. These few items are one of many things that need to be addressed if one hopes to have successful street life and make the area a destination for people to feel welcome in.
The image below compares the street sections at 3 locations: Campus Gateway, Site, and Short North. Each area is characterized by different setbacks off the street. In campus gateway where it is very lively and campus oriented there is a much larger width sidewalk to accommodate more crowds. The short north has narrow sidewalks, these don't always work at times due to the crowds that can frequent the area on weekend.
