1. How long have you lived in 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)?
Nick, I'm going to do this number by number (ones I don't take issue with won't be pasted in). Also, as a sidenote which I also gave to someone else, when you ask questions, try and phrase them in an even way which is not leading or declarative of your own opinion; I assume the reason why you're asking someone else is to get their clear opinion, it can be difficult to be objective with the questions but it would help.
ReplyDelete2. What was the state of the area when you first moved to it? What caused the site to be in its current state? >>This is a huge question; if you haven't yet spoken, be sure to try and tease out whether changes in the neighborhood were gradual or abrupt, based on zoning changes or demographic changes or...
3. Do you know what this area was like in its prime? >> Has it had only one prime?
4. What district of Columbus do you enjoy hanging out in and why? (i.e. Art, Downtown, Campus, etc) >>I'd be interested, as mentioned over the phone to know where someone goes when they leave the neighborhood for a range of reasons - for entertainment, for basic needs, for occasions only a few times a year etc (i.e. more than just hanging out)
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? (you cover this a bit in 11)
6. What aspects of the site programs are economically successful and should not be removed? >>What about ones which are neighborhood institutions (have been there a long time) but may not be economically successful? Are these not also important to learn from?
7. What aspects of the site programs are not successful and should be done away with? >>See above - think broadly about what success means at an urban level, economic, social, cultural etc.
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) See what sort of specificity you can pull out from your interviewee
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)? >>This will vary from person to person so either I'd take this with a grain of salt or I'd query a larger group
Thanks, I will rewrite the questions to reflect your ideas. The guy I am interviewing is out of state now, not sure when he will get back to be interviewed. Might have to do the interview via email, worst case.
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