Merion Village - Columbus, Ohio

Merion Village Association members delayed voting to support a Starbucks proposed for the southeast corner of Front Street and Greenlawn Avenue. Instead, they put the recommendation in the hands of member Ken Fultz, who will discuss the matter further with Starbucks representatives….

The article in This Week News by the Columbus Dispatch goes on to say…

Despite their concerns over traffic, an informal show of hands indicated that about half of the MVA members at the meeting would approve the plan, as long as Starbucks pays for a “Welcome to Merion Village” sign for the corner.

I would have to label this as blatant pandering. If traffic is an issue because of location, then define it as such and help solve the problem. Personally, I’d be unlikely to visit this Starbucks location because I’d play hell trying to get in and out of there.

Wouldn’t it be nicer walk to a neighborhood coffee shop, Starbucks or otherwise, somewhere in the neighborhood? There is available retail space on Thurman, High Street, Parsons as well as vacant land for sale along 4th. Starbucks, however, is attracted to the traffic counts at Greenlawn.

A sign demarcating Merion Village isn’t going to solve a traffic problem and neighborhoods are not defined by a sign in someone else’s front yard.

At the southern end of Bruck Street, one will find a quiet industrial complex which is the home of Franklin International. They’ve been in the adhesives business since 1935. Most recently, they’ve launched a line of “green” adhesives known as “GREENchoice”, offering the most eco-friendly line of construction-related adhesives ever. Even their packaging is made from recycled materials. Franklin’s “Titebond” line is one of the exclusive sponsors of PBS’s “New Yankee Workshop”.

Since the Merion Village/Hungarian Village area is their home, might we find a way to have them contribute more to the area?

Many years ago in Minneapolis, Honeywell’s offices were located in a neighborhood that was in severe decay. Honeywell “adopted” the neighborhood, and assisted in its redevelopment. From street repair and maintenance to home renovation, Honeywell, over the course of a few years, helped to recover the neighborhood. Much of this work was a result of Honeywell employees complaints about personal safety while coming to and from work.

While I doubt this is a concern here, there’s still a great opportunity for Franklin International to adopt Bruck Street as the gateway to their world headquarters. It’s not a grand boulevard, and certainly not wide enough to become that. It would be, however, a great path for Franklin to highlight how it’s products are used in every-day construction and renovation projects.

A project for the New Yankee Workshop? Perfect for attracting attention for the neighborhood. A corporate sponsorship to restore the cobblestone street? Ideal. How about their assistance in creating a uniform street-lighting campaign along Bruck Street that would replace utilitarian lights with something that offers a defining look? Perhaps Franklin International could help with local efforts to improve 4th Street with similar ideas.

When the Columbus streetcar system is expanded south into Merion Village (of course it will) two possible routes exist to bring the line into the Village.

High Street is an obvious choice, since the street is wide enough to accommodate the system. If higher density housing is permitted along High Street through Merion Village, then we’d likely see an investment in upgrades and new builds, as property values always rise with immediate proximity (and within a few blocks ) of a fixed route transit line.

The other route would be down High Street then turning into the Village on Hanford, then turning south onto 4th Street. This route, while only a couple blocks off of High Street, could offer greater opportunities for redevelopment inside the Village. Fourth Street definitely needs an infrastructure boost, and this might be exactly what’s needed.

The challenge with the 4th Street line, however, is street width as well as where the line might exit the Village to the south. Woodrow is a logical choice, but turns from Hanford to 4th and 4th to Woodrow might not accommodate the width needed for the turns.

Ideally, the southern line should extend to Great Southern. In doing so, both German Village and Merion Village residents would have transit access to the shopping there, as well as quick access into downtown. While COTA route 16 takes residents to these destinations already, it would make sense to eliminate route 16 altogether with the addition of streetcars.

Which ever route is agreed upon, it’s important for Merion Village to get on board with the streetcar system so it will benefit the neighbors as well as economic development in the area.

Great place to live. Affordable. Accessible. Good neighbors. All the things you’d want to hear about any neighborhood, and precisely the things one often hears about Merion Village. Many of the folks in Merion Village are life-long residents, and in some cases, generations have lived within blocks of one another. Additionally, new families are moving in.

Not long ago, in an attempt to keep Merion Village’s streets in tact, the neighborhood requested, and won approval from the city, to limit future construction to two [living] units per lot. Essentially, Merion Village was rezoned.

That’s a relatively nice thought considering the way things are now. And it makes sense that the “streetcar suburb” feel of the neighborhood be kept as is. Tonight, however, while attending Kyle Ezell’s presentation on the new University District, I realized that Merion Village may be in for some unexpected surprises as the neighborhood evolves.

As one of his presenters stated, land-mass is a constant value. We are not growing more land. Housing values rise, property taxes rise, and as Columbus becomes more dense, we’ll see the surrounding neighborhood values rise, as well. Of course, that’s what everyone living in Merion Village would like…or so it might seem. Increased property values, and therefore increased sale prices.

Look forward, however, 10 to 20 years, as prices soar and long time residents die off. When the single family home becomes outside the reach of entry level buyers, Merion Village will not have the proper housing stock to attract new residents, and could potentially fall into another period of decline. If they can’t afford it, they won’t move in.
In such a case, the neighborhood will become stagnant and dull.

Keeping a neighborhoods population vibrant requires affordable housing options. Without options beyond a duplex or “double”, Merion Village’s rezoning is, essentially, a bottle neck to its future by disallowing new housing models and methods. Any renovation, any new construction is now limited. Essentially, only what is can be reproduced.

The former RaceQuip building at 4th and Moler was a great opportunity to see something new emerge in Merion Village, but unfortunately, the developer has pulled the plug on that project. All of 4th Street could have been rezoned to accommodate high-density, low rise housing.

There’s always a desire to keep in place what currently is. The challenge, however, is that neighborhoods, like people and personalities, are always changing. Limiting what can be simply creates stagnation and a lifeless soul.