Merion Village - Columbus, Ohio

And there’s more new about outdoor space in Merion Village from This Week News:

Merion Village gained the park in 2001 after several neighbors turned the vacant, overgrown land into green space.
Soon after the 4-H group volunteered to tend the park as part of Make a Difference Day, after which the club decided to take on the project on a long-term basis.

This pocket park is located on the corner of Bruck and Morrill.

WOSU and COSI hosted an event this evening known as the Columbus Social Media Cafe. The goal of these two groups was to create a dialogue that addressed this question: “What can we do together that we cannot do along to change this community using social media tools?” I was delighted to be asked to attend.

Bloggers, media experts, professors, teachers, real-estate agents, shop owners and a wide variety of others were in attendance. The topic I chose to host was “Capturing the stories of our citizens. Their past and present as a celebration of a rich and dynamic population”.

I told the group, that of all the cities in which I’ve lived, I’ve met the most interesting people in Columbus. Interesting because so many of our friends and neighbors have come from other parts of the country, and from other countries, all to find something for themselves in Columbus. We’ve lived in New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Florida, yet we’re all come to Columbus now.

I suggested that perhaps because of our midwestern mind-set, we shy away from talking about ourselves out of modesty. While Columbus is the social and political engine for Ohio, we’re a very modest city, and maybe to our own detriment. I feel its important to our identity, the city’s identity, that we capture the stories of the new immigrants.

Who are all these people that are arriving in Columbus? Why have they chosen Columbus? What do they bring with them that will assist in Columbus as it emerges into the world-class city it’s about to become? How do we find these people who might otherwise just blend in?

With that in mind, I’d like to bring the discussion to our neighborhood. When I moved here seven years ago, the most common question I was asked was, “Where did you move from?” It’s a question I find myself asking often to the people I’ve met over the course of seven years. Its why I love Columbus.

Tell us your story. How did you get here? Why did you choose Columbus? Why Merion Village?

It is, after all, the stories of our history, and our presence, that make a place a community.

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.