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.

It’s time to plan for the Merion Village Garden Tour.  Scheduled for July 6th, rain or shine.

I’ve been able to attend this event every year since 2001.  Not only have I seen some  unique examples of cultivated spaces, but I’ve also watched Merion Village solidify into an even greater urban neighborhood.

The Merion Village Garden Tour is low-key compared to other such neighborhood exhibitions around the city, but I think its one of the most exciting because it showcases the hard work of individuals.  This isn’t the tour that showcases your landscaping company.  This tour is a testament to the joy of getting into the dirt yourself and creating a space to enjoy throughout the outdoor season.

The tour is open to the public and admission is free.

Merion Village is hoping to be among three neighborhoods chosen to pilot a new Columbus conservation program.Late last month, Columbus City Council unanimously passed neighborhood conservation district legislation, which will allow neighborhoods to identify what qualities make the area unique, and hopefully preserve these traits.Bob Leighty, Merion Village Association president, said his association is interested in the program, but wouldn’t like to see the strict standards of a historic preservation district imposed on the area.

Read the full article at This Week News.

Likely nearing the end of it’s life, a lone apple tree struggles with its last years on the eastern edge of Moeller Park. While I’m not sure exactly where the Moeller farm house sat, I envision the Moeller children of generations past picking the very best ones for Mrs. Moeller’s pies.

Apple orchards were nearby as well, at one time, as the Hanford family’s orchard now lies within the boundaries of Merion Village. Were they acquainted? Is the apple tree in Moeller park a remnant of the families’ relationship?

Thinking of the possible scenarios, I pondered how apples might fit into the future of Merion Village’s event calendar. Apple pie? Apple cider? Apple crisp? A couple new apple trees in Moeller park? Then I thought about an apple pie competition.

Warkworth, Ontario is a small town 2.5 hours east of Toronto and I’ve been there multiple times, but one of the most memorable times was during the Perfect Pie Contest. Entering it’s 29th year in 2008, this competition brings the community together for an event that turns grandmothers and granddaughters into cut-throat competitors, all in the name of community fun. There’s also a category for the men, and even a local artist crafted a nifty little rendition of Mockingbird Pie.

I thought some more and realized that an apple pie competition would be a perfect event to host at the Crafters and Artisan Market scheduled for October 4th.

Opening the event to people outside of Merion Village would draw more folks to the Crafters and Artisan Market, offering greater exposure to the neighborhood. We could bring in local food bloggers such as Jim of CMH Gourmand, Lisa from Restaurant Widow and Heather from Sopressata. They could be the judges, or perhaps find a story about one of our neighbors for their blogs. Whatever the case, they’d bring some added media attention to our corner of Columbus.

Could it be that a lone apple tree in a small neighborhood park sparks something truly delightful for Merion Village? Might Mrs. Moeller’s apple tree be the catalyst for an annual event that draws more participants each year?

I’d like to think that it shall be.

The Merion Village blog needs help in keeping neighbors in-the-know, so consider lending a hand. There’s more going on around here than I can keep tabs on, and the eyes and ears of other residents are a good way to keep everyone up to date.

While there’s no pay involved, new writers will receive log-in access to the blog. WordPress makes publishing easy and I’d be happy to give anyone interested a quick lesson or two on how to use the on-line templates.

Drop a line to UrbanInFill < at > mac < dot > com. Tell us a little about yourself and Merion Village and we’ll get you started.

There are two models of thought when it comes to shoveling sidewalks. One is that, when left un-shoveled, the snow is considered an act of nature, and that a homeowner is not responsible for acts of nature. The other is that, once shoveled, it becomes the responsibility of the homeowner to keep the walks ice free. In essence, once human intervention is taken, it should be maintained.

I’m not sure which model the City subscribes to, as it relates to homeowner liability. I am sure that treks to the grocery store or post office become far more time consuming and certainly more dangerous when sidewalks remain covered in snow and ice.

Last night, after dinner at Mohawk, I walked past home to pick up a few items at the grocer. Few sidewalks had been cleared of the previous days snow. A days worth of foot traffic over the snow had created ridges of ice, making it difficult to navigate through both German and Merion Village.

Perhaps the lack of attention to sidewalks by homeowners is symptomatic of the City’s lack of attention to our streets. A behavioral model from the top down. While business routes should always receive attention first, the City of Columbus has a poor method of clearing residential streets, and both German and Merion Village residents suffer the consequences.

In Minneapolis, for example, the city restricts parking to one side of the street following the first snow fall. When plowing is required, within 48 hours after the snow stops, one side of every street is cleared to the curb. Once completed, residents must move their parked cars to the cleared side of the street, so that the remaining half of the street can be plowed. Seventy-two hours later, residential streets are cleared, all the way to the curb. When both sides of the street have been cleared to the curb, normal parking may resume.

When I suggested this model to the city as an example of efficiency, I was told that Columbus is too dense of a city for it to work. Too dense? In other words, not enough street parking to reduce it by 50% following a snow event. While such an example may require parking in a spot NOT immediately in front of one’s home, certainly there would be parking accommodations within reasonable reach.

Could it be that Columbus’ requirement of automobile ownership due to the lack of adequate and efficient public transportation is the reason our streets are lined with automobiles? Could it be that this automobile-dependent microcosm is, in fact, creating further inefficiencies for the the City’s public-works departments?

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.

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.

There’s something I’ve always liked about Parsons Avenue. When the street is damp and the lights reflect off of the pavement and one squints just a little, it can look just like a street scape out of the 1930’s.

There’s a few more things are not so pleasant. Decay. Abandonment. Blight. Litter. The Greater Parsons Avenue Vision Plan addresses the challenges as well as the benefits of the Avenue. Most surprising was that crime in the area is not nearly as high as most folks might think. (Interesting is the fact that blighted areas give the impression of crime, and is often a reason for it).

Another statement in the Vision Plan notes that high-school kids do not feel connected to the area because there is little, if anything for them to do along Parsons Avenue. Employment options are limited for them, as well, in their own neighborhood.

The Plan calls for the Whittier intersection to become a primary focal point, as well as the creation of an additional focal point further south, near the site of the former Schottenstein’s. While the Plan has been in place for over a year, there’s been little progress, save for some demolition at Jenkins and the new Pizza Hut on Stewart.

Parsons Avenue is a vital part of the neighborhood and its future success is in direct correlation to the stability of it’s adjacent neighborhoods. The question is, how do we help it along? Making sure we choose Parsons Avenue merchants, of course, is a must, but how do we add enough value to the Avenue so that those used-car lots get purchased for more productive use?

Franklinton and King-Lincoln are getting a lot of attention these days. This attention seems to be coming from the arts community. I’ve wondered if those areas might be attracting this attention because of their sky-line views. Each of those areas have direct line-of-sight-views into downtown. Factor in growth over the next 10 years, and a sky-line view from West Broad Street becomes quite an investment. The same holds true for East Long Street.

Since we know that success is a “people” issue and not just a “policy” issue, how do we assist in the stability of Parsons Avenue?

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.