Merion Village - Columbus, Ohio

While checkin in on my favorite local blog sites, I was reading about the City Center redevelopment on Andrew’s site, Elephants on Bicycles. Links posted on Andrew’s site take readers to the web sites of two of the local architects who’ve created re-use concepts for City Center.

As I was browsing the sites, I noticed that, at least in the case of the two listed, local architects are creating great designs in various cities around the US. From large projects such as City Center to small projects such as individual homes and cluster housing. There’s some really neat stuff being created by local architects.

Over the course of the past few years, we’ve seen some new construction taking place in Merion Village. A new duplex was recently built on Southwood. Further south there have been a handful of single-family homes constructed on vacant lots. The good news is that these new structures fit in so well, one can hardly notice. The bad news is that these new structures fit in so well that one can hardly notice.

Perhaps its time for some innovative design, not only in Merion Village, but Columbus’ other neighborhoods. Why not hold a design competition for local architects to create unique solutions for in-fill housing? A showcase property with unique design is a great way to pull in perspective buyers and drive interest.

In Minneapolis’ Seward neighborhood, one finds a variety of home styles, many of which were built through design competitions. There’s historic, restoration, new-build, solar, earth-sheltered, underground, historic rebuilds, pedestrian only streets, row houses, all creating a unique flavor that is distinctly Seward. It too, is a not more than a mile from downtown.

Seward struggled for decades with decay and it’s commercial street, Franklin Avenue was not unlike our own Parsons Avenue. Over the course of years of planning and innovation, however, Seward and Franklin Avenue have found rebirth through innovative design.

While there is always a need for required set-backs and height restrictions, there’s also a need for innovation within those parameters to create distinction. The groups, both architectural and civic, are here and can do this in Columbus.

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?

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.