As promised, here are the scanned renderings I picked up at RiverFest (click for larger)…

After a little googling, I also found a few more on the seemingly new website…

I rode my bike past the site this weekend to lay my own eyes on it…

I also swung by the Metro Parks booth at RiverFest and asked a few more questions about the rest of the development.  Here are my mental notes:

- The idea of a 6 hole golf course is still being kicked around, but won’t be done for awhile since the impound lot relocation will take a few more years.  The thought is that it will be a “green” golf course, which sounded silly until I was told that golf courses put a big strain on the environment (fertilizer, pesticides, water consumption, deforestation, etc…).  Could be a fun twist.

- Fun Fact: The Audubon Center is largely funded by a donation from Grange Insurance.  The CEO of Grange Insurance is named “Urban”.

- You can buy an engraved brick paver for the new Audubon Center for $250.

- I’ve also got some nice renderings in a brochure that I’ll scan in and post up in the next couple days.

This image is nothing more than a fond memory right now…

It’s actually the image I used in a May 2007 post entitled, “Stop Commuting…Buy a House Worth $74k More!“. We all know that gas is closing in on the $4 mark one year later, and it makes you wonder what those bright red letters will say in May 2009.

The point of this post isn’t to try to project the future price of gas, or fondly recollect on the good ole’ days of the past. Rather, it’s to revisit the economics of moving closer to work, ditching your car, and living a more compact lifestyle.

Last year, we used a tool available on the St. Louis Metro website to calculate the actual cost of commuting. Luckily, they’ve still got it posted on the site, so it’s as easy as plugging in some new values and converting the cost savings into a mortgage payment. Results below the fold…

The first value I’m updating is obviously the cost of gasoline…we’ll go with $4. Next up is revising the average gas mileage to 23 mpg which comes courtesy of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Next, it turned out that car ownership costs actually decreased last year from $0.561/mile to $0.522/mile, so we made that change too. Finally, I’m bumping up the parking estimate from $50 to $60/month to be a little more realistic. Here’s what the commuting costs look like…

Applying that $477.55/month to a 30 year fixed mortgage at a rate of 6.0% shows that you can now afford to spend $85,000 more on your home!

So for all of you people waiting for that mythical $100,000 2-bedroom condo with a premium High St. address, keep waiting. Everyone else is inherently pricing this philosophy into their offers, and it’s safe to say that they’ll be outbidding you for the foreseeable future.

I can practically hear a child asking that question after looking at this picture.

Right now, that hole is owned by a fairly unmotivated group of investors. And why should they be motivated? It turns out that it’s profitable to own a hole in the center of the city. Who knew?

Using some rough numbers, those 200 parking spaces at $6/day bring in over $300k/year. The auditors website says that the lots pay about $125k/yr in taxes. Not a bad year’s work, eh?

Based on a 2006 article from Business First, the owners openly admit that they’re unmotivated…

Real estate investor Jason Gunsorek has picked up a parking lot at North High and West Long streets in Columbus for $3.17 million.

An affiliate of Gunsorek’s Anchor Cos. bought the downtown property Oct. 16 from Terrapark II LP of Toronto.

“We just see the gap between the (Statehouse) and the (Nationwide) Arena closing and felt, with this property at this location, we couldn’t go wrong as a short-term and long-term investment,” Gunsorek said.

The developer expects to build a mixed-use project with ground-floor retail and offices and condominiums above.

Street-level tenants could include a fitness club, a restaurant or a small market, he said.

“We’re really in no hurry,” he said.

So how can the city go about motivating Mr. Gunsorek to stop sucking the life out of our center city? I’ve got two easy proposals.

1) Build the starter streetcar line. That location would be smack dab in the middle of the line and would be unbelievably marketable to businesses or residents. He could put anything from mixed-use residential project to a high-rise office building on the property and have a license to print money. It would be silly to remain in the parking lot business.

2) Change the current tax structure. By switching to a land value tax, we can tax the surface parking lot the same as we can tax the skyscraper next door. This means lower taxes for those who build with higher density, and those who own and operate surface parking lots will be faced with a difficult choice. Raise your parking rates, build a parking garage, build something else that will be profitable, or sell your property to someone who will.

Lots of action happening on the South side of Downtown lately. Here’s the photo tour…

The new Franklin County Courthouse construction is in full swing. Foundations are being poured in a HUGE hole.

A brand new construction wall is up around what will soon be a new single-use parking garage. Cars everywhere rejoice!

Here’s are the two parking lots that will soon become Lifestyle Communities’ newest medium-density development. It’ll be full of 3 story buildings, but at least the parking will be underground. All of those gray state vehicles will need to find a new home soon…probably in the Lazarus garage.

No construction in this photo, but I just wanted to show the density that exists 2 blocks away from the Lifestyle Communities condos…

Town St. is having utility work done in preparation for it’s big 2 way conversion…

Work has started on the Scioto Mile Promenade…

The Main St. Bridge has bridged the gap, and now has some supports rising into the air. I’m thinking these are temporary and will come down once the arch can support itself…

And here’s a parting shot of the RiverSouth District…

Dear Readers,

It is now time to turn your interests into action.

All you have to do is show up this Thursday to learn about how our city is proposing to pay for our starter streecar line. If you’re the least bit interested in this first step towards improved transit in Central Ohio, come out and show your support!

Really…that’s all.

Columbus Streetcar Working Group
Thursday, March 27
6-8 pm
90 W. Broad St.
Second Floor
City Council Chambers

It’s downtown Columbus, so parking is cheap and plentiful. The lot directly North of City Hall is free for you to use.

More info HERE.

I really try to be positive about downtown developments on this site. My theory is, why would someone want to read endless rants? I certainly don’t, and tend to stay away from sites that do.

Why do I mention this? Well I’m actually going to ignore that principle for one post here.

Sorry.

The reason being, a couple weeks back, Mrs. CapCitySavvy and I had the chance to check out the North Bank Condos Fortress during one of their open houses and really wanted to love the project. We just couldn’t.

On paper, it certainly seemed to have some great prerequisites…

Great views? Check.

Unique floorplans? Check.

Density? Check.

Close proximity to urban greenspace? Check.

Adds vibrancy to the surrounding neighborhood? Meh…that’s where the project loses me.

I really don’t want to be too harsh on the project, so perhaps the “fortress of solitude” image above is a little over top, but I just can’t get over how detached the building feels from its surroundings. It’s hard to fully grasp unless you take a tour, but look at the picture below to see just how much street level real estate this project chews up.

Photo By: Matt Carbone

It’s an entire block on the corner of Neil Ave. and Spring St. The ground level really is essentially a parking garage.

It’s not only that though. I understand that every project can’t have street level retail and public art installations. I get that. What annoys me about this project is that it makes no attempt to connect residents with the street or vice versa. It’s sole design seems to provide residents with easy access from their units to their cars. There is one entrance/exit. There are no street level walk up units. No shared courtyard. The heavy, electronic access door at the entrance feels like Fort Knox. There’s even a concierge security guard who greets visitors with a smile pepper spray holster on the other side of the door.

It’s almost as if the designers thought that the future residents of this building want to be shielded from the scary, scary city below.

Judging by the sold units, the project is definitely appealing to a certain type of buyer, but not this one. I want to live downtown. I don’t want to live in a building that happens to be located downtown.

Still, kudos to Nationwide Realty Investors for putting more money into developing downtown. I just hope they consider how their next project (presumably across Neil Avenue) integrates with the surrounding neighborhood. After all, the best way to keep downtown safe and vibrant, is to have more people on the streets.

With the big primary right around the corner, I thought it might be a good time to break down the major candidates’ perspectives on cities. Why not? It’s the major focus of this blog, and if you’re reading here, you’re probably interested in how the next president might help improve (or erode) our urban centers.

To avoid controversy, I’m going to rely heavily on quotes pulled directly from the candidates websites. I’m purposefully ignoring issues like education, immigration, and crime, because everybody’s got a plan, but I’m a lousy judge of which one will help cities more. That’s not saying those issues don’t have serious impacts on urban areas, it’s just saying that I’m not a teacher or police officer.

I’m also not going to waste my time with Gov. Huckabee, since Sen. McCain essentially has the Republican race locked up.

While we’re on McCain, let’s just analyze his views first.

John McCain (WEBSITE)

He’s actually the easiest candidate to read up on, because there’s very little available reading on his website. From what I can see, his bullet point style issues section focuses mostly on other countries (Iraq, border security, national security) and lower domestic taxes. There are only two nuggets he gave me to work with.

The first is this little bit in the environmental section…

Ensuring clean air, safe and healthy water, sustainable land use, ample greenspace - and the faithful care and management of our natural treasures, including our proud National Park System - is a patriotic responsibility.

I’m not sure what his plan for “sustainable land use” consists of, but hey, a mention in passing is better than no mention at all!

The second part has to do with climate change. What does climate change have to do with urban areas you ask? Higher density areas use less energy per capita than low density, suburban and rural areas. Homes tend to be smaller, walls tend to be shared, and therefore, energy costs associated with living urban tends to be lower. McCain has consistently been one of the lone Republican voices in congress who has taken a leadership role in crafting climate change legislation. The obvious implication of climate change legislation is that it will drive up all energy costs, and urban citizens are least affected by those costs.

I don’t really see these two issues being advantages to Sen. McCain though, because the other two candidates have similar, if not more favorable views to city dwellers. Which brings us to…

Hillary Clinton (WEBSITE)

Senator Clinton’s issues page, like Senator Obama’s, is much more well developed than Senator McCain’s. It even borders on too much information, and it’s organized in a way that makes things difficult to find, so here’s where the digging really started.

Here’s what Mrs. Clinton had to say about our crumbling infrastructure

Establish a $10 billion “Emergency Repair Fund” to address the backlog of critical infrastructure repairs. There is a significant infrastructure funding gap, and it applies to everything from roads and bridges, to waterways and seaports. The under investment harms our economy and compromises our safety. There is an urgent need to repair and upgrade more than 60,000 bridges the Federal Highway Administration classifies as “structurally deficient.” Hillary will invest $10 billion over 10 years to finance the redesign and reconstruction of these structures. She will end the “repair-only-when-it-fails” policy that defers critical repairs because funding is unavailable.

Provide $250 million in “Emergency Assessment Grants” to the states to conduct immediate safety reviews of their high-priority, high-risk infrastructure assets. The Federal Highway Administration (FHA) has issued an advisory that urges state transportation departments to inspect bridges similar to the one that collapsed in Minnesota. Hillary Clinton proposes $250 million of “Emergency Assessment Grants” to help states conduct emergency infrastructure reviews of bridges and other critical infrastructure to ensure their immediate safety. These grants should be available with a priority-procurement status so they can be put to use as quickly as possible. If more funding is needed, Hillary will allow states and local governments the flexibility of using existing federal infrastructure funding.

Form a commission to carry out a comprehensive assessment of our engineering review standards so that we better prioritize needed repairs on bridges and roads. Recent events highlight the need to assess the integrity of our infrastructure and of prioritizing repairs to protect the safety of users. These events also suggest that we need to review our safety certification process and standards. The bridge collapse is only the most recent example of safety lapses. Last July, tons of concrete fell from the ceiling of Boston’s new tunnel and crushed a woman in her car. Hillary Clinton will establish a commission, under the auspices of the National Academy of Engineering, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, to review the safety certification process and standards. The commission will also address the prioritization of needed repairs to roads and bridges, and make recommendations on how best to inspect, monitor, and maintain infrastructure on an ongoing basis.

We definitely have our share of crumbling infrastructure in Ohio, although that sure is a big focus on highways and bridges. Here’s a good bit on public transit and rail though…

Public Transit

Increase federal funding for public transit by $1.5 billion per year. Increased public transit usage is arguably the best strategy for ameliorating the energy and environmental costs of transportation. As energy costs rise, more people will rely on public transportation. Today, only 5% of Americans commute by public transit, but doubling that figure could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 25%. Public transit is also critically important to people who live in urban areas and rely on buses and trains for travel to work and school. Moreover, as the population ages, an increasing number of people will need public transit as their ability to drive diminishes. Hillary will increase federal investment in public transit by $1.5 billion per year to ensure needed capacity expansions and service level improvements.

Link federal public transit funds to local land use policies that encourage residential developments that maximize public transit usage. Over the next 25 years, a large percentage of the buildings we live, work, and shop in will be rebuilt or newly built. This presents a significant opportunity for the federal government to encourage sensible residential and commercial development that are linked to, and encourage, public transit usage. Local areas seeking large federal investments in public transit are already required to have land-use plans and policies that make investing in a high-density transit system worthwhile. Today, these requirements are focused mainly on commercial developments and not enough on residential considerations. Hillary will encourage the sort of dense residential concentrations needed to support public transit systems by better linking public transit funding with residential land-use policies. This will help to discourage sprawl and fight congestion.

Intercity Passenger Rail

Invest an additional $1 billion in intercity passenger rail systems. In the 21st Century, intercity passenger rail should be a viewed as a critical component of the nation’s transportation system. It is an environmentally efficient alternative to highway driving and short flights; it relieves congestion on roads and airports; reduces the emission of automotive pollutants; and it stimulates economic growth by linking metropolitan areas. States have been left to pursue intercity rail projects with only modest federal support. Hillary believes that greater federal involvement is needed to maximize the potential of this transportation mode. She will increase federal investment in intercity passenger rail by $1 billion over 5 years in order to help finance capital projects. These investments are in addition to those made in Amtrak.

Good stuff! That bit about linking public transit funding to land use initiatives is especially encouraging! And the funding for intercity passenger rail could really benefit the Ohio Hub Plan.

That’s the only “urban centered” piece I could find on Hillary’s website, although there’s a TON of content on there and it’s not very easy to navigate, so admittantly, I could have missed something. It mostly focused on high-level issues like “rebuilding the middle class”, innovation, universal health care, and job creation. All good things, they just don’t help me in writing this entry.

Barack Obama (WEBSITE)

Of all the candidates, Obama seems to have the most comprehensive urban agenda. Like the other two candidates he has a strong focus on the environment which bodes well for city dwellers. And similar to Sen. Clinton, he places large emphasis on public transit, rail infrastructure, and better land use policies…

Build More Livable and Sustainable Communities: Over the longer term, we know that the amount of fuel we will use is directly related to our land use decisions and development patterns, much of which have been organized around the principle of cheap gasoline. Barack Obama believes that we must move beyond our simple fixation of investing so many of our transportation dollars in serving drivers and that we must make more investments that make it easier for us to walk, bicycle and access other transportation alternatives.

Reform Federal Transportation Funding: As president, Barack Obama will re-evaluate the transportation funding process to ensure that smart growth considerations are taken into account. Obama will build upon his efforts in the Senate to ensure that more Metropolitan Planning Organizations create policies to incentivize greater bicycle and pedestrian usage of roads and sidewalks, and he will also re-commit federal resources to public mass transportation projects across the country. Building more livable and sustainable communities will not only reduce the amount of time individuals spent commuting, but will also have significant benefits to air quality, public health and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Require States to Plan for Energy Conservation: Current law simply asks governors and their state Departments of Transportation to “consider” energy conservation as a condition of receiving federal transportation dollars. As president, Obama will require governors and local leaders in our metropolitan areas to make “energy conservation” a required part of their planning for the expenditure of federal transportation funds

Level Employer Incentives for Driving and Public Transit: The federal tax code rewards driving to work by allowing employers to provide parking benefits of $205 per month tax free to their employees. The tax code provides employers with commuting benefits for transit, carpooling or vanpooling capped at $105 per month. This gives drivers a nearly 2:1 advantage over transit users. Obama will reform the tax code to make benefits for driving and public transit or ridesharing equal.

That first paragraph was the absolute highlight of my research! It tells me all I need to know about his transportation policies.

He gets it.

He gets the single most important issue which is holding our cities back. Our fixation with cars, cheap gas, cheap parking, and sprawling developmental patterns.

Another interesting thing to note, is that throughout Obama’s plans, you see his local community organizer roots come through (see the third paragraph cited above).

Obama also appears to have an urban initiative that goes deeper than transit…

Increase the Supply of Affordable Housing
- Create an Affordable Housing Trust Fund: Obama will create an Affordable Housing Trust Fund to develop affordable housing in mixed-income neighborhoods.
- Fully Fund the Community Development Block Grant: Obama will fully fund the Community De-velopment Block Grant program and engage urban leaders across the country to increase resources to the highest-need Americans.

Tackle Concentrated Poverty
- Ensure Community-Based Investment Resources in Every Urban Community: Obama will work with community and business leaders to identify and address the unique economic development barriers of every major metropolitan area. Obama will provide additional resources to the federal Community Development Financial Institution Fund, the Small Business Administration and other federal agencies, especially to their
local branch offices, to address community needs.

Again, you can see those community organizer roots coming through in his policies.

Summary

Since McCain didn’t give me anything to work with, I obviously can’t make the claim that he would do the most good for our cities. So that whittles things down to two.

As has been the case in the last few debates, the two candidates haven’t been able to separate themselves from each other in the policy arena. Obama’s policies seem to be well put together and really grounded in common sense. Clinton’s policies are extremely cumbersome to dig through, but she goes the extra step of providing a few numbers to work with.

At the end of the day, I think it just boils down to who is more committed to seeing these ideas through, and who you believe will be able to bring people together to take action on them. To push these challenging ideas into action, do we need a “great communicator” in the mold of Reagan and JFK, or a “fighter” in the mold of Andrew Jackson and LBJ? Now that you’re armed with some info, the decision is up to you!

So maybe that’s a different insurance company’s catchphrase, but it fits Grange in this instance. In expanding their headquarters to add hundreds of jobs, they also found themselves needing more parking capacity. What they did next was nothing short of miraculous given the trends in Columbus over the last 50 years.

They acquired the land adjacent to their building for parking, and had they followed trends from other downtown employers, they would have created a single-use structure that effectively killed all street level activity. Thankfully, they decided to go a different route and integrate a mixed-use parking garage into the existing neighborhood.

Pedestrians rejoice!

Here’s a rendering looking Northeast from the corner of Front and Sycamore…

There’s another rendering and a construction photo below the fold…

If I have a criticism, it’s that they have a skywalk over future retail shops. Seems a little counterintuitive to isolate pedestrians from the action below. Still, the positives of this development outweigh this negative.

And here’s a construction pic from a couple weeks back…

It roughly matches up with the first rendering. You can also see the former Salvation Army building in the background which is in the process of being converted into condos…also courtesy of Grange.

So I’m officially back from my extended Cap City Savvy hiatus. Now that we’ve got XING Columbus up and humming along, I feel ready to tackle the challenge of aggregating content for that blog, and creating fresh content in this space. I’ve got a few cool things lined up, and beyond that, I’ll just wing it.

I’ve got a couple motivations for firing this site back up. The first, was my step into the juvination machine at the 2012 citizen summit. It was one of those moments where I was able to realize that I’m not just a lone voice shouting into the wind, but was one of many Columbus-ites who are ready to address the challenges facing the city. You really had to be there to feel the energy of the crowd that was 1,600 deep.

The second motivation, is that I got a new bag.

Trivial?

perhaps.

But it’s a damn cool bag.

In fact, one of the reasons I got into blogging in the first place is that I thought it would be a good marriage of my photography side and my Columbus fanboy side. That said, I kept getting frustrated when I saw something that I wanted to share, but didn’t have my camera on hand to snap a few shots. This new custom camera bag from Columbus’ own Seagull Bags, should help out in that regard…

So there you have it. All it took was a little pep rally, and a bag.