Columbus Metropolitan Club, Columbus Urban Growth Corporation, Greater Columbus Arts Council and the Ohio Arts Council

Columbus needs to add housing in the city core, established neighborhoods and the first-ring suburbs. With an older and historic housing stock of a quality enjoyed by few other cities, the Columbus metropolitan area has an unequalled opportunity to create housing for all income levels.

Donovan Rypkema, in making the case for the economic viability of urban housing, cited his 1 Percent to 3 Percent Crazy Person Rule: In any community, from 1 percent to 3 percent of the population is crazy enough to want to live downtown. In Columbus, that translates into a market of about 20,000 people, far more than the 3,000 to 4,000 who live downtown now.

We are too quick to use demolition and clearance to solve neighborhood problems or deal with "problem" properties. Charleston's Mayor Riley warned us: "Cities need memories. Every time we needlessly bulldoze neighborhoods we remove part of the city's memory. Instead, we (should) restore neighborhoods for the people who live there." Further, the city must ensure that small problems are corrected or dealt with before they become unmanageable and result in disinvestment in downtown and close-in neighborhoods.

Stanley Lowe put conservation of existing neighborhoods in pragmatic terms: "We use historic preservation to express neighborhood success symbols, neighborhood resources and neighborhood history as a tool to educate our youth. We invite the whole community, including churches, to work with us as we use historic preservation as one of many strategies for developing a sense of self-worth and as a vehicle to attack neighborhood apathy."

Columbus must evaluate current constraints on housing rehabilitation and development in existing neighborhoods and create incentives, streamlined approval processes - do whatever it takes - to re-engage the private sector in building the city.

Next: Create Well Designed Infill Housing