Hopping On The Downtown Bandwagon

Quite a few Ohio suburbs are planning to resurrect their old downtowns -- or build new ones from scratch -- to create human-scaled urban focal points.

1 minute read

January 27, 2008, 7:00 AM PST

By Christian Madera @http://www.twitter.com/cpmadera

"Creating town centers to renovate slumping downtowns is hot among central Ohio suburbs. Some have them (think Westerville and Worthington), and some don't (think Upper Arlington and Whitehall).

Most of the latter wish they did.

Picture the 1950s downtown in Back to the Future. The town center is a nostalgic return to the architecture, function and vitality that small towns had before strip centers and malls on their outskirts sucked the life out of Downtown, USA.

It's a community's centerpiece, a gathering place that includes workplaces, shopping, dining and entertainment, said Hazel Morrow-Jones, associate dean in Ohio State University's College of Engineering and an expert in city planning."

FULL STORY: Creating centers of attention

Friday, January 25, 2008 in The Columbus Dispatch

Urban Development Ohio

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Learn More

Advertise with us

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.