Sprucing up main sidewalks seems to pay off for cities

I still think it's putting lipstick on a pig

What? I suppose you think those "Computer Repair" & "Queen Matress" signs along every intersection are tackey here in Columbus?

Downtown Delaware was one thing that drew me here. The beautiful street-scape is hard to find.

No manufacturing plant will ever be built because of nicer sidewalks. How much money has Coleman spent on sidewalks in the past several years, even paying for sidewalks that should have been paid by homeowners, and how has that helped.

Our community leaders would do better to pay more attention to functionality rather than aesthetics when it comes to sidewalks.

A report to be released by Transportation for America and the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership on November 10th called "Dangerous by Design" will show that the Columbus metro area is one of the most dangerous metro areas in the country and the most dangerous metro area in the state when it comes to pedestrian safety.

This has real consequences.

Not only do pretty sidewalks that aren't part of a comprehensive plan to get people walking (and biking) not create real and sustainable local development through local shopping, their real cost is skyrocketing.

Ohio -- thanks to the lack of leadership on pedestrian and bicycle issues from the Ohio Department of Transportation -- has, according to a report published July 1, 2009 by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert wood Johnson Foundation, the 10th highest rate of adult obesity and the 15th highest rate of childhood obesity.

And a July, 2009 study published in Health Affairs estimates current annual spending in the U.S. on obesity-related illnesses to be $147 BILLION. And rising.

Why do our civic leaders not understand that college graduates and young professionals are leaving in droves -- not due to a lack of jobs -- but due to the lack of good transportation options.

NextGeneration's study a couple years ago -- sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce and the City of Columbus -- told us that young professionals "Live first; work second." The primary reason college graduates go away is because transportation options here in Central Ohio (and the rest of Ohio for that matter) come down to aesthetics and not functionality.

Central Ohio is a transit poor area compared to our competing sister "talent capitals." And there is, as yet, no comprehensive action plan to change that.

I went to Chicago this past summer and the sidewalks are beautiful. Very wide, with very large flower plots and trees. Every Cafe had a nice fence around their outdoor patio on the side walk and then hanging on the fence was planters with flowers. I was hard to believe I was in the city. The people living downtown loved it, the people working downtown loved it and the visitors love the look. There are more big trees and parks in Chicago then in Columbus. We need more little green space parks instead of parking lots. Chicago does not waste space for parking lots, they build parking garages and use public transportation. The new downtown park will be great, but Columbus should buy more run down building and built more city block parks.

A wise person I know describes programs such as this as "Necessary, but not sufficient". One needs only to look at Hamilton OH to see that it's true. Hamilton underwent a large streetscape program about 10 years ago, buffing up the main thoroughfare through downtown (High and Main Streets)-- but its downtown continues to deteriorate steadily and lose stores. IT IS NOT SUFFICIENT, by itself, to improve sidewalks and associated items. There must be a much more comprehensive and coordinated program to breathe life into the downtown areas of older cities.

Keep the home boys away and this will work. Remind them all no guns are allowed LMAO. Just a matter of time before people start getting shot walking those pretty side walks.