In the Spring of 2011 at his State of the City address, Mayor Michael B. Coleman announced a new initiative to attract the creative class to East Franklinton. Numerous individual projects were at the beginning stages or underway, and it was decided that the opportunity was right to tie these projects together and provide added energy to move revitalization along a stronger trajectory.

The East Franklinton Creative Community District Plan is a planning effort with several major components: public engagement to understand the values and interests of the community, as well as the arts community in growing a “creative district”; very detailed market studies to understand fully the residential, retail and office markets and their potential in this district; an urban design approach to guaranteeing reinvestment occurs in an organic fashion commensurate with the grittiness of East Franklinton; and an implementation strategy that brings all parties together to jointly move forward on a common vision.

The city has established a working group with representatives from the Planning, Economic Development and Housing Divisions, Franklinton Development Association, Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority, and developer Urban Smart Growth. The city has hired a multi-disciplinary consulting team being led by Goody Clancy, an urban design and planning firm headquartered in Boston (Goody Clancy has done several plans in Columbus, working with the city on Weinland Park Neighborhood Plan and the University/High Street Plan).

The planning process will be about 12 months in duration and a final plan should be proposed as an amendment to the Franklinton Plan (2003) in the summer of 2012. This website will be used to post numerous documents as the plan unfolds, as well as meeting notices and surveys.

PUBLIC MEETING NOTICE

Please join us January 18th from 6:30-8:30 p.m. for the next step in developing the Creative Community District Plan. The meeting location is the same as the December workshops, which is 435 W. State St.
 
This session will highlight the recent results of our residential market analysis study. It will include projections for the housing market within East Franklinton over the next 7 to 10 years, and it will provide a detailed target-market analysis.
 
Public input is critical to the plan’s success. Please help spread the word about this opportunity by circulating the attached flyer and personally inviting everyone that you think may be interested.