96-04-08 Campus Partners Publishes Final Draft Plan

              CAMPUS PARTNERS PUBLISHES FINAL DRAFT
               OF NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION PLAN

     Campus Partners is seeking public comment on the final draft 
of its revitalization plan for the neighborhoods around The Ohio 
State University.

     The 230-page planning document, University Neighborhoods: 
Revitalization Concept, has been restructured, expanded and 
refined based on public response to the first draft of the plan 
which was issued last November.

     This final draft of the concept document contains policies, 
recommendations and program descriptions for the revitalization 
of the University Neighborhoods, which is defined as the Campus 
Partners study area.  Many of the recommendations involving 
public safety, trash collection, code enforcement and human 
services also can be applied to the whole University District.

     The concept document is organized around six core values.  
These values declare that the University District shall:

1. Be a model for university-community relationships.
2. Be a place of pride by maintaining buildings and conserving 
and enhancing architectural quality and character.
3. Be culturally and socio-economically diverse.
4. Be a neighborhood of choice.
5. Demonstrate new leadership and investment partnerships to 
reverse the decline in retail and housing.
6. Accomplish its larger civic goals through the active 
participation of community individuals and agencies.

     "First and foremost, the overall goal of this 
revitalization effort is to improve the quality of life for 
individuals who live and work in the University District," the 
concept plans states.  The concept plan also identifies four 
supporting goals:

-- "Secure the involvement of Ohio State's faculty and staff in 
the neighborhoods of the University District;
-- "Increase homeownership in the University District, including 
affordable housing opportunities to stabilize the Weinland Park 
neighborhood and maintain a diversity of residents;
-- "Improve the core student area so that it is competitive with 
housing which students can rent in the suburbs;
-- "Enhance and expand retail and commercial activity on High 
Street."

     Campus Partners is requesting public comment on the draft 
concept plan in writing to its office at 1824 N. High St. by 
Friday, April 26.  Following a review of the comments, the Campus 
Partners consulting team will produce the finished concept 
document in May.  The plan may be presented to Columbus
City Council and Ohio State's Board of Trustees in June.

     The final draft of the concept plan may be read at the 
Northside Branch Library, 1423 N. High St.; Whetstone Branch 
Library, 3909 N. High St.; Ohio State's Main Library, 1858 Neil 
Ave.; and the Campus Partners office, 1824 N. High St.  Copies 
may be purchased for $13.47 plus tax at Grade A Notes,
22 E. 17th Ave.; Kinko's Copies, 18 E. 15th Ave.; and COP-EZ in 
the Ohio Union, 1739 N. High St.

     Campus Partners was established by Ohio State in January 
1995 to lead a revitalization effort and to develop a 
comprehensive plan.  Campus Partners then employed an 
interdisciplinary team of local and national consultants in
the fields of public safety and law enforcement, transportation 
and parking, the housing and retail markets, urban design and 
planning, trash collection and code enforcement, and human 
services.

     In preparing this draft concept plan, the consulting team 
over the past year reviewed previous studies of the University 
District, gathered information on existing conditions and 
received extensive input from neighborhood residents, students 
and city and university officials.

                                 #

For additional information, contact:  Steve Sterrett, community 
relations director for Campus Partners, at (614) 294-7300.


[Submitted by: Von Reid-Vargas (ereid@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu)
               
Mon, 8 Apr 1996 10:23:48 -0400]
All documents are the responsibility of their originator.