Eastland for Everyone

Acknowledgments

This plan was developed with the support of thousands of Eastland neighbors and stakeholders who shared their time, energy, and ideas across the 16-month planning process. We would like to give special thanks to the passionate and dedicated voices of the following individuals who shaped this plan.

City of Columbus Department of Neighborhoods

Kym Douglas, Director

Carla Williams-Scott, Former Director

Todd Dieffenderfer, Deputy Director

Patrice Allen Brady, Neighborhood Strategies Manager

Noelle Britt, Eastland Neighborhood Program Specialist

William I. Wilder, Community Planning Analyst

Lynne LaCour, Neighborhood Liaison

City of Columbus Leadership

Andrew J. Ginther, Mayor

Shannon G. Hardin, Council President - District 9

Rob Dorans, President Pro Tem - District 3

Nicholas J. Bankston, Councilmember - District 5

Lourdes Barroso De Padilla, Councilmember - District 8

Nancy Day-Achauer, Councilmember - District 2

Shayla Favor, Councilmember - District 7

Melissa Green, Councilmember - District 6

Emmanuel V. Remy, Councilmember - District 4

Christopher L. Wyche, Councilmember - District 1

Consultant Team

Advisory Committee

Eternity Ballour

Barnett Branch Manager, Columbus Metropolitan Library

Quay Barnes

Engagement Chair, Mid-East Area Commission

Vangela Barnes Chair, Greater South East Area Commission

Jennifer Chamberlain Chair, Far East Area Commission

Lee Cole

Executive Director of Community Engagement and Partnerships, Columbus City Schools

Pastor Charlie Davis Chaplain, Lindsay Automotive; Co-Chairman, TURN

Walter Dillard

Assistant Director, Franklin County Economic Development & Planning Department

Brad Draper

Senior Vice President of Operations, Mid-Ohio Food Collective

Kenny Ganter Service Planner, COTA

Joseluis Guajardo

After School Program Manager, Directions for Youth & Families

Ava Johnson

Former Chair, Greater South East Area Commission; Farm Manager, SE Gardens and Urban Farm

Steve Lindsay Vice President, Lindsay Automotive; President, East Columbus Business Association

Drew Merrill GIS Service Planner, COTA

Colin Mills

Barnett Branch Librarian, Columbus Metropolitan Library

Jason Leon Moncrief

After School Program Supervisor, Directions for Youth & Families

Ted Murdaugh

Executive Director, City of Refuge GoodLife Foundation

Shantelle Rogers Community Representative

Felicia Saunders Chair, Mid-East Area Commission

Keithia Toles

Barnett Branch Youth Services Manager, Columbus Metropolitan Library

Nate Toops

Director of Community Engagement and Advocacy, Directions for Youth & Families

Tammy Tucker

Senior Project Manager, Mid-Ohio Food Collective

Message from the Mayor

“The Eastland for Everyone Community Plan will help to ensure that Eastland plays a key role in our collective success.”

Mayor Andrew J. Ginther City of Columbus

This is an exciting time for the City of Columbus and the Eastland community. We are experiencing unprecedented growth, and the EastlandforEveryoneCommunityPlanwill help to ensure that Eastland plays a key role in our collective success.

The EastlandforEveryoneCommunityPlan is a true reflection of the aspirations Eastland residents have for their community. This is thanks to the engagement of over 1,800 community members and stakeholders, who provided their input during public meetings, topic workshops, focus groups, and surveys. I am grateful to the community leaders who championed the need for a plan and have dedicated countless hours to make it a reality.

The 8 Big Ideas in the plan will help to ensure everyone has equitable access to community amenities that support a higher quality of life, as well as opportunities and resources to fulfill their dreams.

As the significant investments that have been made in alignment with the OneLindenand EnvisionHilltopplans illustrate, the Eastlandfor EveryoneCommunityPlanwill be a blueprint for action. Early investments to boost access to post-secondary education and create a hub for community resources are already propelling implementation forward.

It will take all of us to realize the Eastland forEveryoneCommunityPlangoals. Please consider how you can become engaged. By working collectively, Eastland will be a place where everyone thrives and neighbors are connected to one another.

Mayor Andrew J. Ginther City of Columbus

Executive Summary

AN OVERVIEW OF THE EASTLAND FOR EVERYONE PLANNING PROCESS AND OUTCOMES

Over the course of 16 months, the Eastland forEveryoneCommunityPlandirectly involved more than 1,800 neighbors in the creation of a vision for the future of Eastland. An inclusive engagement strategy underpinned this work to ensure this plan was reflective of the Eastland community. An advisory committee comprised of community stakeholders and change-makers led the way, providing guidance, insights, and feedback throughout the process. Outreach was extensive and intentional, focusing on understanding the lived experiences of a diverse set of community members. Focus group meetings, stakeholder conversations, pop-up events, office hours, mailers, and online and digital tools provided numerous ways for the community to engage in the planning process. Three traditional Public Meetings were augmented by five Topic Workshops that brought community members together with City departments and partner organizations to co-create solutions and recommendations. This hands-on and transparent approach to plan creation allowed community voices to directly shape the final plan.

1,810

Neighbors directly involved in the creation of this plan

This robust community involvement was complemented by community analysis and research. This data informed methodology examined the conditions of Eastland today, the systems that have shaped the community, and the challenges that the community faces. When combined with community engagement findings, a more complete understanding of Eastland emerged. The outcome is a plan that both validates today’s lived experiences and points to needed solutions for the future.

EastlandforEveryonecombines extensive community engagement with insightful analysis to create a framework to guide the revitalization and improvement of Eastland. The plan is organized around eight topics that were chosen by the community. For each topic there is a Big Idea that expresses a community-informed desired outcome. To achieve success, there are supporting Objectives and Action Items to provide direction and propose solutions. In addition to capturing the community ideas and aspirations, the plan also clearly illustrates what success can look like if the Action Items are realized. Fortunately, there are five Early Win projects that will start to improve Eastland in the short-term. From the Columbus State Career Development Center, to the Mid-Ohio Food Collective Eastland Prosperity Center and Mid-Ohio Market, to the City of Columbus Recreation and Parks Department’s investment in park space and trails, there are several investments in people and places coming to Eastland. In addition to these near-term improvements, the community also identified 15 Catalytic Opportunities that will further transform and revitalize the Eastland area.

Plan Timeline

EastlandforEveryoneis implementation oriented, setting forth recommendations that are measurable and achievable. For each Big Idea, Objective, and Action Item a timeframe, potential partners, and tracking metrics are identified. This will facilitate communication and collaboration between the City, the community, and partner organizations to achieve success. It will also serve as an accountability tool to ensure that the plan is implemented.

The Eastland community is to be congratulated for coming together to create this plan. The community’s strong interest, involvement, and commitment has set forth a common vision for the future of Eastland. While the work is just beginning, the community now has a framework for success that will create a more welcoming, prosperous and connected Eastland for all.

Eastland for Everyone is a plan that defines the community’s aspirations and creates a blueprint for the stabilization and revitalization of the Eastland area. It is the first step toward creating an inclusive and equitable new chapter for the Eastland area and a bright future for all who live, work, worship, play, and learn here.

1 Plan Overview

Introduction

USHERING IN A BRIGHT NEW CHAPTER FOR THE EASTLAND COMMUNITY

EastlandforEveryoneis a plan that defines the community’s aspirations and creates a blueprint for the stabilization and revitalization of the Eastland area. It is the first step toward creating an inclusive and equitable new chapter for the Eastland area and a bright future for all who live, work, worship, play, and learn here.

This bold vision for Eastland was forged by the nearly two thousand voices that have worked alongside the City of Columbus Department of Neighborhoods and a team of planners, engagement specialists, and economic development strategists. Through more than a year of listening, learning, and deciding together, the community has crafted a plan that establishes eight Big Ideas and the objectives and action items to achieve them. This open, transparent, and inclusive process invited community members to work together with the City, private sector, institutional, and non-profit partners to develop recommendations and create an implementation framework that will guide priorities and serve as an accountability structure.

Coupled with five Early Win projects and fifteen Catalytic Opportunities for the future, Eastland will be revitalized and transformed – bringing opportunity, improvement and reinvestment to all corners of the community.

What is a Community Plan?

A GUIDING DOCUMENT AND ROADMAP TO STABILIZE AND IMPROVE THE EASTLAND AREA

A community plan is a guiding document that is co-created with community members to outline a shared vision for the future, providing a roadmap for the stabilization and improvement of the Eastland area. A plan helps to shape and direct the pattern of growth and development within the planning area. It is a comprehensive document addressing many topics, including housing, transportation, quality of life, parks, development quality, and more.

Plan Building Blocks

The following are essential elements of the EastlandforEveryoneCommunityPlan:

Robust community engagement and visioning process

Establishment of community partnerships to ensure long-term success of the plan outcomes

Comprehensive community profile and understanding of the community systems today

Action items and strategies to address the community’s goals, values, and priorities

Implementation strategy and annual review protocol for the plan

How to Use this Plan

This plan is comprised of five chapters, which are briefly described below:

1 – Plan Overview

This first chapter provides background information, outlines the importance of a community plan, describes the planning process, and establishes essential context for the plan.

2 – Community Profile

The second chapter summarizes key findings from research and analysis conducted during the planning process. The community profile is intended to paint a holistic picture of the Eastland area, its systems, and its people and to identify the major takeaways that this plan should address.

3 – Community Input

This chapter summarizes the wide-reaching and robust community engagement conducted for the planning process. Findings from the various community engagement methods are also included in this chapter.

4 – Big Ideas for Eastland

This chapter puts forth eight Big Ideas for the Eastland area that are supported by recommendations in the form of Objectives and Action Items. These ideas and recommendations are supplemented by case studies, visualizations, best practices, and more.

5 – Implementation

The implementation chapter describes how the plan vision will be realized, understanding that it will require diligence, collaboration, time, and resources. This chapter includes a table of the complete plan recommendations to aid the City and its partners in prioritizing and focusing efforts.

Why Do We Need a Plan?

With the population of the Central Ohio region projected to grow by one million people by 2050, every neighborhood in the city will experience change. Our region’s growth and opportunity, however, are not equitably distributed. Some neighborhoods, like the Eastland area, are in danger of being left behind, not by choice, but due to barriers preventing these areas from flourishing. This is a critical juncture for Eastland’s stabilization and revitalization within the burgeoning Central Ohio region. Now is the time to envision a new future for the Eastland area—one that is equitable and prosperous for everyone.

This plan is an important first step in that process to understand the systems that have created the state of the Eastland area today, to develop a community-led vision for the future, and to propose interventions to create the type of change needed to achieve that vision. The following are some of the key factors that spurred the City to initiate this planning process.

Accelerating disinvestment and decline

Disinvestment has been a decades long challenge in many areas of the U.S. and can be seen across the Eastland area, but most notably in the closing of the Kroger grocery store and the community’s primary anchor, Eastland Mall. Visible disinvestment can also be seen in the quality of the built environment, which is saddled with vacant and underutilized properties. Due to these and other market factors, the area has seen very little new development or new housing over the last decade.

Growing and dynamic city and region

The City of Columbus and the Central Ohio region are rapidly growing and changing, but the positive outcomes of this growth have yet to be seen or felt in the Eastland area. By 2040, Franklin County is expected to have nearly 220,000 new residents, presenting an opportunity to capture some of that growth potential. It is also critical, however, to protect and improve the quality of life of existing residents while welcoming new ones.

Physically divided community

The Eastland area was developed in conjunction with the expansion of the interstate highway system. As such, I-70 and I-270 have played a large role in Eastland’s evolution. While large commercial and industrial users who desire easy highway access have chosen to locate in the community, the highways, along with wide roadways and an active railroad, create physical and psychological barriers, disconnecting Eastland residents from the rest of the city.

Lack of housing choice and aging housing stock

Eastland is comprised of two established neighborhoods—Glenbrook and Walnut Heights— and most of the housing in those neighborhoods were built between 1960 and 1979, and are starting to show signs of aging. Home values and rents have been rising more rapidly than in the rest of the city: for-sale costs have grown by 78% since 2018, and eviction rates exceed 16.6% (almost double that of Franklin County).

Changing demographics

The population of the Eastland area has declined slightly over the last 50 years and, along with that, demographic shifts have taken place. Today, Eastland is home to a much more culturally and racially diverse population compared to several decades ago—with 68% of Eastland’s population today identifying as Black, and New Americans making up 11% of the Eastland community. The community also faces unique challenges among its residents, especially when it comes to accessing essential goods and services. The area ranks ninth in infant mortality among ZIP codes in Columbus, and a large portion of residents are without health insurance.

Source: Redfin

Planning Process Overview

CREATING A COMMUNITY-FORWARD AND DATA-DRIVEN PLAN FOR THE EASTLAND AREA

The 16-month process to craft the EastlandforEveryoneCommunityPlanwas spearheaded by the City of Columbus Department of Neighborhoods, who engaged a Planning Team of consultants to facilitate and create the plan. The Planning Team was led by community planning and urban design firm, MKSK, and included the Neighborhood Design Center, Cohear, and Development Strategies. The planning process was divided into four phases: (1) project launch and understanding, (2) engagement and partnership, (3) plan framework, and (4) plan creation. The planning process kicked off in August 2023 and was completed in November 2024.

The process was driven by a robust outreach and engagement process through which nearly 2,000 community members shared their ideas and feedback. A 21-person advisory committee was formed to oversee and provide direction throughout the planning process. Consistent and sustained engagement of the Eastland community was achieved through various methods to meet people in the ways that work best for them, including in-person meetings and workshops, online surveys, focus group discussions, attendance at pop-up events, staffing of community plan “office hours,” and more.

The Planning Team combined the ideas and feedback from community engagement with detailed research and analysis to develop a community-forward and data-driven plan. Analysis included a comprehensive review of the existing conditions and trends relevant to the Eastland area. This included an evaluation of demographics, household, development, and market trends; examination of other plans and policies that might impact the community; mapping of spatial conditions and trends; land use analysis; and policy and best practice research. The plan compiles these layers of analysis with the engagement findings to present detailed recommendations that are visionary, attainable, and responsive to the current needs of the Eastland community.

PLAN TIMELINE

Phase 1

Project Launch & Understanding

August - October ‘23

Meeting #1

Phase 2

Engagement & Partnership

October ‘23 - April ‘24

Phase 3

Plan Framework

April - September ‘24

Workshops

Phase 4

Plan Creation

September - December ‘24

Meeting #3

Phase 5

Plan Implementation

Ongoing

Public

Topic

Public Meeting #2

Public

Plan Area Overview

SPANNING SIX SQUARE MILES OF SOUTHEAST COLUMBUS, THE EASTLAND AREA IS CLOSE TO MANY PROMINENT DESTINATIONS AND NEIGHBORHOODS

The Eastland area is composed of a 6-square mile area in southeast Columbus. The geographic boundaries include areas west and east of Noe Bixby Road. The area west of Noe Bixby is bounded by I-70 to the north, portions of James Road and US-33 to the west, and Refugee Road corridor from US-33 to Noe Bixby Road to the south. The area east of Noe Bixby Road includes a portion of I-70 and the railroad tracks to the north, Brice Road to the east, and Chatterton Road to the south. For the purposes of this project, the boundaries described will be referred to as the Eastland area.

A community plan relies on a defined boundary to establish the geographic unit for analysis and for recommended interventions. It is important to note, however, that a good plan considers context beyond the boundary. In other words, the plan area boundary is not steadfast, but “permeable.”

Another important clarification is that the boundary for a community plan does not necessarily follow other political boundaries. In this case, the Eastland area comprises three Columbus Area Commissions: Mid-East, Greater South East, and Far East Area Commissions. These Area Commissions are resident-based recommending bodies to review certain projects and serve as a voice for the community. Representatives from all three Area Commissions were heavily involved in the creation of this plan. The Eastland area includes the complete or portions of the following census tracts: 93.25, 93.26, 93.37, 93.72, 93.73, 94.98, and 94.20.

Three Creeks Metro Park

Rickenbacker Airport

EASTNEAR SIDE

BLACKLICK ESTATES

Eastland Plan Area

The diagram above depicts the Eastland plan area, which spans nearly 3% of the City of Columbus. The Eastland area is located close to significant Central Ohio destinations and neighborhoods, including Three Creeks Metro Park, Berwick, Columbus’ South Side, Rickenbacker Airport, and John Glenn International Airport (CMH). The neighboring jurisdictions of Bexley, Whitehall, and Reynoldsburg are also nearby. Within the plan area, South Hamilton Road and Refugee Road bisect the community and, at their crossroads, the former Eastland Mall sits as a now derelict anchor for the community. Residential neighborhoods are located east and west of the South Hamilton Road corridor, in which schools and parks can be found tucked within housing developments.

Nafzger Park Maybury Park

Walnut View Park

Fort Rapids Water Park

H.S.

Eastland At-a-Glance

The following are some of the major findings from the research and analysis conducted during this planning process, painting a picture of the Eastland area today and some of its opportunities and challenges. More findings and information about the Eastland area can be found in Chapter 2: Community Profile, starting on page 24.

20,400 People call the Eastland area “home”

13%

Eastland households that don’t own a personal vehicle

11%

Eastland’s population of New Americans

61% Households with children are headed by a woman

13

Schools located in the Eastland area, including three Columbus City Schools

5,923

Jobs located in the Eastland area

< 200 Residents who live and work in the Eastland area

19%

Lower median household income compared to the City of Columbus

10%

Land classified as green space in the Eastland area

Image Credit: Kaleb Duarte

Community Profile 2

A Closer Look at Eastland

UNDERSTANDING THE EASTLAND AREA, ITS SYSTEMS, AND ITS PEOPLE

One of the first steps in a planning process is to establish an understanding of the conditions in the community today, the systems that have shaped the community, and the challenges and opportunities the community faces. This understanding is captured in the following profile of the Eastland area and these findings were shared at engagement meetings throughout the process. This community profile is comprehensive in scope, covering several topics, but is not all encompassing. The research, trends, and analysis findings that follow paint a partial picture of the Eastland area of the past and present to create a plan that is data-informed. When this data merges with the community’s lived experiences, a more complete understanding starts to be uncovered. A summary of the outreach and engagement conducted to understand the community’s lived experiences can be found in Chapter 3, starting on page 72.

Additional research, analysis findings, and community input findings are also woven into this plan’s Big Ideas for Eastland, found in Chapter 4 starting on page 102.

History of the Eastland Area

Compared to other neighborhoods of Columbus, which emerged in the 19th century, Eastland is still relatively “young.” The annexation of the Eastland area into the City of Columbus occurred between 1956 and 2004, with most of that expansion happening in the post-war era between 1956 and 1970. This period of American urbanization was centered around suburban expansion and the proliferation of the automobile, as evidenced by the construction of the interstate system in Central Ohio during that era, including I-70 which began construction in 1962. The scars of this era of city planning are still felt across our city today, and the Eastland area is no different.

Pre-19th century

Prior to European settling, this area was the traditional homeland of the Delaware, Shawnee, Wyandot, and other Indigenous Nations and Peoples

1801

U.S. Congress passes an act establishing the Refugee Tract, encompassing over 58,000 acres in parts of what is now Franklin, Fairfield, Licking, and Perry Counties to compensate Canadian soldiers who aided America during the Revolutionary War

1810

Madison and Truro Townships are established

1911 - 20

Toledo & Ohio Central Railroad operated in the area, with the Truro Tower and Block Station located near what is now Groves Road

1945

Grain terminal constructed near I-70/S. Hamilton Road known as the Farm Bureau grain terminal at the time

1956 - 78

The majority of the Eastland plan area is annexed into the City of Columbus

1968

Eastland Mall opens

1974

Eastland/Brice Information Profile is published by the City of Columbus

1985

The 100th Odd Lots store opens in the Berwick Plaza Shopping Center

2015

Eastland Mall sold for $9.7 million to Eastland Holdings LLC

2022

After more than 50 years in operation, Eastland Mall closes

2023 - 24

Eastland Community Plan process takes place

people who call the Eastland area “home”

11% of Eastland’s population identifies as New American

Demographic Snapshot

The Eastland community has a unique history that is reflected in its built environment as well as its demographics. The development of the area was heavily influenced by the expansion of the state and national highway system, beginning with the construction of US Route 33 in the 1930s and ending with the extension of State Route 104 to the community in the 1980s. Highway expansion into the area heavily influenced its land use patterns that persist to this day through auto-oriented retail spaces and a large amount of single-family housing. Perhaps the strongest example of this form of development is the now closed Eastland Mall, which opened in 1968 and closed at the end of 2022. The opening and closing of the mall illustrates the growth that the community experienced at the time of highway expansion, followed by economic and population decline in the area starting in the 1980s.

Today, Eastland is a different community than the one that was once seen as a regional hub in the Columbus area.

The population growth and development patterns of Eastland differ from Columbus in a number of ways. The auto-centric land use pattern of Eastland has led to a large amount of the area being devoted to single-family housing and parking, which translates into a lower population density, 18% less dense than the city average. Since 2010, the population in Eastland rose by 9%, meaning that the area will become denser as more residents call the area home. The city is outpacing population growth in Eastland, with a growth rate of 17% for the same period.

Population by Race

Population trends in Eastland align with the city, as both are experiencing a drop in white and Pacific Islander residents and a gain in all other populations. For Eastland, the drop in the white population is more pronounced, at a 27% drop since 2010. The largest gain in the Eastland population during this period was a 72% increase among residents who do not identify as white or Black. While around half of the Columbus population is white, this population only makes up 18% of Eastland residents. Eastland has a much higher percentage of Black or African American residents, nearly seven out of ten residents, compared to three out of ten for Columbus.

Eastland Mall

Population by Age & Gender

Eastland also differs from overall city population trends in their age distribution. The median age in Eastland is similar to that of Columbus, but there is a three-year difference in median ages between male residents (32.4) and female residents (35.5). Columbus does not have this same gap in median age between genders, with a difference of only 0.9 years.

The Eastland community is also more likely to be female, at 53% of the population compared to 47% for males. This gap does not exist for the city overall, where male and female populations are nearly an even split. This divide is more evident for the adult population, where female residents make up 55% of the population above the age of 19, compared to 45% for male residents. There is only a 2% difference between male and female residents under the age of 19. The only comparable gender gap by age in Columbus is for populations over 65 years old, where female residents make up 12% more of the population, which is comparable for this same age range in Eastland.

There are more children living in Eastland than in the city, at 30% of the total population. Eastland also has less residents aged 20 to 34 years old than the city, at 21% and 29% respectively. Overall, Eastland is a community that has a higher number of female residents and children than the city. The lower number of residents between the age of 20 to 34 indicates that young adults are more likely to choose other parts of the city to call home than the study area.

Percentage of New American Population in Eastland Area

Africa

Eastland: 53%

Columbus: 34%

Americas

Eastland: 35%

Columbus: 21%

Asia

Eastland: 10%

Columbus: 38%

Europe

Eastland: 3%

Columbus: 7%

New American Population

The identity of Eastland is greatly impacted by the prevalence of the New American community. Many New Americans have called Eastland home and are continuing to move to the area, increasing their share of the total population over time. Their influence can be seen throughout the community; in cultural centers, the educational system, and the types of businesses that serve the community. The area has a similar proportion of New Americans as Columbus, 11% and 13% of the total populations, respectively.

While the amount of New Americans in Eastland closely reflects the share of the total population for the city, the countries of origin vary greatly. The majority of New Americans in Eastland originate from Africa (53%), and regionally 36% of the total New American population originates from Western Africa. The next highest share of New American residents originates from the Americas (35%), with 26% of the total population from Central America. The New American population for the city tends to be less concentrated in these two continents, with a significantly higher portion of residents from Europe and Asia. The Eastland population is becoming increasingly diverse, and with diversity comes new perspectives, experiences, and traditions that will continue to mold the identity of the area in the coming years. This diversity is a major strong point of the community and distinguishes the area from the rest of Columbus.

Western Africa Uncategorized Africa

Middle Africa

Eastern Africa

Central America

Caribbean

South Eastern Asia

Eastern Asia

Eastern Europe

Western Europe

Southern Africa

South America

Northern America

Western Asia

South Central Asia

Northern Europe

Southern Europe

Source: Census ACS (2018–2022)

Source: Census ACS (2018–2022)

Household and Family Demographics

Eastland has a slightly larger average household size (2.43) compared to Columbus (2.30), while median ages are nearly the same, at 34 years old. Additionally, 61% of Eastland families with children also have a female householder with no husband present, much higher than Columbus’ 37%. Only 33% of families with children are married couples.

Family structures can have an impact on a household’s financial situation, academic performance, mental health, and other factors. A family household headed by a single mother with several children may struggle to remain financially stable, which in turn could impact their ability to maintain housing, or increase mental health issues for family members, or even reduce a child’s academic performance. A married couple, on the other hand, can potentially earn two incomes to better support their needs, and two heads of a household can be more flexible in providing childcare or assisting their children with schooling. Essentially, family structures impact financial situations, which impact a variety of other factors.

1,879

3,066 family households with children

1,001 187

Source: Census ACS (2021)

Median Income by Household Characteristics

Eastland households generally earn less than the city average. The area lacks high-paying jobs and the recent shuttering of the Eastland Mall, Fort Rapids Waterpark, and Kroger were major blows for employment in the area. Residents generally need to travel outside of the study area to reach employment opportunities. While Eastland is not the lowest income community in Columbus, the median household income is 19% lower than the city’s median household income. Married households with children earn the most in Eastland, being 29% higher than the median income. Meanwhile, male households with children are the lowest income, at 38% lower than the median. Income disparities persist not just by family structures, but also by race and tenure. White households earn a 33% higher income than Black or African American households. The largest income disparity exists between renters and homeowners, with homeowner incomes 50% higher than renter incomes.

Education System

A strong education system is vital to supporting a healthy community. Strong academic performance is achieved by more than just strengthening our school system. Education does not end in a school building; stable family structures, economic opportunity, and mental health support are all key to ensuring that students are able to get the most out of their education. Families with high incomes can afford things like tutoring and extracurricular activities, but higher incomes also ensure that families are able to weather unforeseen events that could impact a student’s academic performance.

The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacted vulnerable populations, and its impacts are particularly apparent in the school system. The Columbus City School District saw a drop in performance district-wide because of the pandemic and the majority of schools are still recovering today, including those in Eastland. Schools initially went fully remote when nationwide lockdowns were enforced in March 2020. While Columbus City Schools provided Chromebooks to students, some households do not have internet access. Households were also able to enroll in the federally funded Affordable Connectivity Program starting in December 2020, which provided $30 to $75 off of their internet bill, but these dollars became available well into the pandemic and many households may have unfortunately been unaware of the resource. For Eastland, 10% of households do not have internet access, higher than Columbus’ 7%.

Additionally, lower income workers were more likely to have to continue to work in-person during lockdown conditions, while higher income workers were more likely to work remotely. Besides the additional health risks, this also posed a childcare issue for households. Schools are a place of education, but they are also a place where a student can be fed and watched by responsible adults while parents are working. When students went fully remote during the pandemic, the parents who were least likely to afford childcare were also the least likely to be working from home and able to watch their children while they attended school remotely.

3

Columbus City Schools located in the Eastland area

10

Community schools located in the Eastland area

School Network

Eastland is home to three Columbus City Schools and 10 community schools. The variety of schools available to Eastland children creates ample opportunity for families to choose a school that best fits their needs. Additionally, Columbus residents have the option to choose from any public school within the school district through the School Choice lottery. While Eastland households have a variety of community schools to choose from, access may not be the same for all. Households can make a request for transportation to the Columbus City School District if they wish to attend a community school but do not have reliable transportation. While households may make this request, Columbus City Schools may also deem a community school student impractical to transport based on a variety of factors. For a community that primarily relies on auto-centric infrastructure, such as Eastland, traveling by car is almost always the most practical way to get around. Car access is not evenly distributed amongst Eastland households. While Columbus City Schools supports community school students through transportation services, households may be uncertain if their children will be denied service due to impracticality, which could cause serious issues if they do not have reliable transportation. Additionally, filling out a form to request transportation is an extra barrier in the enrollment process.

School and Student Performance

Columbus City Schools

Columbus City Schools (CCS) students are generally funneled through an area feeder pattern. The feeder pattern groups elementary schools based on their geographic proximity to their nearest public middle school, which further groups the middle schools to their nearest high school. The result is a network of schools that transitions students from smaller local schools into larger centrally located schools as they progress through their education. The Eastland community is part of a feeder pattern that is composed of three elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. Of these schools, Easthaven Elementary School, Liberty Elementary School, and Independence High School are within the Eastland study area boundary.

The State of Ohio assesses school performance for all registered schools within the state through their Ohio School Report Cards. The five CCS schools in Eastland’s school feeder pattern generally did not perform as well as district-wide averages, with some exceptions. In terms of attendance, elementary schools in Eastland generally performed stronger than district-wide, with higher attendance and lower chronic absenteeism. Outside of elementary school attendance, Eastland schools unfortunately underperformed in all other metrics that were assessed for this plan. While Eastland struggles to outperform district-wide averages, it is important to recognize that Eastland families are more likely to live in conditions that negatively impact school performance. Indicators like lower incomes, family structure, and access to the internet impact a family’s ability to support their children in their education.

Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic greatly impacted school performance nationwide and disproportionately impacted low-income and minority communities— two populations that make up a significant portion of Eastland households.

Community Schools

The Eastland area is home to 10 different community schools. Referred to as charter schools outside of Ohio, community schools are schools that are outside of the traditional public school system that receive state and federal funding, serving kindergarten through 12th grade. They are tuition free for Ohio students and must be public, nonprofit, and nonreligious to qualify as a community school. These schools provide additional options for families who wish for their children to receive alternative learning opportunities outside of a traditional public school. The community schools in Eastland vary both in size and in the grades served. Two community schools are also dropout prevention and recovery schools, which give struggling students the opportunity to work towards graduation. No community school is exclusively K-3, with all at least serving up to 8th grade. The area community schools vary greatly in their performance, outperforming and underperforming district-wide averages in all metrics.

Easthaven Liberty Oakmont

A+ Arts Academy

Eastland Performance Academy

Millennium Community School

Zenith Academy East

COLUMBUS CITY SCHOOLS

Yorktown Independence

COMMUNITY SCHOOLS

Columbus Arts & Technology Academy

Eastland Preparatory Academy

Focus Learning Academy East ELEMENTARY

Arts & College Preparatory Academy

Zenith High School

Capital City Career Prep High School

COLUMBUS CITY SCHOOLS (CCS)

COMMUNITY SCHOOLS

Higher Education

An individual’s education level is often closely correlated to their income level. This income transfers into local spending at area businesses and also raises the tax base for an area, providing additional benefits not just for the individual, but also the community as a whole.

Eastland residents differ from the city in their educational attainment. The largest groups of residents by education are those with a high school diploma or equivalent (37%) and those that have attended some college/received an associate degree (31%). Columbus residents are much more likely to have received a bachelor’s or graduate degree (42%) compared to Eastland residents (19%).

Eastland residents’ educational attainment translates directly into the types of jobs that they are qualified to perform. Eastland residents are more likely to work in blue-collar positions and less likely to work in white-collar positions than the average Columbus resident. Eastland residents are also slightly more likely to work in a service position, but the disparity between the Columbus average is much less pronounced than for whiteand blue-collar professions.

Source: Esri Business Analyst

Health, Safety, & Well-being

Health Insurance

Health insurance is particularly important for residents to maintain healthy lifestyles. Health insurance gives residents options for their potential healthcare provider, with uninsured residents having the least number of options. It also determines how much a patient will pay out of pocket, meaning that residents without health insurance are likely to pay more out-of-pocket than those with health insurance.

Because of the high cost and limited options associated with a lack of health insurance, residents may be less likely to seek out the medical attention that they or their family may need, which can further exacerbate the health issue they are experiencing. Eastland residents are less likely to have insurance than the Franklin County average, at 12% and 9%, respectively. The number of uninsured residents varies by Eastland census tract from 5% to 18%. The rate of uninsured residents in Eastland is highest at the census tracts adjacent to South Hamilton Road, while the rate lowers for the areas further from South Hamilton Road, towards Glenbrook and Walnut Heights.

Eastland is home to two primary care centers—Nationwide Children’s Eastland Primary Care Center and All Seasons Medical Clinic and Urgent Care—as well as a medical center, Eastland Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, which provides opportunities for residents to have their mental and physical health assessed.

Food Access

Food access is not evenly distributed across cities. In the past, smaller grocers could be found throughout most communities and residents would make smaller trips, sometimes stopping at multiple stores to access different types of food items. Supermarkets eventually replaced most of these smaller grocers, offering customers a one-stop destination to meet all their food needs.

While residents no longer needed to rely on multiple stores to meet their daily needs, this came at the price of having less stores to choose from. As supermarkets took up a larger and larger market share and acquired competitors, companies began to consolidate locations. This consolidation is often at the expense of marginalized communities, as grocery stores chosen for closure tend to be in lower income and higher crime areas. The end result is an uneven distribution of food access across a city, where grocery stores are increasingly centralized in more well-off communities and absent in lower-income communities.

This pattern exacerbates an over-reliance on cars as residents are not only unable to walk to a local grocer, but also must drive even further to get groceries if they live in a community where a supermarket branch closed. Lower income families are especially impacted by this pattern not only because they are less likely to own a reliable vehicle, but also because they are less likely to be able to afford gas and car insurance, which are dollars that could be spent towards their groceries.

Households in Eastland generally have low access to grocery stores. Most are not within a half-mile distance from a full-service grocery, besides those located around Saraga International Grocery. While a larger portion of households are within one mile of a grocery store, the single-family communities of Glenbrook and Walnut Heights are still low access. Significant changes to Eastland’s foodscape include the opening of Saraga International Grocery in December 2021 and the closing of a local Kroger branch in May 2022. While the closure of the neighborhood Kroger is a loss for the community, Saraga is a welcome addition that serves the international community of Eastland well.

Average Access Tract (within one mile or less) Low Access Tract (over one mile)

Saraga (Open Dec-21)

Kroger (Closed May-22)

Data Source: USDA

Eastland households are more likely to receive SNAP benefits than Franklin County households, with 23% receiving the aid. The rate of enrollment in SNAP benefits varies between 10% to 33% for the community, with census tracts covering the Glenbrook and Walnut Heights communities the least likely to utilize the benefits. The Mid-Ohio Food Collective (MOFC) works to provide free and healthy foods to residents in the Columbus area. Eastland residents generally travel six or more miles to reach emergency food services offered by the organization. The Mid-Ohio Food Collective is actively working to address this gap by opening the Eastland Prosperity Center at the site of the former Kroger in early 2026 (see page 160). While renovations are underway, the spaces is being used as a pop-up market where residents can get free healthy foods, similar to what will be offered when the center is completed.

Environmental & Mental Health

Health encompasses more than just physical health. Access to health insurance and adequate medical facilities are certainly important for addressing health concerns and maintaining proper physical health, but an individual’s overall health is also impacted by things like their mental health, social networks, and environmental factors.

Mount Carmel Behavioral Health, located in Eastland, provides inpatient care to adult men and women who are experiencing mental or behavioral health issues.

Many Eastland residents are New Americans, and this is apparent in the institutions found throughout the area. A network of over two dozen religious institutions, cultural centers, and other culturally specific organizations exist throughout the community, providing an opportunity for new residents to connect with other residents and build relationships that may otherwise be difficult to form. This network supports an individual’s social life and in turn their mental health. Having a familiar face to turn to is particularly important for New Americans who may need support in navigating unfamiliar systems.

Households Receiving SNAP by Census Tract

Source: U.S. Census ACS (2021)

24% of Eastland households receive SNAP benefits

Infant Mortality

Poor environmental health and low economic opportunity that vulnerable communities face are contributing factors to infant health outcomes. Unfortunately, these communities often perform the poorest when assessing health outcomes, and infant health is no different. CelebrateOne is dedicated initiative committed to addressing and reducing infant mortality throughout Columbus. They collaborate with local organizations, healthcare providers, and community members, offering a variety of programs meant to address and reduce the conditions that lead to poor infant health and track different metrics related to infant health. The Eastland community saw worse infant health outcomes than the Franklin County average across all metrics assessed. Of note is the percentage of low birth weights for the community, with Eastland having the fifth highest rate of all Franklin County ZIP codes. Eastland also has the third highest rate of infant deaths due to prematurity amongst Franklin County ZIP codes. Of the three medical facilities found throughout Eastland, none offer full-service maternity care. Eastland Primary Care Center does offer new baby checkups as well as infant care, and All Seasons Medical Clinic and Urgent Care provides birth control services.

Crime

Crime across Columbus fell due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the drop, crime quickly began to rise between 2020 to 2021 and generally returned or exceeded pre-pandemic crime levels. Eastland has a higher crime rate than most other communities when assessing ZIP code level crime activity, being the fifth highest ZIP code for reported crime. While Eastland has one of the highest crime rates in the city, it is rising at a slower rate than the city average. The crime rate can be addressed through expanding access to mental health services, strengthening the job market, and improving the school system, all things that this plan aims to accomplish.

Crime Hotspots

16.3 crimes per 1,000 residents

Source: Columbus Division of Police

Crime in Eastland is the highest at properties near the intersection of Refugee Road and South Hamilton Road. Crime is generally concentrated near major roadways and away from parks and neighborhoods, such as Walnut Heights. The most prevalent crime types in Eastland are generally the same as for the city, with motor vehicle theft being the most prevalent property crime and domestic violence the most prevalent violent crime. Property crime makes up a slightly larger percentage of all crime than violent crime, but both are steadily rising.

Total Crime Heatmap (2018–2022)

Courtright Market

Former Kroger

Hartford on the Lake

The Commons at Water’s Edge

Amberly Square Apts, Sunoco, and Marathon

Crime Index Comparison

The Crime Index provides an assessment of the relative risk of seven major crime types: murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft. It is modeled using data from the FBI Uniform Crime Report and demographic data from the U.S. Census and Applied Geographic Solutions (AGS). Eastland has a crime index of 155, higher than Columbus’ index of 136.

911 Calls

The Columbus Department of Public Safety keeps track of the location and types of 911 calls that they receive throughout the city. This information helps to inform decisions on the types of assistance that communities need in order to combat the prevalent crime types that they face. In Eastland, 911 calls fell substantially in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but are now slowly on the rise. A large portion of 911 calls are concentrated around the former Kroger site on Refugee Road.

Housing

Housing is in the national news more than ever because of rapid changes in overall affordability that have impacted the ability to find suitable housing. Rising interest rates, increased construction costs, and an overall shortage of units are a few reasons housing affordability is a major concern nationally and locally.

Construction Activity

While Columbus’ growth over the last decade has generated substantial new housing development and redevelopment across the city, not all neighborhoods have had the same level of housing activity. Limited new single-family construction has occurred in Eastland since 2010—only 1.2% of the more than 10,000 units added to the Columbus market from 2010 to 2023 were in Eastland, while Eastland has more than 2% of the city’s population. On the multi-family side, Columbus added more than 31,000 multi-family units between 2010 and 2023, and only 145 units (0.5%) were built in Eastland.

Home Prices and Rents

The limited construction activity in the neighborhood has contributed to rising home prices and rents in recent years. Sales prices increased by 113% and rents increased by 55% from 2010 to now (compared to 119% and 45% in the city, respectively). Even with these significant increases, average home prices in Eastland ($191,000) remain relatively affordable compared to the city ($243,000).

Source: Zillow

Source: Zillow (2023)

Source: CoStar (2023)

Housing Stock

Eastland’s housing stock is evenly split between single-family (detached and attached) housing (51%) and multi-family housing (49%). Nearly 77% of the existing housing units in the study area were developed between 1950 and 1990— a significantly higher share when compared to the city (49%). The lack of new construction and aging housing stock present challenges related to the condition of existing housing in Eastland. This impacts the overall marketability of housing in the neighborhood and the housing choices that current and potential new residents have.

Most residential parcels in the plan area have a condition rating of “average.” While this indicates a relatively stable housing stock, there are areas where housing conditions are becoming more of a challenge.

It is vital to align policies and supports that help with home repair, weatherization, and other upgrades that prevent homes from falling into disrepair while improving their marketability.

Overall, there are several housing opportunities in Eastland. Most of the existing housing stock, especially single-family homes, are wellmaintained and remain a marketable option for attainable starter homes, compared to new construction. Population growth and low supply, while creating affordability challenges, indicate strong demand for more housing. There is an opportunity to diversify the types of housing in the neighborhood so that existing and current residents have more choices. There is also an opportunity to invest in the current housing stock so that conditions are better for residents, as well as to implement programs that enhance the marketability of the older, smaller homes.

49% of existing housing units in Columbus and

77% of existing housing units in the plan area were built between 1950 and 1989

Source: Esri (2023), ACS (2021)

Age of Housing Stock

60% of the existing housing supply in the plan area was built within 20 years

Eastland Columbus

Affordability

Half of the households in Eastland can only afford the median home value in Eastland ($191,000) if they are cost-burdened (paying over 30% of income toward housing costs); consequently, Eastland residents face a lack of housing choices, particularly those closer to jobs or desired amenities.

Nearly 20% of renter households and 9% of owner households in Eastland are severely cost-burdened (paying over 50% of income toward housing costs).

When a household is costburdened, they have less disposable income and often prioritize paying for housing over other basic needs, such as healthcare, education, transportation, and access to healthy nutrition. Cost-burdened households are impacted disproportionately by housing instability and face a higher risk of eviction and homelessness. Preserving existing quality affordable housing options and supporting new affordable housing and mixed-income developments—while also working to connect residents with good-paying jobs—are key to reducing housing cost burden.

20% of all renter households in the plan area are extremely cost-burdened (>50% of income toward housing), similar to the city

Key Takeaways

Eastland is well-positioned to capture more of Columbus’ housing growth over the next few decades than in the past. It has developable infill land within established neighborhoods and substantial mixed-use redevelopment potential along South Hamilton Road and Refugee Road. There is also a significant opportunity to align various housing resources with neighborhood needs to improve the condition of the existing housing stock and preserve affordable options This would allow new market-rate housing to be added to the market, while expanding the availability and range of options for more affordable housing types.

As highlighted in the EastlandNeighborhoodHousingand RetailTechnicalStudy , demand projections indicate a need for approximately 650 to 700 new housing units over the next decade if conditions remain the same. This number could increase significantly— doubling or tripling—if resources are aligned to support new development along the corridors, complementary infill in the neighborhoods, and the stabilization and improvement of the existing housing stock.

Housing Cost Burden

City of Columbus

City of Columbus

Source: Esri, ACS

Economy

Jobs

Columbus is among the fastest-growing cities in the nation, having expanded dramatically in recent years. Unlike its Midwest peers, Columbus continuously grew during the latter half of the 20th century, owing in part to its economic stability and major anchor institutions that mitigated the impacts of deindustrialization. The city added approximately 73,000 jobs from 2010 to 2020, increasing total employment by 17%.

Job growth is expected to continue over the next few years, and according to the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services, Central Ohio is projected to add more than

Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2023)

100,000 new jobs from 2020 to 2030. In contrast, while the number of jobs in the city increased substantially, Eastland lost around 1,600 jobs from 2010 to 2020. In 2023, Eastland’s unemployment rate was 4.8%.

Most of this job loss was a direct result of the decline of the Eastland Mall, which closed formally in late 2022. Specifically, the accommodation and food services and retail trade sectors saw significant job declines. However, despite the net decrease, there has been an increase in construction and manufacturing jobs in Eastland, which generally pay higher wages.

-1,630

Decrease in jobs in Eastland Plan Area

+72,900

Increase in jobs in City of Columbus

Employment Change (2010–2020)

While the shifts in jobs show an increase in higher-paying opportunities within the neighborhood, the overall decrease in jobs indicates a need to improve access to jobs within the neighborhood. Mapping the jobs proximity index, it becomes evident that Eastland lacks good access to jobs in the region. As shown in the graphic, nearly 98% of residents commute outside the plan area for work. Additionally, 13% of the households in Eastland do not have a car, compared to 8% in the city. With more residents relying on public transportation for commuting, access to a well-connected transit network is critical to providing access to quality jobs in the region.

Jobs Proximity Index

The Jobs Proximity Index is a census block group-level index of neighborhood accessibility to jobs. It quantifies accessibility of a residential neighborhood as a function of its distance to all job locations within a metropolitan statistical area, with distance to larger employment centers weighted more heavily. The higher the index value, the better the access to employment opportunities for residents in a neighborhood.

Source: HUD (2023)

Job Sector Breakdown

Retail

Opened in 1968, the Eastland Mall contained 56 retailers across more than one million square feet. The mall was intended as a regional retail center, designed to serve the growing eastern Columbus retail market, and made possible by widespread adoption of personal vehicles that allowed residents to travel longer distances. Completion of the mall catalyzed surrounding suburban development and created a new community that attracted middle class households from the city’s urban core. At its peak, the Eastland Mall acted as a destination for daily shopping, entertainment, and public gathering.

But today, renewed interest in urban living sees shoppers’ increasingly seeking out the timeless qualities of accessibility, walkability, and unique experiences that were commonly found in the main street environments of a century ago. These trends have been brewing over recent decades as the late-1990s saw construction of Easton Town Center, which was designed to recreate the experience of a walkable main street. It quickly captured the regional demand once shared among Eastland and its peers, Northland and Westland Malls.

As Columbus grows, Eastland has an opportunity to reinvent its retail in a way that better serves community needs and can sustain success in the coming decades.

Retail Supply

Eastland contains far more retail space than residents can reasonably support. The plan area contains approximately 2.5 million square feet of retail, excluding the vacant Eastland Mall, while residents can support around 800,000 to 1.1 million square feet. This oversupply devalues existing retail space, resulting in weak market performance and low rents. Eastland has a retail market rent of $5 per square feet, which is only a fraction of the citywide average ($13 per square feet).

The low rents of the Eastland shopping centers impact marketability, including their ability to attract desired tenants and to compete with comparatively newer, higher-end, and amenitized centers outside of the community. Given the declining rent rates, the aging retail space cannot be adequately maintained, resulting in poor conditions in many shopping centers along South Hamilton and Refugee Roads.

Source:Columbus Metropolitan Library

As shown in the graphic, the majority of the city’s retail space is contained within the “maintaining” and “emerging” categories. In contrast, the vast majority of retail space within Eastland falls under the “struggling” category and needs to sustain sufficiently high rents to fall under “emerging” or “flourishing.” Therefore, there is a need for significant investment and redevelopment of Eastland’s commercial stock so that it can meaningfully compete with retail centers across the city.

Retail Rent Comparison Over Time

Over the last decade, Eastland’s lowest retail rent was recorded in 2022

Citywide, the 2022 average rent was still 36% higher than the lowest recorded rent (2014)

Source: CoStar (2023), Columbus Post-Dispatch (2022)

Retail Rent Rates

Share of Eastland residents that visited in 2023

Source: Placer.ai (2023, Esri (2023), 1Data for Saraga not readily available from Placer.ai. Figure estimated based on total visitation to shopping center and surrounding retailers

Demand for Daily Needs

Despite the oversupply of retail, there is significant unmet demand for daily needs like pharmacy and grocery in Eastland, requiring residents to leave the plan area to meet these needs and resulting in retail leakage. Foot traffic data sourced from Placer.ai shows that residents generally travel north, south, or immediately east of the plan area to shop for groceries, with the most heavily utilized Kroger and Giant Eagle located along Gender Road and South Hamilton Road, respectively. On the other hand, Saraga International Supermarket, located in the center of the plan area, while being a full-service grocery store, gets a lower visitation from the plan area residents, indicating a preference for the familiarity of national brands, like Kroger, over the convenience of the lesserknown retailer.

Neighborhood and Community-Serving Retail

While lacking in the plan area, many neighborhood and community services, including grocery stores, are well-supplied right outside. Eastland residents can support additional grocery stores and pharmacies, as well as other daily retail needs. However, many of these retailers, while looking at a broader market area, consider stores that are located outside of Eastland. Therefore, recruiting a community-serving retailer like a neighborhood grocery store is the community’s most significant opportunity and its greatest challenge.

A more marketable retail environment with a range of shopping center types that more closely resemble the distribution citywide would be necessary to attract desired tenants like grocery stores. That being said, increasing rents runs the risk of displacing small businesses; hence, small businesses in the community should be preserved in low-cost and high-quality space, which could be achieved through a novel subsidy program in conjunction with existing economic development tools.

Key Takeaway

Although conditions are challenged, the retail environment in Eastland is primed for redevelopment, owing to the area’s cluster of local businesses, attractive neighborhoods, land availability, location near employment centers, and recent investment in parks and infrastructure.

The Market at Walnut Creek

Marion Shoppes

Mobility

The Eastland area developed around the expansion of the interstate highway system through Central Ohio, with I-70 located on the north side of the plan area and I-270 bisecting the community. The western side of the plan area is also affected by the presence of other freeways, with US-33 forming the western edge of the community. SR-104 terminates in the Eastland area, becoming Refugee Road, which, along with South Hamilton Road, carry much of the community’s traffic. While large commercial and industrial users who desire easy highway access have chosen to locate in the community, the highways, wide roadways, and active railroad create physical and psychological barriers, disconnecting Eastland residents from one another and the rest of the city.

Roadway Network

Eastland’s roadway network was built for higher traffic volumes than are seen in the area today. For example, South Hamilton Road near the former Eastland Mall site saw annual average daily traffic volumes (AADT) drop nearly 50% between 1994 (32,650 vehicles per day) and 2023 (16,783 per day). This pattern mirrors the transformation of the Eastland area from a regional retail destination, drawing people from around Central Ohio, to a bedroom community where residents must commute outside the area for job opportunities and daily retail needs.

13% of Eastland households do not own a personal vehicle

3 Regional bike trails have planned connections to Eastland

Columbus Dispatch

Source:

BLACKLICK ESTATES

Four roadways connect Eastland north to other Columbus neighborhoods and destinations—James, Courtright, South Hamilton, and Noe Bixby Roads. Of these, only South Hamilton Road has sidewalks today. As of the time of this plan’s publishing, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) is completing construction of a new bridge overpass on Courtright Road from Groves Road to East Deshler Avenue, which will include a walkway on the western side of the bridge. Refugee Road/Chatterton Road is the main east-west arterial for the Eastland area. SR-104 becomes Refugee Road along the community’s western edge and the transition from freeway to principal arterial makes for high traffic speeds and safety concerns along that corridor. Additionally, there is not another signalized intersection along Refugee Road for over one mile between Winchester Pike and Courtright Road, adding to the safety concerns.

Another project that will impact Eastland’s roadway network is the planned widening of US-33 from SR-104 to Hill-Diley Road in Fairfield County, converting it to more of a traditional freeway.

Source: ODOT

Ave/Refugee

bus routes have stops in the plan area

Key

Standard COTA Route

Frequent COTA Route

Rush Hour COTA Route

Bus Stop

Park & Ride Location

Plan Area

Transit Network

The Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) operates three routes with stops in the Eastland area: Line 23: James/Stelzer, Line 5: 5th Ave/Refugee, and Line 24: Hamilton Road. According to data from 2023, the area with the largest number of average weekday boardings and de-boardings is Line 24 at the former Eastland Mall site, at 246 people and 238 people, respectively. Nearly 5% of Eastland residents who are in the workforce commute to work via COTA bus and 13% of Eastland households don’t own a personal vehicle. Additionally, with the aging population and increase of New Americans in the area, robust transit access is more important than ever for the Eastland community.

Line 51: Reynoldsburg

Line 5: 5th Ave/Refugee

Line 5: 5th

Line 23: James/Stelzer

Line 2: E Main/N High

Line 25: Brice

Line 24: Hamilton Rd

Line 24: Hamilton Rd

Park & Ride

Just outside the area, COTA has plans for a bus rapid transit (BRT) corridor along East Main Street. This is part of COTA’s LinkUS initiative, a comprehensive transportation and development vision to connect communities across Central Ohio through BRT, active transportation, and equitable transit-oriented development (ETOD). The planned East Main Street BRT project would run between downtown and the park and ride location at the Eastwood Development in Reynoldsburg, with a planned stop at South Hamilton Road.

These improvements would include larger, zero-emission transit vehicles that have dedicated lanes in the roadway and signal prioritization at intersections, allowing for improved transit travel speed and reliability. Nineteen modern stations and passenger waiting areas would be spaced along the corridor. Local buses would also travel along the corridor, while the BRT would be for express travel. The project is in the design stages, with the goal of construction between 2027-2029. This project presents a huge opportunity to better connect Eastland residents and workers with the region.

Walking & Biking

Walking and biking around Eastland today can be a challenge due to many factors, such as lack of infrastructure altogether, lack of quality infrastructure, poor lighting, safety concerns, debris in bike lanes and on sidewalks, and more. Additionally, the quality of the surrounding built environment makes for an unpleasant pedestrian experience and much of the infrastructure that exists today doesn’t connect destinations to which people want access.

Key

Existing/Proposed

Shared Use Path

Proposed Protected Bike Lane

Existing/Proposed Bike Lane

Proposed Bike Boulevard

All Other Planned Bike Infrastructure Plan Area

Data Source: City of Columbus (2024), MORPC (2023)

Bike Network

The existing bike infrastructure includes recently added shared use paths along the north side of Refugee Road between Winchester Pike and Nafzger Park, and along the western side of South Hamilton Road between Groves Road and Helsel Park. Additionally, there is a bike lane along the south side of Kimberly Parkway North between Courtright Road and Kimberly Parkway East.

The City of Columbus has been working on BikePlus , the City’s bikeways and micromobility plan, which includes a vision for a safe and connected bike network, along with policies and programs to help the City implement the vision. In Eastland, the BikePlusvision would help to expand routes for cyclists of all confidence levels.

Alum Creek Trail

Blacklick Trail

Big Walnut Trail

PLANAREA

22 miles of sidewalk gaps in the Eastland area

Sidewalk Network

Eastland’s established residential areas of Glenbrook and Walnut Heights have nearly complete sidewalk networks, but many critical gaps still exist around the community, totaling 22 miles of sidewalk gaps in the Eastland area. The major gaps that exist include Noe Bixby Road, Refugee Road east of Noe Bixby Road, Chatterton Road, Petzinger Road, Courtright Road, and Groves Road. These are critical connections as they lead to job and shopping centers and public spaces like schools and parks. Key Existing Sidewalk Sidewalk Gap Plan Area

Source: City of Columbus (2023)

acres of parkland and preserves in the Eastland area

Parks & Recreation

Today, the Eastland area has 16 City-owned parks, preserves, and conservation areas that total nearly 400 acres. These parks range in type and size from regional parks to preserved green space to neighborhood parks. Eastland is also located in close proximity to several major regional parks and greenways.

Eastland’s Parks

Source: Alltrails.com

16 City-owned parks and preserves in the Eastland area

Eastland’s parks vary greatly in terms of size, amenities offered, and programming. The City of Columbus Recreation and Parks Department (CRPD) defines its parks and properties in the Eastland area according to the following typologies:

Neighborhood Parks: These are developed parks with an emphasis on both active and passive uses that are typically self-directed (not programmed or facilitated by CRPD). These parks usually serve residents of the immediately surrounding neighborhood or within a ½ mile radius.

Neighborhood Open Space: These are developed parks that serve as open space for residents’ passive recreation. They do not include a playground or other active recreation facilities, but are maintained by CRPD. These parks are intended to serve residents within a 10-minute walk (½ mile).

Community Park: These are developed parks with both active and passive uses that serve two or more neighborhoods. Community parks have the capacity for programmed and/or facilitated recreation.

Regional Park: These are developed parks that have a metropolitan draw and serve multiple communities for both active and passive uses. They serve as a destination for recreation tourism, enhance the identity of the region, and provide enough interest for a half- to fullday experience. They also often host large-scale organized events, like sporting events and festivals.

Parkland Reserve: These are properties acquired by CRPD to preserve green space with the intent of developing it as future parkland in an unspecified timeframe.

Conservation Parkland: This is parkland acquired by CRPD to protect and preserve natural areas such as forests, wetlands, and riparian corridors. The primary purpose of these areas is the conservation of natural resources.

The map and tables on this page illustrate all of the CRPD-owned parks and properties in the Eastland area, and classifies them according to their designation. Parks 1 through 7 in the table are intended to be developed parks with public access, while 8 through 16 are preserves or conservation areas that are passive and with limited access.

Bla Creek

+ Playground

Berwick Park | 4.4 acres

+ Open space

Mason Run Park | 79 acres

+ Mason Run water frontage

+ Woods and wildlife area

+ Multipurpose sports fields (3)

+ Parking lot

+ Paved path

+ Picnic tables

+ Big Walnut Creek frontage

+ Woods and wildlife area

+ Playground

+ Softball field

Nafzger Park | 165 acres

+ Soccer fields (4)

+ Basketball court

+ Paved path (3/4 mile)

+ Playground

+ Pond

+ Big Walnut Creek frontage

+ Woodlands

+ Parking lot

Walnut View Park |

+ Open shelter

+ Half basketball court

+ Playground

Catalpa Park | 13.3 acres

+ Big Walnut Creek water frontage

+ Woods and wildlife area

Chatterton Brice Parkland | 10.8 acres

+ Blacklick Creek water frontage

+ Woods and wildlife area

Conservation Parkland | 87.7 acres

+ Woods and wildlife areas

+ Water frontage

+ Trail access

53% of Eastland residents live within a 10-min. walk of a park

65% of Columbus residents live within a 10-min. walk of a park

Park Access

Despite the abundance of parks and green space in the Eastland area, only 53% of Eastland residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park, compared to 65% of Columbus residents as a whole. This points to a potential need for more park properties in areas of the community that are more populated, as well as a need for better active transportation (sidewalks, bike infrastructure) facilities to connect residential areas to the parks. This walkshed indicates physical access to parks, but not other factors that add up to a park’s accessibility, including quality and availability of park amenities, safety, lighting, Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, and more.

Luckily, the Eastland area will soon see park access improved through the development of a new community park, referred to as Mason Run Park. This new park is located just west of the former Eastland Mall site. When this park is completed, it will increase the number of Eastland residents who live within a 10-minute walk of a park by 3,277 people, increasing that percentage to 69%.

CRPD Parkland 10-minute Walkshed of a CRPD Park Plan Area

Nearby Parks and Greenways

In addition to the parkland directly within the plan area, Eastland is adjacent to other significant regional parks, natural features, and greenway trails. To the west of the Eastland area, Three Creeks Metro Park sits at 1,100 acres and is operated in partnership between CRPD and Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks (Metro Parks). This park is named for the confluence where the Alum, Big Walnut, and Blacklick Creeks join. As such, it is also a major trailhead for the three synonymously named greenway trails. The Alum Creek Trail, in particular, is one of the most significant greenways in Central Ohio, traveling for 25 miles from Three Creeks Metro Park to Westerville along the scenic river corridor.

The Blacklick Creek Trail can also be accessed from Three Creeks Metro Park. That greenway corridor runs for 16 miles south and east of the Eastland area, connecting parkland along the way, including Pickerington Ponds and Blacklick Woods Metro Parks.

Lastly, the Big Walnut Trail is a developing greenway along the Big Walnut Creek. Once completed, the trail will connect from Hoover Reservoir to Three Creeks Metro Park. Currently, the trail is almost eight miles long, with the nearest trailheads at Elk Run Park and Big Walnut Park. A project is underway to extend the Big Walnut Trail an additional 2.5 miles from its current stopping point on Winchester Pike to Nafzger Park. As part of this extension, the trail will pass through Helsel Park.

Given these assets in and adjacent to the plan area, the Eastland area is uniquely situated to provide equitable park access to all residents, to be an environmentally resilient community, and to be better connected to the region through active transportation infrastructure.

Alum Creek Trail at Three Creeks Metro Park

Cyclist on the Alum Creek Trail

Canopy Walk at Blacklick Woods Metro Park

Wildlife Area at Pickerington Pond Metro Park

Image Source: Karl Hassell Jr

Image Source: Virginia Gordon

Image Source: Dan Ferrin

Image Source: Virginia Gordon

PLANAREA

Future Bike Trail

Existing Bike Trail

Designated Greenway Trail

Greenway Trailhead

Designated Blueway Trail

Blueway Trailhead

CRPD Owned Parkland

Other Parks and Open Space

Other Waterway

Plan Area

Alum Creek Trail

Blacklick

Key Terms

Sustainability: meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

Resiliency: the capacity of a community, business, or natural environment to prevent, withstand, respond to, and recover from a disruption

Sustainability

In Central Ohio, climate change is causing an increased frequency of flash flooding, drought, and rising temperatures, all while deteriorating our water and air quality. These impacts harm not only our natural environment and wildlife, but also residents by decreasing quality of life and damaging private property. Communities of color and marginalized populations are the most vulnerable to these impacts due to systemic inequities and environmental injustice.

While these are serious challenges, the good news is efforts are already underway around the region to help us mitigate and adapt to our changing climate. One such effort is the Columbus Climate Action Plan, which establishes a bold goal to become a climate neutral city by 2050 by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The ColumbusUrbanForestry Master Plan is a long-term investment in Columbus’ tree canopy to help mitigate the impacts of climate change, reduce urban heat island effect, reduce air pollution, and intercept stormwater. Finally, BlueprintColumbus is a program to protect and improve the quality of Columbus’ waterways by eliminating sanitary sewer overflows.

Source: ColumbusDispatch

Eastland’s Waterways

With climate change impacts, our river systems will experience significant strain as flooding becomes more frequent and violent storm events push flood levels higher. These waterways are essential to the health and welfare of our city, representing a major opportunity to create continuous and resilient corridors that respond to the need for increased flood capacity, wildlife migration, and a cool shady respite from rising temperatures. The Eastland area touches or is immediately adjacent to four significant waterways: Alum Creek, Mason Run, Big Walnut Creek, and Blacklick Creek. Much of Eastland’s biodiversity and environmentally resilient landscapes can be found along these corridors. Additionally, these waterways provide scenic trail and water-based recreation opportunities. Therefore, it is critical to continue to protect Eastland’s waterways, providing ample buffers to separate these natural features from adjacent land uses and reduce stormwater runoff.

Key

Regulatory Floodway

1% Annual Chance of Flood Hazard

0.2% Annual Chance of Flood Hazard

Emergent Wetlands

Plan Area

Data Source: FEMA (2023)

PLANAREA

Eastland’s Resiliency Challenges & Opportunities

The development patterns found in the Eastland area are not conducive to environmental resiliency. Large swaths of impervious surfaces, such as roads, parking lots, roofs, and even highly compacted turf areas contribute to excess stormwater runoff that otherwise would have infiltrated the natural landscape. The stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces is often polluted and must be collected through extensive drainage infrastructure. Despite this infrastructure, during periods of heavy rainfall, areas with large amounts of impervious surfaces are susceptible to flash floods.

Eastland’s development patterns also contribute to urban heat island effect, whereby urban areas, with their concentration of built infrastructure and limited natural landscapes, experience warmer temperatures than outlying areas. While urban heat island effect is a problem across our urban areas, it poses concerns at the local level. Hotter conditions and decreased air quality, when they intersect with demographic inequities, can pose health risks especially for communities of color and low-income households. The map above shows where urban heat island effect is more prominent in the Eastland area, with a major concentration along the South Hamilton Road corridor and pockets along Refugee Road.

Data Source: Trust for Public Land (2019)

These patterns that lead to elevated levels of stormwater runoff and urban heat island effect often coincide with reduced tree canopy coverage. The map above illustrates the density of tree canopy for the Eastland area and beyond. The City of Columbus has analyzed its urban tree canopy overall and by Columbus community geographies. The Eastland plan area spans both the Mid East and South East geographies, which come in at 28% and 15%, respectively, for the percentage of land area that has tree canopy coverage. The City of Columbus average is 22% coverage. The Mid East geography includes the older neighborhoods of Berwick and Eastmoor, which have more established trees than the Eastland area. These areas may be increasing the overall average, and the reality for Eastland may be a bit bleaker than its neighboring communities.

While these are concerns for the Eastland area, the good news is that there are proven methods to adapt to these changes in our environment. Increasing tree and vegetative cover, installing green or cool roofs, using permeable pavement, and utilizing smart growth practices are examples of strategies to become a more resilient community now and in the future.

Community Input 3

Introduction

FACILITATING AN INCLUSIVE AND MEANINGFUL ENGAGEMENT PROCESS TO CREATE A PLAN THAT IS REFLECTIVE OF THE EASTLAND COMMUNITY

Community engagement is the foundation of the EastlandforEveryone CommunityPlan . Robust, meaningful, and sustained engagement was a priority throughout this planning process in order to create a roadmap toward an equitable new chapter for the Eastland area.

This plan focused on an inclusive planning process by utilizing a variety of engagement methods to reach people in the ways that work best for them, including in-person events and digital engagement tools. The Planning Team dedicated time and effort to promote these opportunities to all community members. Reaching people, however, is just one part of the equation. The Planning Team focused on deep listening to gain an understanding of the challenges that the Eastland community faces today, and reporting back to the community to confirm and develop a shared understanding. Later in the process, the Planning Team developed meaningful and interactive ways for community members to cocreate solutions to address the challenges uncovered. The ideas generated through those activities were directly woven into the recommendations of this plan.

This intensive approach to community engagement has resulted in a plan that is reflective of the Eastland community’s voice, values, interests, concerns, and aspirations. The following chapter summarizes all the methods and strategies utilized during this process, as well as a high-level overview of the community input generated.

How the Community Engaged

EastlandforEveryonerepresents the shared voices and ideas of the community. The planning process emphasized broad and meaningful input through a variety of formats—both in-person and digital— which resulted in nearly 2,000 neighbors having direct input in this plan.

Community Engagement Methods

The following methods and tools were used to gather input and feedback throughout the process:

Advisory Committee: a group of community stakeholders and changemakers formed to guide and advise the Planning Team

Focus Groups: a series of 11 small group discussions, eight interviews, and 24 one-on-one conversations with the everyday experts of the community to dive deep into issues facing the Eastland area

Additional Stakeholder Engagement: targeted outreach and engagement with groups that work or provide services in the Eastland area

Pop-up Engagement: attendance at existing community events to reach a wider audience and gather ad-hoc input and ideas from attendees

Outreach Methods

Public Meetings & Workshops: three Public Meetings were held at key points in the process to inform and engage community members, and five focused Topic Workshops were held to co-create recommendations with the Eastland community

Office Hours: regular staffing at hightraffic locations to answer general questions about the planning process and gather input, specifically timed around Public Meetings

Project Website & Digital Engagement: a custom project website was built to serve as a repository of information about the plan, to promote in-person events, and to gather sustained input through various digital engagement tools

Wide-reaching outreach and promotion were crucial to spread the word about all these events and opportunities for feedback. The Planning Team used the following methods to communicate with the residents, businesses, and stakeholders in the greater Eastland area:

+ Postcard Mailers: 81,000 printed, 64,650 mailed

+ Yard Signs: 20 printed and placed throughout the community

+ Email Newsletter: 1,036 email subscribers

+ Pop-up Events: 10 pop-up events attended

+ Flier Distribution: 9,000 fliers distributed

Engagement by the Numbers

1,810+

Neighbors directly involved in the creation of this plan

726 Public meeting attendees

592 Online surveys completed

95 Focus group participants

10 Pop-up events attended

233 School staff and educators engaged

2 Rounds of office hours held

81,000 Postcards distributed

5,466 Project website visitors

52 Interactive map pins added

5 Topic Workshops hosted

21 Advisory Committee members

Outreach & Engagement Timeline

Project Website & Digital Engagement

Focus Groups

Public Meetings

Office Hours

Pop-up Events

Advisory Committee Meetings

Additional Stakeholder Engagement

Topic Workshops

Outreach & Promotion

The EastlandforEveryonecommunity input process included many different ways for community members to engage with the plan. Below is a timeline showing the frequency of these engagement opportunities and the volume of input received at each touchpoint.

Engagement/Outreach

Touchpoint

The "sound waves" surrounding each engagement touchpoint represent the duration of the engagement or outreach and the volume of people reached.

Advisory Committee

An advisory committee of 21 engaged stakeholders was formed to help guide the planning process. The Advisory Committee includes representatives from City and county government agencies; non-profit organizations and service providers who work in the community; faith-based organizations; Columbus City Schools; a local business association; and a community representative identified through the focus group process.

The Advisory Committee was tasked with ensuring that the plan content reflects the values of stakeholders and the Eastland community. They also acted as a sounding board to review the plan findings, concepts, and recommendations.

Finally, they served as a conduit to other groups to which they’re connected, sharing engagement opportunities with their networks.

Below is a list of the four Advisory Committee meetings that occurred during each phase of the planning process and the topics discussed at each meeting:

+ Meeting #1 | Plan Kick-off | November 30, 2023

+ Meeting #2 | Review Findings and Draft Plan Framework | February 15, 2024

+ Meeting #3 | Review Draft Plan Recommendations | September 11, 2024

+ Meeting #4 | Final Plan Review | November 13, 2024

Q: What would be a successful outcome of this plan?

“[A successful outcome would be] an executable plan that serves current and future residents”

Q: If you were redesigning the Eastland area, what amenities would you include?

= 13

Source: Advisory Committee Survey #1

“I think it captures what the Eastland community plan is about, with the community feedback gathered, it allows the topics to have value and

importance”

So they need to see something tangible to know, this is coming and it’s permanent. And also we the collective have a meaningful input.”

Focus Group Participant

Focus Group #2

“Sometimes it just feels like there is nothing to do, it doesn’t look safe or feel safe. I don’t feel comfortable having my kids come outside.”

Focus Group Participant

Focus Group #11

Focus Groups

Beginning in October 2023 and continuing through February 2024, the Planning Team facilitated 11 focus groups to build relationships with the Eastland community, and to better understand specific concerns and opportunities facing the area. The focus group participants represented a diverse cross-section of the Eastland community, with a special focus on traditionally underrepresented and hard-to-reach populations.

Using a network of community organizers, the Planning Team established direct relationships in the Eastland community to identify and recruit individuals to participate in these focus groups. The Planning Team also took care to remove possible barriers to participation in the focus groups by providing childcare, meals, transportation, language interpretation, and other assistance. As a result of this outreach, 95 people participated in a focus group.

1. Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) | October 12, 2023

2. People with limited internet access | October 18, 2023

3. People with limited English proficiency | November 8, 2023

4. Families | November 16, 2023

5. People experiencing housing or food insecurity | November 30, 2023

6. Seniors | December 6, 2023

7. Mothers with infants and pregnant women | January 25, 2024

8. High school students aged 14 – 18 | January 30, 2024

9. Young adults aged 18 – 24 | January 31, 2024

10. People living near the plan area | February 8, 2024

11. New Americans | February 28, 2024

The following pages summarize the major takeaways and themes from all of the focus groups, combined.

Perceived Strengths

The Eastland community, marked by its loyalty and passion, is deeply invested in shaping a vibrant future. Community members exhibit a strong commitment, eagerly partnering with the City to address challenges and enhance the community’s overall well-being.

Community Diversity and Spirit

Community members expressed deep appreciation for the cultural diversity, history, and established relationships that they experience throughout the Eastland area.

Community Engagement and Trust-Building

Community members are passionate and exhibit a strong attachment to the Eastland area, emphasizing the historical significance, community connections, and easy access to the interstate. This loyalty serves as a foundation for community engagement and partnership.

Affection for Unique Neighborhood Attributes

Despite being underserved, participants appreciate various aspects of Eastland, including its landscape, church community, and multicultural businesses. These positive elements contribute to community members’ overall satisfaction with their neighborhood.

Perceived Challenges

While analyzing input from community members, several challenges came to light, reflecting community members’ concerns and aspirations for an improved and dynamic Eastland community.

Challenges with Parks and Leisure Activities

Community members expressed concerns about unwelcoming park atmospheres and limited family spaces, along with the general lack of recreational activities and spaces. They also noted that the closure of the Eastland Mall has had a negative impact on community activities and resources and has resulted in the loss of a central gathering place for the community.

Need for Essential Services

Community members emphasized the need for access to grocery stores and pharmacies to meet daily needs. They also expressed a desire for more job opportunities in the community, particularly for teenagers, and financial education programs to empower all residents.

Community-Centered Initiatives

Community members want a renewed focus on creating a strong sense of community and improving the overall quality of life by uplifting community events and initiatives, like festivals, cook-offs, and local business incentives.

Transportation Challenges

Community members expressed frustration about long travel times to essential businesses and a desire for improved transportation options within and around the Eastland area.

MAJOR THEMES FROM FOCUS GROUPS

Affordable housing for a diverse community

Community members highlighted the importance of diverse housing floor plans for various needs within the community. Ensuring affordable housing options across income brackets was identified as a priority, as were initiatives to assist renters in transitioning to homeownership.

Addressing accessibility challenges for essential services

Community members emphasized the need to enhance accessibility to essential resources, such as pharmacies and health centers. Additionally, efforts to boost awareness of available resources through outreach were suggested.

Establishment of community hubs

Community members emphasized the need for centralized gathering spaces where they can convene, exchange ideas, and collaborate on initiatives. These hubs could also serve as information centers for available resources and events.

Enhancement of parks and recreation facilities

There is a strong desire for improvements to parks and recreation facilities, including safety enhancements, infrastructure improvements, and the addition of amenities like play areas, restrooms, and water fountains. Community members also expressed a need for more indoor and outdoor recreational spaces that cater to various age groups.

Support for local businesses

Community members stressed the importance of supporting local businesses, particularly through the establishment and sustainability of small businesses. Initiatives to incentivize entrepreneurship and provide resources for business development were highlighted.

Creation of youth-centric spaces

Youth aged 14 – 18 expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of safe and engaging spaces in the community. Suggestions included the development of recreational areas, movie theaters, arcades, and other entertainment venues specifically catering to the interests of young residents.

Desire for intergenerational third places

Community members highlighted the importance of intergenerational third places where people of all ages can gather and interact, fostering a sense of community and shared experiences.

Community engagement and empowerment

Community members emphasized the importance of fostering a sense of belonging and empowerment within the Eastland community. Initiatives such as financial literacy programs, mentorship opportunities, and community-centered events were identified as ways to strengthen community bonds and promote positive engagement.

Safety and maintenance

Community members highlighted the pressing need for constructive activities, job opportunities for young people, improved relationships between law enforcement and the community, and quicker responses to maintenance complaints to prevent neighborhood deterioration.

Accessible multimodal transportation

There was a desire for accessible multimodal transportation within the Eastland community and beyond, including well-maintained streets, sidewalks, bike lanes, bus shelters, and bus stops to facilitate easy and safe transportation for community members.

Demographic-Specific Insights

The following section distills the collective voices and experiences of certain populations and their specific valuable insights to inform inclusive decision-making.

Youth Aged 14 – 18

Many of Eastland’s youth perceived a lack of safe spaces within their neighborhoods, citing abandoned buildings and Nafzger Park as specific locations that evoked feelings of unease. The desire for dedicated spaces for teens emerged as a consistent theme. These spaces could include parks, theaters, swimming pools, arcades, basketball courts, career centers, gyms/YMCA, LGBTQ+ support spaces, entertainment venues, and events. Coaching and supportive environments to envision a brighter future were highlighted as needs. Finally, they expressed a desire for job opportunities and financial education programs.

Young Adults 18 – 24

Young adult participants echoed similar desires to the youth participants, including the need for professional and leisure activities. They also emphasized the need for affordable housing options tailored to young adults’ financial constraints and improvements to public transportation. Similar to the youth group, young adults want recreational facilities and mentioned skate parks, arts and culture spaces to showcase local talent, and social networking events.

Mothers with Infants and Pregnant Women

Mothers with infants and pregnant women face challenges in finding information about programs and assistance, especially during their first pregnancy. Expanding these resources, even beyond the pregnancy stage, is crucial. Word of mouth was identified as an effective communication method, alongside strategies such as mailers and Facebook groups.

New Americans

The New Americans interviewed suggested English language classes and interpretation services as essential resources for establishing themselves as American citizens, securing employment, accessing healthcare, and maintaining their overall well-being. Additionally, they expressed a need for affordable or pro bono legal assistance to navigate the immigration process and comprehend their rights and responsibilities.

Stakeholder Engagement

Supplementary stakeholder engagement was conducted to gather input from specific groups who work in and around the Eastland area. This included outreach and engagement with staff and educators at Eastland’s schools, faith leaders, and representatives from various City of Columbus departments. The following is a summary of how these groups were involved and the input they provided to guide the planning process.

Eastland Schools Staff & Educators

The Planning Team met with staff and educators from the three Columbus City Schools in the Eastland plan area—Easthaven Elementary, Liberty Elementary, and Independence High School—through in-person interaction during the lunch hour or a professional development day. This enabled the Planning Team to hear directly from these stakeholders about the barriers to student success in the Eastland area.

+ Liberty Elementary School | January 26, 2024

+ Easthaven Elementary School | January 30, 2024

+ Independence High School | February 7, 2024

Additionally, a virtual survey was distributed across all 13 schools in the plan area to allow school staff and educators more time to provide their valuable input. The following graphics summarize the results from that survey. Q:

Community Faith Leaders

The Planning Team also met with a group of nine faith leaders who serve the Eastland area and surrounding neighborhoods. The meeting took place on February 6, 2024 at the TURN offices located within the Lindsay Honda building off Scarborough Boulevard. At this meeting, members of the Planning Team presented an overview of the planning process and early findings. They also gathered input from meeting attendees through live polling to understand barriers to improved quality of life and needed support for their respective faith communities. The graphic to the right shows results from that polling.

Q: What are the major challenges or barriers to quality of life that people in your faith community face?

Source: Faith Leader Meeting

City of Columbus Neighborhood Strategies Work Group

Throughout the planning process, the Planning Team met with representatives from all the major City of Columbus departments and divisions that would be involved in the implementation of the plan. This group was referred to as the Neighborhood Strategies Work Group and convenes monthly. The Planning Team presented at two meetings during the planning process:

+ Meeting #1 | February 15, 2024

+ Meeting #2 | August 15, 2024

During these meetings, members of the Planning Team shared their findings and the draft recommendations to gather specific feedback from these government officials. Their input helped the Planning Team to refine the plan content prior to sharing with the Advisory Committee and the public.

“I hope we can make [Eastland] a better place to live and enjoy”

Public Meeting Attendee

Online Survey #1

“I appreciate this forum for sharing ideas and including the community”

Public Meeting Attendee

Online Survey #1

Public Meetings & Workshops

Three Public Meetings were held at key milestones over the course of the planning process to inform the greater public about the process, have discussions with attendees, gather input through interactive exercises, and to build support for the plan’s outcomes. Following the second Public Meeting, the Planning Team organized and facilitated five Topic Workshops that focused on a few priority topics identified by the community during the first two Public Meetings. These Topic Workshops also included informational presentations, facilitated activities, and discussion with community members to help the Planning Team develop targeted recommendations. More than 725 people attended a meeting or workshop.

Public Meeting #1: Plan Kickoff

The first Public Meeting was held on October 14, 2023, to kick off the planning process with the broader community. At this meeting, which was hosted at Barnett Community Center, the Planning Team gave a presentation to share recent and planned improvements to the Eastland area, and to highlight existing community assets and amenities. Attendees marked maps of the Eastland area with the places that they enjoy and avoid, as well as where they wanted this plan to focus. They also shared written feedback about what they like about the Eastland area, what could be improved, and how they could help create positive change in the area. A public survey, available in print and digitally, garnered 447 responses. All of this initial input provided a solid foundation of understanding of the important issues, challenges, and opportunities that the plan should address. The graphics on the following pages summarize the major results of this input.

I like Eastland because... Eastland would be better if...

n = 102

Source: Public Meeting & Online Survey #1

“It has potential to be like other great areas in Columbus”

“There’s diversity in the neighborhood”

“Great location for arts and music”

“It has history”

Source: Public Meeting & Online Survey #1

“We had a recreation center or library”

“We had walkable neighborhoods”

“We had entertainment, movies, mini golf, activities for families”

“There were more community events for all ages”

n = 208

Q: If you could improve the Eastland area, what would you like to see in the community?

“I would love to see more businesses staying in the area”

“More affordable housing available ”

“Things that the community can take part in [like] shopping, resources, dentist, doctors, open space for kids to play or activities, large aquatic facility...”

“More trauma-informed mental health/social services. Would be nice to have something like the Reeb Center that could be a resource hub and gathering place for the community...”

“I would like to see the area around Hamilton Rd. and I-70 become safer and more welcoming for pedestrians.”

n = 462

Source: Public Meeting & Online Survey #1 n =

Source: Public Meeting & Online Survey #1

Q: Where should we focus? What areas need the most attention?

Q: What places do you enjoy? Where do you spend your free time?

Q: What places do you avoid? Where do you feel unsafe or unwelcome?

The heatmaps above illustrate the places community members indicated they enjoy and avoid, as well as places that need the most attention. This mapping exercise was utilized at the first Public Meeting and was replicated through an interactive map accessed online. The maps above include both the in-person and online results. For each of the maps, the darker areas indicates more points placed on the map by participants.

Nafzger

Public Meeting #2: Vision, Values, Goals, and Topics

The second Public Meeting was held on March 2, 2024, and was attended by more than 150 people. The purpose of this meeting was to understand whether the initial plan findings from early engagement and analysis resonated with the lived experiences of community members. The Planning Team also shared the draft plan framework, consisting of the vision, values, and plan topics, outlining how these elements interconnect and how they could fit into the overall plan.

Attendees were asked for their input on this initial draft plan framework, which directly informed the planning and development of the Topic Workshops that were held in the spring and summer of 2024. Attendees also completed a second survey prioritizing various points brought up by the community in the first survey, like corridor beautification, business importance, and transportation use. Additionally, stations around the room allowed participants to leave more specific and map-based feedback related to the proposed plan topics. Following the in-person meeting, an online survey was made available for those who could not attend the meeting. The combined print and digital survey garnered 155 responses. The graphics on the following pages summarize the major results of this input.

Q: Where do you want to feel like you’ve “arrived” in Eastland? Where are the main gateways into Eastland?

“Neighborhoods are not conducive to connectedness. There are no common meeting spaces, not even a coffee shop”

“Columbus in general needs better transit, but especially this area.”

“We need more jobs in the area”

“Area is ugly now. I lived in area in early 1980’s when it looked nice and the mall was a safe, fun place to go.

Source: Public Meeting & Online Survey #2

Topic Workshops

After the second Public Meeting, the Planning Team organized five Topic Workshops, organized around priority topics identified by the community in the early phases of the process. The following is a list of the five Topic Workshops held:

+ Mobility, Access, Community Gathering, and Sustainability | April 24, 2024

+ Education, Opportunities, and Jobs | May 20, 2024

+ Entrepreneurship, Small Businesses, Retail, and Services | May 22, 2024

+ Housing | June 11, 2024

+ Community Well-being, Identity, and Pride | June 24, 2024

The purpose of these workshops was to dive deeper into the emerging themes of the plan and to co-create solutions with community members to improve the Eastland area. Each workshop followed a similar pattern and facilitation method. These two-hour workshops included presentations by members of the Planning Team, City staff, and community partners to develop a shared understanding of the issues among workshop attendees. Then, the Planning Team facilitated an idea-generating exercise, where participants were asked to brainstorm solutions to a specific question in a small group. After multiple solutions were generated by each person, groups then worked together to evaluate the solutions on a matrix according to their perceived value to the community and the effort required to implement the solutions.

Finally, groups were asked to share the ideas that they ranked as the highest value and the easiest to implement with the entire workshop. This exercise resulted in a list of priorities that this plan needed to address each of the topics. Essentially, the results of these Topic Workshops directly informed the development of the plan recommendations.

The housing workshop on June 11th was the only exception to this structure. At that workshop, after the presentation portion of the event, the Planning Team facilitated a few targeted exercises, the first being an individual poll about potential housing initiatives to support existing and future residents of Eastland. The second exercise was a small group activity and discussion about how housing needs change based on life stages and household composition. Finally, the third exercise then asked the groups to identify the types of new housing they’d like to see in the Eastland community and desired locations for those housing types.

The results of each of these workshops are integrated into their respective sections within Chapter 4: Big Ideas for Eastland starting on page 102.

Public Meeting #3: Draft Plan Recommendations

The third and final Public Meeting was held on Saturday, October 12, 2024, at Barnett Community Center and was attended by 110 people. The purpose of this meeting was to share the draft plan recommendations with community members and to gather their final input to refine the plan before completion. The recommendations shared at this meeting represented the culmination of the community’s input throughout the process.

Following a presentation of all the draft plan recommendations, participants were asked to thoroughly review the recommendations to highlight anything they felt was missing or any other input they wanted to share. Recommendations included Catalytic Opportunities that represent transformative initiatives or projects proposed to revitalize the Eastland area. Participants were asked to vote for their favorite Catalytic Opportunity to help the Planning Team understand which project resonated the most with the community. See the table below for the results of the Catalytic Opportunity exercise.

The insights from this final Public Meeting allowed the Planning Team to refine the draft plan recommendations to ensure they best serve the community. Throughout the process, the community has remained the most important voice. This meeting was a vital step in ensuring that community members could see, understand, and respond to the plan recommendations.

Who We Heard From

The graphics on the following pages summarize the demographics of participants from the three Public Meetings, as well as respondents to the accompanying online surveys. This data was collected to helped ensure that the public engagement process reached a broad cross-section of the community. All demographics questions were optional and anonymous.

Responses by ZIP Code Map

Q: Which of the following best describes your race/ethnicity?

Key Takeaway

The vast majority of Public Meeting attendees and survey respondents live within the Eastland plan area or in an immediately adjacent ZIP code.

Age of Respondents

I

I live with my spouse/partner I live

I have a child under 5 years old living in my home I live with a roommate who is unrelated to me

How People Heard About Meetings & Surveys

Gender of Respondents

Other Responses

+ Pop-up events

+ Area Commission meetings + Search engines

+ From employers

+ Television or other media

Outreach, Office Hours, & Pop-up Events

The Planning Team provided consistent and sustained engagement and outreach, meeting people where they already work, shop, worship, or play. The planning process utilized unique engagement techniques, including community office hours and attendance at pop-ups events to meet people in ways that work for them. The team worked diligently to ensure the plan was shaped by the community, its history, and its current and future conditions.

Outreach

The outreach approach included concerted efforts to reach a diverse group of community members and continue to bring new voices to the table. The Planning Team mailed over 60,000 postcards to almost every household and business in the planning area and immediate surroundings, which proved to be the primary driver of Public Meeting attendance. The Planning Team also tapped into the local community network to distribute more than 9,000 flyers at schools, libraries, recreation centers, mosques, and community organizations. Considering the large New American population in the Eastland area and ensuring an inclusive process, planning materials were translated into six languages: Spanish, French, Arabic, Nepali, Somali, and Haitian Creole.

The team also held office hours and attended 10 pop-up events, making residents familiar with the plan. These outreach events disseminated plan information and contributed to collecting 700+ survey responses. The plan email list audience grew from approximately 350 subscribers to over 1,000 since the beginning of this process.

Community Plan Office Hours

Following each Public Meeting, the Planning Team set up week-long office hours at highpedestrian traffic locations in and around the Eastland area—Barnett Community Center, Saraga International Market, Far East Community Center, and the Jerry L. Garver YMCA—leading to 250+ new interactions. These office hours were held at regular times to provide consistency and to reach people who otherwise might not have heard of the plan. Representatives of the Planning Team staffed the office hours and, during that time, displayed project information boards, gathered feedback through quick activities and surveys, answered general questions about the plan, and informed attendees about the process.

Office Hours Round #1 | October 16 – 21, 2023

Logistics:

+ Barnett Community Center | October 16 – 19 from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

+ Saraga International Market | October 20 – 21 from 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Results:

+ 45 post-it notes, 10 surveys, 178 dots placed

+ Participants wanted more to do in their community, whether new businesses, restaurants, park improvements, or adult programming; they felt that Eastland is lacking in many amenities

+ Eastland Mall was a big focus for participants, with many wanting to see the mall reopened in some capacity or for more businesses to open in the area

+ Younger participants indicated they enjoyed parks and green spaces and want to see more improvements in those spaces

+ All participants were fairly receptive and positive toward the idea of a community plan for Eastland

Office Hours Round #2 | March 6 – 12, 2024

Logistics:

+ Jerry L. Garver YMCA | March 6 – 7

• March 6 from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

• March 7 from 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

+ Saraga International Market | March 8 – 9 from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

+ Far East Community Center | March 11 – 12 from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Results:

+ ~200 interactions, 68 dots placed

+ The majority of people who engaged during these office hours were not yet familiar with the plan, though a few individuals did specifically seek out the office hours

+ Some interactions highlighted a need to focus on building trust for community buy-in

Interactions at community plan office hours

10

Pop-up events attended

Pop-up Events

The Planning Team attended 10 pop-up events. Community organizations planned these events to connect residents to resources, making them ideal for meeting hard-to-reach demographics. The timing of the plan led to mostly fall and winter-related events and two summer engagement events. They ranged from holiday giveaways to youth-centered activities, educationalthemed events, and festivals. Throughout the year-long planning process, the Planning Team interacted with over 300 people during the pop-up events to inform them about the community plan and how to get involved, including signing up for the newsletter and pushing the surveys.

+ Trunk-or-Treat | Independence High School | October 28, 2023

+ Coat Drive | First Church of God | November 4, 2023

+ Home Buyers Symposium | First Church of God | November 9, 2023

+ Turkey Drive | Far East Community Center | November 17, 2023

+ Toy Drive | Far East Neighborhood Pride Center | December 14, 2023

+ Caring for Our City Peace Pledge | Independence High School | December 15, 2023

+ Toys for Tots | Jerry L. Garver YMCA | December 16, 2023

+ Healthy Kids Day | Jerry L. Garver YMCA | April 20, 2024

+ Rise Up CBUS! | Maybury Park | June 6, 2024

+ Rise Up CBUS! | Easthaven Park | July 25, 2024

Coat Drive Pop-up

Turkey Drive Pop-up

Trunk-or-Treat Pop-up

Online Presence

Project Website

Launched in September 2023, the project website served as a repository of information about the Eastland Community Plan, a tool to promote in-person and digital engagement opportunities, and a way for the community to connect with a member of the Planning Team. From its launch to November 2024, the project website received more 12,862 page views from 5,466 unique visitors, a testament to the wide-reach this plan achieved.

Interactive Map & Vision Wall

Several digital engagement tools were utilized to provide community members with a way to offer ongoing input, and to reach those who may prefer to share feedback in a digital format rather than inperson. Online surveys were used to accompany any major in-person event, including all the Public Meetings and the Topic Workshops, garnering nearly 600 online survey responses in total. Questions on the online surveys mirrored those asked through the inperson activities, and, as such, the resulting feedback from the online surveys was compiled with the broader results and can be found in those respective sections.

A digital engagement platform was also developed to create a space for ongoing input. This platform included an interactive map to gather place-based ideas and information, as well as an ideas wall to capture and organize open-ended community comments. Both tools allowed for interaction among users through up-voting and discussion.

12,862+

Website page views

5,466

Unique website visitors

592

Online survey responses

52

Interactive map pins

40

Vision wall posts

Big Ideas for Eastland

A Vision for Eastland’s Revitalization

RECOMMENDATIONS CO-CREATED WITH THE COMMUNITY TO HELP REVITALIZE THE EASTLAND AREA

Through extensive community engagement, detailed and informed conversations, and analysis that provided important insights, the Planning Team has created a plan framework to guide the revitalization and improvement of Eastland. This plan for Eastland is the direct result of the five Topic Workshops that were held in the spring and summer of 2024. The Topic Workshops brought together community members, partner organizations and agencies, and City staff to co-create recommendations, strategies, and opportunities. This is the outcome of that work.

Vision for Eastland

The topics discussed in EastlandforEveryone point back to the community-led vision statement that was created through the first two community meetings, along with input from the Advisory Committee. This vision statement captures the issues that the plan needs to address, but is also aspirational about the future that Eastland community members want to create together.

Eastland for Everyone

The Eastland area aspires to be a dynamic, diverse, and resilient collection of Columbus neighborhoods, rich in beauty, history, and dedicated citizens. It’s a vibrant complete community where everyone has equitable access to community amenities that support a higher quality of life, as well as opportunities and resources to fulfill their dreams. The neighborhood is safe and welcoming—a place where anyone can belong or call “home.” Eastland’s families and businesses are prosperous, thanks to a supportive environment where everyone can grow and thrive. Eastland is a place with a strong sense of community, where neighbors are connected to one another and their environment.

Source: Kaleb Duarte

Plan Framework

Three words from the vision statement stand out as organizing elements: welcoming, prosperous, and connected. These three words helped the Planning Team organize community conversations, build solutions, and formulate the Big Ideas and Action Items that resulted for each of the eight topics, shown in the diagram below:

+ Housing

+ Retail, Small Business, & Entrepreneurship

+ Youth & Education

+ Community Well-being & Services

This plan uses the following framework to transform the community’s stated needs, desires, and ideas into reality:

+ Vision: An aspirational statement that broadly defines the community’s values and ideal future

+ Big Idea: A communityinformed desired outcome expressed in simple terms

+ Objective: A particular step that can be taken to help realize a Big Idea. Objectives help to provide a more refined sense of direction related to a Big Idea

+ Action Item: What needs to be substantially changed to achieve an Objective

+ Early Win: An initiative or a project that is already underway, but that is important to acknowledge as an example of the type of positive change the community wants for the Eastland area

+ Catalytic Opportunity: A transformative initiative or project recommended as part of this plan that would help to revitalize the Eastland area

+ Jobs & Opportunity

+ Mobility & Access

+ Community Identity & Pride

+ Community Gathering

Big Ideas for Eastland

Each topic in the Eastland for Everyone plan starts with a Big Idea that reflects the desired community outcome. This desired outcome is further defined and supported by a summary of community input and relevant analysis. That background informs a discussion of the plan Objectives and Action Items that are necessary to make positive change in Eastland, as it relates to that specific topic. These objectives and action items are further explained through example imagery, case studies, diagrams, and call-out boxes with more details as needed.

Finally, each topic has either an Early Win or Catalytic Opportunity (or in some cases both). The Early Win showcases something already underway that will bring the plan’s ideas or recommendations to life in the near future, while a Catalytic Opportunity represents a transformative initiative or project that the community, City, and other partners will need to continue to work toward in implementation.

Housing

Shape a community of defined, equitable neighborhoods

Youth & Education

Support student success and positive youth development

Community Gathering

Cultivate spaces for recreation, gathering, and connection BIG

Community Well-being & Services

BIG IDEA

Improve health and wellness outcomes among Eastland community members

Jobs & Opportunity

BIG IDEA

Support pathways to opportunity and prosperity

Mobility & Access

BIG IDEA

Enable safe and efficient mobility for all

Community Identity & Pride

BIG IDEA

Beautify and enhance the physical appearance of the Eastland area

Retail, Small Business, & Entrepreneurship

BIG IDEA

Support retail and small business development

Housing

Big Idea: Shape a community of defined, equitable neighborhoods

Eastland community members were clear about their desire to see more housing choices and improved conditions across the neighborhood. While there has been some new development on the fringes, Eastland has an older housing stock than Columbus, indicating a need to integrate a wider variety of housing types at all price points so that long-term residents can stay, new residents can be welcomed, and all residents have access to safe and decent housing.

“...Added incentives would be very helpful too. Home repair assistance especially”

“...Build (affordable) starter homes for families...”

“...I would create a mix use development. Affordable apartments above commercial use spaces...”

“...Need food places and retail stores, family restaurants, Urgent Care, ALDI, and Affordable Housing.”

Source: Lyuda Dehlendorf/ Homes.com

What We Heard

Community members expressed a desire for:

+ More housing supports, such as home repair programs, to keep residents in their homes longer and improve overall housing conditions

+ Expanded utility, rent, and mortgage assistance

+ More senior housing, including affordable apartments, zero entry villas, and other options

+ Expanded supports to allow aging in place

+ High-quality and professionally managed affordable housing

+ New attainable homeownership opportunities

+ More resources to address problem properties, particularly older multi-family properties

+ New market-rate housing, rental and for-sale

+ Housing that supports multi-generational and larger families

Q : What actions do you think would have the biggest impact on housing quality, choices, and affordability in the Eastland area?

Source: Housing Workshop Survey

n=55

The City is in a unique situation among its Midwestern peers because of the many efforts it has launched around housing over the past several years, including the Columbus HousingStrategyand affordable housing bond issues. The City is also proactively working to remove zoning barriers through Zone In, which is an important step to create opportunities for housing-anchored mixed-use development in Eastland, specifically along South Hamilton Road. It will be important to align neighborhood housing efforts with these citywide programs.

There are numerous opportunities to address community concerns and goals for housing. There are several sites for infill development, ranging from single-family homes to duplexes and townhomes, to larger multi-family properties, that complement the existing housing stock and neighborhood context. There are opportunities to leverage code enforcement and other legal mechanisms to encourage property owners that do not maintain their properties to do so or sell to new owners. The community can also work with the City to align and expand home repair funding within the neighborhood.

Housing Objectives:

A. Preserve and maintain the existing stock

Many community members highlighted that their decision to live in Eastland depends on the area’s development and growth. They love the community but want to grow in a place that is continually invested in and developed

n=186

Source: Public Meeting & Online Survey #2

B. Expand housing options for current and future residents

C. Create more opportunities for homeowners and renters

A. Preserve and maintain the existing housing stock

This recommendation directly aligns with the “Preserve” and “Include” goals of the ColumbusHousingStrategy . Nearly 60% of the housing stock in Eastland was built between 1960 and 1980, and the median year built is 1973. Thus, the median age of a housing unit or home in Eastland is over 50 years and homes of this era, especially if not consistently maintained, can have significant deferred maintenance challenges and the need to replace major systems, like HVAC, plumbing, and electric. There is also the potential for lead, asbestos, and other environmental concerns that must be addressed if substantial renovations and upgrades occur.

Condition Map

Most residential parcels in the study area have a building condition rating of Average

The good news is that, as the map below shows, housing conditions are generally rated average or above, particularly the singlefamily homes. There are areas where housing conditions are a challenge, particularly in the western portions of Eastland. What is not shown in the data is the pressure that rising housing costs are creating on long-term residents who may be retired and/or on fixed incomes. They may struggle to invest in necessary maintenance upgrades to stay in their homes.

Source: Franklin County Auditor (2023)

The multi-family housing stock presents a separate set of challenges for the neighborhood. Rents have increased, but overall rental housing conditions have not. Nearly 95% of Eastland’s multi-family housing stock is considered Class C, which means that it is older (more than 50 years old, on average, in Eastland) and more likely to have deferred maintenance and other challenges. Unfortunately, Eastland is home to a few properties that are owned by unscrupulous landlords that engage in exploitative management practices, meaning that they enter into lease agreements with households, but do not follow through with basic elements of those leases, such as providing trash service or addressing any maintenance requests. These properties have an out-sized impact on surrounding blocks.

One of the challenges the City has faced in addressing these properties is having suitable housing for tenants to move into. Thus, having available housing units of decent quality available for households in vulnerable situations will allow the City to engage in more proactive enforcement, hopefully leading to the acquisition and renovation of these properties by reputable owners.

Therefore, addressing housing conditions is critical for the long-term marketability and stability of the neighborhoods.

Objective A | Action Items:

Class B

Generally older

Modestly lower rents

Sometimes professionally managed

Well-maintained

May have deferred maintenance

Class C

Typically 20+ years old

Generally in need of renovation

Significant deferred maintenance

Have the lowest rental rates

A.1 Offer home repair and maintenance programs

A.2 Reduce vacant and/or condemned properties

A.3 Improve City response to property maintenance issues to prevent neighborhood deterioration

Source: CoStar (2023)

B. Expand housing options for current and future residents

Another important housing need expressed by the community and supported by data analysis is for new and expanded housing options. This includes new housing types (i.e., missing middle, accessory dwelling units or ADUs, etc.) and new housing price points, including mixed-income housing. The EastlandNeighborhoodHousingandRetailTechnical Studypredicts demand for 1,000 to 1,500 units of housing over the next decade and, given relatively low housing vacancy in the neighborhood, most of these units would need to be new construction. This includes pent-up demand for replacing severely distressed housing, reducing overcrowding, and providing market-rate product for households that can afford it, but do not currently have a suitable option in the neighborhood.

Source: Eastland Neighborhood Housing and Retail Technical Study

Q: Where in the Eastland area would you add new housing?

PLANAREA

Fortunately, Eastland has a number of sites within established residential areas and along major corridors that are good candidates for new housing development. Identifying those sites and working with the community to define what types of housing are appropriate or acceptable, and where they should be located, is an important step. In the Housing Topic Workshop, community members expressed broad support for diversifying housing options across the neighborhood and provided valuable insight as to what types fit where. Generally, singlefamily homes, duplexes, townhomes, and smaller multi-family (i.e., under 24 units) were placed on infill sites within neighborhoods. Denser multi-family and mixed-use development types were placed primarily along South Hamilton Road and Refugee Road.

Once suitable sites are located, it is important to align policy and incentives to support housing development. A diversified housing stock will benefit Eastland in many ways, as summarized in the graphic on the following page.

n=121

Source: Online Survey #2

Objective B | Action Items:

B.1 Add new housing to the former Eastland Mall area, the Refugee Road area, and the South Hamilton Road area

B.2 Offer incentives to support mixed-income development

B.3 Develop mixed-income and market-rate housing that caters to diverse needs (e.g. seniors, large families, first-time homebuyers, supportive housing, and ADA-compliant)

B.4 Prioritize traffic-calming measures and development patterns (e.g. transit-oriented development) which allow multimodal access to daily needs and destinations —on foot, on a bicycle, by bus, by car, etc.

B.5 Ensure all new development reduces the amount of paved surfaces and incorporates ample trees, landscaping, and greenspaces

C. Create more opportunities for homeowners and renters

Throughout the planning process, community members voiced a desire for more opportunities within Eastland—more places to do business, to recreate, to shop, and to live. In terms of housing, most residents expressed a desire to stay in the neighborhood longterm, and a key barrier to achieving that is the current housing stock. More options are needed. More options for homeowners at all price points; more options for renters to move into homeownership, with appropriate supports that set them up for success; more options for seniors to downsize and rent; more quality and affordable rental housing options; and more options to keep people in their current units.

Best practices around these topics are to expand existing supports for homeowners and prospective homeowners, including homebuyer education, down payment assistance, wealthbuilding, and financial literacy. For renters, providing landlord-tenant mediation and/or right to legal counsel, expanding rental and utility assistance, and connecting them with homebuyer programs are important resources. Identifying locations for and aligning gap funding resources to develop affordable for-sale housing are also critical aspects to expanding housing opportunity.

These options will allow current and future residents to move around the neighborhood and change their housing situation as their life phases and income levels change. Take, for example, a senior household that is living in a single-family home that they have inhabited for many years. They are retired, have a fixedincome, and need to replace their roof and HVAC system. Currently, their choice is to stay in their existing home with, perhaps, a lack of stable heating or cooling, or leave the neighborhood to find another housing option because there are not any appropriate options within Eastland. Adding dedicated senior housing (attached villas, apartments, and ADUs) will give these households more options, while freeing up their existing home to be renovated and made available for another household. This concept applies to different households, as illustrated in the graphic on the following page.

A More Balanced Housing Ecosystem

Move out of the neighborhood or find a home elsewhere Rent a single-family home, taking it off-market

Source: Eastland Neighborhood Housing and Retail Technical Study

Objective C | Action Items:

C.1 Expand funding for down payment assistance, homeowner education, credit and wealth-building, and other financial literacy programs

C.2 Create more housing options that allow renters to become homeowners

C.3 Expand rent and utility assistance to help keep Eastland neighbors in their existing homes

C.4 Expand landlord-tenant mediation to reduce evictions

C.5 Address problem and exploitative landlords

C.6 Support efforts to relieve property tax burden

CATALYTIC OPPORTUNITY

Align Eastland’s Housing Needs with Zone In

The City of Columbus recently adopted Phase 1 of Zone In Columbus, which is a comprehensive rewrite of the City’s zoning code that is driven, in large part, by the City’s desire to meet housing needs by allowing greater density and building height along commercial corridors like South Hamilton Road. In fact, Zone In estimates that the adopted changes would allow up to nearly 90,000 housing units along major corridors where there are only 22,000 units today. Phase 2 of Zone In will focus more on land in neighborhoods and business centers, which will impact infill opportunities for housing in Eastland.

As shown in the Zone In map on the following page, Phase 1 impacts land uses along South Hamilton Road and Refugee Road. The former Eastland Mall site is zoned as a regional activity center, and the other highlighted sites are zoned as community activity center. Both districts allow for mixed-use development and more dense housing types.

The community activity center district today is predominately auto-oriented commercial sites, with low-rise buildings and parking areas at the sides or rear of a building. Under the Zone In Columbus update, these areas can transform into walkable, mixed-use districts that:

+ Allow residential, retail, service, and other commercial uses

+ Reinforce pedestrian and transit access

+ Allow a maximum of five stories, or up to seven stories with an affordable housing bonus

The regional activity center district today consists of large, auto-oriented sites with large building footprints and large parking areas. They are typically located further from downtown, but often have nearby access to a highway. Under the Zone In Columbus update, these areas offer opportunities for gradual or transformative changes that:

+ Allow residential, retail, service, and other commercial uses

+ Reinforce pedestrian and transit access

+ Allow a maximum of seven stories, or up to ten stories with an affordable housing bonus

Example of Triplex Home

Example of Apartment Building

Example of Small Lot Detached Homes

Source: Ralph Magileri

Source: S3DA Design

Source: Grandview Yard

Source: Pro Builder Magazine

What does this mean for housing in Eastland?

There are several ways in which this plan and future development can align with Zone In. First, there is substantial opportunity for a catalyst project along South Hamilton Road and the policy framework in the zoning code fully supports what a mixed-use, mixed-income, and multi-generational development would consist of (see page 219 for more details about potential catalyst projects).

Second, the neighborhood has the opportunity through this plan and the community engagement that will occur to support the second phase of Zone In to define the housing typologies that are allowed, by-right, throughout the neighborhood. This will serve to help remove barriers to producing those units, which will make it more feasible for developers, private and non-profit, to deliver the housing that the community wants and needs.

CATALYTIC OPPORTUNITY

Establish Neighborhood Residential Typologies

During this planning process, the community showed support for a wide range of housing types within the neighborhood, and provided valuable input into where those typologies are appropriate and where they may not be. Further, the engagement that occurred as part of Zone In included a visual preference survey that guided the policy and development standards supported within each district.

A potential next step for the neighborhood is to undertake a similar exercise for its infill sites and define which housing typologies fit and where. This would include:

1. Developing typologies based on the existing housing stock and neighborhood context, as well as what community members communicated that they want to see.

2. Aligning those typologies with demand projections with the various typologies because demand is finite, and a balance of housing types and price points is needed.

3. Mapping potential housing sites and determining the number of units they could support at different densities/with different typologies.

4. Determining the policy framework needed to support these typologies, as well as incentives that would support their development.

5. Consider identifying a pilot project for a type of housing development not currently in the area.

Detached Single Unit

Duplex

Triplex

Source: Joe Nickol

Source: Zillow

Source: Zillow

Source: Zillow

Source: Zillow

Source: RaleighNC.gov

Source: Google Images Source: Ralph Maglier

Source: Opticos Design

Accessory Dwelling Unit

Apartment Building

Source: Sighting Institute Source: CASK Construction

Townhouse

Source: Illinoisrealtors.com

Source: S3DA Design

Source: Jeffrey Park Apartments

Source: Redfin.com

Mixed-Use Apartment Building

Source: Zillow Source: Redfin.com

Source: Gunbarrel Center Source: DGP Architecture

Source: University of Michigan

Source: Zillow

Retail, Small Business, & Entrepreneurship

Big Idea: Support retail and small business development

Retail and small business are vital to sustaining healthy communities. Community-serving retail provides many of the things—food, clothing, healthcare—that sustain us in our daily lives. Retail and storefront businesses are also employers that provide jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities which are vital to the economy of a place. Storefronts are also among the most visible elements of any community. A healthy storefront environment signals vitality and vibrancy to both visitors and longstanding community members, and—to the extent these storefronts are paired with inviting public space—are integral to the places that are shared: thepublicrealm.

“We need reasons to invest in each other. There isn’t a place for small commerce and community.”

“Need access to more community services, and shopping centers.”

“Implementing sustainable development practices to ensure Eastland’s long-term viability.”

“Seems like everything we have to do, we have to leave the area.”

Source: Lyuda Dehlendorf/Homes.com

What We Heard

Community members expressed a desire for:

+ Better access to essential services

+ Improved retail diversity

+ Attracting, supporting, and incentivizing small businesses

+ Redevelopment of the South Hamilton/Refugee corridors

+ Community needs to be prioritized in development

The need to improve retail offerings was a common refrain from the Eastland community. With the demise of Eastland Mall, there has been a continual exit of national retailers and service retail. Community members are going elsewhere to access these businesses and services and to visit destination and experiential retail. While Eastland will likely not have a regional mall that is a true Central Ohio destination again, community members are asking for a mixed-use retail and community hub that is accessible and inclusive, combining needed retail, services (such as a grocery store), and civic uses (such as sports and recreation facility, parks, etc.). It is clear the community is invested in seeing this change occur, and as this plan unfolds, their continual involvement will be critical to success.

Q: Describe your ideal retail environment. What retailers, amenities, or services would be helpful in creating this environment?

Development Pattern

Storefront Office

Outdoor Spaces/Parks

Sports/Recreation Facility

Community Involvement/Investment

Daytime and Local Retail

Accessibility/Inclusion

Grocery Service Retail

and

Analysis shows that the South Hamilton Road corridor has a substantial amount of retail buildings, and yet very little of it serves the community. The corridor has 2.5 million square feet of retail—three times more than the community can support—yet most people must travel outside Eastland for daily needs like groceries and health products. As changing retail trends have caused desired retailers to go elsewhere, wholesale and non-community serving businesses have come in to occupy relatively low-rent shopping center space. This means that Eastland simultaneously has too many retail buildings, and not enough retail that serves community members.

Further, commercial sites and buildings along the corridor—many of which were developed in the 1960s and 1970s—were designed in a very different economy with different needs. Analysis shows that 43% of all land in the South Hamilton corridor is dedicated to surface parking, and—while some shopping centers have been well-maintained—several buildings have become obsolete, due to age, building quality, and adaptability. This points to both the corridor’s biggest challenge and opportunity: to reinvent unused and underused portions to meet current community needs, be they services, jobs, or housing.

The most successful approach to revitalization for the Eastland community will be coupling the reinvention of underutilized development with strategies to grow small business and community services. Small businesses keep more spending dollars local to the community in which they are located, and play an out-sized role in growing jobs. In this way, small businesses not only provide necessary community services—they grow the economy in ways that increase local spending, which further increases demand for more retail services.

Retail, Small Business, & Entrepreneurship Objectives:

A. Support existing businesses

B. Attract new businesses

C. Expand entrepreneurship supports

South Hamilton Road Corridor Existing Conditions Map

South Hamilton Road corridor comprises

RECOMMENDATIONS

A. Support existing businesses

Support for existing businesses can come in many forms and be thought of in terms of near-term actions (such as raising awareness of existing programs) and longer-term efforts based around broader cooperation and shared action among a community of business owners.

Early Efforts

Leveraging good programs that are already available to their fullest can provide excellent first steps in the implementation plan, providing “Early Wins” that build momentum and confidence, even as catalyst projects with potentially bigger impacts long-term are developed in the background. For buildings that are still in good condition, cosmetic improvements, such as façade improvements can contribute greatly to district marketability and community pride. Increasing awareness of City programs, such as the PowerofOne façade improvement program, can help get necessary funds and support into the hands that need them. The façade program should be part of a broader strategy that evaluates buildings in the South Hamilton Road corridor for rehabilitation potential. Buildings in good condition that are strategically important should be prioritized over buildings in disrepair, or buildings that should be redeveloped with a mix of uses and a design that supports walkability.

Curate Local Businesses

While retail is inherently competitive, it also thrives on the co-location of complementary businesses. Eastland has many small, local, and/or niche businesses that serve their communities and are worthy of celebration. Presently, they are scattered over many shopping centers of varying quality and condition, and often sit alongside wholesale businesses with limited compatibility. Once buildings have been prioritized for reinvestment, a rewarding next step would be to recruit and curate complementary businesses to improved buildings that maintain a level of rent affordability. In doing so, the businesses will likely benefit from increased foot traffic, while also improving community members’ experience.

Example of Co-Working Space

Example of Façade Improvement

Example of Small Business Pop-up Event

Source: Colerain Township, Ohio

Source:Waterloo Arts District

Source: International Professional Platform

Collective Effort

Like any community, businesses thrive when they work together toward a common set of goals. The formation of a business association for the Eastland area is an essential step in creating capacity for collective effort and an amplified voice. Early Wins for a business association could focus on efforts around maintenance and cosmetic improvements. Mid-term efforts could involve small business curation and co-location in improved buildings, and branding and marketing around those businesses. Over time, the district could create a broader marketing strategy that benefits the entire corridor, host special events that highlight area businesses, advocate for plans and public improvements, and marshal resources to accelerate investment in private property.

Objective A | Action Items:

A.1 Connect property owners and businesses with façade improvements to enhance the retail environment

A.2 Increase awareness of existing small business programs and funding

A.3 Create opportunities for existing small businesses and entrepreneurs to locate in higher quality and more visible space

A.4 Establish a co-working space in the Eastland area

A.5 Form a business association for the Eastland area

A.6 Create special events that highlight Eastland’s small businesses

A.7 Create a community business marketing strategy

CASE STUDY

E.G. Woode Entrepreneurship Incubator | Englewood, Chicago, IL

The E.G. Woode Entrepreneurship Incubator exists to reduce risk, liability, and scarcity of resources for minorityowned businesses in economically distressed communities. The initiative has committed itself to investing in transformative projects. The incubator resides in a cumulative leasable commercial space of 10,000 square feet. With a strategic vision, the space has been carefully curated to house a diverse array of tenants, each contributing to the vibrant tapestry of the local economy.

By providing a dynamic hub for entrepreneurial endeavors, the Entrepreneurship Incubator is able to uplift the community while allowing local entrepreneurs to flourish. Ultimately, the income generated from leasing and sales is reinvested locally, primarily supporting and empowering minority-owned businesses, creating a sustainable cycle of economic growth and prosperity within the Englewood area.

B. Attract new businesses

The prominent theme that the Eastland community is significantly underserved in terms of actual, community-serving retail and businesses was confirmed both through the community input process and analysis of market data and physical inventory. While every effort should be made to grow quality, existing businesses in the area, Eastland will, out of necessity, need to recruit and attract new businesses to the area in order to provide the fullest mix of services and experiences for the community.

Third Places

Among the highest priorities for new businesses are those that provide experience and foster community interaction. Often referred to as “third places,” such businesses can include cafés, restaurants, barbershops, and hair salons, where people can gather informally to socialize, relax, work, or exchange ideas and dialogue. Importantly, third places can also include civic uses, such as public libraries, community centers, and parks and plazas. Successful efforts to align civic and business third places requires planning and intentionality, but the rewards are lasting because they provide an identity and community center that is distinctive, fundamental, and accessible to all.

Grocery Anchor

Anchor stores are vital to any retail strategy as they bring in customers from a larger area, and typically provide great benefit to nearby small businesses that thrive on increased visibility and traffic. Principal among these in Eastland and most communities are full-service grocery stores, which provide daily needs and benefit nearby small businesses. A second full-service grocery store in Eastland would serve as an excellent complement to Saraga—a large-scale international grocery store that serves a great diversity of people over a large trade radius. Other retail anchors that are supported by market fundamentals could also improve the provision of services to community members while increasing visibility for smaller businesses.

CASE STUDY

Meijer Fairfax Market | Cleveland, Ohio

The Fairfax neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio, is one of the city’s oldest and most historically significant communities. Located on Cleveland’s east side, Fairfax has a rich cultural heritage and deep ties to the city’s African American history. During the 20th century Fairfax was a thriving cultural and economic hub. However, Fairfax faced economic decline during the latter half of the 20th century due to deindustrialization, redlining, and disinvestment. These systemic challenges contributed to poverty, unemployment, and the erosion of local businesses. Fairfax became a food desert, exacerbating health disparities among its residents.

The 40,000 square foot Fairfax Market is one of Meijer’s small-format stores. Situated on the ground floor of a 196-unit apartment building, the store provides the Fairfax community with access to fresh produce, meat, culturally diverse items, and products from over 150 local vendors, including Black-owned businesses. The opening of Fairfax Market represents a transformative investment in the neighborhood, addressing issues like food insecurity, economic growth, and community well-being. Additionally, its collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic underscores the importance of food as a social determinant of health, aligning with broader efforts to improve community wellness. More than a grocery store, Fairfax Market serves as a community hub, creating a welcoming space that empowers residents and drives long-term revitalization in the Cleveland Innovation District.

People First

Among the most critical recent trends in retail and small business growth is the increased importance of place and experience. As commodity shopping shifts increasingly online, businesses that wish to thrive in the future will need to provide enhanced experience through customer service, distinctive or local products, and quality of place. Retail lease rates—an indicator of overall business health—tend to perform better in walkable main street environments that prioritize the pedestrian experience over an auto-dominated one. While this does not mean doing away with parking, it does underscore the importance of a “park once” strategy, where people park their cars and are able to walk to multiple businesses in a safe and human-scaled environment that supports pedestrians, bikes, and transit.

A Foundation for Reinvention

While available parking remains an essential tenet of a successful retail and business strategy, rethinking its amount, location, and type in order to reinvent the South Hamilton Road corridor as a thriving, mixed-use environment holds the potential be the single greatest catalyst for longterm economic growth in Eastland. Presently, 43% of all land in the corridor is devoted to parking for businesses that only need a fraction of that overall space. A holistic strategy is needed that repurposes underutilized parking and deteriorated buildings into new, mixed-use development that serves the community. Infrastructure such as a human-scaled and pedestrian-friendly street grid and, in key locations, structured parking are the most essential tools in creating a new development framework of lasting value. With thoughtful design, great public benefit can be delivered in the form of quality streets, rich in trees, landscaping, and street life, with human-scaled architecture at eye level, all where asphalt and surface parking are currently located.

Objective B | Action Items:

B.1 Add third places that promote a sense of community and shared experiences among all generations in Eastland (i.e. coffee shops/ cafés, and restaurants)

B.2 Attract full-service grocery store

B.3 Prioritize traffic-calming measures and development patterns (e.g. transit-oriented development) which allow multimodal access to stores—on foot, on a bicycle, by bus, by car, etc.

B.4 Ensure all new development reduces the amount of paved surfaces and incorporates ample trees, landscaping, and greenspaces

CASE STUDY

Commercial Affordability Pilot Project | King County, WA

King County Communities of Opportunity is a public-private organization created in 2014 that seeks to combat the stark racial disparities in income, opportunity, and health outcomes across the Seattle region. In 2020, seeing the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on minority and immigrant small business owners, the organization launched the Commercial Affordability Pilot Project—a one-year program designed to create and sustain affordable commercial space in target neighborhoods.

Beginning in 2021, four culturallydiverse retailers were selected as participants in the program. These retailers included a dining incubator for immigrant women of color entrepreneurs, a marketplace serving the local East African community, a long-established soul food restaurant, and a Salvadorean bakery. The program provided three key services: grants of up to $300,000 to support acquisition and improvement of commercial space; technical assistance for real estate development; and a small business loan guarantee program from a partnering community development financial institution. Over the course of the program, two businesses funded long-deferred improvements and one renegotiated a long-term lease at an affordable rate, while the other two businesses successfully acquired new commercial space. By its completion in 2022, the $1.5 million pilot had secured space for all participating organizations, supporting a total of 37 businesses and over 100 jobs.

C. Expand entrepreneurship supports

Eastland is home to numerous small businesses that are owned by local entrepreneurs and are anchors to the community. Many of these businesses have thrived for several years because they meet the unique needs of the community. Community members also told us that there are likely more entrepreneurs sitting on the sidelines because they are not sure where to start, there are not suitable spaces for their business, there are no “hubs” to come together and learn from one another, and they are not connected to the resources that the City provides or those offered by other organizations.

Another challenge in Eastland is that many of these local businesses and entrepreneurs are spread out across the neighborhood. There is limited connectivity and limited shared access to supports. Saraga is the only location in the study area that offers several small retail and business spaces in the store that allow entrepreneurs to start and run businesses with relatively low rent. Community members voiced a need to bring more resources together in incubator space, co-working space, and other shared venues so that it is easier to train and align start-up supports.

It will be important to better connect Eastland entrepreneurs to the Columbus Small Business Hub, which aims to expand awareness of resources, build capacity, improve services and capital provision, and connect anchors and small businesses. The City of Columbus Department of Development has worked to expand resources to entrepreneurs to scale their business from a pop-up or home-based model to having a storefront. Their small business team is piloting a program to provide reduced rent in the downtown area.

Programs like these would benefit Eastland. Other potential resources include SCORE, which provides mentoring and other resources and Minority Business Assistance Centers (State of Ohio), which provide small, minority-owned and disadvantaged businesses with technical assistance in the form of accounting, business management consulting, contract procurement assistance, assistance with loan applications and other financial programs, and marketing plan development.

An entrepreneurship hub or incubator space would be an ideal location to host services provided by these and other organizations, provide space for mentorship, and provide entrepreneurs with an affordable space to launch and grow their ideas.

Objective C | Action Items:

C.1 Support and invest in incubators that actively support start-ups or a business in its early stage of development

C.2 Increase awareness of existing entrepreneurship programs and funding

Example of Entrepreneurship Mentoring

Example of Funding Programs

Example of Early Stage Business Development

Source: VestedIn

Source: WSFS Bank

Source: Pearson

CATALYTIC OPPORTUNITY

Reimagined South Hamilton Road Corridor

For a corridor the size of South Hamilton Road, successful reinvention involves custom strategies that offer a diversity of experiences that exist at the intersection of market realities and community needs. The opposite of a one-size-fits-all approach to corridor development, this approach envisions different character areas—or districts—each with their own coherent brand, complementary uses, and scale of development. A central mission in this effort would be to increase the amount of quality retail that serves the community, while decreasing the overall amount of commercial space (much of which is not retail in any traditional sense), in favor of mixed-use development that can include both housing and ground floor commercial space.

The key to this strategy is understanding that not all areas have the same purpose: some will add value by bringing people in and offering inviting spaces, some will generate larger amounts of revenue through economic activity, and some will emphasize direct benefits to the community. Only a select few areas—as is proposed with the Community Hub District—can practically seek to provide all three in equal measure.

Unlike other districts in the corridor, the emphasis caters more to cars, convenience, and revenue-generation. With quality design standards, new development could include large retail anchors and auto-oriented chains that require interchange traffic, access, and visibility. Businesses such as general merchandise retailers could provide unmet services to the community, while providing above average revenue generation that, when combined with a larger economic development district, could fund public benefits elsewhere in the corridor.

Mixed-Use District

The vision for the mixed-use district is one in which, over time, land owners invest in the development of a more walkable, economically thriving place that consolidates quality businesses in high-visibility buildings, while introducing housing and a walkable street grid on real estate that is currently underutilized. As investment in the other districts increase, reinvestment opportunities are likely to become more viable for businesses, and the public sector can play important partnering roles in design regulations, public realm enhancements, and affordable housing policy.

The vision for this district builds around current community strengths. With Saraga as its anchor, the district could be an excellent “receiving zone” for other local or international restaurants and businesses, to be located in new or rehabilitated retail space. Such businesses could market together, hosting events and engaging in other activities that lead to collective growth and benefit through heightened visibility and brand awareness (see page 140).

Located on the other side of I-270, the best current thinking for this area involves the creation of a civic node. With relatively large tracks of land, future uses could include civic or institutional anchors, community-serving organizations such as the MOFC Eastland Prosperity Center, and some amount of commercial development that serves nearby residents.

Envisioned as a second, more walkable and community centered economic catalyst, the community hub would completely reimagine the former Eastland Mall site for today’s needs. The Hub will include walkable streets that prioritize pedestrians, while offering an appealing mix of local and storefront businesses, meaningful park/ plaza space, housing, and community anchors. This area will require the greatest level of publicprivate partnership, to deliver a walkable street grid, shared parking, and mixed-income housing that catalyzes private investment while ensuring that the Hub remains accessible to all community members (see page 134).

Interchange District

International Cluster

Essential Services Hub

Community Hub

CATALYTIC OPPORTUNITY

Creating a New Community Hub

Through this process, the Eastland community has envisioned a new community hub on the site of the former Eastland Mall. With the closure of the mall, there is no true “center” for the Eastland area. Building on the momentum of the proposed Mason Run Park adjacent to the mall site, the community expressed the desire for civic uses such as a library and community center that could complement the existing schools on the site. This communityserving node would act as an activity generator and an anchor for the walkable, mixed-use environment that is desired on the site. This mix of uses would include ground level, neighborhood-scale retail that meets community needs (such as a grocer, pharmacy, restaurants, entertainment, etc.). Above these retail spaces, mixed-income residential housing and office would provide a new housing typology and help to support new commercial development. Other types of housing should also be considered—from townhomes and singlefamily housing to blend into the surrounding residential street on the west side of the site, to senior housing on the south side of the site. All of these new uses are connected by a grid of streets that break down the site into walkable, tree-lined blocks.

The recent adoption of Zone In allows for this mix of uses by right and supports the environment that the community has envisioned. As shown, all of this redevelopment relies on surface parking interior to blocks. This is likely to be the most economically feasible in the short term, but greater density could be achieved with investment in highcapacity transit and/or a parking garage as part of the site design.

Implementing a mixed-use redevelopment of the Eastland Mall site will be a complex, long-term effort—beginning with gaining site control and/or working with a developer partner. Additional implementation considerations can be found on page 222, but a catalyst project for the former Eastland Mall site should:

+ Establish new physical transit-oriented development precedents that emphasize placemaking, walkability, and multimodal connectivity;

+ Prove a market exists for quality housing and retail that encourages future investment in the area;

+ Provide deal-structuring and a mix of uses that meets community needs (but may not be purely finance-able by the private market alone); and

+ Include sites that are challenging to acquire, assemble, or otherwise make ready for development.

CASE STUDY

NexusPark Mall Redevelopment | Columbus, Indiana

NexusPark in Columbus, Indiana, is being developed as a dynamic community hub, integrating healthcare, recreation, and wellness resources to address the area’s needs while revitalizing a former local landmark. The project began in 2018 when the City of Columbus and Columbus Regional Health (CRH) jointly purchased the Fair Oaks Mall. To oversee the transformation, the Fair Oaks Community Development Corporation (FOCDC) was established, guiding the redevelopment to serve as both an economic driver and a hub for wellness, recreation, and accessibility for the greater Columbus area.

At the facility’s entrance, a thoughtfully designed plaza and open space support outdoor exercise, dining, and community gatherings, complementing the indoor fieldhouse and amenities. Future phases will include multifamily housing, hospitality, and structured parking to accommodate increased density and growth. By transforming the former Fair Oaks Mall into a versatile mixed-use destination, NexusPark fosters long-term economic development, revitalization, and improved accessibility to community recreation and services.

Former Eastland Mall Site Existing Conditions Map

Aerial View of Mason Run Park

Entrance to Former Eastland Mall off Refugee Road

Aerial View of S Hamilton and Refugee Roads Intersection

Eastland Square Shopping Center

Source: Google Earth

Source: Google Earth

Source: Google Earth

Source: Google Earth

CATALYTIC OPPORTUNITY

Revitalized Neighborhood Nodes

Beyond the major commercial zone along the South Hamilton Road corridor, smaller pockets of neighborhood-scale retail and service businesses can be found embedded near residential areas. This plan refers to these places as neighborhood nodes, and they present a significant opportunity to meet some of the community’s expressed needs, such as the desire for third places, places to meet daily retail needs, and places to connect with neighbors. While these nodes are walkable to many of Eastland’s community members, they are currently underutilized and not highly inviting for the uses described above.

Revitalizing these neighborhood nodes is about simply enhancing what is already there through public realm improvements and activation. In Eastland, two types of neighborhood nodes exist: ones that are oriented around small businesses and ones that are oriented around civic uses, such as schools or parks.

Revitalization Strategies:

+ Complementary and active uses and tenants

+ Outdoor dining

+ Business coordination

+ Landscaping, signage, and beautification

+ Pop-up events and markets

Revitalization Strategies:

+ Regular programming and activation

+ Amenities for a variety of ages and interests

+ Public art

+ Recreation facilities

+ Ample seating and shelter

Source: DIRT Studios Source: KCBalancedyou.com

Source: Southside Weekly

Source: Google Images

Source: Fairmount Park

Source: Justin Chan

Source: Public Mechanics

PLANAREA

Retail-oriented Node

Neighborhood Node: Eastland International Plaza

Eastland’s cultural diversity is one of its biggest assets. This diversity and international community can be better reflected and represented through the built environment.

One opportunity to do this is through the creation of an international plaza near the existing anchor of Saraga International Grocery. A node here could include a linear plaza space through the existing parking lot leading to the businesses, which are envisioned as an international cluster (see page 133).

This plaza space could be temporary in nature or more permanent, with unique pavement to distinguish the plaza from the parking areas, raised walkways, and movable bollards to prevent vehicles from entering the space. Bollards, however, would allow for flexibility to showcase Eastland’s cultural diversity through local food truck events, outdoor pop-up markets, and cultural festivals. A variety of seating, lighting, banners, and landscaping would make this a space that attracts and welcomes all people to experience Eastland’s culture.

Neighborhood Node: Lindora Plaza

Lindora Plaza, located off Lindora Drive, is a small retail plaza containing a few small businesses, including a convenience market, hair braiding salon, beauty supply store, restaurant, and a now closed childcare center. This node is centrally located within the Walnut Heights neighborhood and is connected to civic uses, including Maybury Park, a community school, and a church. With its convenient location and current mix of businesses, this retail plaza is well-positioned to become a more prominent node within the Walnut Heights neighborhood.

Minor public realm investments would greatly enhance the visitor experience and help to attract more people. These include improved signage, minor façade improvements of the buildings, and added landscaping. The creation of outdoor seating areas could be achieved by expanding the sidewalk in front of and on the side of the buildings, which could be used for outdoor dining for the restaurant or event space. In addition to expanding the sidewalk, parking striping and signage would help to delineate pedestrian and vehicular spaces.

Neighborhood Node: Courtright & Petzinger

The intersection of Courtright Road and Petzinger Road is another example of a retail-oriented node, with small retail plazas situated on the two western corners of the intersection. These retail plazas are fully occupied with neighborhood-oriented businesses, like convenience markets, laundromat and dry cleaners, hair braiding salon, and a restaurant. A now closed dollar store sits on the southeast corner of the intersection, and a worship center on the northeast. COTA bus stops are also located here, meaning it can also serve transit commuters.

Low-intervention enhancements would make this a more inviting neighborhood node, helping to boost the small businesses and creating a vibrant destination. Streetscape improvements are recommended for this area, including the addition of curbs, more visible crosswalks, a multi-use path on the east side of Courtright Road, a continuous sidewalk on the west side of Courtright Road, better lighting, and landscaping. Burying utilities and streamlining traffic poles would also help to reduce visual pollution.

Enhancing the retail plazas could be accomplished by designating a small outdoor gathering area for food trucks or outdoor dining, adding a mural on a blank building wall, and adding lighting and landscaping to make it more pleasant for pedestrians. These improvements could help to attract another business to the former dollar store location, helping to activate this node even further.

Youth & Education

Big Idea: Support student success and positive youth development

Throughout this planning process, Eastland community members expressed a need to better support and engage with Eastland’s youth. The 14–18-year-old focus group found the same—youth in Eastland want to be involved in their community and they need more things to do that are geared toward their age group (recreation, entertainment, safe spaces to gather, etc.). Having a central hub of activity that provides access to training, services, educational support, recreation, and programming would help meet the needs of Eastland’s youth. Given the auto-oriented nature of the Eastland area, it is also critical to make needed connections, improve access, fill sidewalk gaps, and add more convenient transit.

“...Would be nice to have something like the Reeb Center that could be a resource hub and gathering place for the community...”

“I would like to see more community involvement programs to educate our youth.”

“More connected sidewalks and safety barriers along the main thoroughfares.”

“A post grad (after high school) extension a part of Columbus State or vocational training facility.”

Source: Neighborhood Design Center

What We Heard

Community members expressed a desire for:

+ Constructive activities, programming, and places for students of all ages

+ Access to job opportunities and training for young people

+ Resource centers to provide educational support

+ Better walking access to existing schools

+ Improved higher education opportunities

Student success relies on many factors outside the bounds of a community plan. School standards, student engagement, and educational facility-related improvements are the responsibility of Columbus City Schools and other education providers in Eastland. Other issues such as family relationships, academic assistance, job training, and resources are in the realm of other agencies and service providers. However, all of these issues are important to understand and bring forward as the community seeks to work together to improve youth outcomes in Eastland. This work will require partnerships and collaboration between students, parents, educators, service providers, institutions, and the City of Columbus to address the following plan objectives.

Youth & Education Objectives:

A. Support and strengthen Eastland’s K-12 schools

B. Invest in youth-focused services and programs

C. Create spaces that are welcoming and engaging for youth

A. Support and strengthen

Eastland’s K-12 schools

Plan participants pointed out several barriers to education in the Eastland area. Lack of parent engagement, low graduation rates, and safety concerns topped the list of challenges. The lack of a recreation center and a library in the community is closely related to the stated need for more after school and summer programs for youth.

School staff and educators also pointed out that transportation, food insecurity, accessibility, and safety are major challenges to student success. Other barriers included poverty, access to medical and educational resources, and the lack of sidewalks in the areas around some schools.

To better support and strengthen Eastland’s schools and improve student outcomes, it is important to provide access to facilities that are missing in the community, in order to provide more opportunities for positive before and after school activities. The City and its partners should work to improve parent engagement, support programs and services to address graduation rates, and address safety concerns.

Access to and from the schools in Eastland also need to be improved by addressing sidewalk gaps, and ensuring that parks and other community resources are well and safely connected. Improved bus service is also needed to allow students to more readily access jobs, internships, and collegiate and trade schools. Both of these access and transportation issues are also addressed in the Mobility section of this plan (see pages 181 and 182).

This plan also highlights areas for needed collaboration with community partners, other City and County departments, and service providers to address youth and family supports related to housing, food, transportation, hygiene items, clothing, supplies, etc.

Objective A | Action Items:

A.1 Connect Eastland’s youth with before and after school activities

A.2 Reduce barriers to encourage parent engagement with their child’s school

A.3 Support programs and services focused on improving high school graduation rates

A.4 Support programs and initiatives that address safety concerns at school

A.5 Increase the pedestrian safety to and from school facilities

A.6 Improve transportation access to education opportunities in and around the Eastland area

A.7 Connect youth and their families to basic needs supports (i.e. housing, food, transportation, hygiene items, etc.)

A.8 Provide resources for older children, including back-to-school clothing and supply drives

A.9 Increase opportunities for positive community involvement

B. Invest in youth-focused services and programs

In addition to addressing both education specific issues and the support needed outside of school to improve academic outcomes, youth in Eastland also need access to programs that will help them beyond their schoolaged years. This includes partnering with organizations to connect Eastland’s youth with mentorship, career and job readiness programs, and summer employment. Doing so will provide Eastland’s youth with opportunities to build job and communication skills, explore career opportunities, increase independence, and boost secondary and postsecondary education success. While this may occur outside of Eastland, this also provides an opportunity to work with Eastland organizations and businesses and get young people involved directly in their community.

Objective B | Action Items:

B.1 Connect Eastland’s youth with mentorship programs

B.2 Connect Eastland’s youth with career and job readiness programming

B.3 Improve access for youth to counseling and mental health supports

B.4 Improve access to summer programs and employment

Example of After School programming

Example of Youth Programming

Example of Childcare

Source: Directions for Youth & Families

Source: NC Child

Source: EdSource

C. Create spaces that are welcoming and engaging for youth

Throughout the community engagement for EastlandforEveryone, community members identified the lack of a community center or a library in the Eastland area. While both facilities exist in adjacent neighborhoods, they are not easily accessible to youth. Having a centrally located hub of activity, programming, recreation, and services would serve more than just youth, it would serve all generations in Eastland.

In addition to a community center and a library, youth also need more access to third places in Eastland that offer entertainment. With the closure of Eastland Mall, most of these types of uses (such as a movie theater or arcade) are now outside the area, giving youth in Eastland few opportunities to socialize and gather. As shown in the Community Hub Catalytic Opportunity (see page 134), these types of uses could be part of the mixed-use redevelopment considered there, in other parts of the South Hamilton Road corridor, or at neighborhood nodes (see page 138).

Objective C | Action Items:

C.1 Develop a community center to serve as a central hub for community programming, including youth programming

C.2 Build a library for youth and families in the Eastland area

C.3 Foster intergenerational interactions

C.4 Attract entertainment venues to the Eastland area

CASE STUDY

Arlington Mill Community Center | Arlington, Virginia

The Arlington Mill Community Center, built in 2013, stands on the former site of a Safeway grocery store purchased by Arlington County in the 1990s. After losing the support of the main developer, the county decided to move forward independently, breaking ground for the development in August 2011. The Arlington Mill Community Center serves as a cornerstone of the diverse Columbia Pike neighborhood, supporting its goal of transforming into a walkable, neighborhood-oriented Main Street. The state-of-the-art facility includes a full-size gym, fitness room, classrooms, multi-purpose spaces, a computer center, and an outdoor plaza for events. Additionally, Arlington Mill is home to Phoenix Bikes, a youth focused nonprofit that combines a full-service bike shop with educational programs and community support.

Arlington Mill is co-located with a four-story, 122-unit affordable housing development, developed by True Ground Housing Partners, a non-profit affordable housing developer, specializing in offering a mix of mid- and highrise multifamily apartments for neighbors earning between 30% and 80% of the area median income. The attached apartments provide housing for larger families and designates 13 units for formerly homeless individuals and families.

The center offers a wide range of programs, including English as a Second Language and citizenship classes, arts and fitness activities, and job training, fostering a vibrant, inclusive community for residents of all ages.

Source: Arlington County

CATALYTIC OPPORTUNITY

Eastland Community Center

Following through on the community’s stated need to have a community center in Eastland, the Planning Team explored a concept to co-locate a center adjacent to the planned Mason Run Park on the former Eastland Mall site. This center could be entirely within the Mason Run Park site, but it would work better if it was part of the eventual redevelopment of Eastland Mall. With the demise of the regional mall, increasingly parks, plazas, open spaces, and civic uses are serving as the anchors for mixed-use development. This site is also central to the community, serving both sides of Eastland. With the development of Mason Run and other planned bike infrastructure and multi-use paths (see pages 180 and 205), this site would be accessible by both bike and on foot. The site is also well-served by the existing COTA Route 23 and could be further served by the high-capacity transit proposed on page 219.

The potential program of this community center could include:

+ Indoor recreation courts, exercise facilities, indoor pool

+ Classroom, learning, and creative spaces

+ Study spaces/co-working spaces

+ Flex spaces, where community members can host various events

The community also mentioned the desire to have a community center colocated with a library. A community center with a library was the top priority identified during the third Public Meeting in October 2024, receiving the greatest number of votes. Following through on this community priority will require the involvement of an experienced community center partner, such as CRPD, Boys & Girls Club, and YMCA, as well as the Columbus Metropolitan Library system. As part of this collaboration, community members should stay involved to shape the ultimate programming to best meet the needs of Eastland community members.

Flexible Learning and Creative Spaces

Indoor Recreation Facilities

Source: Grimm + Parker

Source: Grimm + Parker

Example of Community Center

Source: Grimm + Parker

Source: Perkins Eastman

Community Well-being & Services

Big Idea: Improve health and wellness outcomes among Eastland residents

Throughout the engagement process, Eastland community members shared a desire to improve the existing community services within the Eastland area. The Planning Team found that many members of the community needed to leave the study area to go to full-service grocery stores, access medical care facilities, childcare, and education. The community made it clear that Eastland needs to become a full-service community, meeting daily needs within the plan area.

What We Heard

Community members expressed a desire for:

+ Improved food access

+ Access to health and wellness services, programs, education, and resources

+ Improved overall safety in the community

+ Safe and engaging spaces for youth in the community

+ Stronger interaction between the City and community members

“I would like to see an increase in community resources specifically in food...”

“(the City) needs to be visible, to where people can see where you’re trying to make change.”

“...Health care hubfacility housing all forms of health care, for all income levels...”

“...High-quality medical facility, visible city services (police, fire, city agencies), clean/safe green space, business diversity.”

Source: Directions for Youth & Families

Investing in these services is especially important now, as Eastland seeks to rebuild and create a more equitable future. Providing these resources can help break cycles of inequality, improve health outcomes, and foster economic opportunities for community members who have long been underserved. By addressing these basic needs, the community can strengthen its foundation, making Eastland a place where everyone can succeed. Having a strategy around community well-being and services like food access, health and wellness resources, safety, and building trust between the City and the Eastland community will help guide investments, attract businesses, and inform improvements and development in the area.

Community Well-being & Services Objectives:

A. Improve food access and the availability of fresh, healthy food

B. Improve access to health and wellness services, programs, education, and resources

C. Improve overall safety in the community

D. Build trust and collaboration between the City and Eastland neighbors

Q: What would help to improve your well-being and that of your neighbors? What programs, improvements, initiatives, or supports would advance the Eastland community’s well-being?

RECOMMENDATIONS

A. Improve food access and the availability of fresh, healthy food

During the second Public Meeting and survey, the community was asked to rank the services or resources that would help improve quality of life for the community. Healthy food access was identified as the most important service within the community. Food access is crucial for the health and well-being of any community, and it is especially important in areas like Eastland, where community members have faced longstanding challenges related to food insecurity. Efforts like launching a farmers market in the Eastland area, attracting a full-service grocery store, and other food distribution programs like Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) locations, community gardens, and food pantries within the community can provide more reliable access to fresh, nutritious, and affordable food. Improving access to healthy foods supports better physical and mental health, reduces the risk of chronic diseases, and improves overall quality of life, empowering community members to make better food choices for themselves and their families.

Objective A | Action Items:

A.1 Attract full-service grocery store

A.2 Launch an Eastland community farmers market

A.3 Add a WIC location in the Eastland area

A.4 Support food pantry distribution with flexible access and/or hours

A.5 Create or expand community gardens throughout the community

A.6 Support pop-up events that highlight diverse food cultures

Example of Pop-up Food Pantry

Example of Pop-up Food Park

Example of Healthy Corner Store Initiative

Source: Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank

Source: North Hill CDC

Source: Cleveland.com

B. Improve access to health and wellness services, programs, education, and resources

Access to comprehensive health services, wellness programs, and educational resources is essential for improving the overall well-being of Eastland community members. During the second Public Meeting and survey, community members expressed significant concerns about the lack of these critical services, which leaves many in the community vulnerable to worsening health disparities. Often, socioeconomic barriers such as limited financial resources, inadequate insurance coverage, and language barriers hinder access to necessary care.

Without local, affordable health services—such as dental and medical clinics, pharmacies, and mental health support—community members struggle to address both immediate and long-term health issues. The availability of preventive care resources and wellness education is vital for reducing these disparities, helping Eastland community members access health and educational services that allow the community at large to address broader public health concerns. By providing targeted health and wellness support, Eastland can begin to close the gap in health inequities, leading to improved quality of life for all community members.

Objective B | Action Items:

B.1 Attract a pharmacy provider with extended hours to the Eastland area

B.2 Attract a comprehensive community health center (services could include primary care, mental health care, dental care, maternal and child health care)

B.3 Connect residents with health, nutrition, and wellness education

B.4 Connect Eastland residents in need with wraparound services and the full continuum of care

B.5 Connect community members with financial empowerment resources

B.6 Increase awareness of and connection to community-based resources

B.7 Reduce language barriers for essential services

C. Improve overall safety in the community

Safety within the Eastland community was highlighted as an issue during the public engagement process. Many community members had concerns with dangerous activities taking place throughout Eastland, fear for the youth’s safety, lack of lighting and visibility when walking, and vacant properties being misused within the community. Improving the overall safety in the area will not only encourage Eastland community members to gather and engage with one another, but will also allow members of the community to take stewardship of their blocks and neighborhoods, encouraging a sense of ownership and pride.

Efforts to improve community safety will require a unique partnership between the City, first responders, and the community at large. When individuals feel secure in their surroundings, they are more likely to participate in local events, support local businesses, and contribute to a vibrant community culture. Furthermore, safety is foundational for children’s development; it allows them to explore, play, and learn without fear, ultimately shaping confident and responsible adults.

Objective C | Action Items:

C.1 Mobilize neighbors to be stewards of their blocks, neighborhoods, and community

C.2 Improve first responders’ (police, fire, EMS) relationships with community members in the Eastland area

C.3 Improve City response to property maintenance issues to prevent neighborhood deterioration

C.4 Reduce vacant and/or condemned properties

C.5 Create safe and engaging spaces for youth in the community

C.6 Improve lighting along streets and in public areas

Example of Neighborhood-Led Bike Patrol

Example of Conflict Mediation Workshop

Source: Google Images

Source: Akron Beacon Journal

Objective D | Action Items:

D. Build trust and collaboration between the City and Eastland neighbors

Trust and collaboration between the Eastland community and the City of Columbus was also a concern during the public engagement process. The Eastland community expressed a desire to enhance police and community collaboration to keep Eastland safe. The community has a strong desire to create a connection between the Eastland community and local government, which is essential for enhancing the quality of life in the area. Utilizing the existing resident-led Area Commissions to collaborate and provide pertinent feedback will help the community stay engaged in decision making and solution development. Additionally, through suggested actions items like establishing a community hub, the City of Columbus can make services more available to Eastland community members. By immersing local government resources in the Eastland area, relationships can be built, leading to a better understanding of the community’s unique needs and challenges.

D.1 Develop a community hub that combines community and City services into a one-stop shop

D.2 Enhance police/community collaboration through a neighborhood patrol model

D.3 Engage with established resident-led Area Commissions on revitalization efforts in Eastland

D.4 Immerse local government in the Eastland area to foster trust, build relationships, and understanding

D.5 Organize an annual family fun day to connect Eastland with City departments, local businesses, and community resources

Example of Family Fun Day Event

Columbus New American Leadership Academy

Source: Columbus Commons

Source: Columbus Department of Neighborhoods

EARLY WIN

Eastland Prosperity Center & Mid-Ohio Market

The Mid-Ohio Food Collective (MOFC) purchased the former 67,000-square foot Kroger store at the southeast corner of Refugee and South Hamilton Roads. The building will be a hub for social services, including the following:

+ Mid-Ohio Market, where people can shop for free food

+ Kitchen that will make ready-to-eat meals for customers to take home

+ The Ohio State University Total Health Care Center

+ Neighborhood Pride Center for increased access to City services and resources

+ CelebrateOne swing space for maternal and child health resources

+ Community room for meetings and events

+ Benefits and customer outreach team

As of the publishing of this plan, the building is undergoing renovations and is expected to open in early 2026. While the construction is taking place, MOFC and local community groups have been hosting a pop-up market for fresh food on the fourth Saturday of each month.

Eastland Prosperity Center & Mid-Ohio Market Renderings

Exterior

Interior

Renderings Provided By: MOFC, Moody Nolan, Elford

Youth CoLab 2024

The Youth CoLab is an award winning six-week paid summer internship program of the Neighborhood Design Center (NDC), for local high school students interested in the field of design. Launched in 2023, participants are empowered to learn about career opportunities across a variety of professions, all while they develop their own design for a project they then work to implement.

Building on the momentum of EastlandforEveryone, youth residing in the Eastland area were sought out to take part in the 2024 program. Marketing efforts were directed toward students through a partnership with Directions for Youth & Families (DFYF). This allowed for a project team made up of majority Eastland students, with most interns either enrolled at a school in the plan area or on the east side. Directions for Youth & Families also hosted participants and provided access to a Columbus City Schools boxed meal to reduce barriers to participation, like transportation and meals.

Mid-Ohio Food Collective served as the project client; interns were tasked with activating a vacant outdoor space at the future Eastland Prosperity Center. Interns had the opportunity to devise strategies for the existing parking lot and its transformation into a space for community members to use while this development advances.

Over the six-week program, participants experienced the entire life cycle of a built project, from the start to finish. Not only did this allow for a meaningful experience among interns, but it also gave way to a space created for the community, by the community. Now formally known as Eastland’s Canvas, the Youth CoLab team successfully established the necessary infrastructure for an inviting “third place.” More specifically, the design implemented by interns worked to address the following themes recorded from focus group exercises:

+ Make cleanliness and safety improvements a priority

+ Ensure public space is developed with families in mind

+ Provide community members with affordable activity spaces to enjoy

+ Foster social connections among all generations of community members

+ Create hubs to serve as gathering places for the community

While certainly intentional, the emphasis that was put on resident involvement throughout this project has been key to its success. Community members of all ages and abilities contributed to the vision, which can now be celebrated as the Eastland Prosperity Center takes shape in the coming years.

Youth CoLab Participant

Youth CoLab Participants

Installation of Eastland’s Canvas Project

Aerial View of Eastland’s Canvas Project

Source: NDC

Source: NDC

Source: NDC

Source: NDC

Jobs & Opportunity

Big Idea: Support pathways to opportunity and prosperity

The Eastland community has experienced economic challenges like the decline of the Eastland Mall and slower job growth compared to the city. Throughout the community workshops, community members communicated their challenges around accessing higher-paying, stable jobs in the region and the need for more diverse jobs within the community.

What We Heard

Community members expressed a desire for:

+ Improved job training and educational opportunities

+ Improved technical training and financial literacy

+ Better transportation access to job centers

+ An employer or institution to anchor the community

+ Access to higher-wage jobs

“Employers with well-paying jobs.”

“Trade schools for all ages and all job type training.”

“Define and attract economic anchors...”

Source: Adobe Stock

To access higher-paying jobs, Eastland community members highlighted the need for improved skill training and continued education to aid in job readiness and professional development. In addition to career and job placement services, other supports such as access to childcare is important to enable community members to sustain work once they get a job.

While it is necessary to bring more high-quality and highpaying jobs to Eastland, it is also important to improve access to transportation to enable access to jobs throughout the region. In addition to serving workingage community members, there also needs to be a focus on youth empowerment through access to employment and internships that can set the stage for greater success as adults.

Jobs & Opportunity Objectives:

A. Connect residents to existing job opportunities in Eastland

B. Diversify employment opportunities in Eastland

C. Connect residents with tools to improve their financial outlook

RECOMMENDATIONS

A. Connect residents to existing job opportunities in Eastland

The challenge of being able to access available jobs within the area rose to the top during the community workshops. Any strategy aimed at addressing this issue needs to target recruitment, local hiring, improving transportation, and expanding job training programs. Each of these efforts will play a critical role in creating an environment where economic opportunities are not just available, but truly accessible to Eastland community members.

By matching the skills and interests of residents to the needs of employers in the community, job placement can be more impactful. A local job-matching program can be established, with dedicated liaisons who engage with both job-seekers and employers. This program can host job fairs, resume workshops, and interview coaching sessions to help community members prepare for available jobs. Community boards, social media, and neighborhood centers could serve as hubs for sharing job listings and information, ensuring that community members are aware of opportunities that align with their skills and aspirations.

In addition to this, local employers should be encouraged to hire from within the community and offer competitive wages. Incentives such as tax breaks and wage subsidies can help promote this.

Another key to increasing local employment opportunities would be to support companies that wish to expand their operations in Eastland. This support can come in various forms, including providing access to small business grants, offering technical assistance for business planning, and streamlining expansion processes.

Source: International Institute of Minnesota

Source: Getty Images

Source: UC San Francisco

As community members highlighted, one of the most significant barriers to employment in Eastland is lack of adequate transportation. Ensuring that community members have reliable and affordable means to commute to work is vital for their ability to secure and maintain jobs. Efforts to enhance transportation infrastructure could include increasing the number and frequency of bus routes, providing access to carpool programs, and establishing community shuttle services to major employment centers. Subsidizing transportation costs for low-income workers can also help bridge the gap between job availability and accessibility.

Additionally, ensuring access to skills training and career support that align with the needs of local employers is crucial. By expanding job training programs within Eastland, community members can gain the skills necessary to compete for available roles and advance in their careers. Partnerships with local colleges and workforce development agencies can provide training in areas like technology, healthcare, customer service, and more. Additionally, mentorship programs, career counseling, and support services such as childcare, can help community members overcome other barriers to employment.

Expanding access to job training and support programs directly addresses the needs of community members who may face challenges securing stable, well-paying employment due to a lack of necessary skills or experience. To make these programs accessible, Eastland should focus on offering training within the community, at neighborhood centers, libraries, schools, or local business hubs. This could include courses in technology, technical services, advanced manufacturing, entrepreneurship, and other regionally growing job markets. Additionally, providing flexible scheduling, like evening and weekend classes, can ensure that community members balancing work, childcare, and other responsibilities have the chance to participate.

Source: Adobe Stock

Source: Capital Crossroads SID

Along with access to job training, understanding how to manage income is equally important for long-term financial health. Local access to financial literacy programs covering budgeting, credit and debt management, and wealth building can help community members advance their financial outlook. Workshops, seminars, and one-on-one coaching sessions can be offered through community centers, schools, faith-based organizations, and local non-profit organizations. Partnering with financial institutions, local banks, and credit unions can provide community members with additional resources, including free financial counseling, affordable banking services, and low-interest lending opportunities for major purchases like homes or vehicles.

The availability of all these resources will make Eastland’s community members better equipped to pursue higher-paying jobs, creating opportunities for upward mobility within the community. Access to financial literacy resources will help community members break cycles of debt and build savings. As community members become more financially secure, they can invest in homeownership, education, and other life goals, contributing and enhancing the overall economic health of the Eastland community.

Objective A | Action Items:

A.1 Recruit Eastland residents to fill jobs in the community

A.2 Incentivize community employers to hire residents at a livable wage

A.3 Support companies that want to expand and grow in Eastland

A.4 Improve transportation access to employment opportunities for Eastland residents

A.5 Expand job training and support programs in the neighborhood

A.6 Connect residents with financial literacy and wealthbuilding education

B. Diversify employment opportunities in Eastland

Diversifying employment opportunities in Eastland is about more than just creating jobs— it’s about building a sustainable economic ecosystem where community members can access a range of meaningful career paths. Attracting new employment opportunities, recruiting growing industries, and securing a stable anchor employer all contribute to a more resilient local economy that can withstand economic shifts and provide long-term stability for community members.

By leveraging its assets, like the availability of land for development, its proximity to I-70 and I-270, lower operating costs, and its existing workforce, Eastland can be positioned as attractive for companies looking for a new base. Additionally, business-friendly incentives like tax breaks, infrastructure support, and streamlined permitting processes can draw new employers to the area.

Eastland has the opportunity to tap into and capture its fair share of the regional economic growth by identifying sectors that are expanding regionally and recruiting them actively. Since 2010, Franklin County alone has gained approximately 56,000 highpaying knowledge sector jobs in technology, professional, scientific and technical services, and advanced manufacturing. Hosting industry roundtables, attending regional business forums, leveraging partnerships with economic development agencies, and a robust marketing campaign highlighting the benefits of operating in Eastland are all ways to reach out to these emerging sectors. Additionally, fostering partnerships with educational institutions can ensure that the local workforce is prepared to meet the needs of these industries.

Example of Career Fair

Example of Anchor Employer

Source: Whittier Union School District

Source: WGI Engineering Firm

Source: LinkedIn

EXISTING CITY PROGRAMS

GreenSpot Program

The GreenSpotprogram is a membership-based program that provides a framework for thinking about sustainability and tracking successes. Members may be individual households, businesses, or community groups who wish to engage in more sustainable and environmentally-conscious habits. The program is free to join and is open to all residents of Franklin County and surrounding counties.

Clean Energy Columbus

The CleanEnergyColumbusprogram is a community choice aggregation program that allows city residents and small businesses to obtain cleaner energy at competitive rates. The City of Columbus contracts this energy on behalf of residents and businesses in an effort to become carbon neutral by 2050 and provide 100% Ohio-based clean energy to program participants.

Historically, marginalized and lower-income communities have been disproportionately exposed to the impacts of environmental hazards. Addressing this, Eastland community members impressed upon their desire to attract a long-term, stable employer that not only contributes to the community’s economic growth, but also enhances the community’s environmental health and quality of life. Such an employer can create numerous jobs and invest in local infrastructure while promoting sustainability.

The City’s commitment to a sustainable future is evident in the work of the Department of Public Utilities’ Office of Sustainability, also referred to as Sustainable Columbus. Its recent programs, such as the GreenSpotprogram and CleanEnergyColumbusprogram, help shape policy and create actionable programming to improve environmental health in the city, and give residents the tools to incorporate sustainability into their everyday lives. Eastland has the opportunity to leverage these programs in attracting an anchor employer that has a focus on sustainable practices.

Offering incentives for green building practices, providing assistance with obtaining environmental certifications, and promoting the availability of local renewable resources can all help position Eastland as an attractive location for environmentally conscious companies that value corporate social responsibility and community well-being.

Objective B | Action Items:

B.1 Attract new employment to Eastland

B.2 Recruit industries that are growing in the region to Eastland

B.3 Attract a stable, environmentally friendly employer to anchor the community

EARLY WIN

Columbus State Career Development Center

Columbus State Community College (CSCC) is investing in the Eastland area through the creation of a new 37-acre Career Development Center. The center would focus on education for in-demand jobs in construction trades and as first responders. These programs include architectural drafting, civil engineering technology, construction management, environmental science, geographic information systems, HVAC technology, landscape design and management, facilities maintenance, welding, surveying, criminal justice, emergency medical services, and fire science. In addition to academic programs, the center also may offer community-facing programming and training courses informed by the needs of area residents and employers.

The center, located near Refugee Road and Winchester Pike, will include indoor and outdoor training facilities to provide a more permanent home for these growing CSCC programs, with an anticipated 2,600 students served per year. While the planning and design process for this center is just beginning as of the publishing of this plan, it will no doubt become an important anchor for the Eastland area, providing much needed workforce development within easy access of residents.

State Career Development Center Location Map

Three Creeks Metro Park

Source:

Mobility & Access

Big Idea: Enable safe and efficient mobility for all

Through this planning process, the Eastland community expressed a clear need for mobility and access improvements. While there have been recent investments in shared use paths and intersection improvements on South Hamilton Road and Refugee Road, more needs to be done to enable safe and efficient mobility for all.

What We Heard

Community members expressed a desire for:

+ Modern and safe automobile, pedestrian, and bicycle infrastructure

+ Improved bus frequency, especially on routes to desired destinations

+ Better bus stops with shelters, improved safety and lighting, and real time bus information

+ Community wide connectivity and bike connections to the regional trail network

+ Development patterns that support transit-oriented development, walkability, and multimodal access

“Transportation isn’t very accessible. I Uber most of the time because the walk from my house to the bus stop is far.”

“ ...Improve auto traffic flows, enhance mass transit and make streets more conducive to pedestrian traffic (walking, scooters and bikes).”

“There are no sidewalks on Bixby and yet, they want the kids to walk to school.”

“...There are COTA stops on Hamilton with no shelters, and there is no sidewalk along Groves Rd. [Improve] traffic access to the businesses along Hilton Corporate Drive/Groves Road...”

COTA

There are numerous opportunities to address these community concerns. The City of Columbus’ Vision Zero and SafeRoutestoSchoolprograms are working on safety improvements to ensure Columbus reaches its goals of eliminating traffic fatalities and ensuring students have safe walking and biking paths to their schools. The City’s BikePlusPlanwill address needed on- and off-street bike infrastructure investments. The Columbus Recreation and Parks Department (CRPD) is planning investment in the Big Walnut Trail extension. And finally, COTA’s LinkUs initiative will fund both high-capacity transit and bike and pedestrian facilities in Eastland. The community’s input directly informs these ongoing planning efforts with an emphasis on implementation and improvement for the community members of Eastland.

Recommendations for mobility and access improvements in Eastland revolve around three objectives.

Mobility & Access Objectives:

Q: What would help to connect you to the places you go? What mobility improvements would you like to see in the Eastland area?

A. Invest in modern and safe pedestrian infrastructure

The Eastland area was primarily developed in the era of the automobile. While its neighborhood residential streets largely have sidewalks, there are several connecting streets that have no sidewalks. Other roads still exhibit a rural character with no curbs and ditches for drainage. There are 22 miles of sidewalks gaps throughout Eastland, challenging both pedestrian comfort and safety. The largest sidewalk gaps are on Groves Road, Petzinger Road, East Refugee Road, Noe Bixby Road, the north side of Chatterton Road, the west side of Courtright Road, and Winchester Pike.

While all of these gaps should be addressed, there are a few areas that stand out:

+ The lack of sidewalks on Petzinger Road limits walkability for the community members of the Glenbrook neighborhood

+ The sidewalk gaps on Groves Road limit access to employment

+ The gaps on Noe Bixby Road, East Refugee Road, and Chatterton Road limit safe access to schools and bus stops

Priority Sidewalk Projects Map

fatal crashes among all roadway users between 2018 - 2022

Data from the City of Columbus’ VisionZeroActionPlanshows that between 2018 and 2022, there were 16 fatal crashes among all roadway users in the Eastland area. These intersections coincide with areas of high traffic, high traffic speed, and high-volume pedestrian crossings. At the western gateway to Eastland at US-33 and SR-104, cars travel at highway speeds well into the community. Since there are no signalized intersections for a mile between this intersection and Courtright Road, it is not surprising that there have been fatal accidents in and around this stretch of roadway. The South Hamilton Road corridor and its intersections with Refugee Road and Kimberly Parkway also have a higher concentration of incidents. Given the number of commercial uses and the high transit use along this corridor, these are areas of concern. Finally, the intersection of East Refugee Road and Noe Bixby Road is another safety “hot spot,” and is concerning given the lack of sidewalks and safe access to Nafzger Park and surrounding schools.

There are numerous best practices to mitigate auto-oriented infrastructure and enhance pedestrian safety and comfort. Existing intersection crossings should be retrofitted to improve pedestrian visibility and prioritize pedestrian crossing. This can be accomplished through a variety of infrastructure improvements such as using specialty pavement markings and materials to highlight pedestrian crossings, installing bump outs to provide pedestrian space at crosswalks and shorten the overall crossing distance, and instituting a leading pedestrian interval to give the pedestrians the opportunity to enter crosswalks before vehicles are given a green light. Mid-block crosswalks with rectangular rapid flashing beacons should be considered in areas where there is a gap between signalized intersections and a need to access schools, parks, bus stops, or other destinations.

Overall walkability and livability should also be implemented along key corridors, with a focus on improving streetscapes with lighting, trees, and shade. Over time, especially on the commercial corridors in Eastland, the development patterns must also change to encourage walkability. Implemented today, these streetscapes would still abut acres of vacant, inactive surface parking lots. These auto-oriented, vacant uses will need to be reconfigured or redeveloped entirely to have a similar pedestrian-focused design with appropriately scaled street, walkable blocks, street facing storefronts, and public spaces (see page 138 for more on these opportunities).

Objective A | Action Items:

A.1 Fill gaps in the sidewalk network

A.2 Focus on safety improvements at high injury crossings

+ US-33 and SR-104

+ Refugee Rd. and Courtright Rd.

+ Refugee Rd. and S. Hamilton Rd.

+ S. Hamilton Rd. and Kimberly Pkwy.

+ Refugee Rd. and Noe Bixby Rd.

A.3 Promote walkability throughout community by calming traffic, improving lighting, and adding trees and shade

Example of Pavement Change at Crossing

Example of Bump Out

Example of Mid-Block Crossing with Pedestrian Refuge and Flashing Beacons

Example of Well-Designed Tree-Lined Street

Source: Richard Drdul

Source: Forward Pinellas

Source: Randall Schreiber

Source: RRM Design Group

B. Invest in modern and safe bike infrastructure

Bicycle infrastructure is limited in the Eastland area today, but recent and planned improvements will create a more bikeable and connected community. Today, Eastland is adjacent but not directly connected to the Central Ohio Greenways system (Alum Creek Trail, Big Walnut Trail, and Blacklick Trail).

Internal to Eastland, the recent investment in shared use paths on Refugee, Chatterton, and South Hamilton Roads has created needed bike infrastructure on major arterial roads. The only other bicycle infrastructure in Eastland is along Kimberly Parkway. While these improvements are important, there is still a need to build out a complete bike network in Eastland and create connections to the regional trail system.

Along with the recommendations in this plan, planned trail investment by CRPD and neighborhood bike infrastructure proposed by the City of Columbus’ BikePlusPlanwill result in a more bike-friendly Eastland. The City of Columbus Recreation and Parks Department is working on a proposed Big Walnut Trail expansion that will eventually fill the gap in the trail between Elk Run Park on the south, and the Far East Community Center on the north. A proposed connection from Refugee Road to the Alum Creek Trail will also provide a safe connection to the regional trail network and Three Creeks Metro Park.

Data Source:

Key

Existing/Proposed Shared Use Path

Proposed Protected Bike Lane

Existing/Proposed Bike Lane

Proposed Bike Boulevard

All Other Planned Bike

Infrastructure

Plan Area

Chatterton

BikePlus , and the feedback received from the Eastland community as part of this plan, have highlighted other community priorities along Courtright Road (the only other north-south connection other than South Hamilton Road), Groves Road, East Refugee Road, and the Mason Greenway through the future Mason Run Park as priority investments.

To enable greater access to this local and regional bike network, bike and scooter share should be introduced throughout Eastland. Currently bike and scooter sharing is unavailable east of James Road, just to the west of Eastland.

Objective B | Action Items:

B.1 Fill gaps in the bike network in the Eastland area

B.2 Connect Eastland to the regional greenways network

B.3 Add bike and/or scooter sharing within the Eastland area

C. Invest in modern and safe transit infrastructure and improved transit access

Eastland is served by three standard service (15-60 minutes apart) COTA bus lines (Line 5: 5th Avenue/Refugee; Line 23: James/Stelzer; and Line 24: Hamilton Road), and is adjacent to three other routes, two of which are rush hour routes. While bus service is utilized throughout the community, the highest average weekday boarding in Eastland occurs at the intersection of South Hamilton Road and Refugee Road.

Through the course of this planning process, Eastland community members expressed a desire for improved bus service. Bus frequency and speed is of utmost importance, especially to high demand areas such as Downtown Columbus, Easton Town Center and John Glenn Columbus International Airport. COTA is continuing to evaluate service frequency and has recently updated Line 24 to 30-minute service intervals on weekdays.

Access to bus stops and service is also especially important for students, both to get to schools within the community and to get to jobs and educational opportunities outside of the community (Easton and Columbus State as examples). Further concern was expressed about safety and comfort at bus stops. Improving lighting, adding real time information, and continuing to add shelters are recommended (currently 13 of 60 bus stops in Eastland have bus shelters).

Community members also expressed a need for the COTA//Plus on-demand service that lets users request point A to point B trips. This service is currently available on the South Side, just west of the Eastland area.

Objective C | Action Items:

C.1 Improve bus frequency and route speed within Eastland

C.2 Improve access to bus stops for Eastland students

C.3 Improve existing bus stops in the Eastland area to make them more comfortable

C.4 Expand the COTA//Plus on-demand service to the Eastland area

COMMUNITY COLLEGE MAIN CAMPUS

EARLY WIN

The Big Walnut Trail is a greenway that is envisioned to span from the Hoover Reservoir to Three Creeks Metro Park. Today, the trail is 7.7 miles long with six trailhead locations. The trail is not yet contiguous, but that is soon to change with the completion of several missing trail segments, including the one in the Eastland area. The City of Columbus Recreation and Parks Department began working on the 2.5-mile section from Winchester Pike to Nafzger Park at Refugee Road in spring 2024. As part of this extension, the trail will pass through Helsel Park, which is also undergoing a master plan to reimagine the park (see page 206). The City of Columbus Recreation and Parks Department has also conducted a request for proposals for planning and design of the 3.5-mile section of the Big Walnut Trail from Refugee Road to East Main Street. The completion of these two trail projects will better connect Eastland neighbors to the regional parks and greenways network, and to neighborhoods north of I-70. Key

Planned Big Walnut Trail Connection

Existing Shared Use Path

Existing Bike Lane

Park or Open Space

Plan Area

Completed Big Walnut Trail Gap

Eastland “Ring”

Proposed Eastland Ring and Bike Infrastructure Map

CATALYTIC OPPORTUNITY

Eastland “Ring”

Building on the Big Walnut Trail expansion and the shared use paths on South Hamilton Road and Refugee Road, CRPD is proposing a trail loop within the Eastland area called the Eastland “Ring.” This proposed trail would be comprised of two primary segments. On the north side of the Big Walnut Trail, a path would extend west on Groves Road, cross South Hamilton Road, then run west along Eastpoint Drive, connecting through a utility corridor to the new Mason Run Greenway. The Mason Run Greenway extends south through the new Mason Run Park (just east of the Eastland Mall site), across South Hamilton Road, and connects back with the Big Walnut Trail. This approximately 5-mile loop would connect neighborhoods, parks, and commercial areas with a safe and accessible bike and pedestrian facility that serves both Eastland residents and visitors.

PLANAREA

Key

Proposed Eastland “Ring”

Proposed Priority Bike Infrastructure

Other Proposed Bike Infrastructure

Existing Shared Use Path

Existing Bike Lane

Park or Open Space

Plan Area

CATALYTIC OPPORTUNITY

All Priority Bike Infrastructure

The bike network for Eastland builds on these planned trail additions by linking neighborhood assets and existing infrastructure together to create a comprehensive system. This would fill in missing links within Eastland, including East Refugee Road by Independence High School and the gap between East Refugee Road and Chatterton Road.

Courtright Road improvements are especially important as this route is the only other north-south connection over I-70. A safe and connected Courtright Road would serve local pedestrian and bicyclists, but would also extend access to the amenities, destinations, businesses, and employment opportunities north of Eastland. Today, Courtright Road has no sidewalks and is built more like a rural two-lane road than a neighborhood street. The proposed conditions have a sidewalk on the west side of the street and a shared use path on the east side of the street. The wider right-of-way on the east side of the street allows for the planting of street trees to improve the tree canopy and enhance pedestrian and bicyclist comfort. This reframing of Courtright Road will make it a more attractive and connected part of Eastland.

Al-Huda Islamic Center

GrovesRoad

Shared Use Path

Sidewalk

Mason Run

Courtright Road | Proposed Improvements

PLANAREA

CATALYTIC OPPORTUNITY

Creating Safer Routes to Schools and Hubs of Activity

Key

Additional Priority Corridors for Sidewalks

The SafeRoutestoSchoolprogram provides resources and funding to enable students to bike or walk to school. In the Eastland area, the priority Safe Routes to School corridors are around Easthaven Elementary School, Liberty Elementary School, and Independence High School (see diagram above). This program would look at these streets to make them more walkable, bikeable, comfortable, and convenient.

SafeRoutestoSchoolalso provides educational programs to help students and their families to build the skills and confidence to walk and bike around the community safely. This is complemented by programs, events, and activities that generate enthusiasm and expose more people to active transportation.

Safe Routes to Schools Priority Corridors

Existing Sidewalk Sidewalk Gap

Columbus City School

Plan Area

CATALYTIC OPPORTUNITY

Potential Hamilton Road LinkUS Corridor

Mentioned earlier in this section of the plan, LinkUS is a comprehensive transportation and development vision to connect communities through bus rapid transit (BRT), active transportation investments, and equitable transit-oriented development (ETOD). The first three LinkUS corridors that are actively in progress are the Northwest, East Main, and West Broad corridors. Additional corridors anticipated for near- and long-term transportation studies will include connections to John Glenn International and Rickenbacker Airports, as well as other major population and employment centers around Central Ohio.

The closest LinkUS corridor to the Eastland area that is confirmed is the East Main Street corridor, which includes a planned BRT station at the intersection with South Hamilton Road. When looking at the Hamilton Road corridor from a regional perspective, it possesses many of the qualities that would make it well-suited for BRT, including:

+ Generous right-of-way and curb-to-curb widths;

+ Direct connections to both Rickenbacker Airport and John Glenn International Airport;

+ Large percentage of renter, minority, low-income, and zero-car households;

+ Potential connections with several other LinkUS corridors; and

+ Existing delineation as a state route.

For the Eastland area in particular, the South Hamilton Road corridor is the major north-south roadway, providing direct access to neighborhoods and job centers beyond. In addition to increased service frequency on Hamilton Road, this BRT route would also intersect with the East Main BRT route, which would provide fast access into and out of downtown. For these reasons, this plan recommends that the Hamilton Road corridor be included in future studies for additional LinkUS corridors.

Example of BRT Station

Example of BRT Station

Source: IndyGO

Source: Richmond BizSense

Corridors In Design Phase

Corridors Planned for Near-term Study

Corridors Planned for Future Study

Hamilton Road Corridor

Desired Transit Access Destinations

Community Identity & Pride

Big Idea: Beautify and enhance the physical appearance of the Eastland area

Eastland has a strong sense of community, but it is not readily apparent throughout the area. Part of this is due to the lack of a common gathering place in Eastland. With the loss of Eastland Mall, there is no longer a space where people come together to celebrate community. Eastland community members see a clear need to celebrate the diverse stories, cultures, and history of Eastland. The look and feel of key corridors, gateways, and commercial areas represent opportunities for Eastland to have a more defined identity, and to make the area more welcoming and beautiful.

“I love the idea of landmarks. I know we can’t have that back. But you know, just making sure that we document the historical factors and the history and maybe getting testimonies from people.”

“We have to tell our story.”

“...Beautification (not gentrification) of Hamilton Rd, Livingston, Brice, Noe Bixby...”

“I would like to see beauty over here like Easton and the Short North. A wonderful and safe place to walk around.”

Source: Liberians in Columbus, Inc. (LICI)

What We Heard

Community members expressed a desire for:

+ An Eastland brand identity that reflects the community

+ Beautification of South Hamilton Road, Refugee Road, Courtright Road, and Kimberly Parkway

+ Neighborhood gateways at key community thresholds and nodes

Through continued community conversations, it is clear this topic overlaps with needed improvements to amenities, services, and retail in Eastland and opportunities for additional community building through festivals and events. While these are covered in other sections of this plan, it is important to note how important these aspects of community identity and pride are to Eastland.

While there have been mobility improvements made to South Hamilton Road and Refugee Road, the community recognizes the opportunity to use these and other corridors and gateways to improve streetscapes, add public art and branding, and make landscape improvements that announce, celebrate, and beautify Eastland. Overall community appearance, upkeep, and maintenance of both public and private property are key priorities.

Community Identity & Pride Objectives:

RECOMMENDATIONS

A. Foster a unique sense of identity for Eastland

Eastland has a compelling history and a diverse community. There are people, events, businesses, and organizations in the community that are unique, interesting, and impactful. Outwardly reflecting these positive aspects of Eastland requires a singular brand that captures all that Eastland offers today, and its aspirations for the future. Today, there is no brand or identity that people can collectively use to build awareness or bring people together.

An Eastland brand should be created through additional community conversations and the involvement of local community organizations, businesses, marketing and branding experts, and artists. Together, these groups and professionals can develop a brand and system of signage, banners, and public art installations that help to announce Eastland and tell its story—past, present and future. This can help to influence perceptions about Eastland and promote greater community pride.

In addition to a physical brand and identity, the history and culture of Eastland should also be expressed through more programs and events that bring people together, and celebrate the unique qualities of the community. While this is addressed in the Community Gathering section (see page 198), it is important that the identity of Eastland is outwardly reflected in gatherings that showcase its diversity.

Objective A | Action Items:

A.1 Create a cohesive brand that showcases Eastland’s unique identity

A.2 Incorporate community stories through signage, banners, and public art

A.3 Initiate programs and events that highlight Eastland’s rich cultural diversity and history

Example of Streetlight Banners

Example of Existing Historical Marker in Eastland

Example of Mural

Example of Cultural Exhibit

Source: South East Chicago Commission

Source: Remarkable Ohio

Source: Urban Art Commission

Source: Columbus Museum of Art

B. Emphasize beautification throughout Eastland

Community beautification will require the commitment and involvement of community members, organizations, businesses, and the City of Columbus. Community members and community groups should be encouraged, empowered, and supported to become stewards of their neighborhoods, blocks, streets, businesses, and parks. This could include neighborhood cleanups, “adopting” a street, or hosting events like community days or block parties to bring activity and change to Eastland.

In addition to supporting and facilitating community efforts, the City also needs to be a partner in community beautification by proactively addressing property maintenance issues and helping people access services and programs that will help them properly maintain their properties (see page 127). There are other opportunities to collaborate with business owners and community members to activate the many vacant storefronts and properties, with temporary art and popups to create positive energy in areas devoid of activity.

There is also an opportunity to invest in key corridors, such as South Hamilton Road and Refugee Road, to build on the recent mobility investments and create truly comfortable, welcoming streetscapes that encourage pedestrian and bicycle use, and support investment in adjacent commercial properties (see page 132).

Objective B | Action Items:

B.1 Support resident-led beautification and cleanup efforts

B.2 Improve the City’s response to property maintenance issues to prevent neighborhood deterioration

B.3 Activate vacant properties through temporary art and other installations

B.4 Transform Refugee and South Hamilton Roads into green corridors

Example of Resident-Led Neighborhood Beautification

Example of Special Event

Example of Temporary Activation of Vacant Storefront

Source: Tippman98x/Shutterstock.com

Source: STEPS Public Art

Source: The Ohio State University

C. Create welcoming gateways at key community thresholds, nodes, and corridors

Through this planning process, the community highlighted the corridors and gateways that need to be improved. South Hamilton Road, Refugee Road, and Courtright Road were among the corridors identified by community members. These and other corridors have inconsistent or no pedestrian scale lighting, street trees, sidewalks, and other streetscape amenities.

Other areas of Columbus have these streetscape improvements, such as Morse Road, where improvements there added street trees, planted medians, branded banners, and improved sidewalks, crossings, lanes, and bus shelters to a very similar commercial corridor.

The gateways to Eastland are also incredibly important because they offer a community welcome, provide a first impression, and create a sense of arrival. Community members highlighted the intersection of South Hamilton and Refugee Roads, the South Hamilton Road and I-70 interchange, and Refugee Road and US-33 as important community gateways. These areas offer an opportunity to brand Eastland in the built environment and announce the neighborhood to people traveling by car, by bus, on foot, or by bicycle. Doing so creates a unified community identity and creates a safer, more welcoming environment.

Example of Streetlight Banner

Example of Public Sculpture

Example of Utility Box Art Wrap

Example of Gateway Feature

Source: Public Art Archive

Source: Ybor City

Source: Google Images

Source: Good Stuff Partners

Objective C | Action Items:

C.1 Beautify key corridors in the community (S. Hamilton Rd., Refugee Rd., Courtright Rd., Kimberly Pkwy.)

C.2 Improve primary gateways (Refugee Rd. & S. Hamilton Rd., S. Hamilton Rd. & I-70, Refugee Rd. & US-33)

Proposed Community Gateway

Proposed Neighborhood/ District Threshold

Proposed Beautified Corridors Plan Area

CATALYTIC OPPORTUNITY

Greening South Hamilton and Refugee Roads

While the mobility improvements that were made to South Hamilton Road and Refugee Road added shared use paths and upgraded intersections, these two projects did little to enhance the streetscapes on both roadways. As documented in the Urban Heat Island diagram (see page 70), all of South Hamilton Road and portions of Refugee Road have high surface temperatures because of a lack of tree canopy, and the predominance of surface parking lots.

One way to mitigate this impact quickly is to use existing City-owned right-of-way (ROW) to add street trees and increase the tree canopy. This would both lower surface temperatures and provide a more comfortable and welcoming environment for both walking and biking. While the ROW varies between 189 feet and 225 feet, there is ample space in the ROW for trees and a variety of other green infrastructure. More than 1,000 trees could be planted along these two corridors. Attention will need to be paid to the appropriate tree species, siting, soils, and soil depth to ensure the long-term success of the tree canopy. Furthermore, designs should also look to integrate bioswales, rain gardens, and permeable pavement to help offset area stormwater impacts.

Additional improvements along these two corridors should include planted medians, signage and branding, lighting, bus shelters, seating, and other streetscape amenities. This will hopefully encourage adjacent development to make similar improvements beyond the ROW, making pedestrian-oriented enhancements that allow for greater walkability and connectivity between uses.

Source: Darrohn Engineering

Source: Rhodeside & Harwel

Tim Hortons

The Commons at Water’s Edge

The Life at Edgewater Landing

City of Columbus Park Land

CATALYTIC OPPORTUNITY

Revitalized Western Gateway at Refugee Road

The convergence of SR-104, US-33, and Refugee Road has been identified as a dangerous intersection through the City of Columbus’ VisionZeroActionPlan . With traffic coming eastward from SR-104 and the on and off ramps from US-33, this intersection deals with highway speeds that need to be slowed as they enter Eastland. This is also the intersection of Winchester Pike which bisects Refugee Road at an angle, creating difficult turn movements and resulting in numerous separate pedestrian crossings. This area has also been identified as a key gateway to Eastland. Looking together at both safety and the opportunity for a better community threshold can create a revitalized western gateway for Eastland.

One way to address this dangerous and confusing intersection would be to replace the existing intersection with a roundabout. While this would take additional study to determine feasibility, in general, roundabouts slow traffic, simplify turn movements, and reduce conflicts.

In addition to potential safety improvements, a roundabout would also be an opportunity to add a gateway element to the overall design to announce Eastland. Public art and/or place branding in the center of the roundabout would provide an orientation to Eastland, and connect it visually to other streetscape improvements suggested for the Refugee Road corridor (see page 190).

Streetscape and gateway improvements should leverage Columbus State Community College’s investment in the Career Development Center. With its main entrance to that new campus off Sobeck Road, the clarity of access and wayfinding at this intersection will be critical to their success.

These gateway and streetscape improvements can also help to spur investment in adjacent redevelopment. The largely vacant Big Lots retail center along Winchester Pike has the opportunity to be redeveloped as a mix of commercial/retail and residential uses. Commercial uses could be located on Winchester Pike, with residential infill behind it. This backs up to open space that will have a connector trail from Refugee Road to the Alum Creek Trail. This trail will provide regional access to Eastland residents, but it is also an opportunity to bring trail users into Eastland to visit shops and restaurants, or access future trail-oriented services at this location.

View Looking West along Refugee Road

Aerial View of Big Lots at Berwick Plaza

Street View of Refugee Road Looking East

Alum Creek Trail

Source: Google Earth

Source: Google Earth

Source: Google Earth

Source: Google Earth

Alum Creek Trail Connector

Consolidated Access Drives

CATALYTIC OPPORTUNITY

Enhanced Underpasses

Another area of community concern was around the intersection of South Hamilton Road and Refugee Road, a key community node. This is also where I-270 bisects the community, with overpasses interrupting visual connectivity across both roadways. It is possible to mitigate the impact of these overpasses by seeing them as a branding opportunity.

Enhancing the overpasses with an Eastland brand identity, adding color to the overpass, and installing lighting will transform these from barriers to clear passageways from one side of the corridor to the other. With the addition of landscape planting, lighting, and banners, these streetscapes can help to define the community and connect people through these spaces with greater ease and comfort.

Community Gathering

Big Idea: Cultivate spaces for recreation, gathering, and connection

The Eastland community has numerous ideas for how to improve park facilities, access, and programming. While there are 16 parks in the Eastland area today, public feedback focused on the six most used and active parks. Plan participants also shared excitement for the new park planned at Mason Run.

Community members expressed a desire for:

+ Better park facilities, play areas, and community gathering spaces

+ Improved park safety and accessibility

+ A dedicated recreation center and public pool

+ Park programming and events that are intergenerational and relevant to the community

+ The creation of third places that foster a sense of community and shared experiences

“...I would add a recreation center for the kids. Maybe a pool...”

“Functional greenspaces & multipurpose outdoor and indoor community spaces big enough to host community events during all seasons ”

“It would be nice to have access to more parks with tennis courts, baseball diamonds, skate boarding zones, exercise trails, bike trails.”

“There should be a area for community gathering.”

Source: LIGA Latinos Unidos

Q: Describe your perfect day in a park. What improvements, amenities, or programs would entice you to spend more time in the park?

What We Heard

Based on the park typologies (see page 62) used by CRPD, the active parks in Eastland are categorized as neighborhood parks (Easthaven, Maybury, and Walnut View), community parks (Helsel and Mason Run), and regional parks (Nafzger Park).

For neighborhood parks, community members mentioned a need for more or improved trail and paths, seating and tables, playgrounds, shelter, and shade among other amenities (see chart at right). For community parks, sports facilities, playgrounds, community event space/programming, trails and paths, seating and tables, and enhanced safety were most mentioned. In regional parks, the community expressed a need for trails and paths, sports facilities, biking facilities, playgrounds, improved park maintenance and beautification, and a pool.

by Sub-topic

Gathering Objectives: A. Enhance Eastland’s

PLANAREA

Key Planned or Proposed Parks for Improvement

Other Parks

Plan Area

The good news is that this community feedback is already shaping improvements that CRPD is actively planning for a new park at Mason Run and upgrades to Helsel Park (see pages 205 and 206). This plan builds on these planned investments by cataloging and visualizing additional improvements the community would like to see at Easthaven, Maybury, Walnut View, and Nafzger Parks (see pages 208-211).

Creeks Metro Park

Walnut View Park

Nafzger Park

Easthaven Park

Helsel Park

Maybury Park

Maybury Park

RECOMMENDATIONS

A. Enhance Eastland’s parks and recreation facilities

Community members suggested a number of ideas to improve existing parks in Eastland to make them more interesting, comfortable, and safe. From new playgrounds to adding shelters, shade and seating, parks in Eastland should be updated and upgraded to be more usable and attractive. Park safety and maintenance is also critical to the community. These issues should be addressed by improving lighting, upkeep, and design. As parks are redesigned, concentrating activity and access will ensure more eyes on public spaces and mitigate the hidden areas of parks that exist today.

Sports and recreation facilities are also important to the community. Existing sports fields are well-used but not centrally located. The fields at Helsel Park are also in the floodplain, making maintenance difficult and compromising the quality of the playing surface. Improving existing fields and adding fields in new parks will improve quality, quantity, and accessibility.

The Eastland area also lacks an indoor recreation facility. A new indoor facility was a key community priority to give all community members access to year-round recreation activities and programs. One potential location is to add a community center to the community hub envisioned for Eastland (see page 137).

Example of Nature Playground

Example of Accessible Play Equipment

Source: Earthscape Play

Source: PlayCreation

Example of Aquatic Center

Source: Matthew Jonas

Park space in Eastland also provides an opportunity to improve the community’s tree canopy and overall sustainability. While there are more than 110 acres of parkland preserve and conservation parkland in Eastland (see page 63), existing parks can also contribute to the resilience in the community. By planting additional trees, converting some areas of mown turf to a naturalized landscape, and preserving existing natural areas, Eastland can become a more sustainable community.

Taken together, these recommendations will create renovated and new parks and facilities in Eastland that better serve community members and the environment.

Objective A | Action Items:

A.1 Upgrade Eastland’s parks by improving play areas and adding shelters, shade, seating, and community gathering spaces

A.2 Address issues in parks to ensure a safer and more enjoyable experience for all park users

A.3 Improve sports fields in Eastland’s parks for community sports teams and recreation leagues

A.4 Build a new community center in the Eastland area that includes recreation facilities and a pool

A.5 Add more shade trees in Eastland’s parks and public areas

A.6 Preserve existing native trees, woodlands, river and stream corridors, and critical wildlife habitats

Example of Park Shelter

Source: Civitas

B. Foster community interaction for all ages

How parks and community spaces are programmed are just as important as the facilities themselves. Community feedback highlighted a need for programs and activities that promote and encourage community involvement. This includes programs such as classes, sports leagues, and other organized activities that enable community interaction in the parks in the Eastland area. As parks are renovated and new ones are built, space should also be allocated for community events and festivals that celebrate the people of Eastland and create new weekly, monthly, and yearly opportunities to bring people together.

A new community center would provide a hub for community programming. Currently considered at the former Eastland Mall site adjacent to the new Mason Run Park, this center would be centrally located to all of Eastland. These new programs and events would not just bring people together, but would also enable the community to be directly involved in participating through volunteer and other opportunities.

The community also expressed a desire for more third places. These are free or inexpensive places that provide a sense of community and social connection. As it relates to this topic, third places have traditionally included parks, playgrounds, community centers, and libraries, but they can also include events, block parties, and farmers markets that could take place in a community space. Other third places include cafés, coffee shops, restaurants, shops, and other essential anchors in a neighborhood.

Example of Regular Fitness Programming

Example of Farmers Market in a Park

Example of Cultural Festival in a Park

Example of Cultural Festival in a Park

Source: Community Farmers Markets

Source: SanDiego.org

Source: Cupertino Today

Source: Google Images

This plan identifies places where these public and private third places could come together. The plan for the Eastland Mall site shows how a new community hub of housing, retail, and entertainment could be anchored by civic spaces like a park, community center, and library. The plan for Maybury Park is a smaller scale example of how neighborhood park space and a retail node could create an ideal third place in Walnut Heights.

Objective B | Action Items:

B.1 Identify opportunities for regular recreation programming and activities in Eastland’s parks

B.2 Encourage community events and festivals to activate Eastland’s parks and public spaces

B.3 Build and develop a community center to serve as a central hub for community programming

B.4 Promote volunteer opportunities throughout the community

B.5 Add third places that promote a sense of community and shared experiences among all generations in Eastland

EARLY WINS

New Mason Run Park

In 2021, CRPD purchased a 78-acre parcel located behind the former Eastland Mall site. Mason Run, a tributary of the Big Walnut Creek, bisects the site, as does a large utility easement. At the time of this plan’s publication, the project is in the initial design stages. The park is envisioned to be categorized as a community park for the Eastland area, and potential amenities could include shared use and walking paths, nature preserves with natural trails, athletic fields and courts, a playground, and a shelter.

Mason Run Park Draft Concept

Rendering provided by CRPD and

MASON RUN PARK

EARLY WINS

Helsel Park Redevelopment

The City of Columbus Recreation and Parks Department began the planning process for the redevelopment of Helsel Park in spring of 2024. The park master plan will address safety concerns, expand programming, and increase the tree canopy in the Eastland area. The 60-acre park’s future programming and amenities may include creating play space for families and their pets, expanding natural spaces for exploration and education, removing a parking lot, and developing a future trailhead for the Big Walnut Trail and Blueway. Since some of the park is within the floodway, current athletic fields would also be relocated to the proposed Mason Run Park. The redesign of the park will concentrate parking and active portions of the park in the eastern half of the park to address floodway and safety concerns.

HELSEL PARK

Helsel Park Draft Concept

CATALYTIC OPPORTUNITIES

Improved Neighborhood Parks

Eastland’s three neighborhood parks are situated near residential areas, maximizing the impact these parks can have on the community’s quality of life. While the parks are generally easily accessed, they could be improved to incorporate more of the community’s desired amenities that were expressed during this planning process.

To provide a starting point for neighborhood park improvements, this plan includes concepts for Easthaven, Maybury, and Walnut View Parks. These concepts illustrate high-level ideas for the improvement of these three parks, but a more in-depth design process would need to be conducted to implement these concept plans.

Upgraded Nafzger Park

As the only regional park in Eastland, Nafzger Park has the ability to offer recreation facilities, amenities, and programs that appeal to the entire Eastland area, and to be a destination for other nearby neighborhoods. It will be connected by the Big Walnut Trail extension enabling greater access to both Eastland and the surrounding area.

To maintain its status as a regional sports hub, fields should be improved. To improve access, stronger and safer connections to adjacent neighborhoods should be prioritized across both Noe Bixby and Refugee Roads. In addition to regional sports and access, features like a playground, splash pad, and sports courts should be added and improved to better serve Eastland community members.

For the purposes of this plan, the following pages summarize the proposed improvements gleaned from community feedback for improvements to Eastland’s neighborhood parks and Nafzger Park.

Add more multi-generational programming to draw more neighbors to this park

Focus on learning and sensory play

Incorporate pathways and trails throughout the site

Strengthen connection to Easthaven Elementary School

Add seating and a shelter near the play area

Consider adding or partnering with an organization to add a community garden

Keep a portion of the site flexible

Source: Nelson Byrd

Outdoor Classroom Project

Recommended Improvements:

Strengthen connections with surrounding uses

Add seating and a shelter near the play area

Incorporate fitness stations along the existing walking trail

Keep the flexible lawn and consider adding a gazebo

Encourage activation of the park through neighborhood-led programming (movie nights, block parties, farmers market, outdoor fitness classes, etc.)

Consider

Source: Civic Design Center

Source: Gardens at Gant Farm

Source: North Hill CDC

Source: Google Images

Recommended

Improvements:

Add nature paths or boardwalk paths throughout the wooded areas to provide more access within the site

Develop a birding trail or nature trail with interpretive educational signage along pathways

Ensure a connection to the future Eastmoor Greenline

Consider adding a park entry point along Refugee Road

Source: Bipper Media

Source: Google Images

Source: Bayer Landscape Architecture

Source: Alemann & Associates

Recommended Improvements:

Create an iconic pedestrian bridge over Refugee Road

Maintain Nafzger Park as regional sports hub and improve sports fields

Locate community-serving amenities (play area, splash pad, sports courts) in northeast portion of the park

Create a strong neighborhood connection

Restore creek edge and create water access points

Improve edge conditions along Refugee Road and park entry experience

Add a central pavilion near existing parking with restrooms, seating, concessions, and a mobility hub

Noe

Bixby Rd

Source: Archiekturous Linija Source: City of Dublin, OH

Eastland for Everyone

PUTTING ALL THE RECOMMENDATIONS TOGETHER

The Big Ideas, Objectives, and Action Items provide a framework for the continued improvement and revitalization of Eastland. The Early Wins and Catalytic Opportunities showcase the near-term investment and a vision for future projects that the community see as essential and transformational for the success of Eastland. Underlying these recommendations are systems that will support and inform implementation over the long-term, as additional investment and redevelopment not expressly considered in this plan are brought forward.

Connections

As Eastland writes its next chapter, it is clear the community sees a need for a more connected and walkable series of neighborhood blocks. Today, Eastland is typified by a large, singleuse block pattern that encourages automobile use, auto-oriented development, and an environment that is unfriendly to pedestrians. As illustrated in the diagram on the following page, the dashed lines show how large surface parking lots can become a series of smaller development blocks that create a more urban grid pattern. As these commercial parcels are redeveloped and reused, this block pattern will support mixed-use development and create a stronger neighborhood feel.

Likewise, there are a number of streets that are disconnected (primarily on the western side of the neighborhood). Making these neighborhood connections will extend the neighborhood street pattern, providing both needed access and creating more residential scale blocks.

Land Use Character

As potential redevelopment and reinvestment occurs in Eastland, it will be important to consider the land use character that the community has expressed a desire for during the course of this planning process. Eastland has two major neighborhood residential areas east and west of South Hamilton Road. These established neighborhoods have a mix of single-family homes, townhomes, and apartments. Adjacent to these neighborhoods are transitional areas of higher-density multifamily developments. Along South Hamilton Road and at its intersection with Refugee Road is a commercial core that allows for the greatest residential density, and should transition in time to a mixed-use corridor that replaces the failed and outdated suburban retail pattern that exists today. In addition to these primary corridors, there are retail and civic nodes throughout Eastland that should be improved to enable walkable access to daily retail needs.

Along the I-70 corridor are largely employment uses that are a mix of professional office, medical, hospitality, and light-industrial uses that are likely to remain and see continual improvement. Transformation is possible at the western gateway with the addition of the Columbus State Community College Career Development Center and the redevelopment of largely vacant retail sites.

Finally, Eastland is defined by four river and stream corridors. These riparian corridors are key environmental assets that give form to the neighborhood and provide trail and recreational opportunities. As Eastland continues to evolve, these corridors should be protected and enhanced.

Proposed Land Use Character Map

Proposed Land Use Character

Employment Interchange

Western Gateway

Mixed-use

Commercial Core

Neighborhood Transition

Established

Neighborhood Green Corridors

Neighborhood Nodes

Retail-oriented Node

Civic-oriented Node Plan Area

Early Wins Summary

The EastlandforEveryone plan will come to life through several early projects by community partners and the City of Columbus. Columbus State’s Career Development Center and Mid-Ohio Food Collective’s Eastland Prosperity Center will provide access to job training, education, healthy food, and other needed services. The City of Columbus Recreation and Parks Department will also be investing in two new parks and the Big Walnut trail connection, to improve community park facilities and provide needed regional trail access.

Project Plan Area

Combined Catalytic Opportunities Map

The community’s collective vision for the future of Eastland comes to life in the Catalytic Opportunities imagined for several sites and corridors. This includes a new western gateway, a new community hub and community center at the former Eastland Mall site, new neighborhood nodes, additional neighborhood park improvements, and green, connected, and transit-forward corridors. With these projects, the community, the City of Columbus, and its partners have created a roadmap for a more welcoming, prosperous, and connected Eastland.

Implementation

Plan Stewardship

PUTTING THE PLAN INTO ACTION TO REALIZE THE COMMUNITY’S ASPIRATIONS OVER TIME

Planning does not end with the completion of the EastlandforEveryoneCommunityPlan. Rather, the plan must become operationalized by the City of Columbus and community partners as a vital reference document for decision-making. Ultimately, the outcomes of this plan will result from a community-wide effort. This section outlines the recommended approach to using and monitoring the plan on a regular basis, as well as strategies to build capacity for plan implementation. Through becoming thoughtful stewards of the plan, the City and its partners can ensure the community’s aspirations are realized over the next ten years and beyond.

Using the Plan

The plan should be referenced as part of daily operations as public and private decisions are made concerning policies, programs, land use, development projects, capital improvements, economic development, and other initiatives. Key City staff familiar with the Eastlandfor Everyone plan can introduce other department staff, boards, and commissions to the document to train them on how best to use the plan. The plan should also be aligned with other City of Columbus planning efforts, including capital improvement planning, mobility planning, parks and recreation planning, and more.

Monitoring the Plan

Regular review and monitoring of the plan recommendations will help to ensure implementation and tangible outcomes. Plan review should happen at a designated time no less than once per year. The plan review should result in an annual progress report, which can be shared with the community through the City’s communication channels. The metrics provided within the Implementation Table for each Big Idea can be used as key indicators for monitoring plan progress and success.

Guiding Catalytic Development

Catalytic projects are often instrumental in realizing a long-range vision for a community. While such projects are unique to each community’s needs and opportunities, successful catalysts generally help manifest good policies and community needs in the form of physical, “brick and mortar” development that provides positive, lasting impacts for the project and the surrounding community. There is often a need for an active role from the public sector as a leader or partner in establishing a new trajectory of success, in places where the private market alone has not consistently delivered quality development.

The following are a set of logical steps toward the implementation of catalytic development.

Establish Site Control

Establishing site control and/or assembling key catalytic site(s) can be a powerful accelerant to achieving a community-supported vision by reducing potential risk to the development community and demonstrating the commitment of the City to supporting the project. Benefits of site control can include more opportunity for community input, greater definition of policies before development occurs, selection of a high-quality developer, and better alignment of incentives and tools.

Establish Policy Framework

The policy framework includes those mechanisms that are within a city’s control— zoning, development and building codes, the development approval process, and others.

+ Mixed-Use: A mix of uses has already been established through the adoption of Zone In Columbus on South Hamilton Road. The Refugee Road Corridor should be considered next

+ Building and Design Standards: Provide standards that ensure quality building materials, dynamic architecture, and urban design that create lasting value for the community

+ Establish Investment Areas for Broad and Focused Investment: For the South Hamilton Road corridor, establish an economic investment district, which includes areas intended for revenue generation, areas for right-of-way investment, and areas for more intensive investment aimed at transforming land uses into community-supported development

Establish Economic Framework

An economic framework establishes the tools that can be used to incentivize development, where they can be used, what public benefits are sought, and what the conditions of an agreement are.

+ Tax Increment Financing (TIF): Leverage revenues from a newly created TIF district to invest in new streets that support walkable, mixed-use development and other critical infrastructure

+ Special Improvement District (SID): Create a new revenue stream for the district that supports ongoing maintenance, improvements, and other activities for the entire area

+ Clean Air Improvement Program: Encourage the creation of environmentallyfriendly new development for the community by providing bond financing and other benefits, encouraging the use of energy efficient building technologies

+ Transformational Mixed-Use Development Program: Provides a tax credit against development costs to help projects that include public benefits reach financial feasibility

Establish Governance Structure

The governance framework defines who will be responsible for the catalyst project over time, ensuring that ongoing development meets the original goals, that funding raised by the project is directed to the initiatives it is supposed to, and that key milestones are met.

+ Community Development Corporation (CDC), or

+ City as Developer, or

+ Master Development Partner

Create Master Plan

+ Create a master plan for the district with desired street grid, public space, land use, and phasing

+ Identify public sector infrastructure needs, including the costs of any new utilities or structured parking costs

+ Estimate the total cost of development and the anticipated market value of the project to understand the financial feasibility of the project

+ Identify public sector gap financing to help the project achieve financial feasibility and provide a catalytic effect for the community

+ Align capital improvements for public sector, including any applicable enhancements to the street grid, parks, or other key utilities

Create Housing and Development Plan Housing

+ Align 4% tax credits and City gap funding to fund affordable, mixed-income, and senior housing

+ Optimize missing middle housing viability (small units, land and infrastructure subsidies established in economic strategy)

+ Encourage quality development partners to apply for 9% tax credit projects

+ Align extraordinary and innovative partnerships with philanthropy, non-profits, and land trust(s) to develop affordable ownership models

+ Oversee blocks development of master plan in phases

+ Identify key locations/intersections where the first phase(s) of development can be most impactful

+ Include any integrated retail programming in a targeted, thoughtful manner at critical locations only

+ Establish designated location(s) for parking/ structured parking as part of a strategy to promote walkability

+ Develop walkable, pedestrian scale streets in a phased manner that is in alignment with the pace of development

Create Small Business Plan

+ Create and provide necessary tools to underwrite affordable retail space at select locations for local and curated businesses

+ Curate businesses at key locations around a common or desired branding or service theme that is community-driven

+ Invest in or attract appropriate anchors that draw people in for services, experiences, and civic use

+ Invest in the public realm, including streetscape and public squares, alongside ground floor retail space that can function symbiotically with walkability and an enhanced public realm

Implementation Tables

The tables on the following pages are a compilation of the community’s Big Ideas for Eastland, as well as the Objectives and Action Items to achieve those Big Ideas that were set forth in the previous chapter. This matrix connects each recommendation with associated indicators, including potential timeframe, partners for implementation, and key metrics to track progress.

HOUSING Big Idea: Shape a community of defined, equitable neighborhoods

Recommendations

Objective: Preserve and maintain the existing housing stock

A.1 Offer home repair and maintenance programs 1–3 years

A.2 Reduce vacant and/or condemned properties

A.3 Improve City response to property maintenance issues to prevent neighborhood deterioration 3–5 years

• City of Columbus

• Nonprofit partners

• City of Columbus

• Nonprofit developers

• Private developers

• Central Ohio Community Improvement Corporation (Franklin County Land Bank)

• City of Columbus

Objective: Expand housing options for current and future residents

• City of Columbus

• Private Developers

• Nonprofit Developers

• Reduced housing vacancy

• Improved response time to property maintenance/code issues

• Increased number of residential parcels in average or above average condition

• Increased supply of Class A & B market-rate units

• Reduced blood lead levels in children aged one to five years

B.1

Add new housing to the former Eastland Mall area, the Refugee Road area, and the South Hamilton Road area 6+ years

B.2 Offer incentives to support mixed-income development 3–5 years

B.3

B.4

Develop mixed-income and market-rate housing that caters to diverse needs (e.g. seniors, large families, first-time homebuyers, supportive housing, and ADA-compliant)

Prioritize traffic-calming measures and development patterns (e.g. transit-oriented development) which allow multi-modal access to daily needs and destinations—on foot, on a bicycle, by bus, by car, etc.

years

B.5 Ensure all new development reduces the amount of paved surfaces and incorporates ample trees, landscaping, and green spaces 6+ years

• Central Ohio Community Improvement Corporation (Franklin County Land Bank)

• Central Ohio Community Land Trust

• City of Columbus

• Franklin County

• City of Columbus

• Nonprofit Developers

• Private Developers

• City of Columbus

• City of Columbus

• Nonprofit Developers

• Private Developers

• Increased homeownership rate

• Increased number of housing units

• Reduced percentage of land solely dedicated to retail parking

• Reduced housing vacancy

• Reduced proportion of families spending more than 30% of income on housing

• Increased housing and income diversity

• Reduced eviction rate

HOUSING

Big Idea: Shape a community of defined, equitable neighborhoods

Recommendations

Objective: Create more opportunities for homeowners and renters

C.1 Expand funding for down payment assistance, homeowner education, credit and wealth building, and other financial literacy programs 1–3 years

C.2 Create more housing options that allow renters to become homeowners 6+ years

C.3 Expand rent and utility assistance to help keep Eastland neighbors in their existing homes 1–3 years

C.4 Expand landlord-tenant mediation to reduce evictions 3–5 years

C.5 Address problem and exploitative landlords 1–3 years

C.6 Support efforts to relieve property tax burden 3–5 years

• City of Columbus

• Franklin County

• Financial institutions

• Nonprofit partners

• City of Columbus

• Franklin County

• Nonprofit developers

• Private developers

• Nonprofit partners

• City of Columbus

• Franklin County

• City of Columbus

• Franklin County

• Legal aid partners

• Nonprofit partners

• City of Columbus

• City of Columbus

• Franklin County

• State of Ohio

• Reduced proportion of families spending more than 30% of income on housing

• Reduced eviction rate

• Increased home ownership rate

• Increased number of residential parcels in average or above average condition

• Increased supply of Class A & B market-rate units

• Reduced housing vacancy

• Increased housing and income diversity

• Reduced gap in median income between Eastland and Columbus households

RETAIL, SMALL BUSINESS & ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Big Idea: Support retail & small business development

Objective: Support existing businesses

A.1

Connect property owners and businesses with façade improvements to enhance the retail environment 1–3 years

A.2 Increase awareness of existing small business programs and funding 1–3 years

A.3 Create opportunities for existing small businesses and entrepreneurs to locate in higher quality and more visible space 6+ years

A.4 Establish a co-working space in the Eastland area 6+ years

A.5 Form a business association for the Eastland area 1–3 years

• City of Columbus

• City of Columbus

• Local businesses

• Area Commissions

• City of Columbus

• Franklin County

• Nonprofit partners

• Private sector partners

• City of Columbus

• Nonprofit partners

• Local businesses

• Private sector partners

• City of Columbus

• Local businesses

• Increased funding for small businesses and entrepreneurs

• More balanced retail supply & demand

• Retail rent rates diversified

• Increased access to office resources and meeting space

• More retailers and amenities in Eastland

• Increased customer activity and sense of commercial identity

• Improved building conditions

A.6 Create special events that highlight Eastland’s small businesses 1–3 years

A.7 Create a community business marketing strategy 3–5 years

Objective: Attract new businesses

B.1

Add third places that promote a sense of community and shared experiences among all generations in Eastland (i.e. coffee shops/ cafes, restaurants)

B.2 Attract full-service grocery store

• Area Commissions

• Civic/neighborhood groups

• Nonprofit partners

• City of Columbus

• Local businesses

B.3

B.4

Prioritize traffic-calming measures and development patterns (e.g. transit-oriented development) which allow multi-modal access to stores—on foot, on a bicycle, by bus, by car, etc.)

Ensure all new development reduces the amount of paved surfaces and incorporates ample trees, landscaping, and green spaces

• City of Columbus

• City of Columbus

• Franklin County

• State of Ohio

• City of Columbus

• Decreased commercial vacancy

• Improved streetscape

• Established business association

• More balanced retail supply & demand

• Retail rent rates diversified

• More retailers and amenities in Eastland

• Increased customer activity and sense of commercial identity

• Decreased commercial vacancy

• Jobs Proximity Index increased

• Improved streetscape

• City of Columbus

years

• Increased access to social activities and connection

RETAIL, SMALL BUSINESS & ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Big Idea: Support retail & small business development

Recommendations

Objective: Expand entrepreneurship supports

C.1

Support and invest in incubators that actively support start-ups or a business in its early stage of development 3–5 years

C.2 Increase awareness of existing entrepreneurship programs and funding 1–3 years

• City of Columbus

• Nonprofit partners

• Private sector partners

• City of Columbus

• Local businesses

• Area Commissions

• Increased funding for entrepreneurs

• More balanced retail supply & demand

• More retailers and amenities in Eastland

• Increased customer activity and sense of commercial identity

• Decreased commercial vacancy

• Jobs Proximity Index increased

YOUTH & EDUCATION Big Idea: Support student success & positive youth development

Recommendations

Objective: Support and strengthen Eastland’s K-12 schools

• City of Columbus

A.1

Connect Eastland’s youth with before and after school activities 1–3 years

A.2 Reduce barriers to encourage parent engagement with their child’s school 1–3 years

• Education partners

• Directions for Youth & Families

• Nonprofit partners

• City of Columbus

• Education partners

• Nonprofit partners

• Social service partners

• City of Columbus

A.3

Support programs and services focused on improving high school graduation rates 1–3 years

A.4 Support programs and initiatives that address safety concerns at school 1–3 years

A.5 Increase pedestrian safety to and from school facilities 6+ years

A.6

A.7

Improve transportation access to education opportunities in and around the Eastland area (i.e. internships, collegiate, and trade schools) 6+ years

Connect youth and their families to basic needs supports (i.e. housing, food, transportation, hygiene items, etc.) 1–3 years

• Education partners

• Directions for Youth & Families

• Nonprofit partners

• City of Columbus

• Education partners

• Nonprofit partners

• City of Columbus

• Central Ohio Transit Authority

• City of Columbus

• City of Columbus

• Education partners

• Healthcare partners

• Social service partners

• Nonprofit partners

• Faith-based partners

• Local businesses

• Private sector partners

• City of Columbus

• Nonprofit partners

A.8

Provide resources for older children, including back-to-school clothing and supply drives 1–3 years

• Area Commissions

• Civic/Neighborhood groups

• Faith-based partners

• Local businesses

• Private sector partners

• Increased attendance rates

• Increased graduation rates

• Increased educational attainment

• Increased early literacy rates

• Chronic absenteeism decreased

• Academic proficiency scores increased

• Improved/increased parent/ caregiver engagement

• Improved perception of safety at school

• Number of miles of sidewalk gap decreased

• Increased number of residents with access within a half-mile or one mile of a grocery store

• Reduced rate of minors and young adults committing violent crimes

• Reduced proportion of adolescents and young adults who aren’t in school or working

• Traffic fatalities decreased

• Reduced pedestrian traffic collisions

• Increased rates of active transportation to school

• Reduced discipline referrals

YOUTH & EDUCATION

Big Idea: Support student success & positive youth development

• Education partners

• Area Commissions

• Civic/neighborhood groups

• City of Columbus

A.9

Increase opportunities for positive community involvement 1–3 years

• Directions for Youth & Families

• Nonprofit partners

• Local businesses

• Faith-based partners

• Private sector partners

Objective: Invest in youth-focused services and programs

B.1

Connect Eastland’s youth with mentorship programs and opportunities 1–3 years

B.2 Connect Eastland’s youth with career and job readiness programming 1–3 years

B.3 Improve access for youth to counseling and mental health supports 1–3 years

B.4 Improve access to summer programs and employment 1–3 years

• Education partners

• City of Columbus

• Nonprofit partners

• Private sector partners

• Education partners

• Nonprofit partners

• Healthcare partners

• Social service partners

• Education partners

• City of Columbus

• Directions for Youth & Families

• Local businesses

• Nonprofit partners

Objective: Create spaces that are welcoming and engaging for youth

C.1

Develop a community center to serve as a central hub for community programming, including youth programming 6+ years

C.2 Build a library for youth and families in the Eastland area 6+ years

• City of Columbus

• Nonprofit partners

• Social service partners

• Healthcare partners

• City of Columbus

• Nonprofit partners

• Franklin County

• State of Ohio

• Education partners

• Area Commissions

• Civic/neighborhood groups

• City of Columbus

C.3 Foster intergenerational interactions 1–3 years

C.4

Attract entertainment venues to the Eastland area 6+ years

• Directions for Youth & Families

• Nonprofit partners

• Social service partners

• Local businesses

• Franklin County

• Private sector partners

• Private developers

• Nonprofit partners

• Private sector partners

• See previous page

• Increased graduation rates

• Academic proficiency scores increased

• Chronic absenteeism decreased

• Reduced rate of minors and young adults committing violent crimes

• Reduced discipline referrals

• Reduced rate of minors and young adults committing violent crimes

• Reduced discipline referrals

• Increased sense of community

• Increased access to social activities and connection

• More retailers and amenities in Eastland

COMMUNITY WELL-BEING & SERVICES

Big Idea: Improve health & wellness outcomes among Eastland residents

Recommendations

Objective: Improve food access and the availability of fresh, healthy food

A.1 Attract a full-service grocery store 6+ years

A.2 Launch an Eastland community farmers market 3–5 years

A.3 Add WIC location in the Eastland area 1–3 years

• City of Columbus

• Franklin County

• Private developers

• Nonprofit developers

• Financial institutions

• City of Columbus

• Local businesses

• Directions for Youth & Families

• Nonprofit partners

• City of Columbus

• Mid-Ohio Food Collective

• Directions for Youth & Families

• Mid-Ohio Food Collective

A.4 Support food pantry distribution with flexible access/hours 1–3 years

A.5 Create or expand community gardens 1–3 years

A.6 Support pop-up events that highlight diverse food cultures 3–5 years

• City of Columbus

• Faith-based partners

• Nonprofit partners

• City of Columbus

• Directions for Youth & Families

• Nonprofit partners

• Private developers

• Local businesses

• City of Columbus

• Franklin County

• Nonprofit partners

• For-profit partners

• Increased number of residents with access within a half-mile or one mile of a grocery store

• Improved health outcomes

• More retailers and amenities in Eastland

COMMUNITY WELL-BEING & SERVICES

Big Idea: Improve health & wellness outcomes among Eastland residents

Recommendations

Objective: Improve access to health and wellness services, programs, education, and resources

B.1

B.2

Attract a pharmacy provider with extended hours 6+ years

Attract a comprehensive community health center (services could include primary care, mental health care, dental care, maternal and child health care) 6+ years

B.3 Connect residents with health, nutrition, and wellness education 1–3 years

• City of Columbus

• Pharmaceutical providers

• City of Columbus

• Nonprofit partners

• Directions for Youth & Families

• Social service providers

• Healthcare providers

• City of Columbus

• Nonprofit partners

• Directions for Youth & Families

• Healthcare providers

• City of Columbus

• Decreased infant mortality rate

• Decreased percentage of infant deaths attributed to premature birth

• Decreased percentage of uninsured residents

• Increased proportion of people with a usual source of care

• Increased percentage of adults with dentist visit

B.4

Connect Eastland residents in need with wraparound services and the full continuum of care 1–3 years

B.5 Connect residents with financial empowerment services 1–3 years

B.6 Increase awareness of and connection to community-based resources 1–3 years

B.7 Reduce language barriers for essential services 1–3 years

• Directions for Youth & Families

• Social service providers

• Nonprofit partners

• City of Columbus

• Financial institutions

• Nonprofit partners

• City of Columbus

• Area Commissions

• Nonprofit partners

• Social services partners

• Education partners

• City of Columbus

• Franklin County

• Nonprofit partners

• Social service providers

• Healthcare providers

• Increased percentage of adults with routine checkup

• Increased percentage of children with well visit

• Increased proportion of pregnant women who receive early and adequate prenatal care

• Improved health outcomes

• Increased and improved square footage available for health and wellness services

• Reduced gap in median income between Eastland and Columbus households

COMMUNITY WELL-BEING & SERVICES

Big Idea: Improve health & wellness outcomes among Eastland residents

Objective: Improve overall safety in the community

• City of Columbus

• Area Commissions

C.1 Mobilize neighbors to be stewards of their blocks, neighborhoods, and community 1–3 years

C.2 Improve first responders’ (police, fire, EMS) relationships with residents in the Eastland area 1–3 years

C.3 Improve City response to property maintenance to prevent neighborhood deterioration 3–5 years

• Civic/neighborhood groups

• Faith-based partners

• City of Columbus

• City of Columbus

• City of Columbus

• Nonprofit developers

• Private developers

• Crime rates decreased

• Crimes per resident decreased

• Reduced rate of minors and young adults committing violent crimes

• Reduced traffic fatalities

• Reduced traffic incidents

C.4 Reduce vacant and/or condemned properties 6+ years

C.5 Create safe and engaging spaces for youth 1–3 years

• Central Ohio Community Improvement Corporation (Franklin County Land Bank)

• City of Columbus

• Directions for Youth & Families

• Education partners

• Nonprofit partners

• Nonprofit developers

• Private developers

• Private sector partners

• Increased proportion of people who walk or bike to get places

• Increased informal first responder interactions

• Reduced vacant and/or condemned properties

• Increased access to social activities and connection

• Improved perception of safety

C.6 Improve lighting along streets and in public areas 6+ years

• City of Columbus

COMMUNITY WELL-BEING & SERVICES

Big

Idea: Improve health & wellness outcomes among Eastland residents

Recommendations

Objective: Build trust and collaboration between the City and Eastland neighbors

D.1

Develop a community hub that combines community and city services into a one-stop shop 6+ years

D.2 Enhance police/community collaboration through a neighborhood patrol model

years

D.3 Engage with established resident-led area commissions on revitalization efforts in Eastland 1–3 years

D.4

D.5

Immerse local government officials in the Eastland area to foster trust, build relationships, and understanding 1–3 years

Organize an annual family fun day to connect Eastland with City departments, local businesses, and community resources

• City of Columbus

• Nonprofit partners

• Social service partners

• Healthcare partners

• City of Columbus

• Area Commissions

• Civic/neighborhood groups

• Nonprofit partners

• Faith-based partners

• City of Columbus

• Area Commissions

• Nonprofit partners

• City of Columbus

• Franklin County

• State of Ohio

• City of Columbus

• Area Commissions

• Local businesses

• Nonprofit partners

• Social service partners

• Healthcare partners

• Faith-based partners

• Private sector partners

• Increased informal first responder interactions

• Crime rates decreased

• Crimes per resident decreased

• Reduced rate of minors and young adults committing violent crimes

• Increased awareness of and access to community resources

• Increased access to social activities and connection

• Increased frequency of interactions between City and Eastland neighbors

• Improved trust between City and Eastland neighbors

JOBS & OPPORTUNITY

Big Idea: Support pathways to opportunity & prosperity

Objective: Connect residents to job opportunities and tools to improve their financial outlook

A.1 Recruit Eastland residents to fill jobs in the community 3–5 years

A.2 Incentivize community employers to hire residents at a livable wage 3–5 years

A.3 Support companies that want to expand and grow in Eastland 3–5 years

A.4 Improve transportation access to employment opportunities for Eastland residents 6+ years

• Private sector partners

• City of Columbus

• Franklin County

• State of Ohio

• Central Ohio Transit Authority

• City of Columbus

• Franklin County

• State of Ohio

• Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission

• City of Columbus

• Franklin County

A.5 Expand job training and support programs in the neighborhood 3–5 years

A.6 Connect residents with financial literacy and wealth-building education 1–3 years

• Columbus State Community College

• Private sector partners

• Local businesses

• Unions

• Education partners

• City of Columbus

• Financial institutions

• Nonprofit partners

• Jobs Proximity Index increased

• Number of people living & employed in Eastland

• Number of people living in Eastland & employed elsewhere (Jobs access metric)

• Number of people employed in Eastland & living elsewhere (Job access metric)

• Median household income increased

• Increased access to training and employment opportunities

• Increased educational attainment

• Reduced unemployment rate

• Reduced proportion of adolescents and young adults who aren’t in school or working

• Industry diversification increased

JOBS & OPPORTUNITY

Big Idea: Support pathways to opportunity & prosperity

Recommendations

Objective: Diversify employment opportunities in Eastland

B.1 Attract new employment to Eastland 3–5 years

B.2 Recruit industries that are growing in the region to Eastland 3–5 years

B.3 Attract a stable, environmentally-friendly employer to anchor the community 3–5 years

• City of Columbus

• Franklin County

• State of Ohio

• Jobs Proximity Index increased

• Number of people living & employed in Eastland (Job access metric)

• Number of people living in Eastland & employed elsewhere (Jobs access metric)

• Number of people employed in Eastland & living elsewhere (Job access metric)

• Industry diversification increased

• Reduced proportion of adolescents and young adults who aren’t in school or working

• Reduced unemployment rate

• Increased access to employment opportunities

• Median household income increased

• Decreased commercial vacancy

MOBILITY & ACCESS

Recommendations

Objective: Invest in modern and safe pedestrian infrastructure

A.1 Fill gaps in sidewalk network

A.2

Focus on safety improvements at high injury crossings (US-33 and SR-104, Refugee Rd. and Courtright Rd., Refugee Rd. and S. Hamilton Rd., S. Hamilton Rd. and Kimberly Pkwy., Refugee Rd. and Noe-Bixby Rd.)

A.3 Promote walkability throughout the community by calming traffic, improving lighting, and adding trees and shade 6+ years

• City of Columbus

• City of Columbus

• Ohio Department of Transportation

• Number of miles of sidewalk gap decreased

• Traffic fatalities decreased

• Increased proportion of people who walk or bike to get places

• Reduced pedestrian traffic collisions

• Improved multimodal connectivity

• Reduced traffic incidents

• Improved overall health

• City of Columbus

Objective: Invest in modern and safe bike infrastructure

B.1 Fill gaps in the bike network in the Eastland area

• City of Columbus

• Increased access to employment opportunities

• Increased rates of active transportation to school

• Traffic fatalities decreased

• Miles of bike infrastructure increased

• Increased proportion of people who walk or bike to get places

B.2 Connect Eastland to the regional greenways network 6+ years • City of Columbus

B.3 Add bike and/or scooter sharing within the Eastland area

Veo

• Improved multimodal connectivity

• Increased rates of active transportation to school

• Improved overall health

• Increased access to employment opportunities

• Reduced traffic incidents

• Reduced pedestrian traffic collisions

MOBILITY & ACCESS

Big Idea: Ensure safe & efficient mobility for all

Objective: Invest in modern and safe transit infrastructure and improved transit access

C.1 Improve bus frequency and route speed within Eastland 1–3 years

C.3

C.4

• Central Ohio Transit Authority

• Increased number of bus stops with shelters

• Improved multimodal connectivity

• Increased rates of active transportation to school

• Increased access to employment opportunities

• Use of public transit increased

C.2

COMMUNITY IDENTITY & PRIDE

Big Idea: Beautify & enhance the physical appearance of the Eastland area

Objective: Foster a unique sense of identity for Eastland

A.1 Create a cohesive brand that showcases Eastland’s unique identity

A.2 Incorporate community stories through signage, banners, and public art

A.3 Initiate programs and events that highlight Eastland’s rich cultural diversity and history

• City of Columbus

• Area Commissions

• Civic/neighborhood groups

• Local businesses

• Private sector partners

Objective: Emphasize beautification throughout Eastland

B.1 Support resident-led beautification and cleanup efforts 1–3 years

B.2 Improve the City’s response to property maintenance issues to prevent neighborhood deterioration

B.3 Activate vacant properties through temporary art and other installations

B.4 Transform Refugee and South Hamilton Roads into green corridors 6+ years

• City of Columbus

• Area Commissions

• Civic/neighborhood groups

• Local businesses

• City of Columbus

• City of Columbus

• Nonprofit partners

• Education partners

• Area Commissions

• Civic/neighborhood groups

• City of Columbus

• Improved neighborhood appearance

• Increased sense of place and community identity

• Increased customer activity and sense of commercial identity

• Increased access to social activities and connection

• Improved main corridor streetscape

• Tree canopy increased

• Urban Heat Island Effect reduced

• Improved response time to property maintenance/code issues

• Increased sense of place and community identity

• Improved main corridor streetscape

Objective: Create welcoming gateways at key community thresholds, nodes, and corridors

C.1 Improve primary gateways (Refugee Rd. & S. Hamilton Rd., S. Hamilton Rd. & I-70, Refugee Rd. & US-33) 6+ years

C.2 Beautify key corridors (S. Hamilton Rd., Refugee Rd., Courtright Rd., Kimberly Pkwy.) 6+ years

• City of Columbus

• Franklin County

• Ohio Department of Transportation

• Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission

• Increased sense of place and community identity

• Increased customer activity and sense of commercial identity

• Improved main corridor streetscape

COMMUNITY GATHERING

Big Idea: Cultivate spaces for recreation, gathering, & connection

Recommendations

Objective: Enhance Eastland’s parks and recreation facilities

A.1

A.2

Upgrade Eastland’s parks by improving play areas and adding shelters, shade, seating, and community gathering spaces 6+ years

Build a new community center in the Eastland area that includes indoor recreation facilities and a pool

A.3 Address issues in parks to ensure a safer and more enjoyable experience for all park users 6+ years

A.4 Improve sports fields in Eastland’s parks for community sports teams and recreation leagues 6+ years

A.5 Add more shade trees in Eastland’s parks and public areas 6+ years

A.6 Preserve existing native trees, woodlands, river and stream corridors, and critical wildlife habitats 6+ years

• City of Columbus • Increased number of residents within a 10-minute walk of a park

• City of Columbus

• Nonprofit partners

• City of Columbus

• City of Columbus

• City of Columbus

• City of Columbus

Objective: Foster community interaction for all ages

• City of Columbus

• Area Commissions

• Tree canopy increased

• Urban Heat Island Effect reduced

• More resilient landscape diversity

• Improved overall health

• Improved neighborhood appearance

• Increased access to social activities and connection

• Increased perception of safety in parks

B.1 Promote volunteer opportunities throughout the community 1–3 years

B.2 Identify opportunities for regular recreation programming in Eastland’s parks 3–5 years

B.3 Encourage community events and festivals to activate Eastland’s parks and public spaces 1–3 years

B.4 Build and develop a community center to serve as a central hub for community programming 6+ years

B.5 Add third places that promote a sense of community and shared experiences among all generations in Eastland 3–5 years

• Nonprofit partners

• Civic/neighborhood groups

• Faith-based partners

• City of Columbus

• Nonprofit partners

• City of Columbus

• Area Commissions

• Nonprofit partners

• Faith-based partners

• Local businesses

• Private sector partners

• City of Columbus

• Nonprofit partners

• City of Columbus

• Nonprofit partners

• Private sector partners

• Local businesses

• Faith-based partners

• Increased access to social activities and connection

• More retailers and amenities in Eastland

Appendix

Introduction

PURPOSE OF THE APPENDIX

This appendix serves as a resource to provide additional insights and data relevant to the planning process outlined in the EastlandforEveryoneCommunityPlan It includes a range of plan summaries, figures, maps, and analysis that support the proposed recommendations and strategies for Eastland. These supplemental resources may also be helpful in aiding implementation efforts as the City, community and partners begin working to make this plan a reality.

+ Additional Existing Conditions & Analysis

+ Market Study Graphics

+ Ohio State University Planning Studio

+ Previous Plans & Studies

Additional Existing Conditions & Analysis

The Planning Team compiled an extensive Community Profile to more fully understand the demographics, trends, and issues in the Eastland area. The most pertinent findings are included in the main report to align data with community concerns and support recommendations. Additional supplemental data is included here to provide the community with access to all of the information gathered as part of the preparation of the Community Profile.

Boundaries for Reference

Annexation by Decade (1834-2022)

» Annexation into the Eastland study area occurred between 1956 to 2004

» Most expansion took place between the 1950s to 1970s

» Eastland annexation occurred alongside major highway construction

Source: Census ACS

Recent and Planned Projects Development

Housing County Eviction Filings Rate Zip Code (2018-2022)

» The 2022 eviction filing rate for zip code 43232 was 16.6%, nearly twice the average eviction filing rate of 8.6% for 2022 in Franklin County » Zip code 43232 had the second highest eviction filing rate for 2022 among all Franklin County zip codes

7,316evictions in study area 2018-2022 Source: Franklin County Municipal Court Clerk

» The highest concentration of eviction filings in zip code 43232 is along Refugee Road between South Hamilton Road and Noe Bixby Road

» The decrease in individuals entering emergency shelter for zip code 43232 was similar to the countywide decrease between 2018 to 2022

» Zip code 43232 had the 4th highest total in Franklin County for individuals seeking emergency shelter Source:

5,923

Jobs in the Eastland Area

Where Residents Work

8,570

People

Where Workers Live

4,970

People employed in the Eastland area who live elsewhere 175

People

Source: US Census OntheMap (2021)

Eastland Area Snapshot Eastland Area Snapshot

Existing Retailers

Retail Supply-Demand Analysis

Supply-Demand Conclusions

Health & Wellness

County Percent of Uninsured Residents Census Tracts (2021)

» Eastland’s percent of insured population closely aligns with the county average

» The percent of uninsured populations in Eastland varies by tract, from 5 to 18%

Source: Census ACS

Health & Wellness

County PreTerm Birth Rate Zip Code (2021-2023)

» Zip code 43232 has the 11th highest rate of preterm birth rates at 12.8%, compared to the 11.5% average of all zips

Source: Celebrate One

Health & Wellness

County Sleep-Related Infant Death Zip Code (2013-2023)

» Zip code 43232 is classified as a medium rate of sleep related infant deaths along with 8 other zips

*Normalized by 1,000

Health & Wellness

Percent of Mothers Smoking During Pregnancy by Zip Code (2018-2022)

» Eastland has the 12th highest percent of mothers smoking during pregnancy in Franklin County, at 10.2%.

Source: Ohio Department of Health, Office of Vital Statistics 2018-2022

Health & Wellness

Percent of Infant Deaths Attributed to Premature Birth by Zip Code (2013-2022)

» Eastland was one of only 6 zip codes that had more than 20 infant deaths due to prematurity during the time period.

Health & Wellness

Percent of Births with Low Birth Weight by Zip Code (2018-2022)

» Eastland has the 5th highest rate of low birth weight births in Franklin County, at 12.7%.

Health & Wellness

Teen Birth Rate by Zip Code (2018-2022)

» The teen birth rate for Eastland is the 13th highest of Franklin County zip codes at 32%, twice as high as the county’s 16%.

Food Access

Community Service Data Franklin County (2024)

» Eastland residents generally utilized emergency food services more than the Columbus average.

» Eastland will soon be home to a new Mid-Ohio Market, which will provide emergency food assistance and wraparound health services

Health & Wellness

County Food Access within .5 Miles

» The only tract that is not low access in Eastland contains the former Kroger, which closed in May 2022, while this data was last updated April 2021

» Saraga International Grocery also opened in December 2021 in a low access tract

Census Tract (2021) Source:

Food Access

Community Service Data

Census Tracts (2024)

» A large portion of Eastland residents travel over 6 miles southwest to reach emergency food services.

» Zip code 43232 currently contains no emergency food service sites, and residents travel farther to reach these services compared to zip codes with similar levels of food access.

Source: Mid-Ohio

Saraga (Open Dec-21)

Kroger (Closed May-22)

» The 43232 zip code is amongst the top 5 highest normalized crime rates in Columbus, with an average crime rate of 6.1

Safety City 911 Call Types Zip Code (2018-2022)

» Emergencies reported to police dispatchers can help portray the types of issues encountered in the community. The following data has been extracted to further understand these trends in Eastland.

» This study outlines the top 20 call types made across the entirety of Columbus in contrast to those that were reported in Eastland alone. The highlighted section examines Eastland’s five most frequent call types.

Source: Columbus Division of Police

Market Study Graphics

The EastlandforEveryoneCommunityPlan was informed by housing and retail market analysis that was conducted at the beginning of the planning process. This information was shared throughout the planning process, and much of it has been documented in the Community Profile or included to support relevant Big Ideas. This additional information includes a variety of demographic and housing and retail market analysis.

Source: Esri (2023)

Eastland Study Area City of Columbus Franklin County Columbus MSA Ohio

Growth in Rents

Rents and Vacancy - Eastland Study Area

Source: 2016-2020 American Community Survey, County-to-County Migration Flows

Source: 2016-2020 American Community Survey, County-to-County Migration Flows, American Immigration Council (2020), Columbus Council on World Affairs (2023) 17

Source: CoStar (2023)

Source: CoStar (2023)

all that moderateways: through developers moderate-

all that moderateways: through developers moderate-

Dedicated Affordable Housing - Franklin County

Dedicated Affordable Housing - Franklin County

Dedicated Affordable Housing - Study Area

Dedicated Affordable Housing - Study Area

Section of Study there are supply) need while increasing

Section of Study there are supply) need while increasing

Source: HUD (2023)

Source: HUD (2023)

Source: HUD (2023)

Source: HUD (2023)

Analysis priceanalysis for exist household provides as households the housing being may housing, less or other a neighborhood. this house. existing marketable.

Affordability Gap Analysis: Owner

Affordability Gap Analysis: Owner

Affordability Gap Analysis: Renter

The affordability gap analysis graph shows a substantial oversupply of homes priced below $230,000. Three-fourths (75 percent) of the city’s for-sale supply is priced within this range. On the other hand, there is an undersupply of homes priced above $230,000.

The viability of homeownership for many of the households in the lower AMI levels will vary in the real world. In an ideal case, an income at 100 percent AMI ($85,000 for an average household size of 2.43) translates to the ability to afford a home priced at nearly $230,000 without being cost-burdened.

Based on conversations with realtors and stakeholders from the community, many homes that are available in the “affordable” category

below $230,000 do not meet market preferences. Thus, a substantial portion of the existing supply is also not marketable because of condition, style, location, or a number of other factors. While inexpensive to purchase, this housing is typically unaffordable because of the amount of work needed to stabilize it and therefore, much of this housing stock is not currently in suitable condition to meet housing needs.

Source: ESRI 2023, ACS, Development Strategies 2023

Affordability Gap Analysis: Renter

The affordability gap analysis for renters shows a similar mismatch between demand and supply, predominantly for households earning less than 60 percent of the AMI ($51,000 for the average household size).

burdened households in the Study Area suggests the need for significant investment in the rental housing stock affordable to this segment of the population.

This mismatch is reversed for households earning above 60 percent of the AMI, with an

Conclusions

The affordability overview between other Housing lower “affordable,” bills and Smaller be positioned workforce larger in housing pathway households.

Source: ESRI 2023, Redfin 2021, ACS, Development Strategies 2023

continue, million current factoring from to This poor suited with living It is adults so want home. for percent of to 155 percent for-

Demand Projections - Conservative Scenario

Demand Projections - Conservative Scenario

Note: All numbers are rounded to fit the graphic.

*According to the federal government, housing is affordable when rent or mortgage payments (principal, interest, taxes, and insurance) plus utilities are no more than 30% of the occupant’s monthly income.

Note: All numbers are rounded to fit the graphic.

Demand Projections - Moderate Scenario

Demand Projections - Moderate Scenario continue, million current factoring from poor suited with living is adults so want home. for percent of 155 percent for-

*According to the federal government, housing is affordable when rent or mortgage payments (principal, interest, taxes, and insurance) plus utilities are no more than 30% of the occupant’s monthly income.

Note: All numbers are rounded to fit the graphic.

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Retail Demand by Product

Retail Demand by Product

Source: Placer.ai (2023)

Source: Placer.ai (2023)

appears that national the not residents percent access, citywide, and other takeaway of essential addressed that large-scale spending

Frequented Big Box Stores

Source: Placer.ai (2024), Esri (2023)

Source: Placer.ai (2024), Esri (2023)

Image Source: Franklin County GIS (2021)

Image Source: Franklin County GIS (2021)

INTERSTATE BARRIER

LEGACY OF THE EASTLAND MALL

LACK

Housing Terms Glossary

Affordability

The extent to which there are enough housing units at different price points in an area to meet the housing needs of each household, paying 30 percent or less of their income for housing.

Affordable Housing

According to the federal government, housing is affordable when rent or mortgage payments (principal, interest, taxes, and insurance) plus utilities are no more than 30 percent of the occupant’s monthly income. For instance, an apartment unit for a retail sales worker earning an annual wage of $32,000 needs to cost less than $800/month for it to be considered affordable to them.

Area Median Income (AMI)

Area Median Income is a metric calculated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to determine the income eligibility requirements of federal housing programs. Eastland’s area median income is $85,280 (adjusted for the neighborhood’s average household size of 2.43). This number differs from median household income, which is reported by the Census and related data sources. The current median household income in Eastland is $44,000 (ESRI 2023).

Attainable Housing

Attainable Housing is an umbrella term that reflects the many aspects of a home that make it suitable for a household. Attainable Housing is appropriate in:

+ Size (number of bedrooms, square footage)

+ Type (detached home, townhome, apartment)

+ Quality (healthy, safe, in good repair)

+ Affordability (within the price range for the household income)

+ Tenure (rental, for-sale)

+ Location (near employment, school, services)

Generally, it is a more inclusive term to describe affordability at a range of different area median incomes.

Class A Units

Class A units are generally newer units that demand higher rents, have fewer vacancies, and are professionally managed with little or no deferred maintenance.

Class B Units

Class B units are generally older units that are well-maintained and sometimes professionally managed.

Class C Units

Class C units are typically more than 20 years old and in need of renovation. They usually face significant deferred maintenance and have relatively low rental rates.

Cost-Burdened Household

A household paying more than 30 percent of its income towards housing costs (rent/mortgage, utilities, etc.).

Displacement

Residents can no longer afford to live in their neighborhood and move elsewhere. This is often a result of the impact of increasing housing prices in a neighborhood caused by neighborhood reinvestment and major infrastructure investments.

Extremely Low-Income Household

Households with incomes below 30 percent of AMI. Most federal affordable housing programs serve households earning up to 80 percent of AMI.

Fair Market Rent (FMR)

The Fair Market Rent is the average rent and utility costs for newly leased, non-luxury rental units with basic amenities, as determined by HUD for a metropolitan area. Fair Market Rents are used to set rental assistance payment standards for federal housing programs.

Family

All persons living in the same household who are related by birth, marriage, or adoption. In HUD-assisted housing, all persons sharing a dwelling unit are referred to as a family, whether related or not.

Annual Income

The total income received by all members of the tenant’s household. This is the amount before taxes and deductions are subtracted.

Gross Rent

Gross rent is the amount of rent stipulated in a lease. When someone signs a lease, they will have to pay rent each month, and the gross rent is the combined amount of monthly payments.

Household

All the people who occupy a housing unit. A household includes the related family members and all the unrelated people. Unrelated people may include lodgers, foster children, wards, or employees who share the housing unit. A person living alone in a housing unit, or a group of unrelated people sharing a housing unit such as partners or roomers, is also counted as a household.

House Flipping

A term to describe a real estate investment that includes buying, rehabbing, and selling and/or renting a property for profit rather than living in it.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is the federal agency responsible for national policy and programs that provide housing and community development assistance. It also works to ensure fair and equal housing opportunity for all.

Livable Wage

A wage that provides adequate income for a household to meet its basic needs, including housing.

Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC)

A federal tax credit program that encourages investment in the development and rehabilitation/ renovation of affordable housing. Developers of LIHTC projects agree to reserve a share of rent-restricted units for low- and moderate-income individuals for at least 15 years.

Market Value

The most probable price that a property should bring in a competitive and open market. This is provided that all conditions requisite to a fair sale are present, the buyer and seller are knowledgeable and acting prudently, and the price is not affected by any undue stimulus.

Missing Middle

Missing middle is a commonly-used term that refers to the range of housing types that fit between single-family detached homes and mid-to-high-rise apartment buildings. Examples include duplexes, triplexes, townhomes, and more.

Used in this context, “middle” refers to the size and the type of a home, relative to its location—in the middle—on a housing scale spectrum.

Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation is the labor, materials, tools and other costs of improving buildings, other than minor or routine repairs. For example, a project where the use of a building is changed to an emergency shelter is a rehabilitation project, as it would require substantial work involving the structure and systems of the building.

Renovation

Renovation refers to routine repairs which are generally more cosmetic in nature, including updating the flooring, cabinets, or fixtures in a building. Examples of renovation projects include jobs like kitchen or bathroom remodels, upgrading windows, or adding a deck.

Senior Household

A household composed of one or more persons, where at least one of whom is at least 62 years of age at the time of initial occupancy. Also referred to as Elderly Person Household.

Ohio State University Planning Studio

Developed by the Spring 2024 City and Regional Planning Undergraduate Studio at The Ohio State University, this document provides recommendations for improvements to the Eastland area. Guided by Professors Roxyanne Burrus and Bernadette Hanlon, and in collaboration with the City of Columbus, MKSK, and NDC, the 2024 planning studio focused on enhancing neighborhood nodes, parks, trails, the Hamilton Road Corridor, and overall mobility. The document builds on insights from MKSK, stakeholder feedback, and student research. The planning studio curated recommendations that aim to reaffirm the City of Columbus’ commitments to reinvest in historically marginalized, low-income, and communities of color, preserving their unique local character while fostering growth. The document had four topics of focus:

1. Neighborhood Nodes

+ Rut Bansal

+ Devin Bury

+ Ethan Koch

+ Jessie Sampson

The Neighborhood Nodes group developed a typology to identify and categorize underutilized green and commercial spaces for potential development. Their suggestions included four sites within the Eastland area that could be used for the development within the community, that offer short- and long-term strategies to meet the community’s needs and revitalize the area at a neighborhood scale.

2. Parks & Trails

+ Riky Jimenez Cuduco

+ Erin Flanagan

+ Devon Kuchta

+ Madie Strauss

The Parks & Trails group created recommendations for Eastland’s parks that aimed to transform them into vibrant, accessible, and diverse community spaces. These recommendations included a focus on sports and recreation, with improved trails, parking redesign, enhanced signage, educational opportunities, and other enhancements that would facilitate the enjoyment of greenspaces for the Eastland community at large.

3. Hamilton Road Corridor

+ Isaac Edwards

+ Michaela Evans

+ Jacob McBride

The Hamilton Road Corridor group proposed solutions to address vacancies along the road corridor, focusing on improvements to support the development of housing, walkability and housing on order to meet the needs of the community identified in the survey.

4. Mobility & Connectivity

+ Cam Das

+ Bobby McAlpine

+ Sophia Morales

+ Matt Skalicki

While analyzing the existing conditions of mobility within the community, the Mobility & Connectivity group focused on suggestions that would enhance public transit, pedestrian safety, streetscapes, shared mobility spaces, and overall connectivity within Eastland. These efforts highlighted the need to redesign spaces used for walking, cycling, and transit use.

Previous Plans & Studies

Eastland has been studied in two previous planning reports that address portions of the study area. This includes the 2007 Hamilton Road Corridor Plan and the 2018 South East Land Use Plan. Both plans provided the Planning Team with valuable insights. While the 2007 plan was corridorbased, it did capture community sentiments that are reflected in the recent improvements that have been made to the Hamilton Road corridor, and set the stage for mixed-use redevelopment that is proposed in the Eastland for Everyone Community Plan. The South East Land Use Plan addresses the far eastern corner of the Eastland for Everyone Community Plan and recommends land uses that are generally consistent with those shown in this plan.

2007 Hamilton Road Corridor Plan

The Hamilton Road Corridor Plan was created to guide growth and development along the Hamilton Road Corridor in Columbus, Ohio. The plan focused on addressing rapid urbanization while preserving community character and enhancing functionality for residents, businesses, and commuters. The plan emphasized the need for upgraded roadways, better pedestrian and bicycle access, and transit-oriented development to support the corridor’s role as a key transportation link. Design guidelines encouraged cohesive architecture, landscaping, and signage to maintain aesthetic consistency across the corridor.

Plan Goals

The plan had established goals with sub-points to help form a foundation for the future of the Hamilton Road corridor. Through these goals, a general framework was established for the plan’s more specific recommendations These points are expanded to a greater extent within the plan.

+ Balancing urban growth & Preservation of key environmental elements

+ Promoting Sustainable development within the Hamilton Road Corridor

+ Improving transportation access and networks

+ Focusing on economic advancement by attracting businesses and creating jobs

+ Providing a cohesive framework for a sustainable and vibrant community.

Download plan here!

2018 South East Land Use Plan

The South East Land Use Plan for provides a framework for guiding growth and development in the southeastern region of the city. The plan emphasizes creating a balanced approach to land use, focusing on preserving the area’s rural character while accommodating urban growth. It prioritizes sustainable development, encouraging mixed-use zoning, and promoting residential, commercial, and industrial developments that align with infrastructure capacity. Protecting natural resources, such as wetlands, streams, and agricultural lands, is central to the plan to maintain environmental integrity and enhance the community’s quality of life.

The plan also highlights the importance of improved transportation infrastructure, including upgraded road networks, public transit options, and pedestrian-friendly pathways. Economic development is a key focus, with efforts to attract businesses and provide job opportunities while ensuring compatibility with existing neighborhoods. Community input shaped the plan, ensuring it reflects local priorities and addresses challenges such as managing growth, preserving open spaces, and enhancing connectivity. By integrating these elements, the South East Land Use Plan seeks to create a cohesive, sustainable, and vibrant community for current and future residents.

Download plan here!