Central Ohio public officials, organizations and private-sector developers spent Friday talking about housing and how to prepare the region for expected rapid growth at the third Housing For All conference.
The conference, hosted by Urban Land Institute Columbus, focused on the theme, "What Good is Growth If It’s Not for All?: Planning Columbus Today and Tomorrow."
Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin opened the conference with his vision of Columbus in 15 years. He imagines a high school student taking bus rapid transit to school and later studying at a coffee shop tucked under apartments. Friends who live upstairs come down for a latte, then they all head to a pocket park to play basketball, passing other vibrant small businesses along the way.
"This is beautiful, right? You can smell the coffee beans roasting. You can hear the kids playing," Hardin said. "This doesn't happen by happenstance. This is urban planning."
Hardin said to reach that dream, Columbus needs to focus at least half of its growth in established corridors. He said that would preserve greenspace and save billions of dollars that otherwise would need to be spent expanding infrastructure.
While introducing Columbus City Council's Columbus Forward plan — which also focuses on growing responsibly — earlier in the week, Hardin said central Ohio is expected to reach a population of 3 million people by 2050.
On Friday, Jason Hall, president and CEO of Columbus Partnership, said the metro area added 30,000 residents just last year.
"It was not our mountains, our beaches or the ocean that got us there," Hall said, eliciting a bit of laughter. "It was value-based leadership and a commitment to trying to build a quality of life and better opportunities."
Hall joined Hardin, State Senator Michele Reynolds, and Edwards Companies CEO Jeffrey Edwards in a discussion in the ballroom of the Ohio Union on Ohio State University's campus.
The group touched on topics ranging from the importance of transit to squashing NIMBYism, a "not in my back yard" mentality.
"We need really zero NIMBYism if we can get it. You know, and I know it's not easy," Edwards said to light applause from the audience.
Hardin highlighted recent Columbus City Council initiatives like easing regulations on accessory dwelling units, which are smaller, additional housing units on a person's property. The term encompasses garages converted into apartments as well as tiny homes built in backyards.
Hardin also talked about his plan to make it easier for religious organizations to use extra land to build affordable housing.
While big ideas were tossed around at the event's opening, breakout sessions in the afternoon promised time for folks from the public and private sectors to talk about partnerships.
Hardin said he was most interested to talk with emerging developers.
"These are small, first time folks who maybe are not going to build a 100-unit apartment, but will do a duplex on some infill land," Hardin said.
Hardin said that growth is coming to Columbus, and the value of it should be shared by everyone.
"If there's going to wealth built, why don't we have some new women-owned or minority developers, get a chance to be a part of that?" Hardin said.
Hardin also said he wants to focus on improving access to homeownership, possibly through training or finance education for prospective buyers.
"If they can get in now and buy a house, then as the property values do rise, which we know will happen, that is literally equity that goes into their bank accounts," Hardin said. "If we want folks to be a part of this growth in the good way, it's time to cut them in now."
The conference was presented in partnership with Columbus City Council and Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission.
