Columbus isn’t a pedestrian paradise, according to new study

A report written (last year) by George Washington University School of Business and LOCUS, a group of national real-estate developers and investors, says Columbus lags behind several metro areas in its walkability. And it might drop even further in future years. The report, titled “Foot Traffic Ahead: Ranking Walkable Urbanism in America’s Largest Metros” ranked Columbus 16th, but predicted that it will drop to 27th in upcoming years.

For the study, researchers defined walkable areas as having at least 1.4 million square feet of office space and/or at least 340,000 square feet of retail space. An example for central Ohio would be Easton Town Center. Some of the reasons Columbus, overall, is facing such low rankings is its lack of plans involving urban around transit: commuter rail system, bike lanes, sidewalks (attention to cyclists and pedestrians). “Transit is extremely helpful to walkable urban places,” said Patrick Lynch, research and development manager at George Washington’s Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis.

The city has been working on its walkable aspects like improving sidewalks and spending over $200,000 on eight more bicycle-docking stations and adding 80 bicycles to the CoGo Bike Share network. But Columbus is still lacking when it comes to being a pedestrian paradise.

FYI: A local report, insight2050 (which is a collaborative initiative among MORPC, Columbus 2020, ULI Columbus and a stakeholder committee consisting of public and private partners) called for central Ohio communities to develop more walkable neighborhoods for the growing number of singles and empty nesters.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY