On the evening of September 19th community members, board members, project partners, city officials, staff, and students gathered to reflect on and honor NDC’s accomplishments over the past year. Throughout the office current and recently finished work was displayed, and those in attendance browsed and discussed the projects with the staff. Many discussions revolved around the HIlltop Community Plan, one of NDC’s most extensive projects in 2018-19. It was a lovely evening of

Students presenting project findings from a youth engagement activity in Spring 2019 Community planning efforts by the NDC in the Linden and Hilltop neighborhoods have created an avenue for collaboration between the NDC and the Knowlton School of Architecture’s City and Regional Planning Department, through studio work targeting these two neighborhoods. During the 2017-18 academic year, students explored a variety of topics ranging from food access and alley revitalization t

On Thursday, Nov. 8 many residents of the Hilltop area came together for the second Hilltop Community Plan working meeting. Held at the Boys & Girls Club at 85 Clarendon, the group enjoyed dinner before starting two activities. The first was an individual exercise designed to understand the future aspirations residents have for their neighborhood. Vision 2038 asked participants to imagine moving away from the Hilltop for 20 years and returning. How would they want the communi

Representing much of Columbus’ West Side, the Hilltop is a historic neighborhood with beautiful homes, intriguing topography, and a business district along W. Broad Street. As part of its focus on neighborhoods, the City of Columbus is investing in a plan for the neighborhood—focusing on people, place, and home. With support from the Department of Neighborhoods, the Neighborhood Design Center attended community festivals, markets, civic meetings, and other special events over

Joined by dozens of project partners, board members, community members, city officials, staff and students — the NDC family celebrated our work at last night’s Open House. Brief remarks were offered at 6pm by David Brehm (current NDC board chair), Isabela Gould (Executive Director), City Council President Shannon Hardin, and Nick Bankston (Project Manager, Dept. of Neighborhoods). Our recent and current projects were featured on boards throughout the space, with a focus on th

Representing much of Columbus’ West Side, the Hilltop is a historic neighborhood with beautiful homes, intriguing topography, and a business district along W. Broad Street. As part of its focus on neighborhoods, the City of Columbus is investing in a plan for the neighborhood—focusing on people, place, and home. With support from the Department of Neighborhoods, the Neighborhood Design Center is attending community festivals, markets, civic meetings, and other special events

The Neighborhood Design Center welcomed members of the International Town & Gown Association (ITGA) to our office on May 29 as part of their annual conference, hosted this year by The Ohio State University and the City of Columbus. Founded in 2008, the ITGA seeks to address challenges and discover opportunities between institutions of higher learning and the communities in which they reside. The NDC played host to the first part of a pre-conference walking tour coordinated by

On April 24, the Linden community gathered at St. Stephen’s Community House to hear a preliminary presentation of concepts developed through public input and engagement starting in March 2017. The presentation gave baseline data for Linden across five topic areas: Education & Workforce, Health & Safety, Transportation, Retail & Small Business, and Housing. The plan concepts were presented as 10 Big Ideas, using an integrated approach that combines multiple community issue are

Supported by Campus Partners, the Weinland Park Commercial Study was prompted by the Housing Committee of the Weinland Park Community Civic Association and represented a desire that the neighborhood have a well informed voice in the future commercial development of vacant land and redevelopment of existing structures. With increasing pressures from a shrinking housing supply in Italian Village, expanding development of student housing close to The Ohio State University, and a

New Office Space Welcomes Guests During Events Making use of our beautiful new space at 1445 Summit Street, Suite 300, we played host to at least seven events throughout 2017. 4/26/17                 NDC Open House 9/14/2017            Anchor District Organization 10/2/2017            ACUHO-I Foundation Visit 1 10/6/2017            ACUHO-I Association Visit 2 10/17/2017          Knowlton School \ Honors & Scholars 10/30/2017          City and Regional Planning Student As

The Neighborhood Design Center was filled with around 40 people last week when we hosted the Anchor District Council for part of their annual forum—held this year in Columbus. A coalition of nonprofit community service corporations, the Anchor District Council members work in partnership with education, medical, and arts/cultural anchor institutions to transform city anchor districts and their adjacent neighborhoods. The consortium formed in 2012 when the group first convened

Many Linden residents and businesses are now aware of the Linden Community Plan, a process started earlier this year that will continue into mid-2018 to chart a path for the neighborhood’s future. The plan has been commissioned by the City of Columbus in partnership with United Way Central Ohio and The Ohio State University. What is a community plan? Community planning seeks to improve the overall quality of life through recommendations around various aspects of community lif