Dublin, Ohio, is tackling the twin challenges of large-scale transformation and corridor reinvention.

Dublin, Ohio, has launched a bold effort to reimagine its future. The city, which was included in the new report Shifting Suburbs: Reinventing Infrastructure for Compact Development, is undertaking a comprehensive effort to redefine its land use and infrastructure patterns for the 21st century.

A suburb of Columbus, Ohio, Dublin is seeking to respond to shifting demographic trends. The Bridge Street Corridor Vision Plan lays out goals for the city’s central spine; the plan seeks to foster compact and sustainable growth through form-based zoning codes and other guiding principles. By creating a more unified city with new housing options and connections to green space, the town hopes to attract talented young professionals while accommodating aging baby boomers.

Project champion Terry Foegler, director of strategic initiatives for the city of Dublin, participated in a ULI forum in Minneapolis in 2011 as well as in the ULI Infrastructure Initiative’s release webinar for the report in December 2012. During the webinar, he discussed the challenges and opportunities the city is facing as it implements the Vision Plan.

Terry Foegler

“The city has begun to engage with developers,” said Foegler. “There has been a tremendous amount of interest, obviously with the multifamily market being so strong nationally, and [with] Dublin in the past being typically very low-density. The opportunity for folks to come in with 30- to 50-unit-per-acre multifamily developments is totally new. . . .”

He continued: “We’re moving toward responding to the development proposals that are many and varied at this time and trying to leverage our public investments and public improvements as strategically as we can around those projects. [We’ll] try and choose to partner with those projects where we think they will be most catalytic or transformative.”

Read more on pages 12−15 of Shifting Suburbs