Suburban growth

Here are parts two and three of ThisWeek’s series on growth in Columbus’s southeast suburbs, the 33 corridor. From part three:

In the next 25 years or less, the population of the greater Canal Winchester and greater Pickerington areas could nearly double, along with the number of jobs.

According to projections prepared by the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission and the Ohio Department of Development, the number of residents in Canal Winchester, Pickerington and Violet Township will grow from the 2005 combined total of 48,590 to 77,992 by 2030. Estimates show the number of households increasing from 17,048 to 30,255 over that same period.

The articles talk about the region’s growing pains, but as interviewee notes, “pangs of growth are better than those of decline”.

“(An) issue that was of concern to over 80 percent of the interviewees is the lack of local cooperation within the county; especially between the cities of Lancaster, Canal Winchester, Pickerington, and Fairfield County,” according to [a study by RDG, a Dublin-based economic development planning company]….

Also, the study reports interviewees feeling “a lack of clarity and focus regarding economic development initiatives,” and a “general uncertainty of how Fairfield County fits into the Greater Columbus region and how it can position itself to benefit from the emerging ‘new economy.’”

I had a post about the first in the series here.