Help assess our community needs

Child's museum would be the biggest thing I would think, that could be approved and you could put it anywhere in town (even downtown since the city council need to draw business to there business even though they won't stay open late, or open early unless it is a bar)
We could use wider roads, it seems that people go out of there way to avoid hitting cars on the side streets since people can't park there cars next to the curb.
More Viaducts, since ours is falling apart, if someone is dying they might as well head toward David City for a hospital if they don't want to wait for a train when they close down our only one.
Salt for the roads, I use to say that seeing an abominable snowman, was more likely than a snow truck but is has been getting slightly better. I really do think someone who has control over the snow removal must own a body shop.
Forward thinking- This I say because the big money in Columbus and the people who have control over the decisions (not all but the majority) have a small town mentality, if they would start thinking like a big city, and plan for such, then I really do think Columbus could expand greatly. If we would stop shooting ourselves in the foot and let some of these businesses in town that would like to come, then overall it will bring more business to Columbus, and people would be more apt to go to the smaller businesses. If you look at the majority of businesses we have in Columbus, we have hair salons and bars.

Find some way to make newcomers to our city feel more welcome. Why not an invite to dinner. Taking them to the Husker House doesn't count. Make them genuinely welcome. This is a very clicky (sp) city. No one is accepted her except for those who were born and raised here, play bridge or go to dance clubs. Strangers are not welcome. We don't know you, like you or want you!!!!!

No culture here. How about an independent theater that shows films such as the Ross theater in Lincoln. You don't find there here. Also how about the library showing foreign films also. Perhaps weekly or even monthly would be nice. Something fun to do rather than sitting in a bar

I agree,more Viaducts, since ours is falling apart, if someone is dying they might as well head toward David City for a hospital if they don't want to wait for a train when they close down our only one. A childs museum would be awesome. A place for people to dump garbage so they dont drive out to the country and do it. Clean the ditches, 48th ave is terrible with garbage. get rid of aj evans. do away with the whole road to nowhere project north of town. have an informative meeting to let people know the public library is not a daycare. maybe even a place for young adults to socialize would be nice.

Sooo, are all of you going to become proactive and see some of these ideas through, or are you going sit on your lead butts and just keep complaining.

I might have to. From the research I have been doing on the subject. I have been talking with my spouse about starting a fundraiser for a children's museum. Still in the research phase, but I figured to post it on here where someone is asking how to better to community like Connect Columbus and the United Way.(See top) Maybe I won't have to be the main person doing it and maybe I can just assist with it by volunteering my time and some of my money.

how about people parking their cars in their driveways instead of on the street! most of the streets here always have cars parked,thus only one car can go through at a time. especially near the corners. it's dangerous! also how about parking bans when it snows so that the plows can do their jobs. after a storm the roads here are a mess because the plows have to go around all the cars parked on the streets! and sand and salt! how about one of those electronic speed signs on 28th street, the traffic goes by my house at least 50mph. there are kids and old people here,someone is going to get seriously hurt. ok i'm done.

The Library offers the cheapest daycare in town. Instead of a bypass around town, why not reroute the train around town? Does Columbus actually have a use for it anymore? A children's museum like the one in Lincoln would be nice. A hands on Science Center like the one in Des Moines would be great!

As far as activities in town, I think you could expand on the "squares on the chairs" theme in Frankfort Square and ad something like American Idol or America's Got Talent. Everyone seems to enjoy those shows.

Provide more support to the local community theater: Platte Valley Playhouse. Many talented and dedicated amateurs.

*Renovate the old theater downtown into a multi-use facility: plays, local orchestras, and indy film projections are a few of the possibilities. Make use of the downtown landmark and help improve the downtown nightlife.

*Make a beautification ordinance. This would force the newer buildings to add nicer landscaping and hopefully avoid any future swamps (i.e. Wal-Mart) from popping up on major roadways.

*Plant trees and add landscaping to the middle island from about East 14th Avenue to 18th Avenue. It would give the appearance of a nice boulevard.

*Bring in more restaurants to 13th St. This would help supplement the revitalized theater in improving nightlife in downtown.

*Offer tax breaks to businesses improving their downtown store fronts.

*Revitalize 11th St. with bull-nose corners and landscaping...the way 13th St. should have been done a few years ago.

*Bring in some type of family fun center place in the open lot north of New World Inn. Something with go-carts, putt putt golf, video games, etc. The south side area on the highway can sort of become an entertainment zone with the water park, Pawnee Park, and hotels (one with a soon to be opened water park).

*Try again for a USHL hockey team to play at Ag Park. The vote was pretty close last time, and it would give the city something to do in the winter time. There are already quite a few things going on in the summer.

*Have the Taste of Columbus earlier year so it can be held outdoors (maybe at Frankfurt Square) and have some sort of concert series going on with it. If it were in like May or June it would be a great way to start off the summer for the city.

*Bring back Rockin' on the Runway

*Do something with Westgate Center...it's taken Dial way too long to finalize and announce what is going on with the old Hardee's, Menard's, Hy-Vee, Walgreens, etc...

*Move the inline skating center somewhere closer to town. I don't know if that call center is ever going to open up in the old Wal-Mart, but that's a nice big building to put a roller skating rink and an indoor soccer field or two. That parking lot is also big enough that the skate ramps could have been put there (as opposed to Pawnee Park) to keep it more centrally located.

We would like to move the rink closer to town, and someday plan to do so. With just a little continued support of our activities (Kids Night Skating on Fridays, Family Skate Night on Saturdays, and our upcoming indoor soccer, adult dodgeball, and youth/adult roller hockey leagues, this will be very possible.

We looked into the use of former Wal-Mart and Hy-Vee/Menards buildings, and they would not work without a major overhaul of roof structure. Tough to do a skating rink and indoor sports facility with polls every twenty feet and a low ceiling. Also, the rent is ridiculous due to the location of these buildings. We like to charge a reasonable rate so everyone can afford to use our facility (skating or leagues)...we would have to charge an arm and a leg for our activities just to pay the rent in those buildings.

Trust us...we are working hard to get elsewhere here in town. Just takes time and the continued, very much appreciated support of our events/activities. We appreciate all of the support of area youth and adults. Check it all out at ColumbusEventCenter.com.

Family Fun Center. 100+ videos-arcades, and redemption games. Games for kids of all ages (and adults) including video, pinball, bowling, ping-pong, pool, tennis, indoor miniature golf, and more interactive games! Win tickets for your skills playing the games and redeem for cool prizes.

Great entertainment for families, couples, friends! Plus, Great attraction for Columbus!

Columbus had a Fun Center where Sylvan Learning Center is now.

Matt has got some really great ideas! Thanks for taking the time to think this through.
*I believe that family friendly options are the way to go. An arcade, a children's museum, a family fun center with go-carts, and a laser tag course would all be great choices.
*I would also like to see the "all class" reunion that was put on several years ago become an annual event.
*As for the cultural needs, I think it would be great for the library or other organization to host "indie movie" nights or "classic movie" nights. The community theater along with the high schools put on some very fine performances, but it would be nice if they were better supported.
*Rockin' on the Runway needs to return!
*Encourage more retail to move to Columbus and support those that are already here!
*I would love to see a drive-in that has "second-run" movies, classics,etc.
*We need to offer better and more affordable housing options. There is a severe shortage of reasonably priced homes.
We, as a community, need to look and plan for the future, not just gritch about the past. Support your hometown by shopping local vendors, attending community events and encouraging your neighbor to do the same.

Most of all--we need to give out-of-towners a reason to come to Columbus and for those that live here a reason to stay.

I love going to concerts, so I have to go out of town or even out of state. I'm always amazed to see how many columbus people I know when I'm at these concerts, even the one's out of state. I know columbus is not a huge city, but we have plenty of big business around to support some kind of concert event. Look at divots in norfolk, or madison's fair concerts, how do they pull it off.

Matt is right about some things.
But I really think investing money into the downtown isn't a great idea.
There is nothing open after business hours except a handful of places.
This is an industrial town, and people do shift work. I really think if downtown wants people's business, they will have more accommodating hours.
I really do like the idea of renovating the old theater into something useful, I would love to see it become something like a dinner theater or something that you can do in the winter.
The hockey team would be great but why would it have to be at ag park, I though the hockey team wanted to open up there own location but the old money in town wanted it at ag park?

Something to think about with the old theatre would be to open up a $1 show similiar to what the starship was in Lincoln. Indoor soccer or volleyball would be GREAT for the old Wal-Mart building. I remember being in college when the hockey league was turned down. It really was too bad. It would have been a nice alternative to sitting in a bar on Friday/Saturday nights. Last time I was back in Columbus, it really was sad to see the old Hy-Vee/Menards area. Actually, it was sad to see that part of town in general. People of Columbus...start doing something...it's your town!

Retail. Addtions to the US30 CENTER or completely tear down the Westgate Center and get it ready for new stores.
Emphasis on the Museums. Spark interest in the museum. build a new nebraska education center across from the library. Make it a community thing, people can study, learn, and have pride in their city.

*Divide Hy-Vee/Menard's into a Hastings Music and Books, Office Depot, and Pamida or a smaller scale Target.

*Put an Old Chicago in the old Walgreen's.

*Add on a Herberger's to the back side of 30 Center Mall as an anchor and tear down Northtown Mall to make room for parking. The existing business in Northtown Mall can be relocated to the new strip mall on the old Sapp's lot, Westgate Center (I think there is still some remaining spots there), or to the old Lark Lounge (I think Salvation Army is already looking at this site).

*Extend Village Centre to the west of the Dollar store and add a Kohl's Department store and add parking to the open lot just south of Cuzzin's Corner.

How about a Plein Air show in the park?

There are a lot of good ideas here. I would say that a 1% - 2% sales tax increase should cover most of these things.

A good new/used bookstore and something art related.

Matt- LOVE all of your ideas. As far as the medians along 23rd St getting landscaped, there is a group working on some changes/cleaning up the 33rd ave and 23rd st corridors, so hopefully those will look better come spring. Maybe not landscaped quite as much as we would like since they are State highway and we can't do as much as we want, but cleaned up and better at least.
Perhaps a group of us could talk to the Downtown Business Assn together about keeping their stores open later every night and about the old movie theater ideas? Anybody up for forming a group to make that happen?

How about building a new YMCA. You could build one like Hastings that has go-carts, batting cages, indoor hockey, waterslides, putt putt golf, ample exercise equipment and MUCH MUCH more. It could provide a nice place for youth to hang out and could help with all the childhood weight problems in todays society. With the new CEO at our YMCA, I think this is the time to start looking into our future.

Columbus only needs two viaducts. One going completely over the city from north to south and one from east to west. Did anyone see the Simpsons movie? How about a giant dome?