Increasing the Walkability in Worthington

What do you like to do and see when you walk around downtown Worthington? Do you enjoy being able to stroll to restaurants, shops, social and public amenities steps from each other and from where you live or parked? Have you ever asked yourself what is stopping Worthington from continuing to have more experiences like downtown Worthington throughout our community? If not, let me walk you through some changes that need to happen to create more opportunities for vibrant, useful walks like downtown, all throughout the city.

First, we need to create safe, comfortable walking environments. Imagine Wide paths protected with trees, knee benches, or parked cars separating people and places from busy streets. Imagine being able to continue walking north from the Village Green passing the library, all the way to the historic Orange Johnson House on large sidewalks, protected from cars, and being able to continue to new and interesting places.

Edit Image

Next, we need to allow for walkability by allowing mixed building uses and zero lot setbacks up and down our main streets where shops, businesses, public buildings, open spaces, and housing options can be adjacent to each other and share centralized parking. This will add interest to the street and bring out more people traveling on foot between locations.

Finally, we need to encourage more public transit and bicycle amenities allowing people of all ages and abilities to move throughout the city, making it easier for everyone to travel without a car. Public transit options need to have on-demand availability or fixed service every 10-15 minutes or less to be a reliable transportation option for people and add to the vitality of Worthington.

Edit Image

What is the biggest thing stopping us from adding more opportunities for fun and adventure throughout our city? Our zoning codes! Our current zoning code allows for the existing uses of downtown Worthington but has outlawed being able to create anything similar outside of the downtown area. By updating our zoning code to a form-based code and keeping opportunities for people to travel to destinations they want in mind, we can create a framework to extend the same zoning as downtown throughout the city of Worthington.

From the Form-Based Code Institutes, “A form-based code is a land development regulation that fosters predictable built results and a high-quality public realm by using physical form (rather than separation of uses) as the organizing principle for the code…. Form-based codes address the relationship between building facades and the public realm, the form and mass of buildings in relation to one another, and the scale and types of streets and blocks.” 1

By updating our zoning code and increasing walkability, we can improve the vitality of downtown, connect the city and increase opportunities for everyone.