Can UA compete with surrounding suburbs?

UA's population has declined by about 7% from 2000 through July 2006, while surrounding suburbs have increased, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures released in June 2007. Upper Arlington is one of several inner-ring suburbs in central Ohio that have declined in population. Figure 1 compares UA's population and median age with other Columbus suburbs.

There are several challenges in attracting younger families to Upper Arlington:

• Increased competition from area suburban school systems and communities with excellent city services and attractive amenities
• High cost of housing is unaffordable for many young families.
• Smaller, post-war mass produced houses are less competitive & desirable than larger, newer homes in competing suburbs.

ThisWeek News published an excellent article on this topic entitled 'Population pedaling away from UA'.

According to the article, Upper Arlington could reverse the population-loss trend by making the community more conducive to young families with active lifestyles.

So why do people choose to live in Upper Arlington? Here are the most common reasons given:

• First-rate schools
• Proximity to downtown & OSU
• Exceptional city services:
• History & traditions
• Beautiful homes & safe neighborhoods

Analysis: Amenities and Basic Services

UA provides amenity services that improve our quality of life, and, in many cases, our facilities and programs are models for other communities. Our libraries, parks, recreation, as well as toddler, preschool, lifelong leisure and arts programming are well-attended, largely self-funding, and usage-based.

But UA's exceptional city services are under attack by the conservative block on City Council, Tim Rankin and Frank Ciotolo. They believe that city government should be concerned primarily with 'basic services', such as water, sewer, and other essential services. City Council candidates McCormick and Heath follow in Rankin's and Ciotola's minimalist government footsteps.

Our community cannot be limited to only providing basic services. That is not why people live in Upper Arlington and it's not what they expect. Tim Rankin was against the city building sidewalks --- he called them an “amenity”. While Seidel and Krauss do not favor spending money irresponsibly, the fact is that people move to Upper Arlington for, among other things, its amenities.

How can UA afford the kinds of amenities available in competing suburbs?

It comes as a surprise to some that UA receives so much revenue from income taxes (see Figure 2) --- nearly twice as much as from property taxes. Building on this income tax base is the key to our community's future -- and to keeping our property taxes down. Since income taxes come from businesses on UA's commercially-zoned property, how UA leverages our very scarce commercial properties is the subject of the next installment in this series: High-quality town center or McKingsdale?