Columbus: A Smart, Sustainable City

Celebrating its bicentennial in 2012, the City of Columbus has navigated 200 years of proud history and is charting a course for a limitless future. Smart and sustainable, Columbus has embraced policies that foster business growth, investment in research and technology, and environmental responsibility. The capital of Ohio and the nation s 15th-largest city, Columbus is home to nearly two million people and headquarters to more than a dozen Fortune 1000 companies. Under the leadership of Mayor Michael B. Coleman and the Get Green Columbus initiative, Columbus is moving to further diversify its economy and secure its future by thinking green. With 20 colleges and universities, more than any other U.S. city except Boston, and myriad research institutions, Columbus enjoys a clear advantage in developing a technological base for a green economy. Forbes no. one up-and-coming high-tech city, Columbus is home to the 315 Research + Technology Corridor, at 10,000 acres one of the largest research-based sites in the United States. From downtown lofts to suburban family neighborhoods to rural villages, this Midwest metropolis offers something for everyone. The city s renowned arts scene runs the gamut from opera and ballet to jazz and rock, art galleries to a world-class art museum that even Gertrude Stein admired. Boasting more park space per capita than any other U.S. city, Columbus has developed an extensive network of biking and pedestrian trails. This handsomely illustrated book explores the factors that will play a vital role in Columbus continued success quality of life, education and health care, traditional and high-tech industries, energy and transportation and the numerous green policies that balance economic development with sustainability.