{"id":907,"date":"2023-03-13T10:52:09","date_gmt":"2023-03-13T14:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconheartland.com\/?p=907"},"modified":"2023-03-22T14:05:56","modified_gmt":"2023-03-22T18:05:56","slug":"preparing-to-prosper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconheartland.com\/preparing-to-prosper\/","title":{"rendered":"Preparing to Prosper"},"content":{"rendered":"

Event speakers on the coming change in northwest Licking County<\/span><\/p>\n

SiliconHeartland.com staff<\/span><\/p>\n

A recent event featured nine speakers offering different perspectives on the impact of Intel and other high-tech developments in New Albany. Prepare to Prosper, sponsored by SiliconHeartland.com and staged by R.S. Rock Media, was held March 2 at the Estate at New Albany. <\/span><\/p>\n

Here is a summary of the remarks by the mayor of Galena, at top official at the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, the president of Otterbein University and the co-founder of SiliconHeartland.com. (See other Preparing to Prosper post for the other speakers.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Jill Love<\/b>: Mayor of Galena and RE\/MAX Realtor<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Love said Galena, a village in Delaware County, knows its identity and what it wants to be. \u201cThat has been our guide to planning, funding and culture,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe aren\u2019t striving to be someone else and that\u2019s something people love about Galena. We do know we\u2019re going to change.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She said the village leaders want to grow responsibly and keep a pulse on the community. This is accomplished through open dialogue and encouraging everyone to be a part of the solution, which allows \u201cpeople to feel more engaged and in control.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Galena collaborates with surrounding communities and regional planning groups. \u201cWe\u2019re going to have a heck of a traffic issue,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re talking to everyone. We\u2019ve got to get out of the bubble, be humble and recognize what we don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She acknowledged that many of the communities have the same needs; they\u2019re just different size needs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Galena is in the process of updating its master plan and inviting developers to join the conversation. The village is expected to annex 1,000 acres in the next two to five years. \u201cWe\u2019re creating a public-private partnership with the landowner that could help us fund our economic development strategy,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Kerstin Carr<\/b>: Chief Regional Strategy Officer for Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC)<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Carr noted that the Columbus Region is one of the fastest growing metros in the country and the fastest growing metro in the state. She said over the next 25 years, the area will see 272,000 additional households and 357,000 more workers, with Central Ohio expected to reach a population of 3.15 million people by 2050.<\/span><\/p>\n

With such explosive growth, MORPC anticipates more than 100,000 new houses will be needed to be built \u201cin just the next decade alone,\u201d she said. Dr. Carr added that the Building Industry Association of Central Ohio has said that would be a two-fold increase over recent trends.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2020, MORPC was asked to lead a study of housing statistics for Central Ohio. The core issues the study found were:<\/span><\/p>\n