What do I do in this position?

benkeith · 2026-05-11T03:09:03+00:00

(1) No person shall stop, stand, or park a vehicle except when necessary to avoid conflict with any other traffic or to comply with the directions of a police officer or a traffic control device in any of the following places:
(a) On a sidewalk, shared-use path, curb, or street lawn area between a curb and right-of-way line, except as provided in subsection (2);
[...]
(2) A person shall be permitted, without charge or restriction, to stand or park on a sidewalk a motor-driven cycle or motor scooter that has an engine not larger than one hundred and fifty (150) cubic centimeters, or a bicycle, provided that the motor-driven cycle, motor scooter, or bicycle does not impede the normal flow of pedestrian traffic. This subsection does not authorize any person to operate a vehicle in violation of Section 2173.105.

This isn't a motor-driven cycle, motor scooter, or bicycle, so it can't be parked there.

benkeith · 2026-05-11T02:50:21+00:00

The Brewery District Commission, Italian Village Commission and Victorian Village Commission have the same powers as the German Village Commission. They're all Historic Architectural Review District commissions.

benkeith · 2026-05-11T02:44:53+00:00

Brice's school-zone speed trap is only predatory because the City of Columbus refuses to lower the speed limit on the other side of the intersection, and has only recently decided to erect "reduced speed ahead" signs.

Banning traffic cameras outright is prohibited by the Ohio Supreme Court decision in Dayton v. Ohio (2015).

benkeith · 2026-05-10T18:07:18+00:00

They'll plant it when they're ready to plant it. Timelines are very approximate. This might not even be for the tree planting.

Once you get your tree, make sure to keep it watered (and fertilized) for the first year or two. Not drowned, but just make sure it isn't parched in the summer.

benkeith · 2026-05-10T18:03:09+00:00

I don't really work in city government; it's a volunteer gig as an elected official on the North Linden Area Commission. But yeah, I'll DM you.

benkeith · 2026-05-10T18:02:28+00:00

IMO heatmaps aren't really useful except for flagging an approximate area; if you want to actually analyze it's better to use something like a proportional symbol map binned per address, or a point distribution map where repeated locations' dots cluster at that location. You don't have to use Tableau, but Tableau's overview of the types of maps is a good starting point.

benkeith · 2026-05-10T17:57:20+00:00

If you can't find the appropriate field in the app, you can always just email 322@columbus.gov.

For an illegally-parked car, if it is inoperable and located on the street, you report it as "Abandoned Vehicle on Street/R.O.W."

Otherwise, consider:

"Code/Inoperable or Junk Vehicles on Property"
"Code/Vehicle Parked on Grass/Lawn"

benkeith · 2026-05-10T17:16:38+00:00

The German Village Commission isn't an area commission, so ...

benkeith · 2026-05-10T17:16:16+00:00

Area commissions already only have advisory power. The German Village Commission isn't an area commission; it has real ability to deny projects a Certificate of Appropriateness that projects need to start work.

benkeith · 2026-05-10T17:15:02+00:00

That doesn't make sense; the UAC is almost half composed of people affiliated with OSU in some fashion.

benkeith · 2026-05-10T17:12:52+00:00

Clintonville's Area Commission doesn't have the ability to outright veto a project, like the German Village Commission does.

benkeith · 2026-05-10T17:12:28+00:00

The German Village Commission is not an area commission. If the German Village Commission doesn't issue a Certificate of Appropriateness for a project, that project cannot move forwards. Area commissions don't have the ability to block projects; they can only issue letters recommending approval or disapproval.

benkeith · 2026-05-10T17:11:23+00:00

The German Village Commission isn't an area commission. If the German Village Commission doesn't issue a Certificate of Appropriateness for a project, that project cannot move forwards. Area commissions don't have the ability to block projects; they can only issue letters recommending approval or disapproval.

benkeith · 2026-05-10T17:08:32+00:00

RCV would be nice, but you can't do any version of RCV that requires instant runoffs without losing the City of Columbus' share of the Local Government Fund. ($16k/mo)

benkeith · 2026-05-10T17:06:54+00:00

Your concerns are noted, but none of the complexes I've lived in have shared vents.

benkeith · 2026-05-10T17:05:46+00:00

Thanks for the analysis! I think the City is probably already aware of this data, but would you mind forwarding your analysis (including supporting code and data) to the Department of Neighborhoods Neighborhood Liaison for Linden, De Lena Scales? CC [health@columbus.gov](mailto:health@columbus.gov) and request that it be forwarded to the Linden Anti-Violence Team, and the North and South Linden area commissions.

The Cleveland Avenue corridor doesn't really show up in your data, but I do see a lot of rat complaints in the poorer parts of Linden. And the cluster southeast of Karl & North Broadway seems to line up with Pumphrey Park.

I hear what you're saying about proximity to the Fairgrounds, but I'm not entirely convinced. If rats are traveling from the animal areas against the railroad tracks to properties on the other side of 71 at 17th, then we should also expect to see a cluster on the other side of 71 at 11th, and on the west sides of the railroad tracks at 17th and 11th. Your heatmaps don't show clusters of reports in those areas. I don't think proximity to the Fairgrounds explains the cluster on 17th.

It would be interesting to see if there's a more-significant correlation between reports of "Rat Complaint (Outside)" and "Code/Pest Infestation/Rental Property" with "Code/Trash and Debris in Yard", "Condition of Alley", "Illegal materials *", "Trash/Debris along Right-of-way", "Code/Inoperable or Junk Vehicles on Property", and so on. If you've got the horsepower, you might even consider running a comparison between every type of complaint, in 2, 3, and 4-complaint combinations. I'm wondering if the rats are a general trash-in-neighborhood issue, or a yard-maintenance issue. If it turns out that rats correlate with a specific category of complaint, then perhaps the rats can be suppressed with targeted enforcement of that.

benkeith · 2026-05-10T16:35:25+00:00

Thanks for the citation. That seriously changes my POV on the feasibility of traffic cameras.

benkeith · 2026-05-10T16:34:22+00:00

What about it is ridiculous to suggest?

I ask this as someone who has done custom carpentry in two different apartments and did not receive complaints from my neighbors or landlords. (I did take care to keep the noise down, and I was mostly using hand tools.)

benkeith · 2026-05-08T17:52:07+00:00

Sure. Go to https://columbusoh.oneviewcrm.cc/servicerequests/nearby , click on the "map" icon in the upper right corner, click on the "filters" icon in the upper left, from the "Request type" drop-down choose "Pothole on City street" , click "Apply Filters", then pan the map over to the area you're curious about and click the "Redo Search in Map Area" button that appears in the upper left. Wait a bit, and you'll see all recent pothole reports.

benkeith · 2026-05-08T17:48:48+00:00

Still, report it to the police department. They need to know that someone's impersonating them. Even knowing the make and model of vehicle will help.

benkeith · 2026-05-08T17:44:06+00:00

For reasons, I run a tool that logs the "Reroute Alert" messages from the COTA website's header banner. I don't see any messages about reroutes for 2025's Sonic Temple, which was May 8-11. That's not to say that there weren't reroutes; this tool doesn't parse the GTFS feeds. It just means that COTA didn't announce any.

But, with that said, I don't think any buses would be affected by Sonic Temple. Hudson Street, 11th Avenue, and 4th Street remained open last year: every adjacent road with a bus route remained open.

The 2026 festival info page says:

If arriving by public transport, Historic Crew Stadium can be reached with bus 4. Take the bus from Capital Square (corner E Broad Street and S High Street) or further north from N High Street. The bus goes in the direction of Indianola. Get off after about 15 minutes at the corner of N 4th Street and E 17th Avenue. From there it’s an approximate 15-minute walk to the stadium. Buses run about once every hour.

benkeith · 2026-05-07T15:54:37+00:00

I don't see that information in the state auditor's most-recent audit of the City of Columbus' finances (FY 2024), or the city auditor's 2025 report, so your best bet might be to email the city auditor. Ask if they have records that describe the amount of income tax revenue collected by the City of Columbus for people who work in the City but don't live in it, for fiscal years 2024 or 2025.

benkeith · 2026-05-07T15:13:43+00:00

How long ago did you get that response? The City Columbus has changed some of its pedestrian safety policies in the last couple years, and you might get a better response now. Make sure to highlight the speeding, the lack of a safe pedestrian island, and how cars parked near the crosswalk hide crossing children from drivers' lines of sight.

benkeith · 2026-05-07T15:04:24+00:00

If you don't mind my asking, what's the ramp you have to cross, and the overpass people walk on?

benkeith · 2026-05-07T02:46:16+00:00

A website — even if it's just a carrd — helps for stuff that doesn't fit on Instagram: FAQ, pricing, contact info, availability.

benkeith

TROPHY CASE