BREAKING: "England said Malysz also was instrumental in ... helping turn downtown into a dining haven."

Now we know why Carl went to Columbus: It's a city that doesn't have ENOUGH rental properties, a situation presumably requiring the mindset of a New Albanian to remedy, seeing as we have too much of it.

But heck, he was finished here, wasn't he?

What was there left to accomplish in New Albany after solving the affordable housing problem, orchestrating Midtown's renaissance and helping establish two dozen eateries?

Has that Superman movie yet been released?

There may have to be revisions.

Mercy.

The disinformation being excreted by the ex-mayor to a guileless Associated Press is simply breathtaking in its factual nonchalance, and the best indication yet that in 2015, there'll be another attempted comeback.

Housing woes, rental property shortage addressed in Columbus, Indiana (Associated Press, via C-J)

COLUMBUS, IND. (AP) — The new director of community development in Columbus is meeting the challenge of solving the city's housing shortage head-on as the city eyes public-private partnerships to help address its issues.

Carl Malysz, a former deputy mayor in New Albany, started his job April 22. He told The Republic that he is already working to figure out a strategy to improve conditions.

Columbus Mayor Kristen Brown said a shortage of rental property is driving up rents and making it difficult for families of all income levels to find places to live.

"We have hit a bit of a crisis in the rental market here," Brown said. "Even all the way at the high end, people coming in to work for Cummins or other employers literally can't find places to live."

Malysz, who led similar efforts in New Albany, said he wants to develop a strategy to improve conditions so everyone has access to "good, affordable housing."

That includes improving some distressed neighborhoods and creating more market-rate properties.

"We aspire to make things better. If you do nothing, if you are not progressive, if you do not look forward, you will eventually find yourself at ground zero," he said.

In New Albany, Malysz orchestrated a $6.6 million grant that helped revitalize a dilapidated, midtown neighborhood, former Mayor Doug England said. The program called for rebuilding homes and selling them to younger, lower-middle-income people to help stabilize the neighborhood.

England said Malysz also was instrumental in attracting Hitachi Data Systems to New Albany and helping turn downtown into a dining haven.

Two in the eye for 1Si.

Does the man on the left look familiar? It's One Southern Indiana's former president Michael Dalby, who now holds the same position with the Columbus (OH) Chamber of Commerce. Out from under the regressive 1Si thumb, the photo shows Dalby in Columbus celebrating a Bike to Work day in support of 2 BY 2012, an initiative whose slogan is "Change your commute. Change your life. Change your city."

As explained on the Consider Biking web site:

The goal of 2 BY 2012 is for each citizen of central Ohio to bicycle to work 2 days per month by the Columbus bicentennial in 2012.

2 BY 2012 is both a challenge and a movement. If we can rise to the challenge of changing how we get to work, we can start a movement that will significantly benefit our lives and our community.

And it all begins with you: the individual. Whether you are already a cyclist, or are interested in using cycling to improve your health, choose now and join 2 BY 2012.

We can achieve this goal! And when we do, it will mean that Columbus successfully increased its green transportation by 300% — and Columbus would surpass Portland, Oregon as the greenest transportation city in the U.S.

And as noted on the Two Wheeling blog whence the photo came:

It speaks volumes for our CEOs to get out on a day like today to show their friends, families and colleagues that it's not only ok to bike to work, but that biking is a viable, even preferable, form of urban transportation in the 21st century. We all love our cars, but we don't need to use them for short urban trips of 2-5 miles. The Columbus CEO community knows that biking to work and other forms of active transportation are good for their employees and their companies' bottom lines--studies show that employees who bike and walk to work are healthier, happier, more productive and miss less work. Check out http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2010/08/20/walk-cycle-obesity.html. And new economy workers, and the companies that wish to employ them, are increasingly attracted to cities with vibrant, active transportation systems--that's why 2 by 2012 is important to the economic development of our region.

Of course, Dalby's path to such an encouraging stance was smoothed by other civic groups in the region like the League of Women Voters and other Columbus Chamber folks, who facilitated and released a transportation study a little less than a year before he took his newfound reins:

Mobility is a growing priority for consumers—and a growing source of frustration.

Ideally, people should have at least five choices as to mode of transportation: feet, bike, transit, taxi, and private vehicle, along with the ability to mix and match them. It was recommended by Ohio’s 21st Century Transportation Priorities Task Force to “give Ohioans more options for getting where they want to go...by developing a balanced and efficient system that ensures connectivity among all modes of transportation.” The Ohio Department of Transportation website is currently featuring ODOT’ s 2010-2011 Business Plan, which is a follow-up to the task force report.

Steve Tugend of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce told members of the committee that the economic advantages of transit are: 1) It attracts business to the area, 2) It helps retain and grow business, and 3) It builds the capacity for growth by attracting skilled young people to the area. A survey was conducted for the Chamber that found that a good transit system, especially one with fixed guideway, is an important factor in attracting young workers to an area and in keeping them there. (A “fixed guideway” refers to any transit service that uses exclusive or controlled rights of way or rails, entirely or in part. The term includes heavy rail, commuter rail, light rail, monorail, trolleybus, aerial tramway, inclined plane, cable car, automated guideway transit, that portion of motor bus service operated on exclusive or controlled rights-of-way, and high occupancy vehicle [HOV] lanes.)

It is estimated that every $10 million in capital investment for public transportation yields $30 million in increased business sales, and that every $10 million in operating investment for public transportation yields $32 million in increased business sales. Further, every $1 taxpayers invest in public transportation generates $6 in economic returns.

At any rate, it's refreshing to see Dalby advocating for something sensible for a change. Let's just hope the rest of us don't have to take jobs in other cities to experience the positive results.