In March and April, 1954 the Columbus City Council passed two sweeping resolutions that would form the base for its many years of growth and transformation. By controlling access to water and sewer systems, the City of Columbus could control growth in Central Ohio. For a fee, in fact, it was Columbus that was providing water and sewer services and infrastructure to its own suburbs and adjacent townships 5. In Central Ohio most smaller towns and townships could not afford to create and maintain their own water and sewer infrastructure. State laws in Ohio made annexation difficult, however Mayor Sensenbrenner and the Columbus City Council knew that they had a powerful tool at their disposal. Adding new land would not only add new residents to the city, but it would also expand the city’s tax base and provide new commercial and industrial centers. If the City of Columbus could annex this land, then it, and not the suburbs, would be the beneficiary of those residents. There was a large amount of unincorporated land surrounding the city and this was where people were moving. The solution was simply that Columbus would outgrow its suburbs. ![]() Mayor Sensenbrenner made it the central goal of his administration to keep his city healthy and safe from its suburbs.Ĭolumbus City Council and Mayor Sensenbrenner’s solution to the problem of suburban growth was simple and led to policies that would cause Sensenbrenner to “put a greater stamp on Central Ohio than any human being,” according to City Auditor Hugh Dorrian. In 1954 Columbus elected a new mayor whose leadership team knew that Columbus did not have to end up strangled by its suburbs. By the 1950s, the migration to the suburbs was already underway in Ohio’s cities 2. Growing suburbs also began to encircle cities, which cut them off from further growth. Property and income tax bases declined steeply and businesses failed as people preferred to shop close to their new homes instead of venturing downtown. ![]() Residents leaving for the suburbs took a toll on their former cities. In the years following World War II, there was a general exodus across the country from cities to the suburbs. ![]() Sensenbrenner, Columbus’ mayor from 1954 to 1960 and from 1964 to 1972. Columbus’ success is linked to its growth, which is itself linked to the policies of Maynard (Jack) E. The growth has allowed Columbus enough economic stability to have remained relatively untroubled by the recent recession as compared to other Ohio cities 1. Since 1954, Columbus has grown to become Ohio’s largest city both in land area and population. During the latter half of the twentieth century, however, Columbus experienced an era of unprecedented growth. ![]() Due to its lacking entirely navigable rivers and many natural resources that drive a city’s growth, Columbus has been overshadowed by Ohio’s other large cities, Cleveland and Cincinnati, for much of its history. Since its founding over two hundred years ago, the success of the City of Columbus has never been a given. The Story of How Columbus Grew to be the Largest City in Ohio
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