Columbia 2.0 Works to Engage the Next Generation of Columbia

By George Berkheimer, STAFF WRITER

A new organization launched in July is encouraging younger Howard County residents to discuss and weigh in on issues surrounding the Columbia Town Center redevelopment process.
The organizers of Columbia 2.0, which defines itself as promoting "the next generation of Columbia," are hoping that an updated approach to grassroots involvement will help engage the young professionals who will emerge as the community's future leaders.
Despite efforts by General Growth Properties (GGP) to include input from throughout the county, "it's really just Columbia that has been involved up to this point," said David Yungmann, one of the organization's founders.
"We felt like there were two missing pieces and perspectives in the discussion," he explained: those of younger residents and of people from outside the boundaries of Town Center. Their input is important because "We in Howard County view Town Center as the economic, cultural, retail and social center of the whole county."
The challenge as such isn't getting their voices to be heard, but rather simply making sure their voices are raised while there's still time to say something.
"This is a great town. But after 40 years, we all realize it's starting to get a little frayed around the edges - and diversity is suffering," said Yungmann. "As our community discusses how Columbia will evolve over the next 30 years, our generation - those of us who will live, raise our children and work here - need to start to take responsibility."

Stepping Up
The seed for Columbia 2.0 was unconsciously planted earlier this year by Greg Hamm, regional vice president for GGP, during a public presentation on the developer's vision for downtown Columbia. His appeal for participants under the age of 35 to identify themselves elicited only a handful of responses from an audience of more than 400 people.
It was a typical turnout for long-running presentations that take place late at night, Yungmann observed.
"People in their 20s and 30s are starting careers and families, they don't have time to devote to these events," he said. "They also get their information and communicate in different ways than the people who traditionally attend these events."
Web logs, online news sources and text messaging hold more sway for the younger generation than announcements published in old-fashioned newspapers.
Knowing their audience, co-founders Yungmann, Katie Dunn and Mac Cassity scheduled Columbia 2.0's noontime inaugural press conference and launch event at That's Amore, a popular meeting spot for young professionals in Columbia.
"We've held other informational events ... right after work and have kept the presentations to only 15 or 20 minutes and a short question period," Yungmann said. So far, the response has been positive: Columbia 2.0 has several dozen members and is recruiting more; the web site (www.columbia2point0.com) has been getting "tons of hits and e-mails;" and members are interacting with bloggers and talking at events.

Finding Their Voice
In early August, the trio of the organization's co-founders met with Howard County Council members Jen Terrasa (D-Dist. 3) and Calvin Ball (D-Dist. 2) to learn more about the legislative system, and the county's planning and zoning process.
Their task now is to encourage members to become a regular part of the bureaucratic exchange of ideas.
"That's one part of the process that we can't replace with something more fun and interesting," Yungmann said. "Payback for all the fun stuff is that a planning and zoning board meeting, well, it is what it is."
Ball said he considered the meeting important from a perspective of helping the community understand processes and also as a means to gather feedback from constituents.
"It's quite encouraging to see something like this happening," he said. "For the last three or four years, we've been explaining to GGP ... that we want those who work, live and play here to be part of the dialogue."
"I'm always encouraged when people get together to work for the interest of the community," added Terrasa. Having grown up in the Village of Oakland Mills before an expanded Route 29 severed the village center's access to Town Center, she remembers the former attraction downtown Columbia exerted on the outlying villages and imagines the future attraction it could become.
"Town Center is our Main Street and there is still a level of interest there," Terrasa said. "But I never felt it was so far away as it seems like it is now."

In Favor of Change
High on Columbia 2.0's list of priorities is a lack of connections that would make it possible for residents to fill an evening with dinner, a movie and a lakefront walk without making multiple car trips or walking across expansive parking lots that are not designed for pedestrians.
"Jim Rouse's vision of Columbia as a new, better city, embracing diversity and the environment, is the foundation of our efforts," said Dunn, a lifelong Columbia resident. "We need to seize this opportunity to finish what he started: making Town Center more walkable, better connecting all of our great assets and adding new ones, and fixing the environmental disaster created by acres of asphalt parking lots. This is Howard County's opportunity for smart, sustainable growth."
But the group is just as concerned about economic sustainability as it is about environmental sustainability. According to Yungmann, its members believe that a higher density mix of residential, commercial, retail and cultural uses, along with an innovative and exciting infrastructure, will create an environmentally and economically sustainable heart for Howard County.
Columbia 2.0 will both educate and mobilize people from every corner of the county to work toward that goal, with an emphasis on giving young and future leaders a voice in the process.
"We are in favor of significant change in Columbia Town Center," Yungmann said. "One of the things [we] fear is that after all the wrangling and compromising, we'll end up with a half measure, and half is not going to do it."
"Our generation needs to see significant change in Town Center," added Dunn. "We are the future of Columbia and Howard County and our vision and ideas need to reflect not only where we have been, but more importantly, where we need to go."