MORPC Slide PresentationThe Future is Bright for Central Ohio: Growth Projected for Population, Transportation and Infrastructure
On Thursday, October 16, 2025 over 60 CAA members met at the Wells Barn for the final General Meeting of the year focusing on the future of Central Ohio. The meeting featured speakers from the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commissions, Experience Columbus, John Glenn International and CAA’s Senior Policy Analyst.
The meeting began with Laura Swanson welcoming members and announcing the donation of a kidney to CAA instructor Lisa Schmidjell by fellow multi-family housing professional Lori Doles. This is proof that the industry looks out for each other and is truly one of a kind. The CAA will be collecting cards and gift cards for Schmidjell and Doles at our offices until November 10. Any cards collected will be delivered prior to the donation surgery.
Swanson turned the podium over to CAA President Don Brunner who welcomed new members in attendance before commencing the panel by welcoming Breann Gonzalez Almos, Manager of Communications and Media Relations, Columbus Regional Airport Authority, Leah Berger, Director of Public Relations, Experience Columbus, Steve Gladman, CAA Public Policy Analyst and Jessica Kuenzli, Chief Regional Planning Officer, Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC).
Kuenzli started the discussion by outlining the expected population growth in Central Ohio from today through 2050. Central Ohio is projected to see a 23% growth in population, households and the labor force by 2050. The growth is a result of several factors identified by MORPC including relatively affordable housing, ease of commute and strong suburban communities among the top reasons.
Further building on the growth dynamic, Gonzalez Almos detailed what we can expect to see from the new terminal and the future of air travel at John Glenn International Airport. In 2024 the airport saw its most traveled year ever with 2025 expected to surpass it. In 2024 9.1 million people travelled through the airport with the expansion of the new terminal it’s expected capacity is over 13 million. Coupled with freight travel through Rickenbacker with the addition of Andruil and expanding growth, airport growth and innovation is expected to continue.
Berger then discussed how Columbus capitalizes on marketing opportunities in addition to those Experience Columbus uses themselves to market the area. With a marketing budget of only a 250-mile radius, Berger joked that she must capitalize on free PR and readers’ choice lists.
“Reader’s choice awards, in my world is the most important because it’s not just an editor or a writer, it’s actually thousands and thousands of readers who love Columbus,” Berger said. “Food and wine recently named us one of America’s next great food cities.”
In terms of visitation, Columbus had its largest year for tourism in 2024 as well. Visitors made more than 53 million visits to Columbus, two million more than the year before. The top reason people visit Columbus is to visit friends and family. One in 13 jobs is supported by travel and tourism and 90% of visitor spending is new money coming from 50 miles or more outside of the area.
Brunner moved the conversation to transportation highlighting rail and how the transportation hubs can work together. MORPC is looking at ways to help with traffic congestion in the area with the leading way to help getting single passenger vehicles off the road.
Using the bi-partisan infrastructure law which provides historic levels of funding for both freight and passenger rail. It also re-imagines how passenger rail is planned nationwide. Four routes within Ohio have been selected by the Federal Railroad Administration to be evaluated for expansion. A map of the routes is available in the MORPC slides linked below.
“This is a competitive program with three steps to take projects from idea to actual implementation. When it comes to the Midwest Connect line, we’re proud to say that we are nearly entering step two of that process. We have submitted a local match, there is skin in the game, there are communities in Central Ohio that are supporting this and want to see this become a reality,” Kuenzli said. “The second step of this process is where the exciting details are figured out. Things like where would these stations be located, what will they look like, how fast is this train going to go?”
While the idea of a terminal at the airport is getting all the headlines, the proposal also includes a transportation center. “Along with what you normally have around, COTA, ride share, taxi, parking, rental car, we are also building a transportation center that will have the ability to have light-rail come to the airport,” Gonzalez Almos said. “We are planning of time for those capabilities so hopefully, you will have many ways and many options to travel here. We can appeal to a larger region through rail to appeal to them to travel to Columbus.”
As for when to expect a best guess on when Columbus can expect to have a train on the tracks, Kuenzli outlined that each phase of the process is one to three years. MORPC is anticipating that likely sometime in the 2030s the project will come to fruition.
With the added growth comes the need for investment in infrastructure, which is top of mind as investments into the city continue. Ohio is known to be a water rich state which is something that leads to us being competitive in bringing new projects to the state. But, to continue to be a water rich state proactive planning is a must.
“Energy also a very important point, the Ohio Business Roundtable, earlier this year, released a study that looked at energy demand not just in Central Ohio but at the state as a whole,” Kuenzli said. “Some of the information from that study is pretty eye opening, when it’s looking that we could potentially have more brownouts coming in the next few years if we’re not being strategic when it comes to energy investments and developments.”
What MORPC has done is create proactive education including a four-part series regarding securing energy future. Noting that there are several initiatives being discussed to plan for the future.
Brunner noted that as members plan to develop much needed housing, they need access to infrastructure and having access to get the water and energy is important. “I know I hear from our residents, just the cost, and the increased cost today of electricity and others and the impact it’s having. If we’re going to have more demand with all the new growth from commercial and residential it’s important to have that source in place to try to reduce that for everybody,” Brunner said.
Before beginning the legislative update Gladman asked the first question to the other members of the panel asking about zoning and the integration between other transit lines and transit growth. In answer, Kuenzli mentioned the ballot initiative that passed in November 2024 called ‘Link US’ which is a partnership with MORPC, COTA, City of Columbus, Franklin County and the jurisdictions within Franklin County that COTA also serves.
“Link US is a mobility initiative that is going to be addressing growth, affordability of housing, transportation and opportunity gaps that do exist in our area. One way that they are doing this is the bus rapid transit line,” she said. “We’re working toward passenger rail in the 2030s Link US is BRT lines in that are going to active those spaces along the bus rapid transit routes to help people get from where they live to where they work to where they want to enjoy Columbus too.”
Moving on the legislative update, Gladman outlined how the Federal Government shutdown is having an impact on housing, potential state property tax legislation and a proposed rental registry at the local level.
The impact for housing with the government shutdown will be felt more as it continues. HUD has forward funded the voucher program and public housing. There could be some disruption in the future. One significant impact is that residents of federal housing cannot be evicted, and rents cannot be increased during the shutdown.
Approximately 30% of operating costs are attributable to property tax. Any changes to this program are significant. The Ohio Legislature is discussing property tax issues. The Ohio budget did attempt to make some changes, however some of those were vetoed by Governor DeWine and the House and Senate are considering overrides of those vetoes and considering separate legislation that would enact the vetoed legislation which would require fewer votes than a veto. A rundown of property tax issues and potential changes can be found in the slides below.
Finally, Gladman ended with an update on the proposed city rental registry that would also include a $40 per unit fee and mandatory inspection requirement. The inspections are estimated to cost as much as $300 per inspection. CAA representatives have met with City Council members and Brunner has testified against any potential legislation. By law, a fee structure must have some connection to what it costs to administer the program. The projected income from the program is $8-$10 million dollars, however, it is not estimated that the administrative costs of the program will be that high. Noting that similar programs exist in other cities, including Cincinnati where the fee is $1. The CAA is partnering with Columbus Realtors and the BIA to affect change to the proposals. Of things to come, sub metering and recycling could be something for members to keep an eye on, though the details of either were unknown at the time of the meeting.
Following the conclusion of the panel, Swanson returned to the podium to thank members for their support and encouraged them to attend the Reverse Raffle and the Installation Dinner later this year. MORPC Slide Presentation Legislative Update Slides
