There is a baby boom in the Historic District

Something is happening in the Columbus Historic District — and it should be documented.

There is a fundamental change taking place in the 26-block area that runs from Veterans Parkway to the east, the Chattahoochee River to the west, Ninth Street to the north and the South Commons to the south.

And it involves children — lots and lots of families and children. Everywhere you turn, you see kids. There are at least 55 children, high school-age or younger. And that is probably a conservative count.

Did I say younger? There are at least six newborns in the district, and I suspect that baby boom is far from over.

First, let me get the conflict-of-interest disclaimer out of the way: My wife and I live and own property in the District, and have for seven years.

Now, back to the point at hand.

The District, which has been on the rebound for more than three decades, has not always been the city’s most kid-friendly neighborhood. Elizabeth Barker, executive director of the Historic Columbus Foundation, lived in the Historic District on Seventh Street from the time she was born in the early 1970s.

She can remember a small core group of children in the 1970s and ’80s, usually around a dozen at any given time.

Told there were more than 50 living in the District now, Barker was not surprised, but she was nonetheless pleased.

“That is amazing; it’s wonderful,” Barker said.

It is wonderful, because with kids come life, vitality, growth and a future. One of the clues to a revitalized neighborhood is flower boxes on the front porches. I would add an abundance of children is another.

Tasha Edwards and her husband, Ryan, live in the District and have four children ranging in age from 22 to two months.

“I am constantly getting emails or texts from friends who live up River Road, in Midtown or in Harris County wanting to know how they can get down here,” Edwards said. “I tell them it is a tradeoff. You are probably going to have to downsize, you are going to get less yard and you are going to be in an old house.”

Still, some of them have made the jump, Edwards said.

“Sometimes, they come down here to ride bikes on the river walk or they get invited to a party down here, and they are introduced to the experience,” she said. “They see you can walk downtown to eat. And the see the community, and they want to be a part of that. It’s all about community.”

On Halloween, you could see and feel that community of kids. By the dozens, the kids of the Historic District gathered to trick-or-treat en masse. They were young — really young, like a month old —and teenagers.

But the thing that really stood out was all the babies. Edwards is one of those new moms —she had 2-month-old Indie dressed as a Cabbage Patch doll with a long, flowing wig.

“It’s the craziest thing,” Edwards said of the baby boom. “And it has all happened in the last couple of months.”

It seems like every time you turn around, somebody is having a diaper shower. That is a good thing. Recently, a group of kids gathered and it filled up a front yard.

“It is great to know that there is a new generation being born in that District,” Barker said. “That is exactly what it is all about.”

This story was originally published November 2, 2016 at 4:24 PM with the headline "There is a baby boom in the Historic District."