Major economic progress you just might not have noticed

Innovative, big-dollar development is occurring in south Columbus.

Surprised? Don’t be.

The popular narrative of south Columbus reinforces the opposite perception.

Most recently, a political consultant from Atlanta told the local Urban League that business invests in north Columbus, while south Columbus residents have to drive north for things like Krispy Kreme donuts.

“We have a system in place that systematically excludes individuals because of their race,” said Vincent Watkins of the Watkins Group. “It’s not that we just don’t like you. It’s that we’re not going to give you the development.”

The facts are otherwise, as a quick tour of south Columbus demonstrates. Join me.

Stop #1 — The National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center, the $110 million centerpiece of development along South Lumpkin Road. Other pieces include the city-built Oxbow Creek Golf Course, Columbus State University’s Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center, and the privately built Hampton Inn by Hilton. Next to come is Westville, the1850s living history village relocating from Stewart County.

Stop #2 — Arbor Pointe, the 416-unit, mixed income development that replaced Baker Village. Even newer is Patriot Pointe, 100 apartments for seniors. Both are joint endeavors of the city’s housing authority and private developers. Nearby are three, privately developed, apartment complexes: Avalon Apartments, Victory Crossing and Lumpkin Park. All three are stylish and affordable, and all three replaced dank, crime-infested trailer parks.

Stop #3 — Four privately developed hotels along Victory Drive: Value Place, Candlewood Suites, Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham, and the Holiday Inn Express and Suites.

Stop #4 — The just-opened Walmart Supercenter on Victory Drive. At 160,000 square feet, one of the largest retail outlets in Columbus, with seven outlying retailers, such as T-Mobile, Hibbett Sports and Little Caesars.

Stop #5 — Valley Healthcare System on Fort Benning Road, a multi-discipline medical, dental and mental health facility, treating about 9,000 patients a year. Ask them to tell you how Valley injects millions of extra Ffederal health care dollars.

Stop #6 — Dorothy I. Height Elementary School on Benning Drive, the city’s newest elementary school. Costing $17.5 million, it’s named for the woman known as “the godmother of the civil rights movement.”

A “Stop #7” could be Fort Benning, but it’s not technically south Columbus, and it seems like piling on: The Army invested $3.5 billion to relocate the Armor School from a post in Kentucky. And, just this month, Georgia Power said it will invest $75 million on a solar panel farm.

Look, I’m not a Pollyanna. I recognize that too much commercial and residential property in south Columbus remains underdeveloped. Trailer parks one block off Victory Drive are the worst of poverty housing. Retail strips on Fort Benning Road, with their misspelled, hand-painted signs, don’t signal prosperity.

Moreover, south Columbus remains home to the violence characteristic of most poor neighborhoods, which attracts television coverage and newspaper headlines. It’s what is the most familiar to many of us about south Columbus.

But take the tour. See the development. Understand what’s possible. Advocate for more.

Many of us remember Owen Ditchfield, a thoughtful, persistent, tireless advocate for south Columbus. Owen died this year, yet the need for his commitment remains. We need dozens of Owen Ditchfields.

And about those Krispy Kreme donuts? You’ll find them at the Summit on Victory Drive, delivered fresh at 2 a.m. daily.

This story was originally published August 6, 2016 at 4:45 PM with the headline "Major economic progress you just might not have noticed."