Speakers at a news conference on the Columbia 2.0 group are David Yungmann (left),
Katie Dunn and Mac Cassity. They urged young people to be involved in the Town Center
redevelopment. (Sun photo by Amy Davis / July 28, 2008)
With the formal rezoning process for central Columbia's redevelopment about to begin,
a group of young, business-oriented Howard County residents has stepped into the
nearly five-year-old discussion.
Called Columbia 2.0, the new group drew about 25 people to a news conference yesterday
on the parking lot of The Mall in Columbia, a short distance from a restaurant where
David Yungmann, 41, a Columbia real estate agent and one of three leaders, began
the event.
"We wanted to highlight how hard it is to walk from there to here," Yungmann said,
explaining that his group wants to involve more young people in the discussion and
push for the kind of redevelopment plan proposed by General Growth Properties Inc.,
the Chicago-based firm that bought the Rouse Co.
"The status quo is not an option," Yungmann said, noting how difficult it is to
move around Town Center's vast parking lots on foot.
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