The city can encourage walking and street life by partnering with internet providers to provide free wifi in areas where people walk and socialize. Good places to start would be the High Street corridor, the Arena District, Goodale Park and Columbus Commons

This is a great idea and initiative that Dallas has taken on in order to bridge different areas of their downtown that were cut off by freeways and/or other landmarks. It's an interesting idea where by layering and capping certain areas you can reconnect spaces for a more viable downtown core (similar to the 670 cap from downtown Columbus to the Short North)... However, there are still plenty of spaces within downtown Columbus where a simple pedestrian friendly gesture would help reconnect it to other, more viable areas of the city. More specifically I'm thinking of the northern edge of the city that seems to be so barren with few trees, lots of huge (and over crowded) parking lots, and hardly any amenities and local attractors. I walk these areas all the time (from 670 / Italian Village down to Gay Street, on both 3rd and 4th St)... a mere 4-5 block area that could easily be transformed into a bustling community with a few pedestrian friendly measures and green connectors.