Gnoraa

Probably so, and I apologize for that generalization, but I do feel they are already very well served in the COTA services and are able to utilize/afford auto on their own too. I'd still prefer an area that truly could use the help get it first. At least these areas feel safe being at their bus stops.

I never understood why the NW corridor got the green light first. Don't get me wrong I'm excited for it and like that we are doing it, but prioritization of the order I find interesting. The NWC goes through very affluent and rather wealthy locations that are by no means "underserved". I mean really, do you think the posh residents of Dublin, UA etc....will ride a COTA bus on the regular for work? In my opinion the East/West route should have been priority number 1 from the get go. This span goes through very underserved areas of Columbus, much of which are residents that can't afford cars, that can actually utilize and find value in this investment, let alone the spinoff development it could use as well as in areas where there is still a chance of truly "affordable" housing. Again, that's just me, but we know wealthy area's always get what they want first, they're generally in the ears and pockets of local "leaders" and counsel. That's just me though. Either way, the investments are great, I just would have put the order of execution a bit different.

Any chance of updating Columbus to include Hilton 2.0 Tower and North Market Tower, and maybe even Harmony Tower?

It definitely is going to take some creative reworking of the current layout, but given the influx of office, apartments, restaurants/bars and event traffic that's about to happen around Lower.com Field, a traffic change/modification of some nature needs to happen. I'll leave that up to the experts though, traffic engineering almost gives me a headache, but they're the professionals :) Maybe this is crazy, but what if an access road even more west of what cbussoccer illustrated took place and have it be a one way south to Spring/Long? So this would be west of the 2nd "historic" office building basically right up against the power transformer station. Then have a full 3 way large intersection/light for turn options on both Spring or Long. It's unique because they are one ways that run side by side to each other. Then have the current Hocking street be a one way north to NW Blvd. Again, I'm not a traffic design/engineer at all so I'm sure I'm overlooking something big time hahaha

One thing I think will need to be addressed in the future is the traffic patterns. I'd love to see a reworking of the streets to allow for incoming and outgoing crowd traffic onto Spring Street. Right now everything will be tightly funneled down NW Blvd from Neil Ave, which is a huge bottleneck when you consider the distance. Neil is great for Huntington and NW Arena, but I feel a secondary option will do wonders. Even if you had to put in a light on Spring, that ultimately stay's green, but can be overridden by traffic police during the large events for incoming and outgoing crowd times. As for the 2 "historic" buildings, I'm actually typically a open minded if not advocate for reasonable and appropriate preservation, but I'm sorry, level these 2 buildings and open up the lots to full development. I feel like I heard a comment by Brian Ellis that the tower lot would be at minimum North Bank (20 stories) if not going higher. They sellout their condo buildings so fast, the market is there.

I believe these are the parking lots that NRI still owns. Didn't Brian Ellis recently come out and say they want to develop these? Will be a great street presence with the plaza and stadium directly across and Astor Park (Pizzuti) cattycorner!!!

How long has the building be open?

I was driving home last night on W. Broad, and it was so nice as you're approaching the bridge, looking out and seeing 3 tower cranes and elevator/stair shafts all over the place!!! With more to come soon too!! I have a feeling cranes in Franklinton will be around for a while.

Has there been a W in TQL yet?

*Insert inevitable complaining about height* lol I'm all for height, but given how large the actual footprint is of this lot, I'm happy with this. I also love how connected all of these infill projects are making our city!! I also really like the modern dark/sleek materials proposed, it is a nice contrast against the more traditional older buildings next-door to it. It reminds me a bit of the new AC hotel slightly.

I attended a Crew game at the old stadium back in like 2000 when I was in high school with a few friends, but that is it. I'm totally one of those fans and now even stronger fan that is "victim" to enjoying sports for the experience factor, and this new location and stadium provides that completely!! I can't tell you how many of my friends who never attended before and just followed from a distance are now going to the games and have become season ticket holders. This stadium is a game changer and has breathed even more life into an already strong and successful team and fan base!!! I don't expect the stadium to sellout every single game, but if the average attendance can boost up to the 17k - 19k range that would be great compared to what it was before under Precourt, but he was basically intentionally sabotaging the franchise for his own interest obviously, so it's not surprising attendance waned under his "leadership". Outside of The Crew, I'm very excited to watch as they area around the stadium develops, not just Astor Village but up NW Blvd as well. I bet Betty's puts in windows and expands soon. More restaurants/bars are inevitable and will be awesome!! I'm also very excited to see how they utilize this stadium outside of soccer, it's primed and ready for concerts, this would be an amazing venue for music events!!!

What a game!!! I'll admit NYC played strong and honestly controlled and dominated the ball way better than us last night, but we held strong and pulled out our first win in our new stadium!!! The energy was again so amazing!! I really love that they are doing the fireworks for the national anthem as well as the start of the roster/game!! I've been going with my friend who bought season tickets in the River Club level, and I must say, I'm getting hooked and planning to purchase season tickets now next season!!! Great job Crew!!! 2029541639_CbusChant.mp4 Cbus.mp4 232481330_PostWin.mp4

Random, but does anyone have the current and updated crane count right now? Driving around lately it seems like quite a few...

Hmmmmmm.......3 of my best friends I've made in Columbus all moved here from San Francisco, Houston and Manhattan. They each admitted to not knowing anything about Columbus prior and were surprised by how large it actually was. All of which have set down roots here real-estate wise and don't ever want to return to those other cities if they can help it.......just saying Also, when is the last time Columbus had a decline year?

I've never uploaded videos before, so I hope this works, you may have to click on the video to get them to start and maybe make them full screen?? Also these are in no particular order..... My experience is one I'll never forget!! I started my day out in the Short North hitting up a few galleries for Gallery Hop with some friends. We were in and out of a few bars and everyone around was in Crew gear. It was amazing to watch the march start with maybe 200 people and continue to build up as they marched on. We cashed out our tab and joined the march and by the time we go to the Arena district it had grown easily to 1000, and as we turned the corner of NW Arena onto NW Blvd, it was a sea of people, easily 5,000+ just building momentum and chanting/cheering!!! It was such an amazing build up and grand march up to the new stadium!!! I was lucky enough to be in the River Club Level seats and accommodations. The Barrio Taco place computers went down after the half, but that meant free tacos and beers haha!!! Walking the stadium the finishes are awesome, however as other people have noted there are a few things to be completed yet, but I'm sure within the next 2 weeks most of that will be done. What I couldn't believe, was the noise factor!! Some have criticized our stadium for not being "tall", but I'm so glad they kept the huge roof "lower" (see what I did there) because all this has done design wise is capture the sheer volume of the best fans!!! When I look at Austin's new stadium, with their soaring scaffolding style roof, the gap between the seating and the ceiling allows so much energy and noise to be lost. I've been to a lot of OSU games, and the noise of a 20,400 crowd here, rivals anything I've heard at a 104,000 crowd. When we returned to our friends house over in Victorian Village, the neighbors were telling us how they could hear the crowd all the way from there!! The designers of this stadium should be commended and the atmosphere they have created is incredible. It's not about being the largest, but being the best!!! There is so much more I could say, but wow, what a day!! More parking will come as Astor Village is build out, however nobody seemed to mind the walk up, if anything it added to the momentum and comradery of our fans!! Also, you can valet your bike!!! We ended up checking out the new Lumen Skybar at the AC Hotel afterwards, so I threw in a few pictures of the Hilton 2.0 site. Fireworks PreGame.mp4 Fireworks-History.mp4 346436063_NatAnthem.mp4 Walk Up.mp4

I visited Austin recently, and I must say, for all the hype I was extremely underwhelmed. Yes from far away the new towers look pretty, but I second the street level sentiment you mentioned as being very disappointing, dark, dirty and I must say they have a HUGE homeless problem. Tent cities at every corner and under/overpass. I'm glad they are "enjoying" their growth, but the reality is, it's losing it's character, identity and reputation for that matter. They are simply growing at too fast a rate where they can't even keep up. It's a "fad" city at this point which is very unattractive to me. My aunt and uncle from southern Texas dreamed of retiring nearby there and now have completely changed their plans because they hate what it has become. I have other friend from Texas who are also now avoiding Austin because it's a huge mess and being infiltrated. Don't get me wrong, I'm pro-growth, but it has to be sustainable and reasonable growth. I'd rather grow at a range of 10k-25k a year than 70k+. Also, this has been discussed at exhausting length at this point, but Columbus is not land poor. We have made incredible strides in the last decade with infill of buildings 5-12 stories. No offence to other cities that like to bash us, but we are way more connected and walkable now and are only continuing more of it. It will be an exciting 20's to see what happens this decade, because it's obvious we are still growing at a nice pace.

I drove by the stadium last night around 10:00 and the lights and video boards were on full blast and active, and I can tell you that from the highway you could definitely see the activity and light through the exterior material.....It looked like a party was going on!!!

As someone who has lived in Columbus for almost 12 years now, I am totally that "periphery fan" that only followed from a distance, never attended a game, but I'm completely guilty and "victim" of the allure of a downtown urban vibrant stadium and am now attending the opening game and plan to attend several every season now. Even got a flag to fly in my yard. My best friend who has never followed, just purchased 4 season tickets at club level and is getting behind the team completely. Location, quality owners (who are not purposely trying to sabotage a franchise), team success and amazing fans is what is bringing in more new fans already. The colors of the team have nothing to do with bringing in fans, that's the most bizarre petty excuse not to get behind a team, and I'm a lifelong Browns fan lol

My guess is you haven't been to an OSU game, now that is a stadium where they really cram you in on bleacher seats!! Love Ohio State and the historic nature/architecture of Ohio Stadium, but they really do know how to squeeze you in like cattle in that place!!

Correct, I like this option for true soccer supporters in the Nordecke that like to stand up and get wild. There's a lot of history to this that is good to keep in the new stadium. Pretty sure TQL Stadium mimicked this idea in their "Bailey" section.

I'm so pumped I have been invited to attend at club level seats with my friends this Saturday for the opening inaugural match!!!!!

Now that the naming rights have been secured, I'm happy to see the truly finished/matching roof is getting into place. Here is a picture from Instagram. As for the name doesn't bother me. It's new, fresh and will grow on everybody. The reality is, it's a new budding company and this is a very smart move on their part to grow their brand recognition, so I give them a lot of credit. If any other company wanted to boost their brand and put up the dollars they would have, so good for you Lower.com. Also, I don't mind that it is a .com, gives it a very techy feel/influence and if anything is showcasing how innovative, startup-rich and tech-centric Columbus has become relative to the rest of the Midwest!!

Very very happy to see this!! I was not thrilled with that very unfinished look of the entire metal roof!!!

Was down in Franklinton this weekend and snapped a quick shot on my walk by.

Are the 2 still up at CoverMyMeds? Also, not very "appealing" but there's a giant boom crane (not sure if that's right) at the new jail along 670 near the Hague exit.