seanguy

This article isn't saying that Columbus is having some major brain-drain, the city is just picky and will not be happy until they keep all the young graduates (which is impossible.) Columbus still has a high young professional population. I live in Columbus, in the innercity area just north of the Short North, and my friends and i have many nightlife options, walk, take cabs, and do not live in suburban apartment complexes. That columbus , the suburban side, is just one part of the city, Columbus' innercity offers young professionals an increasing number of living options in very gentrified neighborhoods. Columbus has a great young professional scene in downtown, the short north, Victorian Village, Italian Village, OSU Gateway district, the brewery district, Grandview corridor, the arena district. These areas are urban and are growing with dense apartment and condo developments daily. There is a reason why so many young professionals are staying, the city is just trying to find ways to keep it this way and to increase the options. Columbus has a great and growing high end young professional nightlife scene, growing job market, great dining scene, etc. I am 22 have a great job here and will be moving in a loft. I do not need to to hear how Columbus is not for young professionals, from someone in a different city, who is most likely almost over the hill anyhow.

Also, I think this intial image is a quick draw. The projects accomplished by this same developer already, in the short north, have been of a very high quality and always have a nice outcome. I am sure this project will look even more impressive than this quick initial drawing. The glass top should be interesting and provide a nice modern sparkle to north high st.

http://columbusretrometro.typepad.com/columbus_retrometro/images/urbanoasis.jpg

Yes, this will be a good project and i cross my fingers that the Italian Village commission will grow some balls and show that they can be progressive and push more dense infill on high st. The short north has the market for 20 stories, its crazy in my opinion to keep lowering the height levels to please some old farts.

The downtown commision, they have their meeting this morning! The public is welcome and hopefully we can come and say our 2cents regarding this project. Today (11/21/06) tuesday the commission will be reviewing this project and giving it the green or hopefully red light. Here is the address where tomorrows downtown commission meeting will be held... 8:30am 109 N front St. Dept. of Dev. 1st floor hearing room Kind of late notice huh, but if your up and see this head to the meeting tomorrow before the 1st hearing. Also you may contact Steve Cochrun in the Downtown Development Office at 614-645-6305 Give the dept. a call that's better than no action.

Okay, some inner-cities, or most, do have some republican voters. Especially as you begin to get a large gentrification crowed that isn't gay but retired or just well off. However, republican voters in inner-city columbus are hardly easy to come by. Franklin county as a whole now leans democrate. The actual city of Columbus has a republican minority by large. There are republicans but their votes are no where near close to ever actually forumulate any change in the final result. Offically now Columbus city council and Franklin County commissioners have no republicans serving on either. Just a few years there were some, but slowly each election year since it has proven near impossible to have a republican win in especially city and usually county government. Just this election the last Franklin county commissioner was ousted, and he was a nice good man. However, a female democrate ran and Franklin has tipped to have enough people who only vote democrate, to almost ensure a democrate win. In a way I think this isn't really a good thing because now Columbus has only a few checks and balances repulicans left. On the other hand it speaks volumes on how much more progressive the city became since the 80s, when columbus and franklin county still had a functioning republican party. (ugh)

Yes, I have noticed this as well. It was listed in the offical press release that it would be a concrete structure. Does anyone know which is better? I assume concrete construction is cheaper, but which would hold up better in say an earthquake or in "high risk" areas/cities? If you notice, Columbus, has many concrete construction buildings. Nationwide's Headquarters as well as American Electric headquarters are concrete exteriors. I believe this is because Columbus has less labor unions trying to make sure steel is used. I have heard that this is one reason that the World Trade Center towers were not as stable, they had a steel center. To get to the point I assume that a steel exterior structure with concrete center is the prefered method of highrise construction these days?? Anyone care to futher clarify?

Okay to help you out a little bit more. Columbus controls most of the immediate metro area. In other words, many parts of Columbus, the newest sections that have been developed, are the city of Columbus, but a suburban school district. With the exception of Dublin, the actual city limit area of the suburbs is relatively small. So keep in mind that you will want to look for areas that are surrounding the suburbs, but actually Columbus. The areas off of Sawmill Rd (NW Columbus) go to either Dublin or Worthington schools. The Worthington "area" is a good choice, because you are close to High ST. ( Columbus' main urban commerical street) I love the Clintonville and Beechwold neighborhoods (which are considered Columbus.) These areas are just south of Worthington and are close to some of the better schools in the Columbus district. Many wealthier families do send their kids to private schools in the Clintonville/ Beechwold area. Both of these neighborhoods are right along High ST. and are very walkable and family friendly.

As far as Nationwide Reality, the company is really the development extension of Nationwide Insurance. The two work seperate but Nationwide Reality is owned by Nationwide Issurance. Expect to see Nationwide Reality's urban developements extend into other cities in the region. Nationwide Reality is working on developing an Arena District in Pittsburgh and build a new Hockey Arena. Nationwide already developed an outdoor shopping center in Pittsburgh. I am not sure if Nationwide Reality has already had a hand in any other Cleveland or Cincinnati developments. Nationwide Reality is building their first residential highrise in Columbus this year. If the companies success continues I expect to see Nationwide look to developing in some other Ohio cities. (and hopefully building more highrises, after the Columbus one, across the state) Even if Nationwide Insurance runs into troubles, I wouldn't expect to see that really affect Nationwide Reality. I think it is more possible that Nationwide Reality could break off of Nationwide Issurance, but hopefully still be based in Columbus.

I read this today, in a smiliar article in the Columbus Dispatch. I am ready to pack my suitcase and move out of this state. Who knows when Ohio will learn the young and talented professionals they are STRONGLY offended by this type of law. I am afraid that it may be too late before this stops. Of course this was proposed by someone from the Dayton/Cincinnati metro. The bills that come out of those two metros (mainly those lovely conservative suburbs) are really driving our state into a hole. I am just sick of it. Living in Columbus I am proud of how openly gay our city is, but we will start to loose our creative class and strong community if this continues to occur. Sad day. I planned on living in Columbus after I finish school, but why would I? There are other states where I am offered the same rights as a hetrosexual. As long as Ohio denys rights to individuals the young professionals like myself will move out of here faster than the annual census can keep up with.

As far as Columbus African American community... Columbus' black community has some of the lowest poverty rates when compared to other cities. Columbus has been voted by BET as the best city in the us for blacks to raise a family. Talking about Martin Luther King celebrations, Columbus has the largest Martin Luther King Day breakfast in the US. Racial lines are not as visible in Columbus and while there are different areas of the city which are more black, Columbus' neighborhoods are much more of a black and white mix than many other neighborhoods in other cities.

I found your thoughts very interesting. Being a Columbus native I have given much thought to the cities future and past. The points that you brought up are no more isolated to Columbus than any other American post world war II "boom" city, suburbs, or inner ring suburbs. In many metros the suburban development projects are not obviously holding up so well. I have just read an article about SanFrancisco's inner ring suburbs and how they are declining faster than anywhere else in the the metro area. In Columbus you can get that feeling that the cities only saving grace is it's urban core. I spend all of my time in the old city limits and sometimes pretend the rest doesn't exist. You said that most of urban Columbus is developed to capacity but that's far from true. The center part of the city has seen it's gentrification soar as the development in annexed areas soared. Downtown Columbus and urban Columbus was far more boring in just the 90's Downtown is only starting to see its population figures jump (population in downtown has jumped 800 percent since 02) 50,000 or more people can easily be moved in if needed. However, much of the post 50s development is not as sub-stainable. I grew up around Morse Rd. area in north Columbus, which was the boom area in the 60's. I have watched the area go slightly downhill. Hotels chains have moved out as well as stores, but new ones do seem to slowly move in. Your scenario is what I would call the doomsday scenario, though I am sure some of those things will happen in some form (companies hardly being bound to the region so leaving fast for better offers and "newer" areas aging rapidly and poorly kept up.) Charlotte, Columbus, Indianapolis and every major city or metro area do need to be thinking about how to upkeep newer development. For a "boom" city like Columbus the question is how to combat the eventual decline of this sprawl like development. For Columbus the positives are the city is taking drastic measures. The police departments have been activated to rising crime rates in the newer city limits way way before they get out of control, Columbus has taken on major revitalization's to commercial streets that were designed in the 60's,70's by adding sidewalks, proper lighting, and other improvements. The city is adding office jobs and parks to older commercial sections like Northland and trying to keep jobs near the older neighborhoods thus keeping people in the older neighborhoods. Columbus has also become aggressive at adding parks/rec centers to the newer neighborhoods that are lacking them. All of these measures will hopefully work to keep these suburban style neighborhoods as sustainable as possible. Columbus has learned from neighborhood decline in other cities and what efforts will be needed to keep aging developments from declining. For any city that has experienced such a growth so quickly, making an identity to keep people and corporations in your city is a challenge. If Columbus didn't take aggressive steps to make its inner city attractive and exciting the city would fall to pieces eventually. This is why the mayor and local government leaders will stop at nothing these days to improve downtown and urban neighborhoods. All of the transplants need a reason to call Columbus home for generations and to expand local donations and arts/cultural spending. If there's nothing unique keeping people bound to the region they will move on to the next boom town to retire or take on a new job. To me Columbus' hope is its inner city. Unlike Phoenix, Charlotte, Austin or those other cities at least Columbus has an original 40 square miles to work with and plenty of room to build for years all around downtown. Columbus' entire metro growth has slowed and thank god. While home builders are complaining it's obviously a good thing. Delaware County new home builds are down 40percent from last year. Since Mayor Michael Colemen has taken office the city will not pay for roads and infrastructure, the developer must. The city has "build as you pay plans." Older neighborhoods (some just from the 80's/90's even) are being reinvested in and newer development is more planned and has a much stable future. Even Easton at least uses sidewalks and mixes retail, residential, hotels etc. It might be the lesser of two evils but is far more sustainable than some of the development Columbus saw in the 60's 70's and 80's (parking lots with poorly designed box stores far back from the street and no mix uses) The city is taking "smart" steps to development and makes newer improvements far more attractive. If Columbus continued in the direction it was going in the 70' s/80's/early 90's it would be an even bigger massive sprawled out mess. I would rather have had more slow, steady, smarter growth in the previous decades but we haven't always and now the future generations are going to be stuck with the massive upkeep. What Columbus has developed is more manageable than Kansas City, Indianapolis (now over 300 square miles), Dallas, Houston, parts of LA, Atlanta, Florida etc.etc.etc. Your issues are really no more a problem for Columbus than every part of America. It's why we are here on urbanohio.com With some of the actions I have mentioned and Columbus' true success at urban revitalization there's still much hope for Columbus' success to continue well after the cities economic boom has passed. Thanks for the post is interesting to hear other people's ideas.

The above link to the wood companies is a good start. Trust me I lived in the Short North area and there are tons of great and really really nice renovated apartments. There are also many cheaper but not so renovated units. You simply need to look for adds in local papers and see the unit for yourself. Driving around can also help.(looking for signs in front of what looks to be a renovated town home or apartment building) Italian Village has a lot of nice new apartments. ON 2nd ave and Summit St. is a place called New Village Place, these are all apartments and just built last year. If your okay with an area that isn't as far along in its gentrification then do not forget Olde Town East.(between Main St. and Broad st, east of downtown next to highway 71; the closer to downtown in olde town the nicer the area) You can get a nice renovated apartment for half the prices of German Village and the Short North in Olde Town. Also Town St. in downtown has a lot of apartments. This is the olde section of town st. Anything east of Grant Ave. is considered the olde section of town st. Most of the apartments are just okay but atleast your in the city and have a place in a good location. There are a few old homes being redone on town st. that are for lease. In downtown the only big new apartment complex getting ready to open is 60 Spring East. There's atleast 60 units opening in that building and they look pretty nice. Someone posted a link to their site earlier, but the Downtown Columbus website has a great listing of other downtown units that are for rent and the Spring East Apartments. www.downtowncolumbus.com you can see allmost all of the units for lease in downtown

As for those cranes. - Two working on the Lazarus Building Renovation - Construction on the Lofts at 106 at High & Long St. - On and off doing work on the Broad & High residential/retial project - Constructing a new retail building on the Columbus State Community College Campus (east downtown/Cleveland Ave&SpringSt.)

what hilton huh?

Wow this sure is some hottt news.. These past weeks have brought some great "big" project announcements for Columbus. Has anyone else noticed how many cranes are now visible in the downtown Columbus skyline. Last week I counted six. It sure is nice to see so much progress.

I don't know how funny the contrast is. I consider the difference between the old mid-rise skyscrapers and the newer Rhoads Tower to be striking. That is a contrast that some cities with buildings from last century do not always have. The mid-rise tower on the left is part of this project as well, that building is currently being redone into condos and called "8 on the Square."

Big ads can keep on rising Tony Goins Business First Never tell Peter Scantland the justice system doesn't work. A recent, albeit small, court victory, lets Scantland, owner of Orange Barrel Media keep his mural-sized ads adorning various buildings in downtown Columbus. His victory came way of a Franklin County Common Pleas Judge who recently refused the Ohio Department of Transportation's request for an injunction to stop Scantland's company from hanging the ads. The ruling does not stop ODOT's lawsuit to eliminate the ads altogether, which is still proceeding, said department spokeswoman Lindsay Mendicino. The two parties have a court date set for August, Scantland said. He hopes to get the suit dismissed before then. The city of Columbus filed a motion in the case in favor of the advertisers, Scantland said. Courts have allowed similar mural ads in cities like Los Angeles and New York City. More at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/

YES! thats very tres tres good news! Great to have Nationwide and Grange both with plans to build new buildings, and to announce in the same week. Grange's building is said to be mid-rise, i wonder how many stories this means? I expect it to me a pretty decent structure.

American Apparel is opening their Columbus location this week in the Short North at 5th and High St.

Also... There has been another Columbus' based insurance company in talks with the city about expansion. Grange Insurance wants to build a new office tower in the Brewery District. This city is trying to put together the remainder of its package and make a TIF district in the Brewery District to pay for larger infrastructer to support the new Grange office.

Here is an arcticle released October 21 in the Columbus Business First Great news i say!, lets keep our fingers crossed. From the October 21, 2005 print edition Nationwide unveils plan for offices Arena District site for project Brian R. Ball, Business First Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. and Columbus have lifted the veil on the insurance giant's plans for a 133,112-square-foot office building in the city's Arena District. Nationwide plans to house 600 to 700 employees at the site. The company already employs about 7,000 workers downtown. Nationwide Realty Investments, the insurer's real estate development affiliate, has asked the city's Downtown Commission for a conceptual review of the $16.5 million six-story office project proposed for 275 Marconi Blvd. That examination is expected during the zoning panel's Oct. 27 meeting. Meanwhile, the city's Downtown Development Office is preparing legislation to approve spending $400,000 on streetscape projects and other improvements as an incentive for Nationwide to move ahead with the building. Columbus City Council will get its first look at the legislation either Oct. 24 or Nov. 7. Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2005/10/21/story3.html

It's on the new building.

A Footlocker, Panera Bread, some mall like Gaming Store, Columbus' third Chicago based Pot Belly, and a Verizon Wireless have opened. There's also something like TexMex or some chain restaurant under construction A bar/restaurant called Ugly Tuna, by the people who also own some Easton bar, is open as well Eddie George's Grill was suppose to open but does seem to be starting construction pretty soon There's going to be a Happy Greek, the 2nd one after the one in the Short North A Coldstone Creamery is under construction and some locally owned shops with names like Boutique, Picture It!, and Rave are opening.

I haven't been to the "new" COSI on the riverfront, but everyone who went to the old one and then the newer one says that they lost a lot of what adults liked. They are closed two days a week in Columbus and had mass layoffs last year. They also closed a section of COSI. Now they are doing better and will actually be in the black A LOT when 2005 is over. This is only because they had the Titanic exhibit come. It brought in people from all 50 states and had their highest attendance ever. They are the second musem to get the "Star Wars" props from the movie and "artifacts" tour next summer. It seems as they are trying to bring in exciting things to bolster their profits, but COSI isnt really as educational these days.