The Rhodes Tower, Columbus' tallest building at 630ft. and the chambers of the Ohio Senate, has a free observation deck. Yet, it's hideous. Say no more.

 

First thing you see...

 

Zoom.

 

Police HQ (smaller green-roof building) & AEP, Fortune 500 Company, (in a 450+ft. brutalist-disaster)

 

East Broad Street, also known as US Rt. 40 (or National Road; or Route Farty in Missouri; Colfax in Colorado; Market in Indiana; blah blah in Baltimore)

 

Looking towards Marblecliff, suburban hilly Columbus.

 

COSI, the "premier" science museum in Columbus. Bah.

 

Wyandotte Building

 

LeVeque, again...

 

Nationwide (Insurance) Complex and Convention Center District

 

THE Ohio State University, in the background.

 

Arena Crossings, new infill u/c

 

Do you see the Appalachians? The beginning of the oldest mountain range is 50 miles south and east of the city. Pretty clear day to see them. Bring them 50 miles closer and we get to have a mountain backdrop. *sigh*

 

The ghastly, Peter Eisenman (sp?) desgined Columbus Convention Center (vivid colors and curving forms pay tribute to the former Union Station that once sat on the same spot. *sigh*) The black thing is the Hyatt Regency (Columbus has two downtown Hyatts; this one is more "attractive," sadly).

 

Columbus' third tallest building, the William Green. 548ft, I believe.

 

Some of those parking lots are going to be built into new lofts. Yay....

 

The Arena District, still underconstruction.

 

The Jeffery Project (new urbanist village) in the Italian Village, ready to begin.

 

The second largest university in the United States, The Ohio State University. *ahem* Go Bucks!

 

Olde Town East. West Broad Street (US Rt. 40) can be seen jutting endlessly towards the Appalachian foothills while DSCC (Defense Supply Center Columbus; aka WeaponLand) Complex can be seen in the distance.

 

East Broad Corridor highrises

 

My aunt lives here.

 

(For Broad&HighCMH), Port Columbus International Airport

 

Ghetto

 

Gentrified

 

Soon to be refurbished and turned into a Renaissance Hotel

 

Sadly, my bank.

 

They call it Broad Street for a reason...

 

The Columbus Dispatch building, but you already knew that.

 

Part II, up next.

Lovin' it.

^

 

Mcdy D's is gonna sue you.

bump...I love surface lots.

I'm intrigued by that picture of the Appalachians South East of Columbus.  I think I will also climb one of the downtown towers to get a look of them.  Very interesting.  Did you have to use a zoom lens to take that picture?

 

I wonder if they are visible from street level in the South Eastern suburbs of Columbus.

They are visible when you get outside of Chillicothe and Lancaster, a good ways from Columbus.  Though there is a metropark called Chestnut Ridge which is only 20 miles away and has a kick-ass view of the skyline.  Regardless, yeah I had to zoom but you can still see them sans the zoom.  The zoom simply enhanced them.

Great pics, definatly a thing you must do when you're in Columbus.

 

The great thing about the observation deck is that you don't have to see Rhodes.  Except I hate walking around the halls of offices.

The great thing about the observation deck is that you don't have to see Rhodes.

 

That's the best thing I've read all week!

Our state has a reputation for being flat which is mostly unfounded.  Florida is the flattest state in the country, but I've never heard anyone use "Florida" and "flat" in the same sentence.  You say "flat land" and people only think of the Midwest, of which Ohio is the most prominent state, IMO.  The whole eastern and southern parts of Ohio are pretty hilly.  Even Columbus is not totally flat.  The only flat place is NW Ohio.

 

There are some people from Utah in my class who were complaining about how flat Ohio is.  I'm going to give them binoculars and point them to the SouthEast.  :lol:

Good pix...liked the views east towards the Appallachians (technically the "glaciated Allegheny Plateau"...or whatever).  Also, interesting "side" view of potential BRAC candidate DESCC (just kidding)...it looks taller somehow by the narrow profile....

 

That "edge of Appalachia" gets more defined around Chillicothe (maybe Lancaster, too?..never been there) as it wasnt glaciated..you get more of a sharper, escaprment effect.

 

But yes, these are neat pix of Cols.  Never been up the Rhodes Tower...it was always closed when I was in town.

Fantastic shots!  Some of the best I've seen of Columbus.

love the shots... just wanted to point out that the east broad street pic is actually of west broad st  :-D

Nice pics ColDay !

>

Since I live in Florida, I'll tell ya'll the state is not all flat. A drive across the panhandle on I 10 dispels that notion. My area, Sarasota, is pretty level, but driving up I 75 there's a sharp change in topography North of the junction of I 4 at Tampa.

Too bad the Rhodes Tower is the tallest in Columbus, It would have been nice if it were a little more picturesque or significant (like Key or Carew). Are there any other cities that have their tallest building as a pretty boring box shape like Rhodes.

 

Off hand I can think of Milwaukee with the US Bank Building (pretty ugly), and Baltimore's Legg Mason tower.

 

Has the tower been altered in the center of this pic. The color looks a little off and something is awkward.

Uh...it was a gloom day.  I presume it's just cloud cover.

Uh... nice job.  Cloud cover and all..

Awesome pics and loved the commentary!

BUMP! Time for an update, Mr. Man.

 

At least two shots that have changed a bit:

(Jeffery has commenced)

(North Bank Park exists now, and rocks)

Is there any reason/story behind the stairs that lead into the river?

Wow, a city so boring the first thing you notice on top of Rhodes tower is the curvature of the earth!

Is there any reason/story behind the stairs that lead into the river?

 

Yeah that is where the old Ampetheatre used to be but now there is a removable stage that goes up during Rib & Jazz fest and other events that need a stage. So the steps are like sitting areas to listen to the music, you know!

What was the old part of COSI originally?  Was it always a museum?

The core of the current COSI is the old Columbus Central High School (my landlord went there). The previous COSI was on East Broad, near the original (now shuttered) Wendy's restaurant. Sigh...

I went to COSI when I was younger...and it was still at the old location near the original Wendy's.  BTW, we had lunch at that Wendy's that day as well...I remember it because we were told it was the original (I found that especially cool).

Sweet!  I miss the borden cow!

Columbus Convention Center

 

Looks ... okay from the road. But BLEH from the air.

^For the amount of deadspace it generates along High Street, all those crazy facades and jolly colors make it hard to hate.

 

I went to COSI when I was younger...and it was still at the old location near the original Wendy's.  BTW, we had lunch at that Wendy's that day as well...I remember it because we were told it was the origial (I found that especially cool).

 

I still slap myself in the forehead every time I think about how Wendy's closed the original store simply becasue it was "underperforming."

 

Columbus; The City with a History-Eraser Button.

I really like the Columbus Convention Center. I like it more than Cincinnati's, with its marble facades.

I really like the Columbus Convention Center. I like it more than Cincinnati's, with its marble facades.

 

It's like trying to decide whether a pig or a skunk smells better.  One may be slightly better than the other, but there are VERY few convention centers that don't stink (aka look ugly).  It is in their nature to be these behemoth beasts that kill off any/all street life.

I really like the Columbus Convention Center. I like it more than Cincinnati's, with its marble facades.

It's like trying to decide whether a pig or a skunk smells better.  One may be slightly better than the other, but there are VERY few convention centers that don't stink (aka look ugly).  It is in their nature to be these behemoth beasts that kill off any/all street life.

 

With The Cap in action, Columbus' convention center does a bang-up job of bringing pedestrian bodies up into the Short North and surroundings (right now they don't have a lot of reason to head south and further downtown, but perhaps in time). I can't imagine any conventioneer leaving Columbus not a fan. That said, it sure would be nice to have train station downtown.

I think they're necessary though. You're not going to see an outdoor arnold classic in Columbus, there's just no room for it. Same with the auto shows. They probably wouldn't want to take chances with the weather, so maybe that street life wouldn't have occured regardless.

I think they're necessary though. You're not going to see an outdoor arnold classic in Columbus, there's just no room for it. Same with the auto shows. They probably wouldn't want to take chances with the weather, so maybe that street life wouldn't have occured regardless.

 

They are absolutely necessary, but they are the king of elephant structures.

I went to COSI when I was younger...and it was still at the old location near the original Wendy's.  BTW, we had lunch at that Wendy's that day as well...I remember it because we were told it was the original (I found that especially cool).

 

Haha, my story exactly as well.

its really interesting to see dt columbus when some sort of event is going on at the convention center.  I agree, with the cap now, ppl head towards the short north, etc.  But when I work on weekends at Nationwide downtown, its weird to see a flurry of activity and bodies as far as the eye can see up high street starting on the northside of Nationwide Blvd.  I look south and see a virtual no mans land. 

Is there any reason/story behind the stairs that lead into the river?

 

Yeah that is where the old Ampetheatre used to be but now there is a removable stage that goes up during Rib & Jazz fest and other events that need a stage. So the steps are like sitting areas to listen to the music, you know!

I always thought they were for mass baptisms.

 

Old COSI better.

 

Convention centers shouldn't kill street life -- they should add to it, but when local attendees have to take a car to get to them, they do kill it. Obviously, exhibitors that live within driving distance of the show sometimes have to bring smaller displays and items with them and not send them as freight, but hopefully there are more attendees than people working the show.

My convention center comment was more so directed towards their typically bland designs and faceless walls that are forever long.  When these are in downtowns they are streetlife killers when conventions are not going on, plus when there are conventions going on...people tend to avoid streets that have nothing more than a blank wall.

 

This is mainly by design of these bohemoth structures...and they really are a necessity for all cities, and in particular downtowns.

its really interesting to see dt columbus when some sort of event is going on at the convention center.  I agree, with the cap now, ppl head towards the short north, etc.  But when I work on weekends at Nationwide downtown, its weird to see a flurry of activity and bodies as far as the eye can see up high street starting on the northside of Nationwide Blvd.  I look south and see a virtual no mans land. 

 

Simple: there's not a goddamn thing to do south of Nationwide. Well, I guess there's a Kinko's.

^ There's the cluster of nice restaurant on Gay.  Not a huge draw... but still a nice place S of Nationwide.

^Without a clear sight-line, though, people will never walk to them.

 

There's a lot of deadspace between Nationwide and Gay, mainly government buildings and Nationwide's fountain plaza. During the daytime it's a nice place to hang out, but without so many visible bodies after 5PM, it can get a little unwelcoming.

 

Basically, you need to coax people block by block. The meat of the lower Short North, though, has so much density and activity, it's hard to resist.

^Agreed... a High St Streetcar could help remedy that :)

^Ding ding!