CLOSER TO HOME: Short North area of Columbus long on authentic, urban vitality

 

Posted by Debbi Snook / The Plain Dealer July 18, 2008 12:23PM

 

The Plain Dealer

Sidewalk dining is a common sight in the Short North neighborhood.

 

Columbus - You don't have to be in the market for a delicately carved, 200-year-old Chinese wedding bed, a selection of chic men's underwear or a restaurant that specializes in local and organic meals for under $10. But if you are a bit curious about these items - or creative ideas in general - the Short North area of Columbus has a storefront for you.

 

These days, walking neighborhoods almost seem a quaint idea, as if they existed only in old photo albums with sepia images of relatives hanging off the backs of trolleys, clutching their fedoras. We avoid walking from our tight- lidded cul-de-sac communities. We drive just to get from one end of the mall to the other. Or we take special trips to new Disneyesque malls ironically made to look like little old villages.

 

So it was a lift returning to the streets of the Short North and finding it is still long on authentic, urban vitality. It's a place of pubs, boutiques, galleries and full-scale restaurants where every window display seems to beckon with the spark of independent-minded retailing. Art dominates, especially in glassware, jewelry, paper, antiques and clothing.

 

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Nice little fluff piece.

Nice fluff piece but the more people talk about the Short North, the more it looks like the Short North is basically all Columbus has to offer, I think. German Village? Old news.

^You mean there is more to urban Cbus than Short North and the Arena District?  :wink:

Short North still doesnt beet German Village, it is very much a High St. confined hood.  I will confess some of the side streets have impressive Victorian and some, is Federalist a style?  Squared up free standing homes, some have the tin stars you would see south shore boston suburbs.