Oak Street is a secondary commercial street with the majority of it lying in the western portion of Olde Town East while the east portion in Franklin Park has a smaller stretch. Basically, Oak is residential, but has commercial buildings clustered around some intersections.  The commercial parts are lagging well behind the revitalization of homes and for the most part remain unchanged and dilapidated. Fortunately, there are a couple of bright spots where entrepreneurs are investing in Oak St. Hopefully more change is on the way, but with the likelihood of ODOT's construction on the highway to the west that may well slow or even halt revitalization since accessibility is going to be hindered for eastbound traffic coming from Downtown combined with the demolition of part of the neighboring revitalized business district on Parsons. We're going to start on the rougher east end and head west.

 

MAP

 

 

 

 

 

Taleem or "تعليم" (twist your vocal chords on the "a") means "education". The Arabic above says, "In the name of (the) God, the merciful, the benevolent".

 

 

The old streetcar...uhh, penn, depository? Sorry, I forget what it's called and I had a few so that might not be helping.

 

 

 

 

 

Here's where some condos are supposed to be built, but the developer's latest blog entry is from May 2008.

 

 

 

Hmm. This cute little thing, whatever it is, is right next door.

 

 

 

 

Now the residential properties are picking up.

 

 

 

Can't 'cha read!!! It's members ONLY, 21 and up!

 

 

Yet another grass lot where a commercial building once stood. At least it's being used as a junk yard than nothing, right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was going to grab a bite here, but it seemed like they were closed.

 

 

 

Oh, dear.

 

 

well, at least they're o_ _n _ days a wee_.

 

 

What is this!? Justify yourself!!! Oh well, it's vacant anyway.

 

 

These two are worlds apart, yet adjacent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

No takers. Really? There could be so much done here.

 

 

Yay! This house is getting some TLC.

 

 

No, it's not my camera, that is the color scheme.

 

 

 

It would appear that this is a gallery. Too bad the art is hidden from the public eye, it could be the best art you never saw.

 

 

 

My fave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lucky for me, there's a new pizza shop and they have Rhode Island style pizza, which is apparently sauce and olive oil baked and then finished with a generous helping of Parmesan.

 

 

 

Now someone go across the street and fix this:

 

The last 10 pics or so are fairly promising, but the rest looks ugly and ghetto.

You are correct, however, Oak St is a cakewalk for revitalization compared to neighboring East Main to the south. Mainly because Oak is not a major commercial street and therefore doesn't attract nearly as much crime as East Main does; it's just vacant and neglected. I envision a Harrison West 3rd Ave on steroids if revitalization efforts are focused here.

Thanks!

loves it -- one of your best tours.

 

you should take the camera along more often when you're going to have a few pepsi's!  :laugh:

Nice job; partly depressing, partly hopeful. The pizza looks tasty.

I saw gay flags, so the area must be picking up!

Actually, those flags did come first before the rest. Columbus has no shortage of gay pioneers.

Another fantastic glimpse of an under-acknowledged Columbus 'hood. Verry niice.

I saw gay flags, so the area must be picking up!

 

That's the "Flag Wars" neighborhood from the movie I posted, a while back. The flags have been up for a long time.

^Amazing and sad documentary. A must-see for all of us here.

There was a great, vacant apartment building -- Chicago-style, 3.5 floors, two or three entryways, sun rooms -- at the NW corner of Sherman and Oak. I wrote about it 7 or 8 years ago in the Dispatch as an example of how difficult it is for cities and courts to track down ownership of abandoned properties traded through shady trusts. It was solid, with incredible woodwork and architectural detail, but long vacant, with a leaky roof. I went inside with a city official, and the apartment was precisely the same design as the place my wife and I lived in Chicago when we got married. I haven't been by Sherman & Oak in a year or so, and I don't know if it's still there.

Oops, I had an older photo of that which I forgot to include. You can see it up there now.

Thanks. I'll have to make a trip by there. The renovation looks like it leaves much to be desired, but the building, and that piece of neighborhood fabric, remains.

A.W.O.L.!  Fun, neighborhood (gay) bar worth checking out.

 

A.W.O.L.!  Fun, neighborhood (gay) bar worth checking out.

 

 

Wasn't it called something else? 

I was there last month and it was named A.W.O.L., not sure if it had a different name before that.  The restaurant next door (corner of Parsons and Oak) has changed names a few times and is now called Black Creek Bistro.

Looks pretty bad but I see hope.

Just wait til I get around to covering E Whittier in Southern Orchards (neighborhood east of Parsons). It's basically a totally un-gentrified, more commercially intact version of Oak.

 

Not sure if this streetview pic is true to what it looks like today, but it gives you an idea.