Alright, I'll post more as I finish tweaking them. Needless to say, I wish that the weather that day was more cooperative but ah well, what can ya do?

 

*EDIT* - Photos added Sat., January 16th - captions to come  later!

 

Alright, looking up at LeVeque:

 

And the eventual destination for official business, the upper floors of the Vern Riffe Center:

 

And inbound during inclement weather:

 

Another photographer:

 

The Wyandotte Building - at some point I want to kidnap this and put it in Cleveland's Warehouse District:

 

And some shots from the upper floors of the Vern Riffe Center - pardon the reflections, I wanted to ask them to turn the lights off but security issues, yada yada:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annnd back down on the ground:

 

And the requisite shot:

 

 

 

No clue what this building is:

 

Atlas, at last!

 

Love that first shot and you went to the DOD?

Looking forward to your shots.

 

Love that first shot and you went to the DOD?

 

That looks a little lower than DOD.

It could be a zoom!

Except you can see the window edge.

 

Just tell us MayDay!

Added the rest - captions will be added later.

columbus

columbus

 

No kidding! I thought it looked vaguely familiar ...  :wink:

Columbus? I thought it was Antarctica.  Nice photos that made me shivver. 

UrbanOhio.com!

I don't understand why I find downtown Columbus so uninspiring.  I love the neighborhoods of Columbus, and it's apparent that there's history in there, but every time I'm in downtown, or see pictures of downtown, I'm just hoping to see more.  Does anybody else feel this way, or does anybody else know why I feel this way?

Sweet!  We are advertising!  I didn't know that.  Awesome.  Shawn, did you even notice that?  Also, how did you get into the Riffe Center?

I don't understand why I find downtown Columbus so uninspiring. I love the neighborhoods of Columbus, and it's apparent that there's history in there, but every time I'm in downtown, or see pictures of downtown, I'm just hoping to see more. Does anybody else feel this way, or does anybody else know why I feel this way?

^I agree with you.  I attribute the feeling to its topography.  The hillier the city, the more I seem to like it.  Columbus, Chicago, Indianapolis are too flat for me.  Cincinnati, San Fran and Pittsburgh are much more seductive for whatever reason.  Maybe hills add more mystery to a city?  Not sure.  Nothing against Columbus but I think I know what you mean ProkNo5.

I don't understand why I find downtown Columbus so uninspiring. I love the neighborhoods of Columbus, and it's apparent that there's history in there, but every time I'm in downtown, or see pictures of downtown, I'm just hoping to see more. Does anybody else feel this way, or does anybody else know why I feel this way?

^I agree with you. I attribute the feeling to its topography. The hillier the city, the more I seem to like it. Columbus, Chicago, Indianapolis are too flat for me. Cincinnati, San Fran and Pittsburgh are much more seductive for whatever reason. Maybe hills add more mystery to a city? Not sure. Nothing against Columbus but I think I know what you mean ProkNo5.

 

My guess is that you like these cities because they are not a grid.  There is something somewhat unpredictable about a city with winding streets and boulavards.  I also think that Columbus is lacking so much in character is because we tore down so many of our historical buildings because we thought they were considered to be blight in the 1950's.  Also, so many of our buildings were built in the last few decades and seem to lack a lot of character.  Hopefully, this will change soon.

I don't understand why I find downtown Columbus so uninspiring. I love the neighborhoods of Columbus, and it's apparent that there's history in there, but every time I'm in downtown, or see pictures of downtown, I'm just hoping to see more. Does anybody else feel this way, or does anybody else know why I feel this way?

^I agree with you. I attribute the feeling to its topography. The hillier the city, the more I seem to like it. Columbus, Chicago, Indianapolis are too flat for me. Cincinnati, San Fran and Pittsburgh are much more seductive for whatever reason. Maybe hills add more mystery to a city? Not sure. Nothing against Columbus but I think I know what you mean ProkNo5.

 

My guess is that you like these cities because they are not a grid. There is something somewhat unpredictable about a city with winding streets and boulavards. I also think that Columbus is lacking so much in character is because we tore down so many of our historical buildings because we thought they were considered to be blight in the 1950's. Also, so many of our buildings were built in the last few decades and seem to lack a lot of character. Hopefully, this will change soon.

Good point about the grid but I think the hills are probably a big reason why my cities aren't grids so its a catch-22.  I'm from Dayton where they were proud of being the most efficient cities in the country for "urban renewal."  I don't know how Columbus will set itself apart architecturally but I hope it does.  As a metro Columbus is in good shape and downtown could be way worse.  It has a lot going for it but I know what people mean when they say it has a good bit of blah.

^ I live in Columbus and I love Columbus, but these pics remind me of how underwhelming our downtown is.  When I see Mayday's pics of Cleveland and Cincinnati I'm always impressed, but downtown Columbus doesn't seem to be nearly as photogenic. 

I'll agree that downtown Columbus would benefit from more density and architectural variety, but it does look a lot better in the warmer seasons when grass and trees and plantings add some color and life.

 

Still, I enjoyed looking at these photos. They're of the expected excellent MayDay Quality, and they show the city at a time of year when I'm not likely to see it.

 

Columbus looks fine.

I don't think the "winterscape" scenes create a mood as much as the cloudiness does.

If it had been a sunshiny day, the snow and modern buildings would've reflected the sun fantastically.

Anyway, good pics.

 

Nice pics!

 

^ I live in Columbus and I love Columbus, but these pics remind me of how underwhelming our downtown is.  When I see Mayday's pics of Cleveland and Cincinnati I'm always impressed, but downtown Columbus doesn't seem to be nearly as photogenic. 

 

IMO Gay st. is the highlight of downtown lol, sadly.

 

I was walking through The Annex, downtown today. I really like that deveopment along with all of the Gay St. condos. Really good quality stuff. I think if we keep building stuff like that, at this rate we'll probably attract a lot of retail soon.

 

 

 

Prokno5-

Check out how sprawly downtown Columbus is. I think that's why you're ''always hoping to see more''. There's too many friggin gaps downtown.

 

 

 

too many friggin gaps downtown.

 

There are huge gaps in DT Cleveland too, unfortunately.

The most notable is the sea of surface parking lots that extend from... and are a part of...Public Square and go to the Warehouse District, taking up a large part of that area. There are plans to develop these plots in both areas but the banking/lending crisis has thwarted any activity there for now.

 

i thought dt cols looks great here in winter. from the aerial views the snow hides the gaps and parking lots well.

 

and if they keep adding stuff like the new building at broad and high w/ the zipper dt is going to keep getting a lot jazzier. i have high hopes for post-city center mall, so dont let me down columbus!!!

Ahhhh, MayDay, Honey, I love "searching" for the urbanohio logs!  I love it!

 

Well done.

The more I think about my time there, the more I think it is the gaps that underwhelm me.  I've been in plenty of flat downtowns that are much more impressive.  Des Moines, Oklahoma City, Fort Worth, and Denver are all pretty interesting compared to Columbus.  And it's such a shame because none of those cities have anything close to German Village.  Indianapolis is one downtown that I've always been impressed with (I don't understand the rest of the city though).  For a flat piece of land with NOTHING to give it character, they've managed to build a pretty unique and walkable city center. 

 

I wish those "visionaries" in the 60s could've torn down the buildings more selectively so some city-beautiful type lawn or park could've defined the center of the city better.  I can't advocate for the removal of any more structures though.  Columbus has to run on "make it work" from now on. 

 

I wonder what would happen if you rounded out the square around the Statehouse so that traffic from High, Broad, 3rd, and State would have to travel around the Statehouse, making it the focal point.

 

Traffic nightmare, blah blah blah, I don't care.  DT CBus needs a jolt of interestingness and increasing travel times through downtown will probably be a good thing anyway.

 

 

Thanks again for the photos MayDay.  You always do a fantastic job.

The scale of downtown Columbus is what is off-putting.  Ditto with Cleveland, though what makes Cleveland work are the 100-200 foot building range that go on for large blocks.  Des Moines, Oklahoma City, Fort Worth, and Denver do not have large-scaled downtowns and thus visually make them more personable/intimate.  Columbus large-scaled Burnham blocks, widish-streets, and lack of canyon-effect (ala Cleveland) make it a 'bore.'  Columbus could greatly benefit from more 100-200 foot buildings to "close in" the space to make it more visually inviting.

 

And I STILL didn't see WHERE you went in the V-R!

 

The scale of downtown Columbus is what is off-putting.  Ditto with Cleveland, though what makes Cleveland work are the 100-200 foot building range that go on for large blocks.  Des Moines, Oklahoma City, Fort Worth, and Denver do not have large-scaled downtowns and thus visually make them more personable/intimate.  Columbus large-scaled Burnham blocks, widish-streets, and lack of canyon-effect (ala Cleveland) make it a 'bore.'  Columbus could greatly benefit from more 100-200 foot buildings to "close in" the space to make it more visually inviting.

 

And I STILL didn't see WHERE you went in the V-R!

 

I never really thought about Cleveland having or not having a canyon-effect, until friends from Columbus and Dayton some years back said that they definitely got that feeling in downtown Cleveland.

They're probably right despite our HUGE sea of surface parking in the heart of downtown  :-)

Cleveland's main drags have that "canyon effect" but it noticably thins out outside of it (ala Public Square...area southeast of Euclid...).  Euclid is a wonderful street.

 

Yes, The downtown portions of Euclid (now even beginning to include the CSU area--really), Prospect, Superior and E.9th have varying canyon-like qualities.

E. 9th heading North towards the Lake from Progressive Field might be the best, IMHO.

SE of Euclid Ave. thinned out ...yes.

The worst is as I have said, Public Sq west into the Warehouse District. When the WD lots are replaced (hopefully) with 4-6 story buildings to match the existing structures, it should get better.

The thing that irks me is the notion that DT Columbus has bad architecture. There are some AMAZING buildings downtown; they just get overlooked. There's a row of buildings on High St. just north of Broad and High that I would take over anything in D/T Cincinnati.

Again, the scale.  Gay Street has a fantastic scale and if those buildings in High Street were closer by a whole lane, then it'd be almost Yonge Street-esque in Toronto.  But it isn't...and thus they get overlooked while driving past them to get to the non-ghetto Kroger in the Brewery District.  A shame because I agree with you downtown has some fantastic low-rise architecture (as for the highrise...not so much).

No clue what this building is:

 

 

City Hall

Again, the scale.  Gay Street has a fantastic scale and if those buildings in High Street were closer by a whole lane, then it'd be almost Yonge Street-esque in Toronto.  But it isn't...and thus they get overlooked while driving past them to get to the non-ghetto Kroger in the Brewery District. 

 

The ones on High also don't have very 'glamorous' tenants occupying the spaces. They're low-end cafes, convenience stores and things like that.

 

That Kroger is amazing! There's a Donatos, Starbucks, Sushi bar and I think a bistro inside there. Plus, they just added a liquor store. Can't have too many of them.

Again, the scale. Gay Street has a fantastic scale and if those buildings in High Street were closer by a whole lane, then it'd be almost Yonge Street-esque in Toronto. But it isn't...and thus they get overlooked while driving past them to get to the non-ghetto Kroger in the Brewery District.

 

The ones on High also don't have very 'glamorous' tenants occupying the spaces. They're low-end cafes, convenience stores and things like that.

 

That Kroger is amazing! There's a Donatos, Starbucks, Sushi bar and I think a bistro inside there. Plus, they just added a liquor store. Can't have too many of them.

I heard ColumbusUnderground has an office on Gay St.  So they can't be too unglamorous.

And that's what I like about that portion of High Street are the low-end cafes, the random peanuts store...and Dunkin Donuts.

And that's what I like about that portion of High Street are the low-end cafes, the random peanuts store...and Dunkin Donuts.

 

I love them too, I'm just saying they don't draw much attention to themselves. Maybe that was a bad choice of words; Skully's is low-end but it draws a lot of attention to itself through the exterior. 

 

Again, the scale.  Gay Street has a fantastic scale and if those buildings in High Street were closer by a whole lane, then it'd be almost Yonge Street-esque in Toronto.  But it isn't...and thus they get overlooked while driving past them to get to the non-ghetto Kroger in the Brewery District. 

 

The ones on High also don't have very 'glamorous' tenants occupying the spaces. They're low-end cafes, convenience stores and things like that.

 

That Kroger is amazing! There's a Donatos, Starbucks, Sushi bar and I think a bistro inside there. Plus, they just added a liquor store. Can't have too many of them.

I heard ColumbusUnderground has an office on Gay St.  So they can't be too unglamorous.

 

 

Gay might be a skinnier street. It feels more enclosed but that might be due to the luxurious streetscape - I'm not sure. Gay has fantastic low-rise building stock as well.

 

The real architectural blunder downtown is E. Town St. The setbacks are unnecessary and the buildings look low quality - probably dating back to the '60s/'70s. What's even worse than the buildings is the fact that the whole drag is full of state government agencies, lobbying groups, state-wide political and fraternal organizations - things of that nature. Those are stable tenants but the space doesn't get used as often as it could be if more of it were rented out to small private businesses. Grant Hospital is right there; so many resetaurants would be successful on that street. Also, it doesn't help that the buildings themselves aren't very permeable :( . I wish E. Town were more mixed-use.

 

 

Delete. Double post.

Cleveland's main drags have that "canyon effect" but it noticably thins out outside of it (ala Public Square...area southeast of Euclid...).  Euclid is a wonderful street.

 

I still love Columbus. There are many overlooked surprises in the city.

 

On the "canyon" concept, let's not forget about E. 6th Street in Cleveland as a "canyon effect" street. In fact, there was a vintage post card that coined E. 6th Street as "The Grand Canyon of Cleveland" You can find it on allposters dot com. Just search 'Cleveland" Cool post card!