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Um, yes it is. The population has gone up 40% or more in most of downtown the last decade. There have been tons of new development in the same period and retail/dining is starting to coming back one store at a time. It's not going to happen overnight, but I can easily see the differences made so far and can imagine how it will be in the near future.
Don't fool yourself.
the % is one thing but the actual numbers are small. No one moves to a Downtown that has nothing to offer. Thousands of people are leaving the city of Columbus. I left Columbus back in early 2000's and returned for a short moment and downtown is worse now than it ever was. My first day back was on a Sunday and I decided on Monday I would go downtown to see what has changed, it was 10am on Monday and it was dead as a doornail. I knew at that moment, I had better start planning my move to NYC.
At least when I was here the first time, you could shop for clothes downtown, now you can't buy clothes, oh, my bad, KC Sports is sown there. Thank god for Asians.
You talk about that 40%, how many actual people is that? Can you provide a number?
I understand that you're a cheerleader for Cbus, that's fine but the city USED to be great but it's not. The best thing going for Columbus is the OSU-Medical Center System.
They are booming like none other( I know, I work there). I would not be surprised if they bought property downtown and started building.
I am not knocking Cbus, it's just not the place for ME.
the % is one thing but the actual numbers are small. No one moves to a Downtown that has nothing to offer. Thousands of people are leaving the city of Columbus. I left Columbus back in early 2000's and returned for a short moment and downtown is worse now than it ever was. My first day back was on a Sunday and I decided on Monday I would go downtown to see what has changed, it was 10am on Monday and it was dead as a doornail. I knew at that moment, I had better start planning my move to NYC.
First, more than 75,000 people came to Columbus 2000 to 2010. Whatever it lost it more than made up for. The city is one of the fastest-growing in the Midwest (and no, not because of annexation, which was at its lowest level in decades). Second, even at its very peak, Downtown Columbus only had around 30,000 residents. That number, like in many cities nationally, fell throughtout the 1960s to the 1990s. It reached it's low point in the early-mid 1990s when it had between 2,000-2,500. The mid to late 1990s is when the push for revitalization Downtown began. About 5,000 residential units have been added in the last decade or so with the goal set at at least 10,000. The recession slowed things down quite a bit, but several new projects are now in the works. Of course the new parks and infill projects have definitely brought more interest to Downtown as well as a lot more people. Any objective person could see that much has changed and it is definitely busier than it used to be. And Columbus is not NYC (very few cities are anything like NYC). If you're expecting that kind of street-level activity here, then you're the one fooling yourself. You need to put things into a more realistic perspective.
At least when I was here the first time, you could shop for clothes downtown, now you can't buy clothes, oh, my bad, KC Sports is sown there. Thank god for Asians.
I assume you're talking about City Center, a terrible indoor concept mall that kept anyone from venturing outside of it to the rest of the Downtown area. The mall was one of the worst things the city could've done. It brought people downtown... only to have them park in a garage and never see the sidewalk. Downtown does lack retail, but you are going to need residents and amenities to bring that back, and that is exactly what the city is working on doing. You cannot expect to turn around 40 years of population loss and decline in one decade, but the city is further in its goal than at any time in those 4 decades.
You talk about that 40%, how many actual people is that? Can you provide a number?
It's over 5,000 now, which was the first increase in Downtown population (2000 to 2010) that has been seen there since 1960. And people would not be moving there at all if the conditions were the same as they were previously. You can't just build apartments and condos and expect people to move in. You have to provide them with entertainment, shopping and dining... but you need people to support it. It's a step process. You need to build the population to support business, but you need business to continue growing the population. Also, you have to remember that Columbus had some of the worst destruction of buildings/neighborhoods of any city during the so-called "urban renewal" years of the 1960s and 1970s. The highway system was bad enough, but large sections of Downtown were bulldozed for surface parking. It's going to take time to get that all back.
I understand that you're a cheerleader for Cbus, that's fine but the city USED to be great but it's not. The best thing going for Columbus is the OSU-Medical Center System.
The city is FAR more developed and has far more development projects going on now than at any point in the last 40 years. I don't know how old you are, but to say it USED to be better says you don't actually know that much about the city's history or what it has been involved in more recently. And I'm not so much a cheerleader than interested in correcting all the silly assumptions and misconeptions.
They are booming like none other( I know, I work there). I would not be surprised if they bought property downtown and started building.
I am not knocking Cbus, it's just not the place for ME.
It doesn't have to be the place for you, but at the same time, at least get your facts straight. It's not like you had to come on here and try to suggest that everything that's been done the last decade hasn't produced any results. It's ont like you had to come and try to compare urban density to NYC. Come on, I don't know what your goal was, but it's not exactly to present a fair assessment.
It doesn't have to be the place for you, but at the same time, at least get your facts straight. It's not like you had to come on here and try to suggest that everything that's been done the last decade hasn't produced any results. It's ont like you had to come and try to compare urban density to NYC. Come on, I don't know what your goal was, but it's not exactly to present a fair assessment.
Like I said, Cbus is loosing people by the THOUSANDS and you know it. Not in any of my posts did I compare Cbus to NYC. I said I was moving to NYC
You'd love to think otherwise. That's okay, if denial works for you, have at it.
Go argue with someone else or better yet go downtown and hang out at the new park. You'll have fun looking at all of the empty buildings. Better get there early, the buses stop running at 8pm.
Columbus' problem isn't attractive people, its keeping them. It's always been a more transient place than other midwest metros because of OSU, but the big recent declines in house sale prices and Columbus' dependence on out-of-town based employers like cardinal health and citibank mean its vulnerable to outside economic developments. This throws us back on OSU and state govn't but the dominance of these "factories of knowledge" necessarily means that columbus will continue to be especially transient. This isn't bad but it does suggest a limit to the overall size of the metro and its ability to develop economically without more homegrown private sector activity. Where is the next nationwide or limited? That is what Columbus needs. Columbus is bumping up against a development ceiling as a result that will be hard to break through. Many newer cities like charlotte, raleigh and nashville are or will have the same problem. Only austin and portland seem to have been able to figure out how to continue growing from college towns and yuppie enclaves into true 'full-service' metros in just a generation. I think they have a lot to teach us all.
you nailed............keeping people and figuring out how to grow. Cbus has hit the ceiling. Like I said in a earlier post, the only thing Cbus has going for it in terms of development is the OSU-Med Center System, which is building at a very fast pace.
Take OSUMed out of the equation, Cbus would be at a serious stand still.
The Campus Partners Development projects on High St/Campus Area was developed for the students so I don't count that as many students will be moving on after the graduate.
I did see a new Hilton being built across from the convention center. I was happy to see that.
Columbus seems to be happy with the status quo and not developing into a word class mid-western city. It'll never be a tourist destination but It can be a great city of the mid west. Chicago has the top spot all of which Cbus will never get to that level nor does it have to.
For it needs to attract middle class to affluent people to downtown, if the economy is created the retailers will follow.
There has to b e some incentive.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matthew Hall
Columbus' problem isn't attractive people, its keeping them. It's always been a more transient place than other midwest metros because of OSU, but the big recent declines in house sale prices and Columbus' dependence on out-of-town based employers like cardinal health and citibank mean its vulnerable to outside economic developments. This throws us back on OSU and state govn't but the dominance of these "factories of knowledge" necessarily means that columbus will continue to be especially transient. This isn't bad but it does suggest a limit to the overall size of the metro and its ability to develop economically without more homegrown private sector activity. Where is the next nationwide or limited? That is what Columbus needs. Columbus is bumping up against a development ceiling as a result that will be hard to break through. Many newer cities like charlotte, raleigh and nashville are or will have the same problem. Only austin and portland seem to have been able to figure out how to continue growing from college towns and yuppie enclaves into true 'full-service' metros in just a generation. I think they have a lot to teach us all.
Like I said, Cbus is loosing people by the THOUSANDS and you know it.
The US Census says you're wrong. Maybe you should take it up with them. The population rose from 711,000 in 2000 to 787,000 in 2010, with a growth rate of almost 11%. The overall metro grew by over 230,000 and had a growth rate near 14%.
Now, if you want to make the argument that certain areas or neighborhoods of the city lost people, that would be true, but they were outweighed by areas that gained, including in most of the core neighborhoods.
Not in any of my posts did I compare Cbus to NYC. I said I was moving to NYC
Actually you did when you were talking about Downtown being dead and stated that you had better get to planning your move to NYC, as if you were expecting similar density here. NYC has districts with densities over 200,000 per square mile. Columbus' best is near 30,000, and that is high for the Midwest.
You'd love to think otherwise. That's okay, if denial works for you, have at it.
Go argue with someone else or better yet go downtown and hang out at the new park. You'll have fun looking at all of the empty buildings. Better get there early, the buses stop running at 8pm.
I'm finished with this.
What exactly do I have to be in denial about? You honestly just seem like one more troll who couldn't hack it here. Good luck in NYC
And actually, I was Downtown today and at the new parks. The Latino festival was going on, there was a kid's day at Columbus Commons, and of course High Street had tons of people out enjoying a nice Sunday. I wonder if I should've told them they were wasting their time because you said so.
Columbus' problem isn't attractive people, its keeping them. It's always been a more transient place than other midwest metros because of OSU, but the big recent declines in house sale prices and Columbus' dependence on out-of-town based employers like cardinal health and citibank mean its vulnerable to outside economic developments. This throws us back on OSU and state govn't but the dominance of these "factories of knowledge" necessarily means that columbus will continue to be especially transient. This isn't bad but it does suggest a limit to the overall size of the metro and its ability to develop economically without more homegrown private sector activity. Where is the next nationwide or limited? That is what Columbus needs. Columbus is bumping up against a development ceiling as a result that will be hard to break through. Many newer cities like charlotte, raleigh and nashville are or will have the same problem. Only austin and portland seem to have been able to figure out how to continue growing from college towns and yuppie enclaves into true 'full-service' metros in just a generation. I think they have a lot to teach us all.
I don't really get you people. The city has been growing EVERY single decade since it was founded, and by double digits every decade for the last 30 years alone. I have no doubt that the high student population means that there may be a larger percentage that is transient, but clearly the overall city size has continued to grow despite that, and by one of the fastest rates outside of the Sunbelt. Also, it has one of the most stable economies anywhere, as it is not reliant on any single type of industry. It has certainly done better than the rest of the state in terms of growth/unemployment, etc during this latest recession and in recessions in the past as well. I'm sorry, but there is little to support the theory that development/growth will just stop.
Seriously, is there anyone out there not rooting for Columbus to fail?
I wouldn't say Columbus is losing people. Now, I'm not gonna sit here and say I pay attention to all kinds of facts, because I don't and quite honestly don't care enough. But the city gained over 70,000 people in 10 years, and that's a pretty good number of people coming in, so they have to be doing something right. I've never heard of Columbus "losing people by the thousands".
Now, I can see why people don't like Columbus though. I've tried to get a job there because it's one of the most thriving cities in Ohio, however I can't say I'm exactly in love with the city. Every time I've driven in downtown, it doesn't excite me and it's rather boring in my opinion. The city has a lot to offer, but at the same time it doesn't have as much as other cities. Cleveland and Cincinnati for me would get the edge because of pro sports and such. So, I can see why people wouldn't like it, it's not for everyone, but I don't think it's some horrible city. I think it has a lot going for it.
The bottom line here is that if you are not happy where you are, you have the ability to choose another life in another place. No one forces anyone to move to Columbus or anywhere else, so if it's not the place for you, find someplace that is. It's as simple as that.
I moved to Columbus 14 years ago to go to college, and after I graduated I got a job, got married, and ended up buying a home here. I loved being here at first, but now I'm so ready for a change! There is nothing wrong with Columbus, but I am extremely bored with this city and crave different scenery and new things. I just feel like I have taken advantage of everything Columbus has to offer and that I have seen and done everything.
I have always dreamed of living in a coastal town and since we don't have children yet, we are thinking maybe this would be a good time to explore other options. Who knows!
Of course, if we do leave I will really miss being here in the fall and tailgating with friends for the football games. I love my Buckeyes!!
+1
I've been in Columbus for 11 years. Came here for college and had to find work ASAP. Columbus is a nice city, it just doesn't have enough (for me). It was fine before I started traveling more after college. But once I started to see just how much is going on in other cities like Chicago, San Francisco, Washington DC.. and even Baltimore, It made me feel like this city is still in its puberty years, still waiting to grow and mature.
I think Columbus is going to get there. You can see signs that the tide is starting to finally turn in downtown. High street is starting to look more developed. The problem is, do you want to wait for what you know you can probably have right now somewhere else?
Of course saying you want a new life somewhere else and actually being able to make it happen is another story..
Last edited by people211; 08-15-2011 at 02:41 AM..
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Thank god for Asians.
