Has Clintonville changed much in 30 years? (Columbus, Dublin: apartments, condos, how much)

[Ralph Shinners]

In the early 80's I moved from WI to Clintonville (Oakland Park Ave. & Calumet). I have a lot of warm memories from my three years there (baseball at Como Park and Crestview, Olympic pool/tennis club on Indianola, Dante's Pizza by Brevoort Park). But I have no connection anymore - has Clintonville changed much or is it still the great area I remember?

[98PanAm]

Are you saying you've been away from Central Ohio since the mid '80s?

I don't think Clintonville has changed much at all since I first became familiar with it in the '70s, but if you've been away from C-bus for twenty-five years, you'd probably be surprised at the changes in other parts of town. Specifically, High Street from Lane Avenue south (and the campus in general from High St. to the river), the Short North, Arena District, and Downtown. Those areas have changed significantly in just the last five to ten years, and are still changing rapidly. There's also much more sprawl in C-bus and the 'burbs outside 270 since 1985, particularly in areas like Hilliard, Dublin (which was still just a village with fewer than 5,000 people in '85), and the Powell/Lewis Center/Delaware County areas.

As for the Clintonville area itself, I'm not sure about the places you mentioned, but the only "landmark" changes I can think of since then are the White Castle at Arcadia and High is gone, and there is a Giant Eagle where the Big Bear was just north of Arcadia. Other than that, you probably wouldn't know the difference. Calumet St. looks the same to me now as it did in the middle '70s.

[jbcmh81]

OSU Campus area, 1985


Driving in Columbus, Ohio - 1985 - pt. 1 of 2!! - YouTube

High Street, Downtown, 1988


Columbus OH (1988) From OSU Campus to Schiller Park travelling South on High Street (Version 2) - YouTube

Amazing how much has really changed.

[Ralph Shinners]

Cool videos, thanks.
.
Yeah I left in 1984. I've seen a lot of city neighborhoods deteriorate, so I've always wondered about Clintonville. Great neighborhood to be a kid in because you could bike to so many places.

In '84 there was no Big Bear in Clintonville yet - the closest Big Bear was at Graceland. Near Arcadia and High Street there was a Kroger's, the Clintonville Library, a store that sold Jelly Belly's, the White Castle and Rax. I used to frequent the Wendy's at High and Dunedin and a Mom and Pop pharmacy for candy next to it. We used to go the GD Ritzy's further North on High Street near Watterson. On Indianola I remember a tiny old movie theater and a Knights(?) ice cream place. Also a bike trail from Whetstone Park to Antrim Park that was really nice.

[wrightflyer]

I have not been in the area since 2010, but when I rode the bus up from OSU to the Clintonville Library, I would pass the White Castle (surprised it has been torn down!). The Giant Eagle, which seemed pretty new when I went there from 2008-2010, seemed to spur development around that southern side of Clintonville.

That Kroger is still there (actually High and North Broadway) and I would frequent there too, but usually the Giant Eagle which was closer to campus. Speaking of Kroger, they either tore down or completely gutted the one south of campus on High. It looks 1000X better now. Even that area (Weinland Park?) is seeing some gentrification, but it is still a long ways off from Victorian Village or German Village status.

The Wendy's you speak of is still there. Graceland has changed much as well, with a Kroger Marketplace (basically a Kroger on steroids) and a number of other big-box retailers. The old Clintonville theater at the other corner of High and North Broadway was torn down shortly after I left town. Not sure if they are redeveloping that parcel yet. I think the movie theater on Indianola is still there, but I never went there.

If anything, Clintonville has only seen its value rise with more people wanting to live closer in to downtown and campus. However, Northland Mall is gone, having been replaced by shopping mecca behemoths Easton and Polaris.

Even in the two years I have been away, OSU has seen some major changes to its face. I tried visiting some friends a month ago and made the mistake of taking West 12th Ave. to the Honors and Scholars House only to find the street completely torn up thru campus.

[Ralph Shinners]

Thanks wrightflyer.

Northland Mall was a hangout, didn't know that was gone.

I found the tiny movie theater I was thinking of, look likes it's still there, called Studio 35 - 3055 Indianola Avenue.

Actually back in the early 80's none of those grocery stores on the w. side of High Street were there (can't recall what was in those spots - maybe car dealers?). The Kroger's was in the 2700 block of N. High Street in what I see on Streetview is now a Good Will. The Clintonville library was a storefront in that strip mall, probably where the Post Office is now.

[wrightflyer]

Originally Posted by Ralph Shinners

Actually back in the early 80's none of those grocery stores on the w. side of High Street were there (can't recall what was in those spots - maybe car dealers?). The Kroger's was in the 2700 block of N. High Street in what I see on Streetview is now a Good Will. The Clintonville library was a storefront in that strip mall, probably where the Post Office is now.

So we have different ideas of the Clintonville Library. I went to the one up at Whetstone Park. Never realized there had been a branch in the strip center across from the Giant Eagle. Figured that Goodwill used to be some grocer. The Kroger at High and N. Broadway does not seem that new. Must have been built in the 90's.

[98PanAm]

The Kroger you speak of on the east side of High just north of Arcadia became some other grocery store when the new Kroger at Broadway and High was built. The former Kroger has fallen down the food chain, was a Goodwill for a while, now it's empty. Across the street from that, where White Castle used to be, and where the old Olentangy Bowling Lanes was from 1940 until it burned down in 1980, is where the newer Giant Eagle is located. It used to be a Big Bear store before the whole Big Bear chain went out of business, but I guess that store hadn't been built yet to replace the bowling alley when you left in 1984.

The old White Castle at Arcadia was replaced by a newer, bigger White Castle, but that was recently torn down, too. The old porcelain and metal White Castle building that used to be there was bought by some farmer and sits reassembled on his farm just outside Columbus, oddly enough. The Rax chain is out of business since maybe the '90s. The Wendy's you mentioned near Dunedin is still there and was recently remodeled for the third or fourth time. Interesting thing about that Wendy's is it was one of the first Wendy's neighborhood locations built in the initial expansion from Wendy's one original downtown store (across from the old COSI, neither of which are there now). We used to go to the Dunedin location a lot in the middle '70s, when drive-through was a new concept around here.

As someone mentioned, Graceland has had a major redesign and is much nicer now. Ditto for Morse Road. Northland is gone, put out of business by Easton Town Center and Polaris, both of which would be amazing for anyone to see who has been away from C-bus since '84 since those areas were nothing but corn fields in the '80s, and are now almost like cities by themselves. Morse Road has been cleaned up, modernized, and turned into a boulevard, and looks much nicer.

The bike trails you mentioned are still there, and in fact have been greatly expanded. You can now ride non stop along the river from north of 270 and Worthington all the way to downtown, and they're working on branches that feed out from that and continue south of downtown. There's one western branch that goes almost to Grandview. They recently finished a very nice bridge across the Scioto just for the bike trail as it continues to extend westward. Their goal is to build and connect bike trails all over Central Ohio. Several old railroad right-of-ways around here have been turned into bike trails, and they're working to connect them up.

For anyone who has been away since '84, the campus (including the expanded stadium), Gateway, the Short North, the Arena District, and all of the changes and new development downtown would be what would blow you away, in addition to the changes in the suburbs and outlying areas around and outside the outerbelt. Unlike so many other cities these days, C-bus and its metro area just keeps growing and modernizing. Downtown used to be dead after 5 pm, but now it's bustling in the evenings, especially on weekends. Many apartments and condos have built built along the riverfront in an effort to get people to live down there, and in anything, that pace is accelerating. The old Center Center Mall has been torn down, and a new park, apartments, and other development is going in there.

Clintonville itself is pretty much the same old Clintonville though, which is a good thing. As opposed to the above mentioned areas, you'd probably be surprised how LITTLE C-ville has changed since '84.

[wrightflyer]

I think the latest it goes back is 1988 in some areas, 1994 in others, but Google Earth has a cool feature that lets you switch between aerial photos from different dates. Just seeing these shows how much the area has grown/changed over the last 18-24 years. It is both astonishing and a shame how much has gone up and by the wayside over the years. Thankfully, Clintonville has stayed strong. The same cannot be said for other inner-ring neighborhoods and suburbs, both in Columbus and elsewhere.

[Ralph Shinners]

98PanAm, wow what a great fantastic description of what has changed, I really appreciate it. Sounds like Clintonville and Columbus are just as awesome as I always remembered.

Thanks wrighflyer - I have Google Earth but never used the historical photos feature, I will check it out.

I was going to describe another Clintonville place I recall fondly, but I see I don't need to because to my great suprise it is still there! The Blue Danube (2439 N. High Street) was a great greasy spoon. BTW, the eatery portrayed in the famous last scene of the Soprano's totally reminded me of the Blue Danube! (in the 80's they even had the juke box selectors at each booth just like in the Soprano's).