The future of Columbus (Cleveland, Cincinnati: sales, crime, neighborhood)

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by motorman

Agreed. Whereas Cincinnati's skyline explodes upon you once you descend into it from one of the surrounding hills, Columbus' skyline does the opposite--from miles and miles away it beckons, charms, and seduces you, and the experience of driving closer and closer to it is mesmerizing and magical.

The best view, imo, of Columbus' skyline is coming up 71 from the south. It doesn't catch the afternoon sun, but it's the best angle.

I still think Cincinnati has the best skyline in the state. Dense and in a picturesque setting. Cleveland's has the density somewhat, but just looks kind of old with the lack of many newer buildings. Columbus has the newer buildings, but they are too spread out. I can't wait for the day when it starts to be filled in.

[TomJones123]

Originally Posted by jbcmh81

Disagree. Columbus grew by fewer square miles the last 30 years than it did just in the 1960s, and the rate has been falling since then as well.

I was mistaken when I said last 20 years, my apologies. But a major reason for it's growth, while Cleve and Cincy lost population is annexation. This since the 50s more specifically.

However:

Columbus would look vastly different without annexation. The pre-1950 boundary area of Columbus, the city before annexation, actually lost population in the 1990s (Figures 18 and 19). This change in the older part of the city is similar to the change in Dayton, Cleveland, or Cincinnati.

Source: http://ohio.sierraclub.org/sprawl/downcount.pdf

It's older information that is more historical, than current in that recent census trends my have changed.

To be clear, I am saying Columbus has bucked the trends that effected all of Ohio's cities by annexation, and also adding people in it's own right. I'm not here to bang on C-bus. It also makes me wonder why Cincinnati has not annexed.

[mrman7]

I love how Columbus's downtown is so big. I can imagine that when it gets filled completely in, it will look like a mini downtown Chicago.

[mrman7]

I'm sure light rail will be the icing on the cake for Columbus. I mean the airport is undergoing a major renovation and the replacement runway opens in June 2013. The transportation system is improving and I'm sure in several years a proposal will be made regarding light rail especially since Bus Rapid Transit is coming 2016 on Cleveland Ave.

[motorman]

Originally Posted by TomJones123

...To be clear, I am saying Columbus has bucked the trends that effected all of Ohio's cities by annexation, and also adding people in it's own right. I'm not here to bang on C-bus. It also makes me wonder why Cincinnati has not annexed.

In a simplistic nutshell, Cincinnati hasn't annexed because it's permeated and surrounded by insular suburbs protected by their hills from the larger whole. (Think Pittsburgh, Bud Lite...) In contrast, Columbus, in its flatness, expanded w/o these historical community impediments .

[pontiac51]

Originally Posted by jbcmh81

The more people like yourself keep claiming this stuff, the more it just seems like a "doth protest too much" kind of thing. I'm just not sure why Columbus' success should threaten people the way it does. Whether or not Columbus gains in national reputation will not change how people see your respective locations. It doesn't change whether or not your location is a great city or not. I'm just not sure why people have to so clearly root for it to fail, or for it to wallow in stagnation. And for Ohio, wouldn't it be to its advantage to have 3 well-known, nationally recognized cities?

In any case, whether or not you want to believe it, whether or not you want it to happen, Columbus is doing fine and will continue to be fine. The same things you're saying now have been said about it for most of its history, and it has right on continued to grow and prosper and gain attention for more than just Ohio State. Columbus seems to thrive as the underdog.

It's very obvious that you are a little too sensitive and defensive when it comes to Columbus!! First of all, I have gone out of my way on this website to defend Columbus. I am very very familiar with the city and thus I know what it has to offer and what it doesn't have to offer. Second of all, you don't seem to know the difference between perception and reality!! My guess is that there are many people that aren't familiar with Columbus who believe that it is a college town. That's the perception!! Those that are familiar with the city know something completely different. This is why Columbus will ALWAYS be overshadowed by Cleveland and Cincinnati because they are much more well-known and are perceived to have more going on!! This is just the way it is.

While I personally don't believe that Columbus is a cowtown, there is a very good reason why some believe that it is. If you drive I-71 north in Downtown Columbus, while the skyline is very attractive (best in Ohio, in my opinion), it's almost all farms until right before you reach I-70. If you drive 70 west out of downtown, you reach the farms in about 5 minutes if there is good traffic flow. In Columbus, it would be very easy to take a picture with a cow in the foreground and the skyline in the background about 5 miles away. Unfortunately, whether it's fair or not, this is part of Columbus' reputation. Hopefully, as the city continues to spread out, this cowtown thing will go away!!

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by motorman

In a simplistic nutshell, Cincinnati hasn't annexed because it's permeated and surrounded by insular suburbs protected by their hills from the larger whole. (Think Pittsburgh, Bud Lite...) In contrast, Columbus, in its flatness, expanded w/o these historical community impediments .

Cleveland and Cincinnati technically had a chance to annex, even with geographical differences, but I'm not sure if they were already boxed in completely by the 1950s. That's when Columbus' mayor came up with the plan that any area that wanted city services had to annex into the city. I have no doubt that Cleveland/Cincinnati would have done similarly if they'd had the chance.

[goofy328]

Originally Posted by mrman7

I'm sure light rail will be the icing on the cake for Columbus. I mean the airport is undergoing a major renovation and the replacement runway opens in June 2013. The transportation system is improving and I'm sure in several years a proposal will be made regarding light rail especially since Bus Rapid Transit is coming 2016 on Cleveland Ave.

Why not heavy rail?

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by goofy328

Why not heavy rail?

Mega $$$.

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by pontiac51

It's very obvious that you are a little too sensitive and defensive when it comes to Columbus!! First of all, I have gone out of my way on this website to defend Columbus. I am very very familiar with the city and thus I know what it has to offer and what it doesn't have to offer. Second of all, you don't seem to know the difference between perception and reality!! My guess is that there are many people that aren't familiar with Columbus who believe that it is a college town. That's the perception!! Those that are familiar with the city know something completely different. This is why Columbus will ALWAYS be overshadowed by Cleveland and Cincinnati because they are much more well-known and are perceived to have more going on!! This is just the way it is.

While I personally don't believe that Columbus is a cowtown, there is a very good reason why some believe that it is. If you drive I-71 north in Downtown Columbus, while the skyline is very attractive (best in Ohio, in my opinion), it's almost all farms until right before you reach I-70. If you drive 70 west out of downtown, you reach the farms in about 5 minutes if there is good traffic flow. In Columbus, it would be very easy to take a picture with a cow in the foreground and the skyline in the background about 5 miles away. Unfortunately, whether it's fair or not, this is part of Columbus' reputation. Hopefully, as the city continues to spread out, this cowtown thing will go away!!

Reality changes perception all the time. Just like it will take cities like Cleveland some time to break out of the "rust belt" moniker, even though it's already well into revitalization, it will take Columbus time to break out of its own old perceptions, whether or not they are still true. But they do ultimately break out from under them. And truthfully, I hear Columbus and "college town" mentioned in the same sentence only really by people who don't like Columbus. I can't say I remember the last time I heard that from anyone else. The reality is that Columbus is a city that happens to have a large university. It is no longer so completely defined by it alone the way it was 20-25 years ago. And let's be honest, if you're there all the time, you should know that already, yet you seem to want to keep that perception alive regardless. Hardly the kind of defense it deserves.

Always is a very long time. Things can and do change, and it can happen very fast. There is really nothing that stands as a significant hurdle for Columbus to gain in reputation. I don't even care whether or not it overshadows the other 2-Cs. They'll be fine regardless, but I do think it's inevitable that Columbus reaches a point where it's at least even.

And I still don't get why Columbus being a compact metro is a problem. People are always saying it sprawls, yet at the same time saying it doesn't because it doesn't spread out very far from its core. This seems like an obvious contradition to me. Does it sprawl or doesn't it? I actually think Columbus being compact is extremely beneficial in one very important way. It means that the city has less infrastructure to pay for. Sprawl has been proven to be expensive and has a far lower return for the money than urban density, so I can't imagine why being a compact, densifying city is anything but a positive in the long run. In fact, wasn't one of the ideas for helping shrinking city budgets was to bulldoze everything and return unused/abandoned areas back into prairie? So why shouldn't it be good when the city is already compact, especially when it's actually still growing? I wish someone would explain these things to me because there seems to be a lot of contradictory views when it comes to Columbus.