My Perceptions of Columbus (Cleveland, Cincinnati: how much, layoffs, neighborhoods)

[usernameunavailable]

I visited Columbus for the 2nd time today, and just wanted to share some general thoughts, both positives and negatives. I visited from Cleveland, and thoroughly enjoy your city

Pros
- Scioto (sp?) riverwalk is beautifully landscaped and the skyline views are breathtaking
- Cbus is building more than Cleveland and it feels in the more positive vibes
- German Village. Not enough positive things to say about it (Could easily be a neighborhood in Philly or Boston, wasnt expecting such a gem in Cbus)
- Short North. Posters on here had told me it was Ohio's densest neighborhood, with me not believing it. While I don't have census data facts, I can certainly believe it off visiting. It's what Ohio City should want to become
- Arena District. Practically every storefront in the Arena District is a hockey themed bar, shows that the city is invested in the Jackets (and yes, I know they are in the playoffs)
-OSU is HUGE for Columbus. Bringing in 60,000+ students probably about 20,000 of whom are out of state is a great way for out of staters to see Columbus
-Sports Culture. NCAAB, NCAAF and the NHL are my 3 favorite sports overall, cannot beat Columbus with regardss to a combination like that.
Cons
- Too many new, bland skyscrapers downtown
- COTA Service is eh at best, although better than I was expecting
- The overall driving culture there. A good friend of mine works in the planning department for COTA and she advised people to drive instead of take the bus.
-Generally flat terrain. The Midwest landscape stereotype is true unfortunately.

Overall, I really enjoyed the place and could definitely see myself living there if the transit situation improves. I will definitely be back at some point to explore the North Market and catch a CBJ game. Just my observations, tried to be unbiased.

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by usernameunavailable

Short North. Posters on here had told me it was Ohio's densest neighborhood, with me not believing it. While I don't have census data facts, I can certainly believe it off visiting. It's what Ohio City should want to become

What's the population density of Short North? Does it exceed Shaker Square in Cleveland or Lakewood's Gold Coast? I'm doubtful.

Lakewood's overall population density is 9,427/sq. mi., the highest of any Ohio city, largely because of its high-rise Gold Coast residential district. City-data says the population density of Short North is only 8,620/sq. mile, and they aren't including all of Victorian Village and Italian Village, which several posters in this forum say are part of the Short North neighborhood.

//www.city-data.com/neighborhoo...lumbus-OH.html

Lakewood's Gold Coast has a population density of 19,394/sq. mi., per this site.

https://www.weichert.com/search/comm...spx?hood=49028

The population density of Shaker Square in Cleveland is over 13,900/square mile.

http://statisticalatlas.com/neighbor...ker/Population

Overall, Ohio City is more akin to German Village except with the large commercial Market District. It does have some multi-story residential buildings, several in the Market District.

[Jbeechuk]

"Skyline views are breathtaking"

Hmmmm. Never heard anyone say that about the Columbus skyline before.

[captainclipper]

Great post OP. I think you're generally very correct in your observations. A couple notes:

The actual densest neighborhood in Ohio is south campus, where the census tract west of High between about 11th Ave and King had 30k ppl/sqmi. Several others in the immediate vicinity were between 20-25k as well. No other tracts in Ohio meet or exceed these amounts (see - http://www.nytimes.com/projects/census/2010/map.html).

High St though, all the way from campus to downtown is impressively densifying. It will be very interesting to see what the next census says and know exactly how much growth has occurred since 2010. Virtually every block it seems has a proposal for at least 100 new units, and there are 1000+ being developed as well on each of the east and west fringes of the neighborhood in Harrison West and at Jeffrey Park.

I agree also that OSU is a huge thing working in Columbus' favor. It basically acts as a factory for turning farm country/suburban Ohioans into urban dwellers (in addition to the large international and out-of-state population). It's a very dense, big-city campus, where students walk everywhere, (no cars are allowed as well for 1st-years), and unlimited bus service is included with student fees. The neighborhood will also get even better with the ongoing development on High St including a urban-format Target store and many other new retail amenities.

COTA is very good along High St, but less so throughout the rest of the city. This should improve with their upcoming total redesign of the bus network which is launching next month. It vastly expands frequent service as well as simplifying routes and beefing up hours of operations evenings and weekends. Wifi on the buses and mobile fare payment are also being worked out for implementation late this year or early 2018.

Landscape-wise I agree with you that the mostly-flat terrain is not so interesting. One exception I'd encourage you to check out are the beautiful and scenic ravines in the Clintonville area. Glen Echo, Walhalla, Overbrook, Rush Run, etc are unexpected but very nice breaks in the urban Columbus landscape. Also our flagship, historic urban parks - Goodale, Schiller, and Franklin are very nice oases in the city which anchor their respective residential neighborhoods.

Sports - While the CBJs current playoff push is not going well, overall the games are a lot of fun to attend and the Arena District is a phenomenal environment to see them in. MLS crew games, minor-league Clippers baseball, and B1G NCAAF of course round out Columbus' unique offerings when compared to Cleveland and Cincinnati.

Hope you come back and visit again soon!

[usernameunavailable]

I'm an Islanders fan but I'm definitely rooting for the CBJ tonight!! Next season I plan on making a trip to Cbus to catch the NYI in action.

Another difference I noticed between Cbus and Cleveland is the road pavement. Are the Cbus streets filled with gold? They were incredibly smooth and well paved.

Also, WRNative, I actually was at 16Bit on Detroit Ave in Lakewood last night, so I definitely know about how dense Lakewood is

[Buckeye614]

Originally Posted by usernameunavailable

I visited Columbus for the 2nd time today, and just wanted to share some general thoughts, both positives and negatives. I visited from Cleveland, and thoroughly enjoy your city

Pros
- Scioto (sp?) riverwalk is beautifully landscaped and the skyline views are breathtaking
- Cbus is building more than Cleveland and it feels in the more positive vibes
- German Village. Not enough positive things to say about it (Could easily be a neighborhood in Philly or Boston, wasnt expecting such a gem in Cbus)
- Short North. Posters on here had told me it was Ohio's densest neighborhood, with me not believing it. While I don't have census data facts, I can certainly believe it off visiting. It's what Ohio City should want to become
- Arena District. Practically every storefront in the Arena District is a hockey themed bar, shows that the city is invested in the Jackets (and yes, I know they are in the playoffs)
-OSU is HUGE for Columbus. Bringing in 60,000+ students probably about 20,000 of whom are out of state is a great way for out of staters to see Columbus
-Sports Culture. NCAAB, NCAAF and the NHL are my 3 favorite sports overall, cannot beat Columbus with regardss to a combination like that.
Cons
- Too many new, bland skyscrapers downtown
- COTA Service is eh at best, although better than I was expecting
- The overall driving culture there. A good friend of mine works in the planning department for COTA and she advised people to drive instead of take the bus.
-Generally flat terrain. The Midwest landscape stereotype is true unfortunately.

Overall, I really enjoyed the place and could definitely see myself living there if the transit situation improves. I will definitely be back at some point to explore the North Market and catch a CBJ game. Just my observations, tried to be unbiased.

I'm very glad you enjoyed your time here agree with your assessment overall which I find to be pretty spot on. Can't really disagree with any of it to be honest.

[usernameunavailable]

Originally Posted by Buckeye614

I'm very glad you enjoyed your time here agree with your assessment overall which I find to be pretty spot on. Can't really disagree with any of it to be honest.

I had a generally positive experience, but the city is not without its faults (what city is perfect). Could I see myself applying for jobs there? Absolutely.

Also, there is no such thing as being too much into college sports for me, so I really want to experience the atmosphere during the OSU UM game (as a neutral fan, I'm an Ole Miss fan)

[Buckeye614]

Originally Posted by usernameunavailable

I had a generally positive experience, but the city is not without its faults (what city is perfect). Could I see myself applying for jobs there? Absolutely.

Also, there is no such thing as being too much into college sports for me, so I really want to experience the atmosphere during the OSU UM game (as a neutral fan, I'm an Ole Miss fan)

I love Columbus but of course it has its flaws. Some less than stellar aspects we just need to accept (our natural topgraphy isn't going to get any more interesting, but we are finding ways to improve what we do have i.e. Scioto Mile). Other valid complaints like COTA's inefficiency are being addressed with the redesign of the system which airs May 1st. That's no where near as sexy as light rail but it's an improvement.

The Michigan game is truly a massive holiday in Columbus. The tailgating starts at 5AM and rushing the field this year was absolutely spectacular.

[usernameunavailable]

Originally Posted by Buckeye614

I love Columbus but of course it has its flaws. Some less than stellar aspects we just need to accept (our natural topgraphy isn't going to get any more interesting, but we are finding ways to improve what we do have i.e. Scioto Mile). Other valid complaints like COTA's inefficiency are being addressed with the redesign of the system which airs May 1st. That's no where near as sexy as light rail but it's an improvement.

The Michigan game is truly a massive holiday in Columbus. The tailgating starts at 5AM and rushing the field this year was absolutely spectacular.

Like I said above, I have a good friend who works for COTA. The system redesign is going to be a game changer behind the scenes and will definitely boost ridership outside of downtown, Short north and the arena district. I think High St is too built up to put light rail or BRT along, just gonna have to stick with what you have.

To have a college sports team supported like a pro sports team in a pro sports market is surreal. Really not seen anywhere else in the country except Minneapolis. I ate at Eddie George's place last weekend which was top notch. Definitely recommend it.

[Buckeye5b]

Originally Posted by Buckeye614

I love Columbus but of course it has its flaws. Some less than stellar aspects we just need to accept (our natural topgraphy isn't going to get any more interesting, but we are finding ways to improve what we do have i.e. Scioto Mile). Other valid complaints like COTA's inefficiency are being addressed with the redesign of the system which airs May 1st. That's no where near as sexy as light rail but it's an improvement.

The Michigan game is truly a massive holiday in Columbus. The tailgating starts at 5AM and rushing the field this year was absolutely spectacular.

I take flat lands over mountains and hills any day, just my opinion.