Elements of Urbanism: Columbus, Ohio
Metro Jacksonville visits a peer community with a vibrant downtown in Central Ohio: Columbus
Tale of the Tape:
Columbus Pop. 2011: 797,434 (City); 1,858,464 (Metro-2011) - (incorporated in 1812)
Jacksonville Pop. 2011: 827,908 (City); 1,360,251 (Metro-2011) - (incorporated in 1832)
City population 1950: Jacksonville (204,517); Columbus (375,901)
Metropolitan Area Growth Rate (2010-2011)
Columbus: +1.19%
Jacksonville: +1.09%
Urban Area Population (2010 census)
Columbus: 1,368,035 (ranked 36 nationwide)
Jacksonville: 1,065,219 (ranked 40 nationwide)
Urban Area Population Density (2010 census)
Columbus: 2,680.0 people per square mile
Jacksonville: 2,008.5 people per square mile
City Population Growth from 2000 to 2011
Columbus: +85,964
Jacksonville: +92,405
Convention Center Exhibition Space:
Columbus: Greater Columbus Convention Center (1993) - 426,000 square feet
Jacksonville: Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center (1986) - 78,500 square feet
Attached to Convention Center:
Columbus: Hyatt Regency Commons (631 rooms), Drury Inn & Suites (180 rooms)
Jacksonville: N/A
Tallest Building:
Columbus: Rhodes State Office Tower - 629 feet
Jacksonville: Bank of America Tower - 617 feet
Fortune 500 companies:
Columbus: Nationwide (100), American Electric Power (176), Limited Brands (256), Momentive Specialty Chemicals (452), Big Lots (476)
Jacksonville: CSX (226), Winn-Dixie Stores (363), Fidelity National Information Services (425), Fidelity National Financial (472)
Urban infill obstacles:
Columbus: Downtown is walled off from adjacent neighborhoods by loop formed by three expressways.
Jacksonville: State & Union Streets cut off Downtown Jacksonville from Springfield.
Downtown Nightlife:
Columbus: Gay Street, Short North, Arena & Brewery Districts.
Jacksonville: East Bay Street
Common Downtown Albatross:
Surface parking lots.
Who's Downtown is more walkable?
Columbus: 86 out of 100, according to walkscore.com
Jacksonville: 78 out of 100, according to walkscore.com
About Downtown Columbus
Downtown Columbus centers around the intersection of Broad Street and High Street, with the northeast corners being known simple as Broad & High by the surrounding businesses and media. Downtown as a whole encompasses all the area inside the inner belt and is home to most of the largest buildings in Columbus. The State Capitol is located on the southeast corner of Broad & High, in Capitol Square. Downtown is also home to Columbus State Community College, Franklin University, Columbus College of Art and Design, Grant Medical Center, as well as the main branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, the Main Street Bridge and many parks. Downtown has many neighborhoods or "districts", but it can easily be separated into three main areas; The Discovery District, High Street Corridor, and the Riverfront. The Short North, Italian Village, and Victorian Village are directly north of Downtown. Olde Towne East, and the historic King-Lincoln District are directly east, while the Brewery District and German Village are directly south of Downtown. Franklinton is to the west of Downtown, with a portion of Franklinton in Downtown.In the northwest area is the Arena District, a mixed-use development centered around Nationwide Arena, the home of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Arena District also includes the baseball stadium Huntington Park and the Lifestyle Communities Pavilion.
Downtown is currently home to approximately 11,000 residents.
The Brewery District dates back to 1836 when its first brewery was opened by German immigrant Louis Hoster. At the height of its success, there were five breweries located in the area. As the years passed, consolidation of the breweries took place. However, the market went south when in 1919 the 18th Amendment (Prohibition) was approved. The area declined, becoming home to some industry and warehouses. In recent years, redevelopment has taken place on a large scale, with numerous restaurants, bars, and even a grocery store coming to the area.
The Westin Columbus Hotel was originally known as the Great Southern Fireproof Hotel and Opera House when it opened in 1897.
The new $105 million, 325,000-square-foot Franklin County Courthouse opened in June 2011. Much of the design work on the courthouse focused on making the building environmentally friendly. That includes a sod-like green roof to reduce storm-water runoff into city sewers, a building layout designed to reduce heating and cooling loads, low-flow and dual-flush plumbing fixtures and exterior sun shades to cut glare and heat gain. There also is a rain garden and collection tank to catch and store water for irrigation of courthouse landscaping and a series of high windows help pull daylight to illuminated interior spaces.
Columbus Commons is a 9-acre park located on the site of the former Columbus City Center Mall. With the decline of Columbus City Center, plans were announced in February 2009 to replace the mall with a project that includes an urban park, homes, offices, restaurants and shops. In April 2009, Capitol South requested federal stimulus funds to help finance the demolition of the mall and construction of the park, but was rejected. Financing eventually came in the form of Columbus City Council allowing Capitol South to refinance existing City Center parking garage loans and use funds earmarked for downtown housing. CDDC, Capitol South, the Franklin County Commissioners and Columbus Metro Parks, funded the creation of Columbus Commons with a goal to redevelop this downtown property. The first phase of the project cost a total of $20 million. Demolition of City Center began in September 2009 and construction of the Columbus Commons began in mid 2010. The design team was made up of construction manager Corna-Kokosing, architects Moody Nolan and landscape architects EDGE Group. The park opened to the public on Memorial Day weekend 2011.
The Scioto River rises in west central Ohio and flows 231 miles south to where it meets the Ohio River at Portsmouth. During the antebellum years, the Scioto River provided a route to freedom for many enslaved people escaping from the South, as they continued north after crossing the Ohio River. Too small for modern commercial shipping, its primary economic importance is for recreation and drinking water.
The Scioto Mile is an urban oasis comprised of more than 145 acres of lush parkland. Stretching along the riverfront from the vibrant Arena District to the natural beauty of the Whittier Peninsula, the Scioto Mile reconnects downtown to the Scioto River through an integrated system of parks, boulevards, bikeways and pedestrian paths. The $40 million riverfront investment opened in July 2011 and was a part of a city's five-part revitalization plan created in 2002.
The Palace Theatre is a 2,827-seat restored movie palace that originally opened in 1926.
The intersection of Broad & High Streets is the epicenter of downtown Columbus.
Built between 1839 and 1861, the Ohio Statehouse anchors the southeast corner of Broad & High Streets.
Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) is the largest state pension fund in Ohio. OPERS' 12-story office tower was completed in 2002 and is adjacent to the Grant Medical Center. Established in 1900, Grant Medical Center is one of the top hospitals in the U.S. and is nationally recognized by the American College of Surgeons for its Level I Trauma Center, robotic and minimally invasive surgery, heart and vascular care, neurosciences and orthopedics.
The main branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library opened in 1907.
Formed in 1878, as the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, the Columbus Museum of Art was the first art museum to register its charter with the state of Ohio. The museum opened in the current building on January 22, 1931.
The first services at this chapel for the Broad Street United Methodist Church were held on Easter Sunday 1885.
The Columbus College of Art & Design (CCAD) is a private college founded in 1879 as the Columbus Art School. With an enrollment of 1,300 full-time students, CCAD offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in nine areas: Advertising and Graphic Design, Fashion Design, Fine Arts (including painting, drawing, ceramics, sculpture, printmaking, and glassblowing), Illustration, Industrial Design, Interior Design, Photography, Animation, and Media Studies including computer graphics, video and computer animation. In addition to major areas of concentration, CCAD also offers specialized courses of study in art therapy, fashion illustration, product design, package design.
Over the last decade, the Gay Street corridor has been a focal point of city leadership. To stimulate redevelopment, developers along the corridor have recieved low interest loans, a new parking garage and the conversion of the former one way street into a bi-direcational livable street.
THE ARENA DISTRICT
The Arena District is a 75-acre mixed use urban infill and master planned development. It centers around Nationwide Arena, the home of the Columbus Blue Jackets NHL team. The district is also the site of Huntington Park, the new home for the Triple-A Columbus Clippers. Additionally, the outdoor music venue Lifestyle Communities Pavilion, as well as the Arena Grand Theatre are both located in the Arena District. It is developed, managed and marketed by Nationwide Realty Investors, the real estate development affiliate of Nationwide, which has its world headquarters in Columbus.
Before its creation in the late 1990s, the area was home to the Ohio Penitentiary, closed since 1983. The Penitentiary was demolished in 1998.
Completed in 2009, Huntington Park is a $70 million, 10,100 seat ballpark. It is the home of the Columbus Clippers, a Triple-A minor league baseball team currently affiliated with the Cleveland Indians.
The 20,000 seat Nationwide Arena opened in 2000 and is the home of the National Hockey League's (NHL) Columbus Blue Jackets.
Also known as Arch Park, McFerson Commons is a 2.2 acre green space in the Arena District. The central point of the park is the old Union Station arch. The entire Union Station was demolished in the 1970's except for this arch which was reconstructed in McFerson Commons prior to the move. This park over looks Nationwide Arena to the North and the new North Bank Park can be seen just to the south.
Open lawn is used for kickball, flag football, and special events. Contains arch from Union Train Station designed by Daniel Burnham in 1983. Arch was main portal at entry to station that once stood along high street where the convention center now stands.
Ohio’s capital city, like many others in 19th century America, built a series of public markets to facilitate agricultural and industrial as well as retail trade around the middle of the 19th century.
By the mid-20th century, changing demographics and shopping preferences, coupled with a series of fires left Columbus with only one public market, the North Market, which after a 1947 fire was housed in a Quonset hut erected by the Merchant’s Association.
In 1988, a group called the North Market Development Authority was established as part of a movement to restore the market and the market concept to its former status as a vital part of the Columbus community. The suburbanization of the city had dealt the downtown area an economic blow, but the success of the movement to preserve Columbus’ German Village neighborhood provided an example that large-scale neighborhood rehabilitation was possible in the capital city. In 1982, the North Market District was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places by the Columbus Landmarks Foundation and in December 1992, Nationwide Insurance sold the NMDA the former Advanced Thresher farm machinery warehouse located just behind the market’s original High Street location. The rehabilitated warehouse, financed by $5 million raised by NDMA from corporate and city sources, reopened as the new North Market in November 1995.
The market can be thought of as a concept somewhere between a shopping mall and a supermarket. Its retail space is leased out to independent merchants and artisans who operate within the market. The current 36 merchants are a mixture of delis, bakeries, pastry shops, ethnic food restaurants, specialty goods stores, and produce stands. One million shoppers visit the North Market every year, and many regular customers develop personal relationships with the owners and operators of the market’s businesses.
The Greater Columbus Convention Center was constructed in 1993 and expanded in 1999. The 1,700,000-square-foot facility includes 426,000 square feet of exhibition space, two ballrooms and 61 meeting rooms.
The Hyde Park Steakhouse occupies a retail space constructed over Interstate 670. Columbus-based developer Continental Real Estate opened the $7.5 million Cap project in 2004, with public funding from the Ohio Department of Transportation and the city of Columbus. The shopping strip offers 27,000 square feet of space for retail and restaurants, and serves as a connecting bridge between downtown Columbus and the Short North.
THE SHORT NORTH DISTRICT
As Metro Jacksonville's resident urban planner, the vibrancy of Columbus' Short North district is what I envision a vibrant Main Street (Springfield), Edgewood Avenue (Murray Hill), Park Street (Brooklyn) or A. Philip Randolph Boulevard (Eastside) to resemble.
The Short North is a neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio, United States, centered on the main strip of High Street immediately north of downtown and extending until just south of the Ohio State University campus area. It is an easy walk from the convention center or Nationwide Arena district to the north. The Short North is often crowded on weekends, particularly during the monthly "Gallery Hop" and other local and downtown events.
The Short North is heavily populated with art galleries, specialty shops, pubs, nightclubs, and coffee houses. Most of its tightly packed brick buildings date from at least the early 20th century, with traditional storefronts along High Street (often with brightly painted murals on their side walls), and old apartment buildings and rowhouses and newer condominium developments in the surrounding blocks. The city installed 17 lighted metal archways extending across High Street throughout the Short North, reminiscent of such arches present in the area in the early 1900s.
The area is also known to be a very gay and lesbian friendly neighborhood and many gay nightclubs and bars are located the area and is the location of the annual Columbus gay pride parade.
The Ohio State University was established in 1870 and currently has an enrollment of 56,867 students in Columbus. The 1,764-acre main campus is approximately 2.5 miles north of downtown COlumbus. Short North is located between OSU and downtown Columbus, with High Street as the main thoroughfare.
LEARNING FROM COLUMBUS
As a Jaxson passing through Columbus, here are a few things that stood out to me that tend to visually add life to downtown Columbus. All three are areas where Jacksonville tends to struggle.
1. Architectural Diversity
From the modern Franklin County Courthouse to the inclusion of the former Union Station Arch as a part of McFerson Commons, it is clear that the promotion of architectural creativity is alive and well in downtown Columbus.
2. Building Signage
Building signage is one of the major visual and physical differences between downtown Columbus and downtown Jacksonville. The unique combination of signage and using buildings as advertising creates a flair of life that doesn't exist in Jacksonville's Northbank.
Signage
3. Maintenance of Public Spaces
The excellent maintenance of public parks and spaces clearly standout in downtown Columbus. Founded in 1947, the City of Columbus Parks and Recreation Department provides the highest quality park and recreation services for the citizens of Columbus. Responsible for the maintenance and improvement of over 600 acres of park land and over 19 miles of People Trails, the Department has completed over $20 million in development projects, including the nationally recognized $8 million Mill Race Park. Columbus Parks and Recreation Department also provides programming and facilities for use by the community.
4. Urban Housing Diversity
The diversity in urban housing profucts also separate downtown Columbus from downtown Jacksonville. Rowhouses, townhouses, lofts, high rise condominium towers and mid-20th century office buildings into apartments all blend together to provide downtown Columbus' 11,000 residents with a place to stay.
Article and images by Ennis Davis
Columbus Pop. 2011: 797,434 (City); 1,858,464 (Metro-2011) - (incorporated in 1812)
Jacksonville Pop. 2011: 827,908 (City); 1,360,251 (Metro-2011) - (incorporated in 1832)
City population 1950: Jacksonville (204,517); Columbus (375,901)
Metropolitan Area Growth Rate (2010-2011)
Columbus: +1.19%
Jacksonville: +1.09%
Urban Area Population (2010 census)
Columbus: 1,368,035 (ranked 36 nationwide)
Jacksonville: 1,065,219 (ranked 40 nationwide)
Urban Area Population Density (2010 census)
Columbus: 2,680.0 people per square mile
Jacksonville: 2,008.5 people per square mile
City Population Growth from 2000 to 2011
Columbus: +85,964
Jacksonville: +92,405
Convention Center Exhibition Space:
Columbus: Greater Columbus Convention Center (1993) - 426,000 square feet
Jacksonville: Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center (1986) - 78,500 square feet
Attached to Convention Center:
Columbus: Hyatt Regency Commons (631 rooms), Drury Inn & Suites (180 rooms)
Jacksonville: N/A
Tallest Building:
Columbus: Rhodes State Office Tower - 629 feet
Jacksonville: Bank of America Tower - 617 feet
Fortune 500 companies:
Columbus: Nationwide (100), American Electric Power (176), Limited Brands (256), Momentive Specialty Chemicals (452), Big Lots (476)
Jacksonville: CSX (226), Winn-Dixie Stores (363), Fidelity National Information Services (425), Fidelity National Financial (472)
Urban infill obstacles:
Columbus: Downtown is walled off from adjacent neighborhoods by loop formed by three expressways.
Jacksonville: State & Union Streets cut off Downtown Jacksonville from Springfield.
Downtown Nightlife:
Columbus: Gay Street, Short North, Arena & Brewery Districts.
Jacksonville: East Bay Street
Common Downtown Albatross:
Surface parking lots.
Who's Downtown is more walkable?
Columbus: 86 out of 100, according to walkscore.com
Jacksonville: 78 out of 100, according to walkscore.com
About Downtown Columbus
Downtown Columbus centers around the intersection of Broad Street and High Street, with the northeast corners being known simple as Broad & High by the surrounding businesses and media. Downtown as a whole encompasses all the area inside the inner belt and is home to most of the largest buildings in Columbus. The State Capitol is located on the southeast corner of Broad & High, in Capitol Square. Downtown is also home to Columbus State Community College, Franklin University, Columbus College of Art and Design, Grant Medical Center, as well as the main branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, the Main Street Bridge and many parks. Downtown has many neighborhoods or "districts", but it can easily be separated into three main areas; The Discovery District, High Street Corridor, and the Riverfront. The Short North, Italian Village, and Victorian Village are directly north of Downtown. Olde Towne East, and the historic King-Lincoln District are directly east, while the Brewery District and German Village are directly south of Downtown. Franklinton is to the west of Downtown, with a portion of Franklinton in Downtown.In the northwest area is the Arena District, a mixed-use development centered around Nationwide Arena, the home of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Arena District also includes the baseball stadium Huntington Park and the Lifestyle Communities Pavilion.
Downtown is currently home to approximately 11,000 residents.
The Brewery District dates back to 1836 when its first brewery was opened by German immigrant Louis Hoster. At the height of its success, there were five breweries located in the area. As the years passed, consolidation of the breweries took place. However, the market went south when in 1919 the 18th Amendment (Prohibition) was approved. The area declined, becoming home to some industry and warehouses. In recent years, redevelopment has taken place on a large scale, with numerous restaurants, bars, and even a grocery store coming to the area.
The Westin Columbus Hotel was originally known as the Great Southern Fireproof Hotel and Opera House when it opened in 1897.
The new $105 million, 325,000-square-foot Franklin County Courthouse opened in June 2011. Much of the design work on the courthouse focused on making the building environmentally friendly. That includes a sod-like green roof to reduce storm-water runoff into city sewers, a building layout designed to reduce heating and cooling loads, low-flow and dual-flush plumbing fixtures and exterior sun shades to cut glare and heat gain. There also is a rain garden and collection tank to catch and store water for irrigation of courthouse landscaping and a series of high windows help pull daylight to illuminated interior spaces.
Columbus Commons is a 9-acre park located on the site of the former Columbus City Center Mall. With the decline of Columbus City Center, plans were announced in February 2009 to replace the mall with a project that includes an urban park, homes, offices, restaurants and shops. In April 2009, Capitol South requested federal stimulus funds to help finance the demolition of the mall and construction of the park, but was rejected. Financing eventually came in the form of Columbus City Council allowing Capitol South to refinance existing City Center parking garage loans and use funds earmarked for downtown housing. CDDC, Capitol South, the Franklin County Commissioners and Columbus Metro Parks, funded the creation of Columbus Commons with a goal to redevelop this downtown property. The first phase of the project cost a total of $20 million. Demolition of City Center began in September 2009 and construction of the Columbus Commons began in mid 2010. The design team was made up of construction manager Corna-Kokosing, architects Moody Nolan and landscape architects EDGE Group. The park opened to the public on Memorial Day weekend 2011.
The Scioto River rises in west central Ohio and flows 231 miles south to where it meets the Ohio River at Portsmouth. During the antebellum years, the Scioto River provided a route to freedom for many enslaved people escaping from the South, as they continued north after crossing the Ohio River. Too small for modern commercial shipping, its primary economic importance is for recreation and drinking water.
The Scioto Mile is an urban oasis comprised of more than 145 acres of lush parkland. Stretching along the riverfront from the vibrant Arena District to the natural beauty of the Whittier Peninsula, the Scioto Mile reconnects downtown to the Scioto River through an integrated system of parks, boulevards, bikeways and pedestrian paths. The $40 million riverfront investment opened in July 2011 and was a part of a city's five-part revitalization plan created in 2002.
The Palace Theatre is a 2,827-seat restored movie palace that originally opened in 1926.
The intersection of Broad & High Streets is the epicenter of downtown Columbus.
Built between 1839 and 1861, the Ohio Statehouse anchors the southeast corner of Broad & High Streets.
Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) is the largest state pension fund in Ohio. OPERS' 12-story office tower was completed in 2002 and is adjacent to the Grant Medical Center. Established in 1900, Grant Medical Center is one of the top hospitals in the U.S. and is nationally recognized by the American College of Surgeons for its Level I Trauma Center, robotic and minimally invasive surgery, heart and vascular care, neurosciences and orthopedics.
The main branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library opened in 1907.
Formed in 1878, as the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, the Columbus Museum of Art was the first art museum to register its charter with the state of Ohio. The museum opened in the current building on January 22, 1931.
The first services at this chapel for the Broad Street United Methodist Church were held on Easter Sunday 1885.
The Columbus College of Art & Design (CCAD) is a private college founded in 1879 as the Columbus Art School. With an enrollment of 1,300 full-time students, CCAD offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in nine areas: Advertising and Graphic Design, Fashion Design, Fine Arts (including painting, drawing, ceramics, sculpture, printmaking, and glassblowing), Illustration, Industrial Design, Interior Design, Photography, Animation, and Media Studies including computer graphics, video and computer animation. In addition to major areas of concentration, CCAD also offers specialized courses of study in art therapy, fashion illustration, product design, package design.
Over the last decade, the Gay Street corridor has been a focal point of city leadership. To stimulate redevelopment, developers along the corridor have recieved low interest loans, a new parking garage and the conversion of the former one way street into a bi-direcational livable street.
THE ARENA DISTRICT
The Arena District is a 75-acre mixed use urban infill and master planned development. It centers around Nationwide Arena, the home of the Columbus Blue Jackets NHL team. The district is also the site of Huntington Park, the new home for the Triple-A Columbus Clippers. Additionally, the outdoor music venue Lifestyle Communities Pavilion, as well as the Arena Grand Theatre are both located in the Arena District. It is developed, managed and marketed by Nationwide Realty Investors, the real estate development affiliate of Nationwide, which has its world headquarters in Columbus.
Before its creation in the late 1990s, the area was home to the Ohio Penitentiary, closed since 1983. The Penitentiary was demolished in 1998.
Completed in 2009, Huntington Park is a $70 million, 10,100 seat ballpark. It is the home of the Columbus Clippers, a Triple-A minor league baseball team currently affiliated with the Cleveland Indians.
The 20,000 seat Nationwide Arena opened in 2000 and is the home of the National Hockey League's (NHL) Columbus Blue Jackets.
Also known as Arch Park, McFerson Commons is a 2.2 acre green space in the Arena District. The central point of the park is the old Union Station arch. The entire Union Station was demolished in the 1970's except for this arch which was reconstructed in McFerson Commons prior to the move. This park over looks Nationwide Arena to the North and the new North Bank Park can be seen just to the south.
Open lawn is used for kickball, flag football, and special events. Contains arch from Union Train Station designed by Daniel Burnham in 1983. Arch was main portal at entry to station that once stood along high street where the convention center now stands.
Ohio’s capital city, like many others in 19th century America, built a series of public markets to facilitate agricultural and industrial as well as retail trade around the middle of the 19th century.
By the mid-20th century, changing demographics and shopping preferences, coupled with a series of fires left Columbus with only one public market, the North Market, which after a 1947 fire was housed in a Quonset hut erected by the Merchant’s Association.
In 1988, a group called the North Market Development Authority was established as part of a movement to restore the market and the market concept to its former status as a vital part of the Columbus community. The suburbanization of the city had dealt the downtown area an economic blow, but the success of the movement to preserve Columbus’ German Village neighborhood provided an example that large-scale neighborhood rehabilitation was possible in the capital city. In 1982, the North Market District was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places by the Columbus Landmarks Foundation and in December 1992, Nationwide Insurance sold the NMDA the former Advanced Thresher farm machinery warehouse located just behind the market’s original High Street location. The rehabilitated warehouse, financed by $5 million raised by NDMA from corporate and city sources, reopened as the new North Market in November 1995.
The market can be thought of as a concept somewhere between a shopping mall and a supermarket. Its retail space is leased out to independent merchants and artisans who operate within the market. The current 36 merchants are a mixture of delis, bakeries, pastry shops, ethnic food restaurants, specialty goods stores, and produce stands. One million shoppers visit the North Market every year, and many regular customers develop personal relationships with the owners and operators of the market’s businesses.
The Greater Columbus Convention Center was constructed in 1993 and expanded in 1999. The 1,700,000-square-foot facility includes 426,000 square feet of exhibition space, two ballrooms and 61 meeting rooms.
The Hyde Park Steakhouse occupies a retail space constructed over Interstate 670. Columbus-based developer Continental Real Estate opened the $7.5 million Cap project in 2004, with public funding from the Ohio Department of Transportation and the city of Columbus. The shopping strip offers 27,000 square feet of space for retail and restaurants, and serves as a connecting bridge between downtown Columbus and the Short North.
THE SHORT NORTH DISTRICT
As Metro Jacksonville's resident urban planner, the vibrancy of Columbus' Short North district is what I envision a vibrant Main Street (Springfield), Edgewood Avenue (Murray Hill), Park Street (Brooklyn) or A. Philip Randolph Boulevard (Eastside) to resemble.
The Short North is a neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio, United States, centered on the main strip of High Street immediately north of downtown and extending until just south of the Ohio State University campus area. It is an easy walk from the convention center or Nationwide Arena district to the north. The Short North is often crowded on weekends, particularly during the monthly "Gallery Hop" and other local and downtown events.
The Short North is heavily populated with art galleries, specialty shops, pubs, nightclubs, and coffee houses. Most of its tightly packed brick buildings date from at least the early 20th century, with traditional storefronts along High Street (often with brightly painted murals on their side walls), and old apartment buildings and rowhouses and newer condominium developments in the surrounding blocks. The city installed 17 lighted metal archways extending across High Street throughout the Short North, reminiscent of such arches present in the area in the early 1900s.
The area is also known to be a very gay and lesbian friendly neighborhood and many gay nightclubs and bars are located the area and is the location of the annual Columbus gay pride parade.
The Ohio State University was established in 1870 and currently has an enrollment of 56,867 students in Columbus. The 1,764-acre main campus is approximately 2.5 miles north of downtown COlumbus. Short North is located between OSU and downtown Columbus, with High Street as the main thoroughfare.
LEARNING FROM COLUMBUS
As a Jaxson passing through Columbus, here are a few things that stood out to me that tend to visually add life to downtown Columbus. All three are areas where Jacksonville tends to struggle.
1. Architectural Diversity
From the modern Franklin County Courthouse to the inclusion of the former Union Station Arch as a part of McFerson Commons, it is clear that the promotion of architectural creativity is alive and well in downtown Columbus.
2. Building Signage
Building signage is one of the major visual and physical differences between downtown Columbus and downtown Jacksonville. The unique combination of signage and using buildings as advertising creates a flair of life that doesn't exist in Jacksonville's Northbank.
Signage
3. Maintenance of Public Spaces
The excellent maintenance of public parks and spaces clearly standout in downtown Columbus. Founded in 1947, the City of Columbus Parks and Recreation Department provides the highest quality park and recreation services for the citizens of Columbus. Responsible for the maintenance and improvement of over 600 acres of park land and over 19 miles of People Trails, the Department has completed over $20 million in development projects, including the nationally recognized $8 million Mill Race Park. Columbus Parks and Recreation Department also provides programming and facilities for use by the community.
4. Urban Housing Diversity
The diversity in urban housing profucts also separate downtown Columbus from downtown Jacksonville. Rowhouses, townhouses, lofts, high rise condominium towers and mid-20th century office buildings into apartments all blend together to provide downtown Columbus' 11,000 residents with a place to stay.
Article and images by Ennis Davis