Geek Weekend is a continuing travel series about geeky things to do in cities around the world. Want your city featured? Write us at tips@crunchgear.com.
It’s a common opinion — even amongst its residents — that Columbus, Ohio is “Cow Town, USA” with nothing to do. As a life-long resident, I disagree emphatically with that notion. Columbus is the 15th largest city in the United States, and the greater Columbus area has just under two million residents. Columbus is within a half-days drive of over half the U.S. population, making it easy to reach for many people, as well as making it a good layover for a long drive to another destination. Tourism related sales were $7.2 billion USD in 2007, and according to a Longwood’s International Study the central Ohio region had 55.6 million trips in 2007: 44.3 million day trips, and 11.3 million overnight trips (so the answer is “Yes, people do visit Ohio!”). The Ohio State University, which has anchored Columbus for more than 130 years with a rich history, has more than 50,000 students, which brings a wide variety of activities to town, including arts and cultural events, and concerts at the Newport Music Hall and the Schottenstein Stadium. If you can’t find something to do in Columbus, the shortcoming is your own, and not the city’s! Be that as it may, I’d like to share a short list of my own favorite features around Columbus.
Historical
The Ohio Historical Society has a number of permanent and rotating exhibits showcasing various aspects of Ohio history. The Ohio Historical Society also maintains the Newark Earthworks State Memorial, “the largest system of connected geometric earthworks built anywhere in the world”. Constructed 2000 years ago by the Hopewell culture, the Great Circle Earthworks is “nearly 1200 feet in diameter and was used as a vast ceremonial center by its builders.” The mounds are all very cool, and definitely worth a visit.
If you’re near the OSU campus, I strongly recommend a quick visit to the Orton Geological Museum, in Orton Hall. It’s a single room, and you can literally look at everything on display in about 30 minutes. I think it’s a neat snapshot of Ohio history, with fossils, gemstones, meteorite fragments, and more. And it’s free!
Several famous figures were born in or near Columbus. The Thurber House offers a terrific literary museum dedicated to the author James Thurber. Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon, is an Ohio native, and if you don’t mind a short drive, you can visit the Neil Armstrong Museum in Wapakoneta, northwest of Columbus. Warren Harding, 29th president of the United States, was born in Ohio, and you can visit the Harding Home to learn more about the man and his life.
On the Scioto River in downtown Columbus is an authentic replica of the Santa Maria, the ship Christopher Columbus used on his search for a trade route to the Indies.
The Chief Leatherlips Monument is a little different, and worth a look if you’re out by Dublin, northwest of Columbus. And the Olentangy Indian Caverns have been delighting kids for decades.
Museums
The Columbus Museum of Art is a nice, easy-to-visit museum in downtown Columbus. It’s certainly not the Louvre, but it has a decent selection of artwork in a variety of mediums, and a variety of works produced by Ohio artists. You can easily visit the museum and still have time to do something else in town. Admission is free on Sundays!
COSI, the Center of Science and Industry, is a favorite for kids of all ages. With its terrific mix of hands-on activities, there’s a lot to see, do, and learn at COSI. I can easily spend a couple hours here, even without attending any of the Extreme Screen theater presentations. Be sure to check the schedule for the various demonstration exhibitions — they’re a terrific and interactive experience.
The Wexner Center for the Arts, on the OSU campus, has an eclectic mix of exhibitions. Modern art, performance art, film and theater, even comics, have all been showcased at different times. There’s almost always something going on at the Wex, and it makes a great showcase event for any tour of the OSU campus.
Eating
Columbus has a number of world-famous dining establishments, as well as a lot of local favorites.
Schmidt’s Sausage Haus in historic German Village is a favorite spot for many tourists, as is The Spaghetti Warehouse. Both are a little more corporate than I usually prefer, but you’re sure to get a good meal and have a good time at each.
The Thurman Cafe is the place I keep meaning to take all of my out-of-town friends when they visit, and almost always fail to do so. The place sits about 40 people, and has a waiting room that holds at least that many. The waits usually aren’t too long, and they’re definitely worth it. The world-famous Thurman Burger absolutely has to be seen to be believed!
The Blue Danube, just north of the Ohio State University campus, is another hidden gem. It’s your typical greasy spoon, and has been a mainstay of campus life for several decades. Be sure to check out the ceiling while you’re there: the ceiling tiles may be purchased by patrons to decorate! There are some terrific pieces up there, and it adds a lot of character to an already interesting establishment.
And of course, Columbus is home to White Castle, where you can get their famous Sliders by the sack. White Castle hamburgers is one of those things that you either love, or hate: I’ve never heard anyone say “Yeah, they’re okay”. Personally, I love Sliders, and always have. I have fond memories of my dad and I holding competitions to see who could eat the most burgers.
Drinking
I’m not much for night life, usually, and Columbus certainly isn’t known for its club scene. That said, there are a number of watering holes I like to haunt with my friends. Bob’s Bar, the Cultural Hub of the Midwest, looks like any other neighborhood bar from the outside. Inside, it still looks like nearly any neighborhood bar, but it offers a tremendous selection of fantastic beers. It also has a terrific jukebox. Bob’s Bar has a special place in my heart because I used to go there over a decade ago, when it was a bland hole-in-the-wall. Roy, the bartender, would offer you a glass of their finest draft beer. It was Stroh’s, which was, in fact, their only draft beer. But at a dollar a glass, one could hardly complain. Back then, they had the world’s bumpiest pool table, but that didn’t matter because they also had the world’s most crooked pool cues. Today the pool tables and cues are in fine shape. Bob’s gets busy on the weekends, and the crowds have always been friendly.
MoJoe Lounge is a groovy venue, though I don’t go there too often. The one downtown is pretty comfortable, with a number of great beers on draft. MoJoe makes a good half-way meeting point for me and a couple of friends, and their free WiFi makes drinking-and-coding extremely easy (albeit somewhat dangerous for the projects on which I’m coding!).
O’Reilly’s has always been one of my favorite establishments. It’s your traditional Irish pub: unassuming with a simple menu and a reasonable selection of beers. It was convenient for me that it was literally a hundred feet away from my old house, so you can understand why it was my de facto choice. If you visit them more than two or three times, the bartenders should remember you, as well as your drinking preferences. That’s the kind of personal touch that really sets O’Reilly’s apart from many other places.
The Surly Girl Saloon is my favorite bar with a pirate-cowgirl theme. In fact, it’s the only pirate-cowgirl themed bar I know! The beer selection focuses on women-brewed beers, and is sure to please any palate. The kitchen also offers a great selection of food. They host a variety of interesting events, like an open mic comedy night, and Punk Rock Aerobics.
Shopping
Columbus has an Apple store at Easton Town Center, should you need to get your Steve-fix. We also have a Microcenter, if you’re of the PC persuasion.
The North Market, just north of downtown, is a wonderful place to get all manner of stuff. The market is comprised of a lot of independent shops, each selling different foodstuffs: coffees, popcorn, salsas, fish, beer, pastries, you name it! Plus, events are held there on a fairly regular basis. No trip to Columbus can be considered complete without a stop at the North Market.
Since this is a “geek weekend”, though, I should steer you away from health food, and toward The Soldiery, a gaming store at which you can purchase and play all manner of role playing games, miniature wargames, collectible card games, and more! I’ve made my fair share of purchases here, though I’ve never stuck around for an actual game. I should remedy that some time. Send me an email if you’re going to play there, and maybe I’ll stop by to join you! Be sure to check their calendar for upcoming game tournaments, if that’s your thing. And literally right around the corner is The Laughing Ogre comic book shop. Pick up all the comics and graphic novels you need!
Coworking
One of the biggest new trends in Columbus is the notion of “co-working”: “the social gathering of a group of people, who are still working independently, but who share values and who are interested in the synergy that can happen from working with talented people in the same space.” (via Wikipedia) A number of co-working joints have sprung up in the last year. If you’re in town for more than a couple days, it might be worth a visit to one of these places to network with local independents:
Events
The area between downtown Columbus and the OSU campus is known as the Short North. It’s filled with a wide variety of bars, art galleries, and shops. The first weekend of every month sees the Gallery Hop, in which all the galleries stay open late and pedestrians wander down High Street into and out of the various galleries. This is a favorite event for many folks in town, and a great way to see some cool stuff.
ComFest is probably one of the better showcase events for Columbus. A weekend of local music, art exhibitions, and community coming together. It’s been going strong for over 35 years, and really is worth attending if you can. Bring a blanket, hang out on the lawn, and listen to great local music. Or walk amongst the hundreds of booths showcasing local artisans and their crafts. Enjoy a variety of delicious food from local establishments. Or just walk around and marvel at the variety of people. Too bad you’ll have to wait until next year, though, since ComFest 2009 is over.
Every year, Columbus hosts the Origins Game Fair. If you’re into games, this is the place to be. You can play role playing games, card games, board games, LARPs, etc. If you can’t wait until June 2010 for the next Origins, check out the Columbus Boardgaming and Pan-Philosophical Debate Society.
Another excellent annual event is the Dublin Irish Festival, which takes place in just a couple weeks. Lots of great live music, traditional Irish dancing, plenty of food, and various crafts fill the weekend. There should be something for everyone here. Alas, Coors is the official beer sponsor, so the closest you’ll get to Irish beer is Killian’s Irish Red. Other than that, it’s a fun weekend!
Miscellaneous
Shadowbox Cabaret can’t be beat for live entertainment. It’s a blend of sketch comedy, rock and roll cover tunes, and live theater. I’ve always had a good time here, and thoroughly recommend it to visitors! Not too far from Shadowbox is the Columbus Funny Bone comedy club. I’ve had a couple good belly laughs here, too.
The Columbus Zoo is a fun way to spend a day. Many people are probably familiar with Jack Hannah, our zoo’s emeritus director, from his many appearances on Late Night with David Letterman. My personal favorite is the reptile room, but just about everything is worth seeing, as is the case at most zoos.
If sports is your thing, Columbus is home to the Blue Jackets NHL hockey team; the Columbus Crew MLS soccer team; and the Columbus Clippers Triple-A baseball team. Plus, the Ohio State Buckeyes athletics programs have a huge number of collegiate sporting events and competitions every year. I particularly like the women’s ice hockey.
One of the most joked about locations in the Columbus area is the Field of Corn in Dublin. It’s a weird thing to see, and doesn’t make much sense on its own. In fact, it’s an art installation celebrating the development of hybrid corn in the area. See it, take pictures of it, and impress all your friends.
Finally, for the tech-minded, be sure to check out the TechLife Columbus meetup calendar. With almost 1300 members, there’s always something going on! Networking, software development, project management, biosciences, the Central Ohio Linux User Group, and FreeGeek Columbus — the TechLife Columbus calendar is chock full of interesting things.
For more Columbus information, visit the Experience Columbus website!
I was wondering what’s geek about this long article but after reading, though it took time; I now have an idea of what I would have missed.
http://www.memoments.info
Awesome post! I grew up in Dublin, and have very fond memories to this day. I remember sledding over by Leatherlips.
Don’t forget about Wendy’s – out in Dublin we got a lot of great products (food) that wasn’t available in other areas, and the quality was always good. Donatto’s pizza is something I still miss.
Did you go to Coffman and have Bridget Kuhns as an English teacher?
No I moved before high school. I went to Indian Run for a few years, then was “re-districted” to Thomas in fourth and fifth grade.
I went to Indian Run Elementary too! This is a great post!!! I moved to Portland, OR… lived in San Francisco… both of which are seen as major tech / web hubs. Columbus, Ohio is way overlooked.. I live in the Short North now and totally love the tech scene here!!! Tos of stuff is happening… look out World, the C-Bus is rolling!!!
Scott,
A nice list indeed! It’s important to note that if you can actually eat an entire Thurman Burger, that you will need approximately 3 months to digest it (kind of like a snake would), but it’s so worth it.
Well done!
This was in yesterday’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. I took my folks to Starliner Diner the last time they were in town.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09197/984050-34.stm
Directions to Columbus from Ann Arbor:
East until you smell it; south until you step in it.
But if you are robbed at gunpoint and overcome with a stench of B.O., you have gone too far east, and are likely in Detroit.
Wait, sorry that could just as easily happen in Columbus. OSU and Michigan students always have one thing in common- they both got admitted to OSU.
I welcome all M*ch*g*n fans to follow these directions, as it would geographically result in drowning in Lake Erie – nice work.
Damn you beat me to it.
Wrong. UM people walk on water, so it’s just a short cut
I think for future articles, I think it would be neat to know where to go to geek out in a new city as the title suggests. This is family vacation stuff, not exactly what I was hoping to read.
I was trying to appeal to a broader spectrum of geek. We’re not Akihabara, so we don’t have gobs and gobs of electronics for you to drool over. Geeks have hobbies, and families, and interests in things beyond hard core technology. Consider this post a starting point from which you can pursue your own research on the matter.
I agree. More geeky stuff. Less “average joe” stuff. I can appreciate the route of taking a more broad-range approach to appeal to everyone, but that’s what any standard travel writer would do. I expected a more targeted geek focus throughout.
I’m stunned that you haven’t mentioned Hocking Hills, granted it’s like 45 minutes from Columbus, but it’s pretty much the only place worth going to in Ohio.
Oh yea, someone should have said something about Old Man’s Cave, so beautiful in the fall. I sure do miss it.
Keep in mind one of the greatest assets for startup founders in Columbus is a huge talent pool of developers at half the cost of big cities. More importantly, they stick around.
@Wil
yeah, too bad techcolumbus has pretty much stifled the start-up scene in CMH.
Seriously, “Let’s fund something the Valley Did 3 years ago” is not a model for fostering innovation.
I agree with your point entirely.
Columbus needs to be good at being Columbus, not Silicon Valley.
There are lots of opportunities for Columbus (or any other non-valley city) to be good at something other than pure tech-driven startups.
Amazon, for example, while they have brilliant technology, is just a great consumer retail company. I think if more cities found what they were particularly good at and built a brand around that offering, they would be far better off than trying to re-invent themselves as a SV knock-off.
Play to your strengths.
Great write up on Columbus.
That pool of development talent combined with a massive university presence and the low cost of doing business is why we decided to base our game studio here.
Jon Myers
JUFTi (Games for the Common Good)
Heh, if your talent pool is comprised mostly of OSU grads, I hope you employ an adept group of customer service reps.
GO BUCKS!!! WE MADE THE NEWS, WOOOOO!!!
wait, you live in Columbus???? I like that city a LOT. And although I affectionately call it cowubmus, it’s b/c of that old New Yorker magazine where they took the pic of the city with the cows in the field and ppl were fuming mad….
aw, makes me want to go back & visit German Village
i’m from columbus, too. Scott and I went to high school together.
what school(s)?
Yeah, what high school? I went to Whetstone.
i know people from Arlington, Dublin, and Worthington :)
I knew a Biggs that went to West High
I grew up in Columbus (Now live in Phoenix) and loved it. Most of my family still resides there. Nice to see Columbus get some kudos.
P.S. Go Buckeyes! Beat Michigan! :-)
I wonder what a meet and greet geek weekend s like..LOL
It looks something like this.
Nice article Scott. When you gonna do another Columbus Crunch Gear meetup? That was a fun time. I’d be happy to spread the word. Just let me know.
I was going to be mad if you had neglected to mention Origins! Great article. Go bucks!
Have a number of friends who live in Columbus. They absolutely love it. However;
1) I have to continuously remind them that THE Ohio State University football team sucks donkey balls. Yes, this is true. In fact the entire Big 10 sucks elephant balls.
2) Have to ask them what’s in the water. Have done a few deals in Columbus and everyone of them has turned out to have a slick undermining con man behind it.
God bless the midwest
The Dube… I promised a friend back in college that if I ever won the lottery, we were going to go back to the Dube and get their ‘$100 Grilled Cheese’. It is American cheese grilled on white bread with a bottle of Dom.
As an aside: the Columbus Crew won the MLS Cup last year. Not such a small feat if you asked me and it gets a surprisingly small amount of attention.
I love Columbus—There is an immense amount of talent here.
Neat! Columbus is surely making it’s way in the world today. I’d like to see it attempt to de-brand itself from all the bombastic, self proclaimed specificities and start to consider itself the label-less city or town, rather, that it truly is. Columbus reminds me of the George Costanza of the Midwest, particularly the episode where George nicknames himself T-Bone. The real nickname he gets at the end is CoCo the Monkey. Which seems to be fitting from others outside perspectives of the little town that tries too hard.
Yes there is stuff to do, but once you’ve seen it, that’s pretty much it. Exhibitions and entertainment are stale and are falling from WOM mention. Lots of shopping (thanks Les and Glimcher family), lots of eating (thanks Cam, Dave, and White Castle dudes, Liz, Jeni, and DineOriginals), lots of drinking (thanks buckeyes and …. uh …. buckeyes). Gallery Hop is a clusterbomb of lower middle class people out to look at each other and shop for curio in hopes to wrangle a free glass of wine or to sample a cheese they can’t pronounce. I think there are actually 3-4 real galleries that participate, each under 1000 sqft. The rest of the melee is filled with some decent fashion boutiques and a handful of holding the line restaurants. It doesn’t take much to get around. It doesn’t cost much to live here. People are easy to meet and relatively tolerable. Yet, it still seems to lack the luster of a real city. The culture is wilty, progress is snail slime, and if you like mediocre sports, then this is your town, if not, SOL pal. Talent pool is fair, I will give it that. But so are any other cities with an adjacent university and semi-progressive thinking inhabitants. Columbus thinks it’s so great for doing what everyone else is doing. Extra neat!
Thanks for mentioning almost every single thing there is to know about Columbus in one windy post, and thanks for trying to make the sales pitch not seem as desperate as the majority. Still, Columbus won’t be that cool until it can come to terms with its own reality.
No offense intended. I’m glad you’re pleased with the accessibility of your own personal interests, but there are a lot of dissatisfied residents and too many half-assed cheerleaders to turn this place into something of noteworthiness.
Still, I dream one day that it will learn to walk on its own two feet and speak with confidence and dignity and stop crawling around on the floor babbling about itself being this or not that.
Bitterly,
burtus buckey
Its alright man, things will get better. Life isn’t so bad. Cheer up!
Life is wonderful if that’s what you make it and I most certainly do. Columbus just needs some serious identity oomph and a little less self proclamation, that’s all.
You couldn’t be more right. I lived in Columbus for 9 years, and there’s really nothing going for it. A large population does not a city make — and the population numbers are somewhat mis-representative. Only about 200,000 people live in Columbus proper. The million+ figure comes from the surrounding sprawl.
I love that the OP mentioned the Blue Danube, which people only eat at while in school. Anyone with money or sense will stay away. Same goes for the Thurman. Sure, you can get an absurdly large hamburger, but when it tastes like shit – why bother? Oh right, because you’re in Columbus, and that’s about as good as it gets.
Columbus has 750,000+ residents and about 1. 7 million metro area.
Seriously, you are ridiculous. Not everyone can (or should) live in “cool towns” in “cool states” like Cali, Florida, etc. While I’m not the biggest fan of Ohio there is, this is my home and you, a**hole, feel you can just trash it. I guess you’re just too cool.
Florida?
Do they still have Damon’s Ribs out there? I loved going there as a kid to watch all the football games on Sunday with my dad. This was before DirecTV, of course. Hope they’re still around. Best apple sauce ever.
There are still a few Damons here, a few closed down, but the one that was the corp. training over on Mill Run in Hilliard, is there, went private, then back to corp. Think the group that runs Max and Ermas bought it. Up until the beginning of this month, I would be there playing NTN trivia at least 3 times a week. Been going there since 1996-97. Strange things have happened to change my opinion, but they still have killer ribs. On the holidays, they still do $11 full racks, and they sauce is killer.
That’s too bad – I moved in early 1996, so I wouldn’t have seen those changes.
How about Wyandot lake? Is that still around? Does anyone remember “Dublin Baseball” – that card store over by Indian Run next to Dominos pizza? I wonder if they’re still there.
Wyandot Lake was purchased by the zoo a few years ago and turned into an attached water park…Zoombezi Bay. I have not gone to the park since the change, but I do have some great memories of Wyandot Lake…they would never give you straws for your drinks there, in case the seagulls would carry them and drop them in animal cages since the zoo was so close!
Great job Scott. This is an awesome write-up.
However, I think you could use some help with the nightlife section. Love it or hate it, Arena/Park Street Area is crazier every time I head down there and rivals any other Midwestern city of similar size. But I understand if it doesn;t makes it into a “Geek Weekend” crowd. But also, don’t forget about Granview (Byrnes), Short North (Skully’s)…
Anyways, awesome job and thanks for giving Cbus the credit it deserves!
Don’t forget we have a few private clubs around that are well known throughout the country. Usually couples and single women only, with single guys allowed in on certain days.
Columbus was also featured on an episode of Man Vs Food as well.
Thanks for the love vibes, jquaglia. Like I said, nightlife isn’t really my thing. A couple beers at Bob’s Bar is my idea of a great night out.
I agree Byrne’s and Skully’s are great (though I’d likely end up at Surly Girl if I’m anywhere near Skully’s!). By all means, share your favorite hot spots so that others will know where to go.
Don’t forget the unmarked gay bath house on 5th, right across Olentangy! Or is it on King? I can’t remember.
I spent some time in Columbus, as a consultant, and sadly, its the only city in the United States where I have actually been racially abused. Spat on once, and told to go where I came from… can’t say my memories of the place are very fond.
what part of columbus? Because I’ve never heard that. I’m sure parts are bad and it happens, but certainly not the norm.
I’m a straight white male, and weekly was called ‘fag’ and worse by passersby in campus, Victorian Village, Clintonville … pretty much everywhere. Angry people were, in my opinion, definitely the norm there.
I was born and raised in Boston’s inner city white ghettos and have since travelled to almost every major and mid-sized city in the U.S. The only time I’ve ever been robbed at gunpoint and assaulted was in Columbus, Ohio!
Oh don’t forget the Amusement park Next to the Columbus Zoo! Jungle Jacks Landing This place rocks for the Kiddies…..
Oh and the AMA Motorcycle Museum…… In Pickerington
Columbus is the only city in America whose residents take the unigov population rankings seriously, and actually believe they live in the 15th largest city in the US. By the same metric, Louisville is the 17th largest city — there, it’s considered a local source of humor.
I have dear friends there — not my favorite place.
Other geek “hot spots” in Columbus not mentioned in article:
The Loft Bookstore
Columbus Zoo
Franklin Park Conservatory
Battelle Labs
Chemical Abstracts
OCLC
OSU
Also Shiller park in the South end.
You forgot the geek history footnote – Columbus was the birthplace and home of Compuserve. They were the first nationwide ISP and defined the architecture that everyone else copied. They also invented GIF, file-hosting, forums and online chat. They were a true geek lead and geek dominated culture. I knew several people that worked their in the ’80s and I was so farken jealous.
It was a very sad day when AOL bought them.
Wish I still remembered my old xxxxx.xxxx compuserve account.
my buddy used to work for compuserve. It was the dream service for kids running 800XLs and dreaming of PCs.
I would also recommend a visit to my fine hometown of Bellefontaine, Ohio, which has some really bad winter skiing (or downhill ice skating depending on your perspective) at Mad River Mountain and a visit to the nations first concrete street (about 3 minutes…max) – oh, and Zanes cavern. I eat a Thurman burger every time I go home to visit – good call. While it is small, I never have a bad time in Columbus.
The first skiing I ever did was at Mad River Mountain. I still remember it pretty well. That place is like an ant hill…but its in the mid west so what can you do? At least there’s something.
Great piece. From Bay Area but went to OSU. Why? Because my mom went to Michigan.
Love Columbus and like getting back there. I speak at the business school once year about technology and Silicon Valley/VC Eco system.
There are far too few tech jobs in Ohio and transplants out here and I hope to change that.
Missed out on mentioning Columbus’ best chain of comic shops: Comic Town. One in Polaris and one on Morse Rd close to 71, both are awesome. I’ve known the owner for over a decade, he’s a great guy and knows his stuff.
Also never liked Soldiery much, Guard Tower on the west side (Trabue, near Hague) has always taken care of me.
It’s probably worth mentioning that geeks might be interested in checking out The Early Television Museum in nearby Hilliard, one of two places in Ohio featured in O’Reilly’s new book, The Geek Atlas. I’ve never been there, but I’m from Columbus and will probably swing by some day. Can anyone vouch for it?
Hey! You left out the 1 to 1 ratio of population to SocialMediaSEO Experts! Columbus will SEO the shit out of your Twitter.
Sorry to hear about the person that dealt with the racism. I’ve always seen it as a very tolerant place… voted top city for African Americans a few years back. Heck, the city is also like #2 or #3 nationally in GLBT population.
Columbusunderground.com has a lot of the fun, cool, and sometimes geeky things going on. The guy that runs it is pretty cool.
Hey, thanks! :D
NP. It’s no lie… You got the best online community for Cbus.
I was happy to see the Soldiery on this list, as I have frequented that store quite a bit. At one point (we still lived about 2 hours away from Columbus back then) I told the owner that I had the store in my favorites on my TomTom, and his response was, “Now wait a minute, you’ve been coming here long enough you shouldn’t need directions!”
I would agree that as of late, I have been frequenting the Guard Tower on Trabue Rd. and I really think it’s a more comfortable shopping experience…except that you do not get the comic book store right in front of it.
I will admit that although my husband and I do not have kids, we do have memberships to both COSI and the Columbus Zoo. Both have recently been voted #1 in the country in their fields, and both really are worth the money to see if you are in town.
Great post! I’m from Chillicothe and don’t get back to the area often enough. When I do, I always stop at Jeni’s in the Short North for the best ice cream in the world. (Seriously. Even Martha Stewart says so.)
I have fond memories of multiple trips to COSI as a little girl, and was bummed when they moved it from the original location. I so want to crawl back into that giant eyeball!
Thanks for the kind words, Jackie — much appreciated. Stop by for a couple scoops on me next time you’re back in town…
They moved COSI???
Yeah, it’s now over by the river. Problem is, when they moved it to that huge building, they also replaced almost everything that they had that really defined it for most kids that grew up making field trips there. Now, it seems like they are working on bringing some of the excitement back to COSI, and it was better when I went this year than it has (in my mind) since they opened the new building. They do still have Rat Basketball, though, for anyone nostalgic about the old COSI.
Q. What do you do when a Michigan graduate is on your front porch?
A. Pay him for the pizza
I was born and raised in Columbus on the West side and went to West High. thanks for the memory trip. Your readers would like to get away from the downtown area for awhile, try the off set bar on S High St., going south on south high from downtown it is a few blocks past Harmon Av.
Thanks again.
Not only the birthplace of Compuserve, but also the Warner QUBE http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QUBE
I am so glad to see our wonderful coworking spaces recognized in this article. I organize the local Jelly casual coworking network, so it’s great to have all the new cool sites that have come online this year! (Google jellycbus for info).
@Brown I was spat in the face in New York City getting a cab in front of the Hyatt Grand Central. So if that is the criteria, then Columbus must be big time. As for a racial slur, that is more the exception than the rule. A friend who moved here from Buffalo noted how unsegregated we are here and there’s not the racial divisions and animosity. We also have lots of International diversity with the University, Honda, Battelle and a growing Somali population.
@70/71 Your comments about the little city that tries to hard are right on. We’ve definitely had the ‘fake it until you make it’ vibe going on here. However, through all the BS real organic progress is emerging.
Anyone who still refers to it as Cow-lumbus is living in the past. 20 years ago, there was a vast vacant penitentiary is where there is now a thriving Hockey arena, baseball park, luxury highrise and top notch park area (McPherson and NorthBank Parks). The Pen was historic, but did not lend itself to reuse, the redevelopment was the right decision.
Some people that live here are part of the poor self esteem because the identity problem becomes self reinforcing. Personally, I like to hang with the believers because we are in action to make it better.
I have lived in Franklin County all my life and I am glad to say our potential is starting to be realized. Personally, I am not an eating/arts/nightlife person, but they are in a big upswing. As JC mentioned, the Arena District is hopping and has connected the Short North to Downtown. My favorite Columbus bar is Out-R-Inn (OSU) and the Park St Patio is kind of a ‘Disney-fied’ version, so it’s my pick in the Park St/Arena area.
I am an outdoors person, so I will say my favorite Columbus attributes are the parks and greenways trails. I love Highbanks, OSU Wetlands, Antrim, Whetstone, Scioto Park/Leatherlips and Hayden Falls. I am a water person, so I enjoy visiting the scenic Olentangy River along the North end of the Olentangy greenway and Highbanks.
Also, our public Library system is phenomenal and has ranked #1 in the country several times. The many communtiy use pcs and free wireless access (for laptops) are exceptional.
So as not to be confused with the over-zealous cheerleaders, I will list some areas where we still need improvement:
1) Alternative/Public Transportation: A mediocre bus system and taxi cabs are the primary options now; We do have govt ppl looking at rail and we have a new pedi-cab offering Downtown/Short North.
We also have made progress as a bike-friendly city, but we have a ways to go. The rec trails are still working on connectivity and the car drivers are not familiar with how to co-exist with cyclists on streets. There is a major effort to improve this from various public and private groups, so we invite cyclists to help us speed up the progress. The new Columbus Metro Bike Users Map was launched in May: http://is.gd/1DvaB
2) Recycling: Despite our recent NRDC #15 Smart City ranking, our recycling system is inefficient and under utilized. Though some suburbs have a community wide effort, Columbus is a subscriber only arrangement and most do not subscribe. The options for business recycling are expensive and not convenient, so most do not participate.
3) Open WiFi is hard to find. There is a bias toward pay wifi or forcing you on to a cell carrier for access. Except for the airport, library, Westin Downtown and panera, it is hard to find a spot to jump on do a quick email or tweet. I find many signals but router not open to public use (or if passcode req’d most employees do not know it).
4) Lack of Tech Startups. Ohio Development is making an effort to attract Hi-Tech companies, but in many ways their structure is not designed to accept the risk that goes with a startup. They want all the economic benefit without giving ‘room to fail’. The result is that they fund established/proven startups, but the companies are not newsmakers because there is no real risk. Boring. Exciting businesses ARE forming at the coworking sites, but these are mostly private ventures bootstrapping their growth.
I guess that’s enough of my kudos and complaints about Columbus. The great thing is we have a bit of everything (both good and bad) so you can be sure you will find whatever you are looking for.
Columbus companies:
Micro Center was founded and, I believe, is still based on Columbus.
Limited (spawned Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, Abercrombie, etc.)
Wendy’s
Nationwide
Worthington Industries
Nothing beats fall weekends at the Horseshoe watching the Buckeyes.
I grew up north of Columbus and went to MIT. I now live in NJ, but would move back to Columbus if I could.
The Man Vs Food guy actually came to our town too in West Michigan! It was great. He ate the Fifth Third Burger which is 4,800 Calories and 4 pounds!
I lived in Columbus a few years ago while working on a gig at Sterling Commerce. The city had everything you needed, but still a small town feel (for a guy from Dallas). Very artsy. Met a local film maker and made my own first movie short (see the link from bigtexfilms.com). Joined the zoo and the COSI. Lived in Worthington and rode on the bike trail by the river every day. 4 seasons, enjoyable weather. Nice people. Loved living in Columbus, OH!
Don’t knock Columbus until you’ve lived here…then you can knock it! Seriously, it’s a good city to live in…low unemployment, generally low crime rates, lots of professional opportunities, highly educated residents (MBA’s, JD’s and MD’s)…except the weather sucks.
I’m so geeked for the love thrown to the Columbus Boardgaming and Pan-Philosophical Debate Society. I hang with these awesome folks twice a week or more, and it’s always good times.