Cleve Is… In Search of a City
Columbus is a funny place. Its residents support a town center at Easton, but not a town center at Broad and High. Most fear taking public transit, yet subject themselves to the documented dangers of driving an automobile.
They move to God-forsaken places beyond the outerbelt “for the sake of the children,” then complain, adults and children alike, about living in the ‘burbs. All of my 14-year-old daughter’s friends are desperate to leave their cul-de-sacs and visit her at our Short North home, where they can walk to the movies.
What’s with drive-through coffee houses? Isn’t a coffee house supposed to offer an aesthetic experience? Does Wal-Mart really offer a less expensive lifestyle when you have to own a fleet of cars to get access to them?
Welcome to my new blog, where I will pontificate about the great mysteries of Columbus and celebrate our tiny steps toward a rational existence.
Cleve Ricksecker
August 11th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
I love coffee- live for it. That said, the best part of buying a cup of coffee is the smell!
You can’t really get that through a car window.
August 12th, 2008 at 8:06 am
I hear ya Cleve! Everyone needs to start taking advantage of the greatness that could be our downtown! We could have a real life Easton if everyone would just return to the city!
August 12th, 2008 at 8:22 am
Excellent post Cleve, looking forward to your future musing about our city. Columbus is a great place. The fact that your posts reach more of an audience of downtown commuters than say my site, or CU, or several other like minded sites from cbus I hope that you can have a great impact on people who might not otherwise consider the wisedom of your words. Keep up the great work!
August 12th, 2008 at 8:23 am
While I don’t disagree those are pretty empty words. Hopefully you’re going to follow up with some great stories about these downtown attractions that people should flock to and/or great ideas to jumpstart the downtown rebirth. There’s plenty going on - various festivals, movies on the Statehouse lawn, kickball leagues, CMA exhibitions, activity on Gay St, new restaurants - so dig in and mention some of it. Woo those suburbanites to take another look downtown.
August 12th, 2008 at 8:26 am
I live and work in Grandview. Like the short north we can walk to just about anything we need. I ride my bike downtown to concerts and the North Market. I grew up riding the bus downtown for fun and shopping. Went to Lazarus, the Union, Woolworth, …. Took my kids to City Center. Hate to drive all the way to Hilliard, Gahanna or Westerville for shopping so I don’t! I ride my bike to work on days when I don’t need it for work. Living close to your work is the number one happiness factor.
August 12th, 2008 at 8:48 am
I’ve often looked at the oddity that is Easton “Town Center” and wondered why it couldn’t have been built near downtown where infrastructure currently exists. I know the real story behind that, but it still is an odd place. Most people would say that downtown is “dirty”, “crime ridden”, and a “lack of parking” exists. As a resident of the downtown area, I can say that it’s not “dirty”. And who needs to park when you can walk? And I would bet that you have a greater chance of being injured in a car accident driving the outer-belt than you do suffering a crime downtown.
August 12th, 2008 at 8:58 am
Besides working downtown each day, I enjoy visiting downtown every once in a while for pleasure, but I must say, I am amazed at how insecure downtown residents are, and how much they are annoyed by the burbs and the people that live in them. Personally, I’d rather live by the beach, but Columbus falls very short of offering one. Still, I’m able to survive here (in my burb) without worrying about where people shop or live.
I just think Easton and downtown can survive together - there’s nothing evil about living in the burbs. While I’m sure your daughter’s friends enjoy visiting the short north, I seriously doubt any of your daughters friends would want to go to the Columbus Public School assigned to your area.
Downtown had it’s shopping mecca - City Center is gone. Easton, Polaris, Tuttle - all approved by Columbus City Council - will be around for a long, long, time, and provide much needed tax revenue to the City. It’s really okay. Easton, Dublin, Gahanna…they are really nice places.
My number one problem with downtown is that all of the nice areas along the river have nothing but government buildings sitting on the banks of the river…boring. Once work is done, there sit the dinngy looking buildings at night and on the weekends…vacant and boring.
Sorry to bum the downtown love fest out, but I just thought another perpective might at least throw some variety into the “blog”.
August 12th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Cleve,
Congrats on living your early dreams of revitalizing urban America!
August 12th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Very insight and poignantly relayed truths. Very unsettling is the current state of City Center. The lack of interest shown by Nationwide Realty Investors to develop the forlorn mall space demands the need for public-private partnering to see this through.
Columbus’ downtown can be redeveloped into a more multi-faceted neighborhood anchored by one or two major destination points. The Arena is an obvious one to the North but, the South end needs something to reinvigorate the area. And it’s got to be more than just getting young people living downtown.
August 12th, 2008 at 10:05 am
If someone would lend me at least $300,000 for a first floor condo, I’d consider living downtown.
August 12th, 2008 at 10:58 am
I live in the burbs and work downtown. I love the commute, personally. Where else in America does it take 15 minutes to travel on a freeway from the burb to the city center? I go home at night to peace and quiet, I generally leave the doors unlocked, my kids can play in a YARD and walk to school a school where they have a better than 50% chance (e.g. Columbus) of graduating. I have nearby restaurants, stores, drycleaning, doctors, and grocery stores. I may have to travel a little ways for entertainment, but who needs it with a DVR, HDTV,DVD library, and satellite radio? Plus while $300,000 buys a 1000 sq. ft in downtown, it buys 3000 sq. ft. in the burbs. Long live the burbs. BTW, please take the 100 million slated for the streecar to build me a lightrail line from the NW to downtown. Thank you Cleve for all you do, let’s have a beer soon at a strip mall in the burbs.
August 12th, 2008 at 11:04 am
I got one for ya: Everyone complains about the price of gas, yet they run us motorcycles off the road. If everyone rode a motorcycle (or scooter), it would be safe.
August 12th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Wow. Get negative much? I look forward to future pontifications having a more positive trend. Focusing on the positives will help us to expand upon them.
August 12th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Nicky..You are so right about everything. However I think there is a generational gap you have to look at. I don’t have kids or even a girlfriend and most to all of my friends are in the same boat male and female. We all would love to live downtown if they dont already but it’s really expensive. I was in new york city for 3 months and would love to be able to travel with out the need of a car. however the buses don’t come as often and we don’t have a subway. Lose the street cars Bring on the light rail system. We could bring in tons more revenue to the city by connecting our outer most burbs. We should also be thinking of a rail system that connects cleveland cinci and columbus. I know that is a state issue but we can be the Flag barriers of the movement. China has a system that reaches speeds of 300mph. We can do it! the construction alone will boost the ohio economy.
August 12th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
It’s interesting to note that progressive people tend to live more densely, i.e. inner city neighborhoods and downtown. Conservative people are drawn to the suburbs and the country. This is an interesting conversation. As for me, I am a baby boomer who grew up in the suburbs and wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Give me the urban life any day! I love it!
August 12th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Cleve, I agree, Columbus is a funny place. We have some really good momentum started with regards to the conversion of vacant buildings to residential uses. We have more people are moving downtown and the creative conversion of vacant buildings is attractive to say the least.
Here’s where the funny part comes in…with the growth in residential usage we can’t stop talking about a downtown grocery store. If you stand at the corner of Broad and High you are approximately 1.5 miles from a brand new Kroger to the south in the Brewery District and a Giant Eagle to the north on the south edge of Victorian Village. The North Market which is located just a few blocks north of Broad and High is one of the country’s finest public markets and is home to a large farmers market every Saturday during the growing season. Farmers’ markets are also held Tuesday’s and Friday’s in Pearl Alley.
There is an abundance of great food choices for those who are living downtown and I’m guessing that if you live in Westerville, Dublin, New Albany or Hilliard, your average trip to the grocery store is way farther and more inconvenient than if you lived downtown.
It’s just another one of those “funny” things about Columbus.
I’m a little tired of the “we need a downtown grocery store” chant.
August 12th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Here, Here, Cleve. Citzens need to realize that it’s the people that make the City, not the City that makes the people. I used to live in the Burbs and I was sick of spending (about 7 months ago) $40 bucks a week to communute and fight traffic. Now I bought a house on the near south side, I live 3 minutes from work (8 min by bike, ~10 by bus - depeding on timing), I can walk to a grocer, pharmacy, barber shop, gas station, park, firehouse, police station, bar, etc. and I couldn’t be happier. I have three bedrooms, 1.5 baths, a beautfully renovated home, a backyard that is larger than most suburban homes completely fenced in, a 550 sq ft garden, fire pit, off-street parking, and I paid much less than 1/3 of the $300K they’re asking for condos. There’s plenty of good housing around the downtown area that is affordable, has the space THAT YOU NEED, is safe, and conveniently located. You may have to live near a what the “majority” purportedly calls a “rough” area, but that is subjective and like I said earlier, “IT’S THE PEOPLE THAT MAKE THE CITY, NOT THE CITY THAT MAKES THE PEOPLE”. All it takes is the right people to invest their time and resources, not be scared to change, and throw away their stereotypes of the “inner city”. Funny, to me at least, how it seems there were milder perceptions of the ‘inner city’ and city living before the era of white flight to the SUBURBS. Lord knows there’s no crime in the BURBS…right? Take away the resources from any community and it will deteriorate and turn on itself…let’s reinvest people.
August 12th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
I highly value life in an urban neighborhood & have serious concerns about unchecked suburban/exurban development. There are so many issues wrapped up in this discussion Cleve has raised. A key issue, however, is that every city needs a focal point. Downtown Columbus provides a regional focus, and supports healthy urban living in communities around it (i.e., the villages, Olde Town East, University District, Grandview, Clintonville, Franklinton, Hilltop, Westgate Park, Merion Village & the list goes on).
My family lives in one of these neighborhoods, my daughter attends Columbus Public Schools, has a 99.99% chance of graduating and excels in a school that not only supports strong academics but also the arts, physical education, a diverse community experience and linkages to other community resources. As a family we own one car because we can also walk bike & use transit for mobility, which adds to our quality of life, provides physical exercise, adds to a healthy environment, and supports infrastructure that exists for shared, equitable public use. We know our neighbors and work, play, garden, share meals and raise our children together as a community.
This is life in the city - and it’s awesome. Thanks Cleve for doing your part to keep the focal point alive so that we can continue to live vibrantly in these great urban enclaves.
August 12th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Well Gosh, I gave my heart, wallet and time to a Neil Ave. home to bring it back to life and it was a cool place to live but you know my son developed asthma from the pollution and did not know how to ride a bike when he was five. And please tell me what school he was supposed to attend? You know, I love the short north but I think that some things are more important than being “cool” like I don’t know, my kids. right now I live in one of those “horrid” homes where there is fresh air, a yard to play in and oh, a clean school, park, pool and library all with in walking distance. It’s terrible, what was I thinking???!!! oh, yea, these pesky kids are playing happily in the street.
August 12th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
In reference to Catherines’s post earlier, curious when someone who loves downtown living bashes surburban life, it is okay, but when a suburbanite disagrees, and points out the advantages of the burbs over downtown, this is “negative”. Quite the double standard.
I agree with a previous poster that both have a purpose. I disagree that the difference in the two areas is conservative vs. progressive (see Diane’s post), I think in general it is family household vs. the young single person (sorry Cleve) who’s adrenaline is fuled by the “cool” feeling of living downtown. I lived on campus, then in the Short North - it was fun partying, but I grew up, met my wife, and got outta the downtown area. I love it in the burbs, especially the schools (as a CPS graduate, I can personally testify it is the worst), have great neighbors, and contrary to previous posts, I am close to most everything.
Downtown is simply too expensive, and who can afford to regularly visit most of the entertainment/cultural arts/expensive restaurants? God forbid if you live downtown and have relatives or guests visiting that need to sdtay at a hotel. Finally, I most assuredly am safer in the burbs, and don’t get pestered by street people who work (beg) exclusively in the downtown area.
I must note also that as the City of Columbus focuses it’s attention and resources on downtown, other areas of Columbus are crumbling (e.g., Dublin Granville Rd., W. Broad St., Brice Rd., etc.). The mayor better start worry about more than downtown, beacuse more people will continue moving out of than into Columbus.
August 13th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Why is Cleve so divisive?
Frankly, he just comes off as some high-on-his-horse snob.
OK, he doesn’t like the burbs, but why does he look down his nose at them? Not to mention his arguments make no sense (Yes, it is cheaper to shop at WalMart - and they have everything I need. There is no reason to go to High and Broad and if there was, there would be no parking. And I never hear any of my suburban neighbors complain about where they live, which, by the way, is walking distance to stores, restaurants, etc.)
Unlike Cleve, I believe in the region. The suburbs can’t thrive without a vibrant city core, and the city can’t survive without the suburbs. Unlike Cleve, I believe we’re all in this together, city-slickers and suburbanites both.
August 14th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Great… “it’s the people that make the City, not the City that makes the people.” I’m going to tuck this one away. It will come in handy.
Is Cleve divisive? Or does he just demonstrate admirable integrity by taking a strong stance on something he believes in and making his words match that stance? Are his sentiments meant to look down on a particular group, or intended to promote a long-view vision for sustainability that serves all people in the end?
Individuals will vary on the answers to these questions. One thing I do know is how we perceive things often says more about us than it ever will about any objective truth or the intentions on another person.
August 14th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
There’s a reason that the center of any population density is called the “heart” of the city. It’s more than a focal point, it is the origin of all that surrounds it. Every single evening news broadcast regardless of the locale will have the city skyline (i.e. downtown) behind the anchors - because that is how the greater city is best represented in the mind of the viewers. Sorry, suburbanites, but the ONLY substantive difference between any large Midwestern city is the core. The Huntington building is iconic while the local Burger King or KinderCare is not.
That said, my point is merely this: WE are Columbus - ALL of us including the suburbs.
This should not be divisive. I know Cleve did not intend the post to offend, but rather to be a rallying point for emotional investment. (note to Mike Connor) Until all of us have a sense of pride in our downtown, the region as a whole is not healthy. Enjoy all that Greater Columbus has to offer - and do it with enthusiasm. WE can be something better, but we gotta do it together. To those who saw the post as a stab at suburbs, please understand that a vital and vibrant downtown is absolutely necessary for your suburb to remain as idyllic as it seems. Those “drab and dinngy (sic) buildings” are ultimately where your money comes from regardless of the route it takes to get to you.
Looking to the long-term future, though, a city built around roads and parking lots will not be sustainable and the suburbs will suffer. The time to build real mass transit is now. (BTW - where is our 21st Century skyline? We need a shot-in-the-arm on that point.)
August 16th, 2008 at 11:57 am
As a life-long resident of Columbus I’ve put up with years of frustration at downtown’s progress. For one, this town just doesn’t have corporate sponsorship that many other cities enjoy. Right now, we’re about 10 years behind Richmond, VA. I’d like to see how things are shaping up in about 30 years or so.
August 19th, 2008 at 8:20 am
I love downtown and if I were single and without kids, I would jump at the chance to live there. However, I have a husband, three kids, and a dog. My money buys much more house in the burbs and the schools are great. I can’t imagine what it would cost to buy the same square footage I have now (3000) and then pay for private schools.
August 19th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
My wife and I have lived downtown for about 12 years. Up to that point we lived in “The Burbs” We lived in a great place with a ravine,pool, sauna, and spa. 3 traffic lights from my downtown office. It was perfect when we had kids. (who went to pvt schools)The kids left, the dog died, and we found that 1600 ss. ft. (down from 5000 is fine. (no guest, they stay at the Hyatt or Lofts) Now we live without a lawn, we never have to shovel a walk, and have a host of additional new friends in our Downtown Condo. We have great restaurants,a host of cultural activities, and the ability to walk almost everwhere.
I have not taken public transit, but when in SF, Portland,Seatlle,Boston, Washington DC and NYC we have. Wake up Columbus both lifestyles can co-habit we need a good streetcar/light rail system. We need to be willing to invest in it and watch what happens. Every place that has has prospered. The tax and cost are small compared to the benifits, nothing is free.
August 21st, 2008 at 2:24 pm
“Wake up Columbus both lifestyles can co-habit we need a good streetcar/light rail system. We need to be willing to invest in it and watch what happens. Every place that has has prospered. The tax and cost are small compared to the benifits, nothing is free.”
What? Every place that has invested in light rail’streetcar has prosperd? Ummm…okay, let’s start in our own back yard with Cleveland. The Waterfront light rail line is a joke, it is now called the “ghost train” becuase nobody rides it. It is unaffordable, as are most light rail projects. It is one thing to travel to a city in the US, ride the trolley or rail line, and another to live in a city and have to pay the increasing taxes and fares to keep these systems moving. Look at nearly every major city - Chicago, San Fran, etc. Yes they have the rail lines, but they can’t afford to keep them going. All of these cities are asking for more taxes or raising fares. It is an endless pit of tax payer money going to waste. With the exception of New York, in total, in terms of total commuters, a very small percentage of people use public transit. This is simply a fact.
August 26th, 2008 at 9:43 am
I am thrilled this blog is providing a forum for people to discuss urban matters, especially as they relate to Columbus. It offers a refreshing viewpoint that may give folks something interesting to chew on as regards their city and their way of living in it. For some people who disagree with the author’s views, the blog raises a healthy debate. Others will not only respond with a resounding “right on!” but will be happy to have some talking points for those inevitable discussions with others who are, shall we say, not on the same page.
Right on!
September 4th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
I’m a bit late to post here, but wanted to mention that there’s a huge misconception being thrown around here that downtown housing is always overpriced. Sure, you can find those expensive top-of-the-line condos with great views, but that’s not all that’s out there. My wife and son and I just bought our first home 1 block east of downtown (near the new Lincoln Theater) for about half the price of what our suburban friends have put down to be in the burbs. We have 2000+ square feet of a beautiful historic brick home that was move in ready. We’re a 20 minute walk from Broad and High. And considering the money we saved on our home, we can swing for private schools if we don’t get our son into a good lottery/alternative school.
There are plenty of deals to be had if you look outside the brand new condos by the Arena. You CAN have your cake and eat it too.