Columbus? Really? You're kidding!
Written: Jul 10 '00 (Updated Jul 14 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Restaurants, COSI, the zoo
Cons: Road construction, geography
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| edson's Full Review: Columbus |
If you've never been to Columbus, Ohio, you'll probably be surprised at how much there is to do here. Don't get me wrong, this isn't New York or San Francisco, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I came to Columbus in 1988 to attend Ohio State University, and despite several opportunities to leave, I'm still here. In that time, I've seen this city grow by leaps and bounds. Here are some of the highlights that Columbus has to offer:
Ohio State University: College football is king here, followed closely by college basketball. Anyone who lives here can tell you that talking about the Buckeyes is hard to avoid. Ohio Stadium is being extensively renovated to push capacity up near the 100,000 mark, and I'm sure the basketball and hockey teams are thrilled with the Schottenstein Center, their new 20,000-seat arena. The campus itself is nice, but not spectacular. The university has a good reputation for academics, but it is very large. Last I heard, the university had about 60,000 students, ranking it at or near the top in the nation for enrollment.
Related Links
http://www.ohio-state.edu/
http://www.schottensteincenter.com/
http://ohiostatebuckeyes.fansonly.com/
Family Fun: With a relocation and a huge redesign COSI has become a major attraction. With exhibits on archaeology, nutrition and medicine, history, oceanography and technology, this science-oriented museum and learning center will be a hit with kids and adults alike. The Columbus Zoo has undergone several expansions and renovations in recent years, making it one of the best zoos around. Wyandot Lake is a Six Flags-affiliated water park right next to the zoo.
Related Links
http://www.cosi.com/
http://www.colszoo.com/
http://www.sixflags.com/wyandotlake/
Pro Sports: The Columbus Blue Jackets (a National Hockey League team) start play in the 2000-2001 season. They'll play in the newly built and very impressive looking Nationwide Arena. The Columbus Crew (a Major League Soccer team) recently moved into a soccer-specific stadium near the state fairgrounds. It's a cozy venue that holds about 30,000, putting you right on top of the action. The Jack Nicklaus-designed Muirfield Village Golf Club hosts the Memorial Tournament, one of the biggest professional golf events around. If you want to catch the next Derek Jeter, the New York Yankees' Triple-A farm team, The Columbus Clippers are in town too.
Related Links
http://www.thecrew.com/
http://www.bluejackets.com/
http://www.nationwidearena.com/
http://www.clippersbaseball.com/
Historical Neighborhoods: German Village is home to old brick houses, brick streets, and many quaint shops and restaurants. Victorian Village is known for its tree-lined streets and beautiful old Victorian houses. The Brewery District is home to breweries, bars, night clubs and restaurants. The Short North has hip eateries, art galleries and interesting shops. If you want to hobnob with art aficionados and wanna-be's you can sip wine and look at paintings during the Gallery Hop on the first weekend of every month.
Related Links
http://www.shortnorth.com/
http://www.germanvillage.com/
http://www.galleryhop.com/
http://www.brewerydistrict.com/
Music: Polaris Amphitheater is an outdoor concert venue that music fans love and neighbors love to hate. Sound levels are apparently too high for suburban Westerville residents, and they've been battling Polaris for years to keep the noise down. The Polaris development area is a slow-growing commercial and corporate district to the north of Columbus. The aforementioned Schottenstein Center and Nationwide Arena are big-ticket music options as well. For the smaller acts, you can visit the Newport Music Hall, Vet's Memorial, the Ohio Theater, and the Palace Theater.
Related Links
http://www.polarisconcerts.com/
http://www.newportmusichall.com/
Shopping: Columbus has a wide variety of shopping options. The big, shiny and modern City Center Mall and The Mall at Tuttle Crossing will fill your traditional mall needs. Easton Town Center is an even bigger, shinier "mall" that has both indoor and outdoor areas, fountains, courtyards, free concerts, a 30-screen theater (with accompanying Planet Hollywood). The North Market is an old farmers market that has been spruced up and made hip. There you can get fresh meats, vegetables, breads and such, or you can let someone else do the cooking for you at a variety of restaurants and food stands.
Related Links
http://www.eastontowncenter.com/
http://www.thenorthmarket.com/
Seasonal Events: Columbus has all the requisite big city festivals. The riverfront downtown plays host to the Jazz & Ribfest, the Arts Festival, the Rhythm and Food Festival, and one of the largest Fourth of July fireworks displays around. Oktoberfest is in German Village (of course!) and the Community Festival and Doo Dah Parade are at Goodale Park near the Short North. The Ohio State Fair is one of the largest in the country as well, so if you need your fix of fried dough, carnies and "games of skill," you'll find them at the fairgrounds. Unfortunately the fair's butter sculptor has retired. Over his 36-year career, he made life-sized butter replicas of John Glenn, Darth Vader, Dave Thomas and Jack Nicklaus and Neil Armstrong, among others.
Related Links
http://www.ohiostatefair.com/
http://www.red-white-boom.com/
Arts and Culture: There are quite a few performing arts groups in town, including CAPA, the Jazz Arts Group, Music in the Air, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, BalletMet, Columbus Light Opera, OperaColumbus, ProMusica, CATCO, Shadowbox Cabaret, Red Herring Theater Company. Columbus also boasts an excellent library system and three different beautifully renovated theaters: The Ohio Theater, The Palace and The Southern.
Related Links
http://www.musicintheair.org/
http://www.columbuslightopera.org/
http://www.redherring.org/
http://www.shadowboxcabaret.com/
http://www.catco.org/
http://www.balletmet.org/
Local Trends: With numerous restaurant chains headquartered in Central Ohio (Wendy's, Bob Evans, White Castle, Max & Erma's, Donato's, BW3's), it should be no surprise that this is one of the most overweight cities around. Add to that a couple restauranteurs competing for the higher-end diners (Cameron Mitchell and the 55 Group) and tons of local flavor (Nancy's is famous for home cookin') and you'll wonder if the homes around here even come with kitchens. Movie theaters are another big boom here, with over 200 new screens added in the last ten years. You can visit one of several 20+ screen megaplexes with stadium seating and digital sound, or you can check out the art house flicks at three Drexel theaters.
Summary: Columbus has a lot going on. Most of the things mentioned here were not in existence just a decade ago, and many are new within the last few years. Any one of these attractions could warrant its own review (In fact, I've written a detailed review of the Columbus Zoo here: http://edson.epinions.com/kifm-review-17E6-70E15F8-395B7F51-prod2). Columbus still hasn't found a way to get mountains, a coastline or other natural wonders installed nearby, but you can't help geography. Now if they can just get the roads in and out working again, Columbus might attract some visitors. You know it's bad when they set up a web site just for road construction (http://www.pavingtheway.com/). It's not as bad as Boston's "Big Dig," but it's still not much fun. But despite these drawbacks, Columbus has quite a bit to offer these days. Stop by and see for yourself...
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
edson
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Member: Edson Freeman
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Reviews written: 22
Trusted by: 11 members
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