Elements of Urbanism: Columbus, Ohio

[fsquid]

I though Ohio State was north of the core

[copperfiend]

Jax should try to get an art school.  The one is Savannah has done more for their urban core than just about anything, except the tourists. 

We have one. The Jax Art Institute and the Florida Coastal School of Law are both tucked away in the old AT&T/Citibank buildings off Baymeadows.

[mbwright]

Jacksonville--before  needs lots of work
Coluubus--after shows the result of lots of work

I see that their courthouse was at least affordable.

[thelakelander]

I though Ohio State was north of the core

It's a little over two miles north of downtown Columbus.  However, there's a vibrant walkable neighborhood in between.  It would sort of be like having Riverside where LaVilla once was and UNF's main campus where the farmer's market is located.

[tufsu1]

So how did COLUMBUS become a metro larger and arguably more vibrant then Jacksonville? Here's an Ockphoto essay...

two other reasons

1. state capitol
2. O-H-I-O (they do have 56,000 students)

we have twice as many students here in jacksonville, tufsu.

Its not about numbers. There's no real "campus life" here. FSCJ is a gussied up community college & UNF is in a suburban strip mall. Whereas Ohio State is a place where students live & breathe the actual college lifestyle, centered in the Columbus urban core. Plus, its a much older institution.

They're not even remotely the same things.

exactly.

[tufsu1]

umm..I was agreeing with psu who was noting that isn't just about the numbersd alone....so here are two reasons:

1. the presence of a major reserach university has a huge effect on the entire metro area...Columbus has that and we don't

2. the presence of that university (with its massive full-time enrollment) near the urban core is huge...sure we have FSCJ, but only one of their campuses is downtown....their FTE numbers are way lower than OSU...and its a commuter school

[Fallen Buckeye]

My little brother went to OSU, and I have a ton of friends who did (I'm actually a OU Bobcat alum). Those students spend a lot of time in Columbus's urban neighborhoods. High Street runs right up to OSU, and a lot of those vibrant neighborhoods like the Short North and Arena District sit right between downtown and the campus. Also, don't forget that OSU sports draw huge crowds, and those bars and restaurants along High Street are packed for every game. The Horseshoe by itself holds 100,000. And besides OSU, you've got Franklin University and Columbus State that have 40,000 by themselves. Then there's a good number of schools in the suburbs like Capital and Otterbein, and a lot of those kids are spending time downtown.  Many students are actually living off campus in some of these urban neighbors actually. It really isn't very comparable to Jax. OSU is much more akin to UF than UNF.

[fsquid]

can't trust those meddling kids.

[jaxjags]

Having been born and raised in Columbus but now living in Jax, a few comments:

1. As many have commented OSU has a huge influence on downtown. It is relatively close, provides 2 additional arenas for entertainment and sports, medical school and hospital, research centers, etc. The influence is from downtown to Clintonville along North High Street. A large area, but it is a large school.
2. State Capitol - The capitol and State office tower are downtown. This draws state employees, visitors, tourists, lobbyists, etc. As my dad worked in Capitol, I can attest that this provides much foot traffic downtown.
3. Geography - Although the Short North and German Town are nice, beyond that and the OSU party district there is not much more. There are few if any Five Points,San Marco, Avondale, Riverside, Atlantic/Neptune Beach, Jax Beach entertainment areas.
Imagine what Jax would be if it were the Capitol, had UF and all entertainment we had were moved to one location.
Except for Charlotte(Bank of America) and San Diego ( weather/conventions) most of cities described before have state capitol or large university near downtown.
I do believe the city gov. here makes very poor decisions. Great example is to not sell small part of shipyards for brewery. That small move could be catalyst to have a "Brewery District" in Jax.

[Fallen Buckeye]

Imagine what Jax would be if it were the Capitol, had UF and all entertainment we had were moved to one location.

That's a really good characterization.

[thelakelander]

^Tallahassee....

[Ocklawaha]

Did someone mention OSU? ...Okay, I couldn't resist this.

[Ken_FSU]

Found myself in Columbus for the day yesterday in a meeting. First time in the city, and was shocked by how much more vibrant their urban core is than ours. So much historic urban building stock still intact. New high-rise residential popping out of the ground. Lots of street front activation. We're seeing a lot of positive momentum, but every time I travel to a mid-sized metro that isn't necessarily thought of as being metropolitan, I'm kind of shocked at how big the gap is, and how much catching up we've got to do.

For most of these cities, you walk through them, and they kind of make sense. Like some planning was involved to create a cohesive pedestrian experience.

More convinced than ever that this will only be accomplished by developing a master plan that spans multiple administrations. The city only has so much money it can invest from the general fund, the DIA only has so much money in the TIF, and we're going to be subsidizing projects forever if we don't concentrate that investment into tight clusters of private & public development that complement each other and create walkable, vibrant, dense spaces and figure out how those clusters combine into a vibrant urban core. DIA's new leadership recognizes the importance of Laura Street and the northbank core, but I still don't think that's specific enough. We're still making plans and investments in Gateway Jax, and JWJ Park, and Riverfront Plaza Phase 2, and Ford on Bay, and the Emerald Trail, and marinas in a vacuum as singular projects without taking the 10,000 foot view of how they all work together. Starting with the end in mind will get us there so much quicker than piecemealing millions in completion grants at random isolated projects. We've got some INCREDIBLE building blocks coming together along the riverfront, down at the Pearl District, on Laura Street, and with the Emerald Trail. Just need to figure out how to tie it all together and prioritize investment, block-by-block.

[thelakelander]

Columbus is impressive and underrated. Smart and coordinated development moves have been a thing there for decades. I really love the connectivity between downtown and adjacent neighborhoods to the north and south. Its a good example for how to fill in the gaps between our core and neighborhoods like Springfield, Eastside, Riverside/Brooklyn and San Marco.

[Charles Hunter]

Maybe the author could make a return trip and replicate pictures (location, angle) from the earlier trip?