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The Other Paper wrote
Bar hoppers: The Brewery District misses you
By KITTY McCONNELL
Published: Thursday, August 7, 2008
A general question for Columbus residents: When was the last time you went to the Brewery District? And why?
Back in the early ’90s, this German Village neighbor could drink any other Columbus bar district under the table. But since the rise of Park Street and the Short North, destination drinkers have, for the most part, deserted the Brewery District.
The Brewery District seems on the cusp of returning to its former glory, especially now that Shadowbox Cabaret has announced plans to move into the South High Street property that formerly was Brewmasters Gate. Outland, a long-standing dance club that’s the center of Columbus’s seemingly immortal goth-industrial scene, also announced plans last spring to relocate to the Brewery District, and Victory’s, a once-popular sports bar that is temporarily closed, is set to reopen, according to McConville.
Related Stories:
- Shadowbox moving into the Brewery District
I don’t think the original article was saying that it way going to become a nightlife district again, but would balance the area back out with a few more options for residents and visitors alike.
Or at least that’s what I got out of it.
I hate to be all Goldilocks, but there really ought to be a “just right” spot between the wild-and-woolly times on Park St. and empty streets after dark, if that’s what the Brewery District has in fact become. (I haven’t been there since 2004–which may be part of the point.)
As to pedestrian-friendly 35 MPH streets: I’m pretty sure High through Campus is 35 MPH, and I never felt unduly threatened there. (Though I admit humming the “Frogger” theme song every once in a while on some of my more adventurous scampers … but those were usually sans crosswalks.)
I don’t think the original article was saying that it way going to become a nightlife district again, but would balance the area back out with a few more options for residents and visitors alike.
Or at least that’s what I got out of it.
Yeah…maybe I’m just overly sensitive after years of having this conversation…
Q: So where do you live?
A: On the south edge of downtown…in the Brewery District.
Q: Oh. Cool. That area really died, didn’t it? It used to be THE place to be.
A: Yeah…most of the huge Friday/Saturday night bar crowd goes to Park St. now. It’s hardly dead though. It’s actually morphed into a nice neighborhood. A full service Kroger opened up too.
Q: Wow…really? I didn’t know that.
I might be. I’ll count Einstein Bros. as a coffee shop. You can also get cups of coffee at the Starbucks in Kroger, Corky’s (corner of Front and Blenkner), and First Watch. If you’re willing to venture two blocks outside of the long and skinny BD — Cup O’ Joe, Pistacia Vera, and another Starbucks are there.
Yeah…I hear you on that one. I’ll usually go to High Beck, 185, MoJoe, or occasionally even the Round Bar. Only 2 of those 4 are “technically” in the Brewery District though. It’s definitely not Park St., or anything like the old Brewery District, but it gives you a few options and some good variety. I’d also love to be able to jump on the streetcar and head north, but a cab to the short north is only about $6.
As to pedestrian-friendly 35 MPH streets: I’m pretty sure High through Campus is 35 MPH, and I never felt unduly threatened there. (Though I admit humming the “Frogger” theme song every once in a while on some of my more adventurous scampers … but those were usually sans crosswalks.)
I agree, the BD can be plenty successful by being balanced.
It’s 25, but without much in place to enforce that traffic goes 35. It’s mostly due to stretches without lights and the timing that encourages drivers to make each one. Also, there’s no on-street parking on High near campus except north of Lane, which begs the question as to why not have it south and charge an arm and a leg like they do on Gay St. It’s officially 35 north of Arcadia at the entrance of Clintonville, I’m rather certain. Just goes to show that a sign by itself does little to nothing by itself.
I might be. I’ll count Einstein Bros. as a coffee shop. You can also get cups of coffee at the Starbucks in Kroger, Corky’s (corner of Front and Blenkner), and First Watch. If you’re willing to venture two blocks outside of the long and skinny BD — Cup O’ Joe, Pistacia Vera, and another Starbucks are there.
You’re going to count a Starbucks in a Kroger? No! :) What’s Corky’s? Haven’t heard of this place.
I might be. I’ll count Einstein Bros. as a coffee shop. You can also get cups of coffee at the Starbucks in Kroger, Corky’s (corner of Front and Blenkner), and First Watch. If you’re willing to venture two blocks outside of the long and skinny BD — Cup O’ Joe, Pistacia Vera, and another Starbucks are there.
You’re going to count a Starbucks in a Kroger? No! :) What’s Corky’s? Haven’t heard of this place.
Bah. It’s a Starbucks. Starbucks is a coffee shop. It’s on the list.
Corky’s is a humble little convenience store next to Dale Cleaners on Front. It’s serves breakfast and lunch sandwiches, coffee and other drinks. It falls somewhere in between a gas station service center and a corner deli. Only open M-F and caters to the office crowd.
It’s also rather pedestrian friendly. But isn’t anyplace with a sidewalk pedestrian friendly?
No. Sidewalks are important, but it takes more to make a place pedestrian friendly. Here are some other important factors.
1. Sidewalks on both sides of the street.
2. Sidewalks of adequate width.
3. Sidewalks separated from the street by a tree lawn, street trees, street furniture, and/or parked cars.
4. Destinations within reasonable walking distances.
5. Low traffic volumes and/or speeds
6. The ability to cross streets safely without unacceptably long delays.
7. Don’t have to cross large parking lots to reach the door of your destination.
8. Trees to provide shade.
9. A place to stop and rest.
10. Visually interesting surroundings/nice architecture
11. Low crime
Don’t forget Columbus’ “best” radio station!
Wasn’t that place “The Continent” similarly all the rage as The Brewery District once was? I think these things ebb, flow and die here in this city. Park street will suffer a similar fate in my opinion. I saw all the Spice heads packin up Eleven over the weekend. Just a matter of time.
Yeah, the nightlife crowd is pretty fickle. I think the one thing Park Street has going for it is a great location, and some built in mixed-use to keep the area active during the other times of day. It’s really not quite as much of a “nightlife district” as the Brewery District was once billed as.
LOL @ “Spice heads”
Those are among my least favorite people on the planet.
No. Sidewalks are important, but it takes more to make a place pedestrian friendly. Here are some other important factors.
1. Sidewalks on both sides of the street.
2. Sidewalks of adequate width.
3. Sidewalks separated from the street by a tree lawn, street trees, street furniture, and/or parked cars.
4. Destinations within reasonable walking distances.
5. Low traffic volumes and/or speeds
6. The ability to cross streets safely without unacceptably long delays.
7. Don’t have to cross large parking lots to reach the door of your destination.
8. Trees to provide shade.
9. A place to stop and rest.
10. Visually interesting surroundings/nice architecture
11. Low crime
To summarize: even the developers of Easton knew better. They knew to put in narrow lanes and keep traffic slow with traffic calming elements. Hell, their fake downtown is more pedestrian friendly than our real downtown. They knew that pedestrian friendly streets attract pedestrian friendly businesses. I hate to say it, but city leaders should take notice and follow suit Downtown.
The streets Easton made “pedestrian-friendly,” however, aren’t the through streets. High through Downtown is still more pedestrian-friendly than Easton Way, Steltzer, or Morse, and those are your “comparables,” to borrow a real-estate term. Little cross-streets like Gramercy and Worth that were built just for the shopping center itself aren’t major commuter arteries, and in fact were built specifically to be otherwise.
You’re comparing Easton’s side streets to the Brewery District’s primary arterials.
You’re comparing Easton’s side streets to the Brewery District’s primary arterials.
That´s nitpicking. You can´t complain with the results and there is no reason High and Front can´t be arterial and much more ped-friendly. They aren´t mutually exclusive as we see in the Short North.
You’re comparing Easton’s side streets to the Brewery District’s primary arterials.
That´s nitpicking. You can´t complain with the results and there is no reason High and Front can´t be arterial and much more ped-friendly. They aren´t mutually exclusive as we see in the Short North.
There *is* a reason, or at least a limitation, if what you’re talking about is slowing traffic down on those streets–and on this point, frankly, you can’t change your mind and won’t change the subject. Consideration for speedy and efficient traffic management simply doesn’t come into play when you’re talking about Gramercy and Worth because no one’s commuting down those streets. That means that the primary factor that leads urban planners to plan one-way, 35+ MPH streets is absent in those Easton Streets.
The comparable streets in the Brewery District would be Liberty, Sycamore, Hoster, Blenkner, etc. There’s no more reason to slow Front down to 25 in the Brewery District than there is to slow Easton Way down to 25 through Easton.
I would agree. The location is pretty good. I’m not in the club business, but it seems like the business model that drives Park street and the Brewery District is a flighty model in general. Temporary. Cheap food, cheap drinks and bad music. When I hear cover bands blaring on Park street (we can hear the noise from the park while walking the dog) beltin’ out Journey covers mixed up with a few Pearl Jam favorites I can’t help but to be cynical and think that that street is busted. Then again there’s a market for smooth jazz, which isn’t that far off.
No. Sidewalks are important, but it takes more to make a place pedestrian friendly. Here are some other important factors.
1. Sidewalks on both sides of the street.
2. Sidewalks of adequate width.
3. Sidewalks separated from the street by a tree lawn, street trees, street furniture, and/or parked cars.
4. Destinations within reasonable walking distances.
5. Low traffic volumes and/or speeds
6. The ability to cross streets safely without unacceptably long delays.
7. Don’t have to cross large parking lots to reach the door of your destination.
8. Trees to provide shade.
9. A place to stop and rest.
10. Visually interesting surroundings/nice architecture
11. Low crime
I have to disagree about #5… I think that if you have sidewalks with either an adequate buffer and/or of sufficient width, then you really aren’t as impacted by traffic volume and speed. I’ve walked plenty of streets in London and New York that I consider “pedestrian friendly” that are adjacent to very busy streets.
The critical thing is to balance the variables: so an area with narrow sidewalks and no storefront commercial may “feel” more pedestrian unfriendly, and people may notice heavy traffic more. Walking past a large parking lot may be improved by provision of a green buffer and street trees. I think all of those design issues come into play, but it becomes a matter of balancing the different elements depending on the existing conditions.
I actually think a large parking lot–or anything else that breaks up “active” buildings, such as an abandoned building, or a giant concrete canyon dug for an interstate and not capped, does far more to make any given stretch of street pedestrian-unfriendly than the street itself being busy. Even a green buffer and street trees are going to be insufficient to get a lot of people to venture casually through an empty-seeming area, even for so much as two hundred feet. This was why Union Station Place had such a major impact … it nullified the pedestrian-unfriendly chasm of I-670. The bridge is no shorter today than it was ten years ago, but it feels shorter. The psychological barrier was broken.
There’s not all that much of a psychological barrier of a 35-MPH street unless it’s quite wide (e.g., 4th through the Campus area). If there’s a business (bar, restaurant, bank, carryout, whatever) on the far side of a 35-MPH road, and the business itself is visible and inviting, the road isn’t going to stop someone from crossing it.