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The Chicago Tribune wrote
Who knew Columbus was so cool?
By Barbara Brotman
November 11, 2007
My husband and I had no idea. But when work brought us here, we found it to be nothing like we expected. There was a large and bustling arts district. There was a gourmet food market to rival Seattle’s famed Pike Place Market. There was a historic district, German Village, with cobbled streets, rehabbed brick homes and cafes. There were restaurants that bested many of our dining experiences in Chicago.
It was downright hip. And so was The Lofts, a boutique hotel built into a historic 1882 former brick warehouse.
The article is primarily a review of the Lofts hotel, but Columbus gets some positive notice as well (even if the opening sentence is a bit backhanded).
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Interesting. That’s the same Sun-Times reporter that traveled here with the Windy City Rollers to cover the roller derby tournament the OHRG hosted here in August. Almost sounds like she saw fit to come back again after that initial visit — pretty cool.
I’m not saying our city is lame or that we’ve had a bad reputation, but you cannot argue that we have not had a “a place I want to visit,” reputation. I think it’s great we’re getting a lot of coverage lately. We should be proud of it, but it’s all in an tone of irony saying “I didn’t know that existed in Columbus.” It’s a pretty standard piece to write about any mid-sized city. That isn’t discounting the great things we do have to offer. I think the writer hit on some great points just pointing out why it was written.
There are two parts to this equasion: Lots of people making Columbus a cool place to live and visit and those promoting the city as a destination. This year, the people at Experience Columbus and others have done a great job in getting those writers to visit, and the arrival of Skybus also has also generated interest and timeliness.
So keep up the good work, everyone!
I’ve always thought that Columbus is a great place to live, but you really wouldn’t want to spend a vacation here.
As opposed to other big cities, where “it’s a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there” is a common refrain.
And frankly, I’m okay with that.
I’ve said it before in other threads, but I think what constitutes a “vacation” is changing with the younger crowd. Young people seem to be less likely to go do traditionally touristy stuff while on vacation. They want a more authentic, local experience.
Columbus has a lack of tourist traps and photogenic landmarks.
What we do have is an authentic, local experience.
So I’d say we’re a great spot to spend a vacation.
8)
I think as a city, we need to give ourselves permission to be loved on, especially by us. Seems very hard for many to do.
I’ve said it before in other threads, but I think what constitutes a “vacation” is changing with the younger crowd. Young people seem to be less likely to go do traditionally touristy stuff while on vacation. They want a more authentic, local experience.
Not to be combative, but just for the sake of clarity… what constitutes an ‘authentic and local’ experience?
Let’s be Columbus and stop keeping up with the Jones’.
I don’t think that Columbus has ever really had a bad reputation, so much as just not really having much of a reputation at all outside of the areas immediately surrounding us. It isn’t necessarily that people think “Columbus sucks” so much as that they just don’t think about Columbus.
To put things in perspective, I don’t know a damn thing about Boise. But, I don’t think it sucks. Because I don’t really think about it. They probably have lots of great things to offer. It would probably even be fun to spend a weekend exploring the city. We know different about Columbus because we are here. Just like many people who live in Boise could probably sing its praises.
Most of my business trips are to NYC, Las Vegas, Chicago, etc. More than a few times, when I’ve said I was from Columbus, people have asked questions like “do you live on a farm?” And, while I’m sure that some of them were just being pretentious pricks, I’m sure there were others who were dead serious because even thinking about Columbus had never occurred to them. In many people’s minds Ohio is just a “fly-over state” plain and simple.
So, I don’t think anybody was really talking about “keeping up with Jones’” so much as saying that it is kind of cool that the Jones’ are finally taking note of us. And not for things that made us like them. But for things that made us unique and in some cases even better.
Awww, now I feel all warm and fuzzy.
Stop that. :x
No it’s not.
I’m pretty sure the term Cowtown, used to describe Columbus for decades, wasn’t an affectionate pet name…
I think it would vary from person to person, but for me it’s a good local/unique dining scene, nightlife scene, local festivals and events, and things of that nature. It’s really something that can be found in the older neighborhoods of most all major cities.
When I go to NYC, I don’t go to visit the Statue of Liberty or The Empire State Building. I go to try out some cool restaurants and shops and bars. And I don’t think I’m the only one who feels this way.
Columbus has cool restaurants and shops and bars, so for a young person looking to travel somewhere new and try something new, I’d say you can have just as much fun in Columbus as you can in NYC in any given weekend.
If you are looking to take photos of landmarks and perhaps buy a T-Shirt or a trinket or a commemorative fannypack to show “I was there”… then Columbus isn’t a travel spot for you.
I’ve said it before in other threads, but I think what constitutes a “vacation” is changing with the younger crowd. Young people seem to be less likely to go do traditionally touristy stuff while on vacation. They want a more authentic, local experience.
Columbus has a lack of tourist traps and photogenic landmarks.
What we do have is an authentic, local experience.
So I’d say we’re a great spot to spend a vacation.
8)
I don’t know that young people’s vacation habits are changing overmuch, there’s just been a general uptick in people traveling as the years have gone by. Some portion of those aren’t going to go for the typical tourist fare, just like a small portion of people never went for that stuff before. I certainly don’t see the major tourist traps suffering from lack of customers, so it’s more likely that tourism has just increased across the board. More people are probably spending more time researching their destination, which means they’re less likely to get caught in a tourist trap (who very idea is based on you being trapped within their confines so you must give them your money), and more likely to sample something not mass marketed to travelers.
When we travel, we almost always hit the alternative shopping district in whatever city we’re visiting, and maybe some select galleries and specific music nightclub or two. But, we also do a fair amount of research on dining, shopping, nightclub, museums, and galleries, before we ever leave home. Sadly, we have often travelled with an excel spreadsheet organized by type with shopping, dining, and sightseeing options listed with hours of operation, contact info, excetera. :shock: Plus we also always take a laptop anyhow, so further research in usually just one $9.99 connection away in the hotel room.
We still know a lot of people who don’t plan anything ahead of even getting in the car or plane to leave, hence they usually end up complaining about crowds at tourist traps. :roll:
Walker, what we need is a sticky with a guide for where to go when you visit Columbus.
I know that if I came here and didn’t know any better, I could end up eating dinner at the first Outback I found, scoping out Westland mall for “something to do” and staying in a motel off of 161 because it’s cheap and appears to have good freeway access.
There have been multiple threads about this general subject already, and I’m sure some blog posts on Columbus-based websites, but I don’t know if there is one definitive, easy-to-follow guide.
Good idea Paul, maybe track down that “10 things you’d do with an out of town guest” thread (or whatever it was) and compile and sticky it.
Hrmm… very good idea. I may take it one step further and build something into the front page about visitor information.
I’m constantly running into the problem with how to make this site the best it can be for everyone who uses it. It gets used for about 100 different reasons, so it’s always a challenge to cater to such a broad audience.
But yeah. Definitely need something a little easier for visitors.
I’d definitely do something like that and make it prominent on the front page.
As it stands right now, the front page is a mess (in my opinion). If I were to surf on here while looking for information on what to do in Columbus, I would quickly click away in horror.
I highly reccomend something a lot cleaner and more simple. And with a clear path to the information you want. As it stands right now it’s a hodge podge of local news, random thread, ads, etc. I don’t know what percentage of people use it to navigate this site, but I know I don’t.
Not trying to get on your case, just offering honest and hopefully constructive, criticism.
As it stands right now, the front page is a mess (in my opinion). If I were to surf on here while looking for information on what to do in Columbus, I would quickly click away in horror.
I highly reccomend something a lot cleaner and more simple. And with a clear path to the information you want. As it stands right now it’s a hodge podge of local news, random thread, ads, etc. I don’t know what percentage of people use it to navigate this site, but I know I don’t.
Not trying to get on your case, just offering honest and hopefully constructive, criticism.
The front page is pretty out there for sure.
Yeah, it originally had a different intent and has grown messier and messier.
The new look will be much cleaner and hopefully easier to use/navigate.
Hrmm… very good idea. I may take it one step further and build something into the front page about visitor information.
I’m constantly running into the problem with how to make this site the best it can be for everyone who uses it. It gets used for about 100 different reasons, so it’s always a challenge to cater to such a broad audience.
But yeah. Definitely need something a little easier for visitors.
The easiest place to start with visitor information is dining reviews. Not everyone has to sightsee, but everyone does have to eat. I know the hardest part of traveling for us is finding worthwhile dining reviews about restaurants in cities we visit ahead of time. I don’t particularly trust the reviews on most “dining” sites because they typically aren’t a locally oriented site.
On the other hand, I’m not sure exactly how a potential visitor would react to Jim’s sour cream by the spoonful either. :wink: