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As Walker knows, I'm the owner of UrbanOhio and yet I have to deal with people from not just Ohio but other parts of the country that perceive Columbus as "boring, plain, average" blah blah. A recent example would be on SkyscraperPage:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=183711
Just some comments from others in that thread:
I was in Cleveland a few weeks ago, and I asked several Clevelanders how they view Columbus and Cincinnati. Few of them knew much of anything about Cincinnati, and all of them said that Columbus wasn't really a city. They called it a big college town, and one Clevelander who went to Ohio State said that she moved back to Cleveland because she didn't feel comfortable driving around in Columbus with her "Fuck Bush" and "Republicans Suck" bumper stickers, whereas in Cleveland, she doesn't think twice about it. Her point was, even though Columbus is known to be tolerant, she still found it to be stuffy and a too "breadbasket" for her taste.
I'm sorry, if Denver still self describes itself as a cow-town, Columbus surely fits that bill as well.Columbus, to me, comes across as a city yearning for nationwide acceptance. For a long time, there were no professional sports in the city (the Crew don't really count, even as MLS is increasing in stature, but that's another discussion...), so there was no exposure there. The Buckeyes, who are treated like a pro team, do get nationwide coverage, but, outside of the state, aren't the most popular of teams... It seems in a way to be like the little kid who has older siblings, jumping up and down, screaming "look at me! look at me!", trying to get attention. I can remember an old Dispatch article from the late '90s discussing how the city should be respected and admired by those from the eastern seaboard.
The problem is, 'why?' never seems to get answered. What creates an image for a city? Generally, I'd say it's things that the city has which are unique. For example, ask about Boston and people may talk about the history of the area, the revolutionary war, or clam chowder. Kansas City might not have the history but they have BBQ. Los Angeles might not be known nationwide for a type of food but people probably imagine the movie industry and people in it, smog, and natural disasters. Dallas has cowboys. Seattle has the needle, as well as it's natural setting, and salmon.
And therein lies the problem with Columbus. The things that it tries to boast about aren't exactly unique. Powerhouse college football program? LA has one, with a second good one as well. As does Austin. The Miami Hurricanes are coming back. Cornfields and rusting factories? The latter of that is incorrect as Columbus is far more of a white-collar city than it's neighbors, but it still is in the rust belt, and there is a lot of corn around the region. Best zoo, library, etc, are subjective and not really enough for most people anyways, I would imagine. Easy traffic yet pretty bad public transit. They don't mention the construction out there, though. There are bigger cities that are cheaper. Research institutions aren't unique to the area and I don't think you could use Batelle, awesome though it may be, in a way that would nationally market the city or give it an image. The city needs something in which it excels. What is culturally unique about the city? Is there anything that stands out about the weather or geography? What does it have that you really can't find anywhere else?
I mean, you can buy a Toyota Prius, it's a nice car, but someone who has an Audi R8 or has a big truck or whatever may not be impressed. Nice car, but doesn't really excel or lead the vehicle world in any aspect. Haha, maybe that's how they should market it?
Columbus could probably be adequately described by one word: "average".It is the median MSA, after all, is it not?
I've been to Columbus many times over the years and like it enough. Overall, it's a pretty nice city with interesting neighborhoods. It's just kind of too normal, I guess... kinda boring and plain... too middle America, in a way (Family Ties was set there if that provides any indication of its image) to have a "cool" image in the national consciousness.I think some of it has to do with its location and topography. It's flat and sits along the banks of a minor, unnavigable, muddy river that no one's ever heard of. A lot of it obviously has to do with it being overshadowed by Cleveland and Cincinnati, which both offer more enviable locations and more important national histories.
Sometimes, it just makes me want to give these people a tour of Columbus, get their impression, and drop them off in New Straitsville with a flashlight, an Ikea fold-chair, and two Pringles cans.
Which bring me to my topic question. How do you defend Columbus? Do you defend its image? Ever get tired of hearing the same old bullsh#t?
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