Q: When did the Short North jump the shark? « Columbus Underground Messageboard

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Q: When did the Short North jump the shark?

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Started 4 years ago by wildgoose77
Latest reply from wildgoose77

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wildgoose77
Not at all creative.
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I'm of the opinion that the Short North has jumped the shark, but I can't quite pin down the moment when it went from being cool to lame. My nominations for the singular defining moment:
1. Reality Theater folds. The Wood Companies turns the Mona Lisa building into a row of expensive condos.
2. Basso Bean tries to reinvent itself as a bar. Dozens (or hundreds?) of loyal beatniks vow never to return.
3. Functional Furnishings closes, clearing the way for Starbucks and a UPS store.
4. High Street arches refuse to light up in 2002, an embarrassment to the neighborhood for nearly five years.
5. That stupid upside-down American Gothic mural.
Can you think of other nominees? Or argue that the Short North has NOT jumped the shark?

Posted 4 years ago #
dru
IV
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i was personally disappointed when they removed the utility pole on buttles that had all of the street art on it, including the penny mannequin, the skateboard and the bikes....
but other than that, my reaction is to post a sound clip of Morrissey's laughing chant from "We Hate it When our Friends Become Successful."
as with Andrew's response to the G Hop post the other day, I think in order to be contrary people glorify a past that wasn't necessarily there. until the past few years, a number of properties remainder boarded up or looked like this:
c. 1999
People can gripe about Rosendales or Vino 100, but they are apparently forgetting that just a few years ago it was a windowless clinic. The Segway store may seem over the top, but that whole block was a flat parking lot.
If anything, I think the neighborhood needs to expand. I am drearily tired of how anything off of High struggles to survive. 4th St should be a vibrant corridor of restaurants, storefronts and bars (as long as they don't take out Sunset or SJT), 3rd Ave should have more on it, why is that whole row of storefronts across from Victoria's on 5th empty? IMO, there's so much to keep on going.
On the residency front, we're barely at 20% permanent resident occupancy. We had many residences that looked like this:
c. 2002
that were used as drug dens and ready to be torn down. The clerk at the local convenience store was shot dead in 2003, another neighbor was attacked by a serial rapist the same year. Ahh, the happy days of death and despair.
I think Fonzie would be cool with what's going down here these days.

Posted 4 years ago #
bjboose
Weinland Park
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You jumped the shark by suggesting the Short North has jumped the shark.

Posted 4 years ago #
Brewmaster
Portland, OR
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People are being too cerebral about the Short North lately. Just enjoy it for what it is.
And I agree with Dru, the Short North's past is mostly mired in drugs, gangs, prostitution, and violence. It's only been an artist's enclave for less than a decade. Things are fluid with city development. I'd rather see our neighborhoods progress too quickly for some people's taste than to deteriorate.

Posted 4 years ago #
Tigertree
771 N. High St.
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I don't know what "Jumped The Shark" means.

Posted 4 years ago #
dru
IV
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a term used for television shows that resort to dumb plot lines to retain their audience. first coined when Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli joined the C's in Cali for vacation and had to jump some sharks on waterskis.

Posted 4 years ago #
shroud
Polaris
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Brewmaster wrote People are being too cerebral about the Short North lately. Just enjoy it for what it is.
I'd agree, and I agree with Dru's point as well. There are always going to be people who prefer a less crowded, less well-known "indie" scene, who move on to the next bleeding edge-type area when somewhere hits critical mass and is no longer the type of place they want to be. IMO, there's nothing wrong with that - but there's also nothing wrong with the way the place is now.
For me, I think the Short North is continuing to get better and better. Places like Rosendales, a Jeni's!, etc, keep it new & interesting for me. I don't think the area ever jumped the shark, but I have been going down MUCH less frequently since 2CO's closed (RIP). Only now are more places opening up to lure me down more frequently again.

Posted 4 years ago #
Roland
Clintonville
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The "I liked them BEFORE they were popular" comment will be duly noted for the record as a true undergrounder!

Posted 4 years ago #
Tigertree
771 N. High St.
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Hmmm.. I don't really get it. Does that mean that those of us that have recently moved here or opened here are a dumbed down version of what was ?

Posted 4 years ago #
Coremodels
Really close to Explorer's Club.
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Short North has gone the way of many neighborhoods like it:
1. Slum
2. Artist/Bohemian hotspot
3. Conventional hotspot
4. Neighborhood for the wealthy

Posted 4 years ago #
Tigertree
771 N. High St.
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5. Montgomery Flea Market

Posted 4 years ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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I think the decrease in galleries and increase in condos and restaurants has made people a little restless. The neighborhood is what it is. Nothing stays the same forever. You can either spend the moment enjoying it for what it is, or you can complain about what it used to be, which ultimately accomplishes nothing.
For me, these types of comments are lumped in with the same ones geared towards the South Campus Gateway. :?

Posted 4 years ago #
Cyclist
Peach District (State of Mind)
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I did not know the SN had an aquarium. What I really want to know is when did Obetz jump the shark?

Posted 4 years ago #
artbomb112
The Heights
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Agreed. Things move. Even look at the bigger cities. Greenwich, Soho, Chelsea, Williamsburg.....
See a pattern.
I think the Short North is going to be a long line of sucess stories that happen here.

Posted 4 years ago #
ejolsz
Victorian Village
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If it has jumped the shark, so what? Stop going there and there will be a new bohemian village for you to start up and eventually it will jump to, I for one hope the side streets and areas like 5th by Vic's Midnight, can grab some of the attention and create a bit of a 'sub neighborhood', ever visit the strip w/ Ziggy's and Subway? has that jumped the shark too?

Posted 4 years ago #
ARH
w. beach
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I think it's bullshit that I can't afford to move there or Italian or Victorian Village, and I make $23k a year. So yeah, I think it has jumped the shark, because now only yuppies can afford that shit.

Posted 4 years ago #
Brewmaster
Portland, OR
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ARH wrote I think it's bullshit that I can't afford to move there or Italian or Victorian Village, and I make $23k a year. So yeah, I think it has jumped the shark, because now only yuppies can afford that shit.
Welcome to capitalism. :roll:

Posted 4 years ago #
ARH
w. beach
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Brewmaster wrote Welcome to capitalism. :roll:
I know, still sucks to not be able to live in the neighborhood where my boyfriend works. It would be closer to my work than where we live now, too.

Posted 4 years ago #
dru
IV
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my neighbors in section 8 will all be glad to know they've attained yuppie status.

Posted 4 years ago #
ejolsz
Victorian Village
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now that apparently it is too expensive to live near your boyfriend I think its its about time that the short north should institute rent control? look how well that has done for so many apartments in NY. (Oh and last I looked there are still some really cheap rentals available around here - they may be crappy, but its something)

Posted 4 years ago #