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Now that spring is finally here (not that it feels any warmer outside) we’re starting to see more and more announcements regarding condo and development projects all over downtown on almost a daily basis.
2006 is going to be a big year for growth downtown. Just in the last few weeks we’ve heard new announcements regarding parking lot purchases on East Long St and a new condo project near Miranova, the proposal of condos and retail as a part of the new county courts building in the RiverSouth area, news of a massive new community development near the Arena District that will feature around 1000 new residential units, a mixed-use gateway project entering Bexley from downtown, more news about the giant Whittier Penninsula project, constant updates on the 70/71 split and the possibility of caps that may include retail, office, and residential units, and the unveiling of the high-end North Bank Condos.
Just to name a few.
I just wonder who can afford these things?
I know they’re trying to revitalize downtown by bringing people in, but who is going to pay so much for a condo? If they want the young and hip to move back downtown, they need to have condos that the young and hip can afford. I’m not going to pay 300,000 to 600,000 for a condo downtown with one parking space, no nearby grocery stores and no place for friends and family to park when they visit, when I can live in a freaking mansion for that much just outside of town.
Yeah, I know you get a ten year tax break, but how many 20 somethings can aford a half million condo regardless?
If you want people to move downtown, make it affordable. I’d love to live down there, but I’m not going to pay a ton of money for the inconvenience.
(my 2 cents)
You’d be suprised at some of the money people have to throw around. I work for a law firm where the starting salary is 100K. So there are 25 year olds that I work with making this much money.
Also, you have to consider that this is prime real estate. Like our Michigan Avenue or Central Park (except crappier than those). This is going to be expensive. The idea would be that this growth would trigger a growth of housing in general and it would expand through out the city, at least that’s what I think. So you have your super rich/very well off who can afford these places, but then just off the main strip or a few blocks from the main strip you have more affordable and nice housing.
Take Chicago, you have your super wealthy who can afford to live right by the lake in a high rise, or closer to the center of the city. But surrounding the heart of the city are 100′s of other neighborhoods that still benefit from being close to the city core, but aren’t as “prime time” as those other places.
I totally disagree with you here. I see living downtown (well, very close to downtown) as a convenience. I’m within a 5 minute drive of 2 grocery stores, I can walk or take a short bus trip to work (2 miles), and anything else I need (entertainment venues for instance) is just a jump, hop, and skip away from my door step.
I know this isn’t NYC or Chicago, but some of the things you list like difficulty parking just come with living in the city. Although as for myself, that has never really been an issue. And there is plenty of cheap parking downtown right now as it is.
Yeah, this has been mentioned before plenty of times, but here it is again… the condo projects we’re going to see developed right now are going to be the more expensive ones because that’s where the developers can make the most money. As time goes on, and the high-end market becomes more saturated we’ll start seeing more mid-range condos being made.
You can already find some around town in the 100-200 range, so to say these that I listed are all 300-600 is absoludicrous since most of them don’t even have prices listed yet.
I don’t understand why people complain about not having a grocery store within walking distance when most people who don’t live downtown don’t live within walking distance of a grocey store anyway. If you have a car downtown that doesn’t mean you have to walk everywhere. :roll: I think if the streetcar proposal gets off the ground though it will help to solve some of that problem. Also if the City Center gets a facelift hopefully something like a Trader Joe’s can go there somewhere. 8)
Living downtown is not for everyone, but apparently it is for SOME people because these condos seem to fill up just as fast as they can be built. If you want to live downtown but don’t like the current lack of groceries stores and a few other amenities, here’s a simple solution… don’t move there! :shock:
I’m hoping to be one of those entry-level associates making $100k. :wink:
Columbus is a strong white-collar city. Between banking, insurance, law, government, health management (a la Cardinal), and various corporate management enterprises around the burb, there are a solid number of fairly well-paying jobs around here. I’m not denying that there are people getting priced out of the market, however, and I certainly hope that new more midprice options pop up soon. Prime real estate is going to get bid up no matter what, however, so even if these places along High St. were small and lousy, they’d get bid up now (and, realistically, would likely cool off more later when the pique of urban resettlement cools a little, since they’d be smaller and lower quality).
My guess is that we’ll see newer midprice developments start going in to the east, around CCAD, and maybe over the river in Franklinton as well.
Hey, if you can afford it, more power to you. For me the pros and cons of living downtown right now outweigh downtown. For the same amount of money, you can get so much more outside the city limits.
For me the allure of living in a downtown is that you don’t need your car just to go to the store or on a quick errand. I’ve lived in Chicago for school and Rome off and on with family, and the thing I like the most is that everything is in walking distance. There’s a little corner deli or shop you can run down to if you need something quick. That simply doesn’t exist downtown. Heck, even the fast food places close up after buisiness hours.
So…that’s the inconvenience I’m talking about. If I want to live in an urban environment, that means I think I should be able to walk, or use some form of reliable public transportation (or my bike) to quickly and easily get to where I want to go. I shouldn’t be paying as much money as I would in the suburbs for a smaller place in which I still have to get in my car to do anything, as I would in the outskirts.
Like I said, more power to you if you like it, but right now living in downtown Columbus only resembles true urban living in that you’re paying a lot of money to live next to high rises.
All depends on what you’re trying to get “more” of. 8)
Doesn’t exist? What?!? I would say that we could use MORE delis and shops downtown but to claim that the ones that are there don’t exsist is just silly. It’s been said over and over and over here, but here this one is again: businesses need customers to survive, so once there are more customers (residents) downtown we will see more businesses there. So give it a few years, let the “urban pioneers” get in there first and live “the bad life” and anyone who’s afraid of not having enough delis to get by on a daily basis can move in as soon as the business do. I’m sure we’ll see fast food places staying open later too as soon as it’s economically justifiable for them to do. Probably see a lot more of them moving in downtown as well (no Burger Kings, no Taco Bells, not even a White Castle downtown in the city it calls HQ).
I agree that it still has a long way to go, but there are already plenty of things to do downtown. I only live there by proximity, but I find myself walking downtown multiple times per week for a variety of reasons, which is more than I would be walking if I lived in the burbs.
It’s coming along… you just have to be optimistic and patient. 8)
There will be more small shops, delis, and restaurants come into downtown once there are enough people living downtown to support them. If a restaurant stays open past 5 right now they lose money. If there are enough people living downtown to keep it open, it will stay open, but the people just aren’t there yet.
I am waiting to see some nice apartments be developed downtown. I know it is only a matter of time but I am just anxious. They aren’t huge money makers so they won’t be built anytime soon and will probably be around the CCAD area first.
Stuff just takes time.
The Seneca being converted into apartments (currently) geared for nearby college students is a start. I hope they get on it soon, since it’s quite an eyesore being on such a heavily traveled street as Broad.
It’s also worth noting, for the record, that most of the best restaurants in Columbus (including places open for dinner) are near downtown, though not actually in the central business district. The Short North and German Village, however, can hold their own and then some against any suburb around Columbus you care to name. As Big Ben and Walker noted, you need customers, and that’s where people actually live (and it’s close enough to downtown that the business crowd there can make it in for lunch if they really want).
The corner deli may or may not happen, but given the Kroger coming into German Village and the Whole Foods likely coming into the Arena District, I think it’s fair to say that you likely won’t have to go to far for groceries for that much longer.
It’s one of those things where you have to balance between the present and the future. The longer you’re willing to live the “bad life,” the cheaper you can get into the neighborhood, since the prices are only going to go up in the neighborhoods that really do attract new commercial and retail attention. If you want to buy into a developed area, however, like the Arena District, Short North, or Victorian Village (especially right around Goodale Park), you’re going to paying a hefty premium.
I agree that if more people live downtown smaller shops will open.
However, it’s a matter of putting the “cart before the horse.”
If you want more shops to open, you need more people downtown. Conversely, more people would be drawn downtown if there were more shops. I don’t think the answer is to make really expensive condos that only a select few can afford, hope that those residents add up to enough people to warrant the opening of more convenient shopping downtown, and then hope that more economical living arrangements will become available. Make those places more economical now, let the people that would actually benefit from those small stores move downtown, and then jack up your prices to bring in the ritzy and the glizty once some sort of liveable infrastructure has been formed.
Again, it’s just my opinion, but it seems to me we’re going about this the wrong way.
Hey, I’d rather see more affordable housing first too… but since “the pros” are building expensive condos first and they seem to be selling quite well, it seems like they must be doing something right? Perhaps they’ve done a little more research into this than you or I. 8)
Really, this is the core of the problem with “downtown” living in Columbus. We’re taking an area that has ALWAYS been a business and government “district” and slowly trying to revamp it into someplace where people will want to live. The place has always been a 9-5 spot aside from people hitting an occasional show at one of the theaters downtown. This is going to take some work to change!
Look at the central business district of larger cities… NYC, Chicago, LA and you’ll pretty much find the same thing. Few people actually live there, and the place really empties out after work is over with. Everyone lives either in the outer suburban areas or the inner “neighborhood” areas and more residentially-friendly “districts” that are near the central business district.
And a streetcar system will hopefully be able to help that. Shuffle people around the inner neighborhoods and we’ll start seeing a lot more activity all over downtown both during the day and at night.
Man, what’s up with this? Am I the only person who’s been to a deli in Columbus?
Don’t forget about that little thing called the North Market… not known for daily shopping, but a great place to find just about any type of food…
Also, there are places like CVS and City Pharmacy if you really need to just grab some milk or bread or something. Not all grocery shopping needs to be done with a station wagon at Wal Mart. 8)
AMEN :!: :!: :!:
Maybe. Which would mean the deli probably closed with you as the only customer, and now there aren’t any. :P :shock:
I never really looked, of course, since I have no problem with the deli section at the supermarket.
It was probably more due to the fact that there’s 5000 subways downtown and that drove the local delis out of business. :P
Honestly, I think a few of these have gone out of business, but here’s a list from citysearch (which is never up to date) of delis (including chains) within 1.75 miles from the center of downtown:
Pepper’s New York Deli
201 S High St
Fame Delicatessen
101 Columbus City Ctr Dr
Cappy’s Deli
121 S High St
Subway
111 S 3RD St
Subway
103 S High St
Katzinger’s Delicatessen
475 S Third St
Einstein Bros. Bagels
41 S High St
Broad Street Bagels & Deli
66 E Broad St
Subway
14 N Front St
Roger’s Downtown
49 N High St
Blimpie
50 N High St
Deli in the Alley
72 E Lynn St
Zuppa Downtown
180 E Broad St
Blimpie
195 E Broad St
Nicolosi’s Deli
47 N Pearl St
W G Grinders
250 E Broad St
Subway
53 S Grant Ave
Jordan’s Deli
120 Marconi Blvd
Einstein Bros. Bagels
743 S High St
Plaza Deli & More
460 Oak St
Roger’s Cafe
280 N High St Ste 2
Brown Bag Deli
898 Mohawk St
(My personal favorite)
Big Apple Restaurant & Deli
26 N High St
Fame Deli
400 N High St
Subway
400 N High St
Urban Jewel Coffee Shop & Deli
79 Parsons Ave.
Subway
1059 S High St
Barry’s New York Style Delicat
59 Spruce St
Heil’s Delicatessen
59 Spruce St
Panima Deli & Takeaway
691 N High St
Milo’s Deli & Cafe
980 W Broad St
Custer Sister’s Deli & Food
1106 E Main St
Faimly Market & Deli
108 W Park Ave
I had heard of Brown Bag, now that you mention it, though I’ve never even seen it much less been inside.
Of course, I’ve also heard of Blimpie, Einstein Bros., WG Grinders, Subway, Subway, Subway, Subway, Subway, Subway, Subway, Subway …
:twisted:
It’s in the German Village on the corner of Whittier & Mohawk. I haven’t been recently since they took over the barber shop next door that went out of business, but supposedly they expanded their wine selection and allowed for more table seating indoors (there were only like 4 tables before)….
Once it gets warmer out I recommend anyone drive down to check it out on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Grab a sandwich to go and walk over to Schiller Park for lunch. GOOD TIMES. ;)
They have a website too…. http://www.thebrownbaggv.com/
That list looks pretty accurate just glancing at it. Cappy’s is gone now, and add probably 3 more Subway’s. Just kidding….sort of.
I visited the website for the Brown Bag Deli and I’ll definitely check it out. I was thinking about trying out that Braunschweiger sandwich, but then I found out it’s liver sausage. :? I’ll try a different one.
I don’t recall how this thread went on to the topic of delis, but I’ve tried three sandwiches as of yet from Brown Bag, all delicious (#s 7,8 & 10). This thread deserves a bump. You basically get twice as much for what you would pay at Katzingers. They’re still very good, but I haven’t gone back yet because of the aforementioned fact.