The City of Columbus Parking Violations Bureau began updating all 4,215 parking meters on Tuesday and expect the project to be complete around Labor Day. Double-check the sticker on your meter, as many areas will have newly extended enforcement hours running through 10pm.

The new rates are as follows: 30 minute meters at $1.00 per hour; Two, three and six hour meters at $0.75 per hour; and 12 hour meters at $0.40 per hour. [Read More]

Last weekend was filled with activities - whoever said there was nothing to do in Columbus! So we are starting up a CU series favorite - MEGA SUMMER WEEKENDS! This weekend is also packed with things to do. Available Light Theatre’s latest, Attempts on Her Life has shows all week. Kick off your weekend early by heading to Paul Van Dyk at Boma on Thursday for 10 Years of Vandit Records. Join Rowe for their Sex & the City Trivia Night on Thursday.  Hell City Tattoo Festival runs from Friday through Sunday. Riverfest kicks off in Genoa Park with the season’s first Waterfire on Friday night. On Friday and Saturday, the Columbus Gay Mens Chorus and Columbus Jazz Orchestra are partnering to put on the show A Night in Vegas. Agora returns this weekend for its 7th iteration. Go to the preview party on Friday, or the main event on Saturday. There are more arts and crafts to be found at the Eco-Chic Craftacular on Saturday and Sunday. Head to the 8th Annual Mini Real Ale Fest at Barley’s Smokehouse on Saturday. Break out your best Apron for this year’s North Market Apron Gala. The Gala is happening on Saturday and prizes are awarded for aprons! Later on Saturday night, bust out your dance shoes for Proper - hosting 3 dance music legends. Or head to Bristol Bar for Beretta Music - Reference and Seth Yender. More music happening Saturday and Sunday at this year’s Rock on the Range at Crew Stadium. Close out your weekend with a showing of Back to the Garden at Shadowbox on Sunday. Or go to the new Scioto Audubon Metro Park for a variety of outdoor activities. Enjoy your weekend!

For the past year, there have been ongoing discussions about the future of Nationwide Arena and the Columbus Blue Jackets. The team is losing money, and discussion between The Jackets, Nationwide Realty Investors, The City of Columbus and Franklin County have not yet provided a plan for addressing the issue of retaining the team.

Several months ago, the Forward Together Columbus committee was launched as a citizen-led effort seeking to rally community support for fixing the funding issues and keeping the Blue Jackets in Columbus. We recently sat down with John Bentine, Co-Chair of Forward Together Columbus, to find out more about this initiative. [Read More]

Next week, a collaborative team of districts and neighborhoods located along High Street will be unveiling a new “High Five” marketing and outreach campaign. The new High Five moniker is intended to propel the destinations and experiences found in German Village, Downtown, The Arena District, The Short North and the University District to a new national level.

“High Five is an amazing grassroots collaboration between districts and destinations,” said John Angelo of Destination Marketing. “It could have tremendous benefits for the vibrancy and development of the urban High Street corridor. We are extremely excited to share the concept with Columbus… and to take the story regionally and nationally.”

The official launch event takes place on Wednesday, February 24th at 3PM at the Arena Grand. More information will be coming soon at ColumbusHighFive.com.

The Dave Matthews Band will be performing on June 22nd at Huntington Park as a part of their national tour this summer. This marks one of the first big non-baseball events at the new venue. According to The Beat Blog the 10,000 seat ballpark can be expanded to accommodate 18,000 for a live music event with additional on-field seating.

Tickets for the DMB show go on sale to the general public on February 26th via Ticketmaster.

With the economic recession being fully realized in late 2008, many expected 2009 to be a slow year in terms of urban development. Several projects had been delayed or canceled due to financing issues, but many others were able to continue with seemingly little difficulty. It’s been said that cities that continue to develop during recessions will come out ahead when the economy turns back around. Judging by the number of projects either under construction or in development, it would seem that Columbus is well posed to thrive in the near future.

Below is a rundown of the urban development projects that were completed, under construction, or announced in 2009. [Read More]

In this week’s podcast we sit down with Jon Myers and Chuck Hootman, founders of Casino-Free Columbus, the local grassroots effort to halt the development of the casino in the Arena District. Jon & Chuck tell us about how this movement came about, why the casino is not a good fit for our community, what types of development we need to be striving for instead and ways for others to get involved. More information can be found on their twitter profile @casinofreecolo and their Facebook page - “CasinoFreColumbus“.

You can use the player below to listen to the podcast, click here to download an mp3, click here to subscribe via iTunes, or click here to subscribe to the rss feed.

Back in May there was a bit of a hullabaloo about how the Columbus Blue Jackets could solve their economic issues, which included the idea of having Franklin County purchase Nationwide Arena.

Today, the Columbus Chamber of Commerce released a report that provides their analysis on the situation with the Blue Jackets, and provides nearly 20 different options on how the team can be retained and economic development of the Arena District increased. [Read More]

An article in today’s Dispatch is reporting that some city officials are considering a 50% rate hike to parking meters throughout Downtown, the Short North, the Arena District, German Village and other urban neighborhoods. The increase is estimated to bring in an additional $1.5 million in revenue. This news comes just three weeks after parking meter restrictions were lifted in order to make Downtown on-street parking more convenient for businesses.

You can read the full Dispatch article here.

NBC4 is reporting that the proposed Arena District Casino would be branded as a “Hollywood Casino”, similar to its Indiana counterpart. In the article, a representative says that renderings won’t be made available before election day, but states that the casino will be a single-story structure with an attached parking garage, and will include a performance stage and dining options.