A great article about Columbus’ diverse economy:

Diverse economy helped Columbus, Ohio, in downturn
By Christine Dugas, USA TODAY

Columbus is well known as Ohio’s capital and home to one of the nation’s largest universities, Ohio State University. But fewer realize that it has a diversified regional economy.

That helped it avoid many of the economic aftershocks that came after the housing bubble. “I don’t think anybody steered clear of it,” says Sue Lusk-Gleich, president of the Columbus Board of Realtors. “But Columbus did reasonably well.”

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We have something to be proud of! The question is in what other areas would you like to see Columbus spur development?

Press Release:

Charlotte Takes Over As “America’s Manliest City” While Portland Falls To LastMars Chocolate North America announced today the release of the second annual COMBOS® “America’s Manliest Cities” study – crowning Charlotte, N.C. with this year’s top spot of manliness. The study is commissioned by COMBOS® Brand in partnership with Bert Sperling, the research expert behind the popular “Best Places to Live” studies.

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According to a new national study conducted by VolunteeringInAmerica.gov, Columbus ranks as the 8th best city in the country for volunteering efforts. The report mentions that our volunteer retention rate is almost 75% while the national average is 65% and that based on annual averages, volunteers in Columbus contributed 43 service hours per person.

If you’re looking for local volunteer opportunities, check out our bi-weekly Philanthropy Friday series for a variety of ideas about organizations that you can get involved in helping out with.

The Columbus Metropolitan Library is no stranger to national acclamation, so it should come as no surprise that CML has just been named the 2010 Library of the Year by Library Journal.

“This is one of the highest honors a public library can receive,” said Patrick Losinski, Executive Director of the Columbus Metropolitan Library. “We strive to provide the most valuable and relevant services for our customers, and they truly support us and the work that we do.”

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A great Columbus travel article appeared in yesterday’s edition of The Buffalo News, based in Buffalo, New York. The local attractions highlighted for visitors includes the Ohio State University campus, The Wexner Center, Pattycake Bakery, Wholly Craft, The Blue Danube, Northstar Cafe, the Franklin Park Conservatory, the Thurber House, the North Market, Basi Italia, Katzinger’s, Pistacia Vera and more.

The full article can be found here: (”Discovering COLUMBUS“).

Hot on the heels of another semi-annual discussion about whether or not the Short North has “jumped the shark” comes word of a travel article in The New York Times that highlights the neighborhood. Some of the featured destinations in the article include the Mahan Gallery, Milk Bar, Tasi Café and Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams. Of course, the Gallery Hop gets a big mention as the optimal time of the month to make the visit to Columbus.

The full article can be read here: Hello, Columbus.

What other local destinations would you recommend as “must see” experiences when visiting our city?

According to this announcement over on BlackAndGoldStandard.com, Stadia Magazine has ranked Crew Stadium as the #1 Most Notable Sports Stadium built in the past decade. Crew Stadium was picked over new stadiums in London, Toronto, Japan and Germany due to its significance in introducing soccer to US audiences and paving the way for additional new soccer-specific stadiums.

The full article in the latest issue of Stadia Magazine can be viewed online HERE.

AmericanStyle Magazine, a popular nation-wide publication, has launched its annual readers’ poll in an attempt to find the Top 25 Arts Destinations in the country.

Columbus has been nominated within the large-size cities category for contemporary art. All ballots received by February 26, 2010 will be entered to win a $500 travel certificate!!!

CLICK HERE to take the survey.

Experience Columbus has got a new blog post up today featuring a listing of the various “#1″ moments that Columbus had throughout 2009. Their list includes national rankings of our Library System, COSI, The Columbus Zoo, Huntington Park, OSU President Gordon Gee, and our status as a “sports town”.

Additional national rankings can be found here, which include the following in 2009:

• Columbus is 2nd Most Affordable Rental Market in US
• Columbus is 7th most ‘Manly’ city in America
• Columbus is 7th Best “Bargain” City Says Forbes
• Columbus a Top 10 City for Business Expansion
• Columbus is Top 10 Best City for Finding Jobs
• Columbus is 15th “Smartest” City in US
• Columbus is 17th Best Arts Destination in 2009
• Columbus is 18th Fattest City in 2009
• Columbus is 27th Top Twitter City in the World
• Columbus a Top 60 city for small businesses

A new article from Wallet Pop (an AOL site) uses data from NeighborHood Scout and FBI Research to list out the most dangerous neighborhoods for property crime in the country. The list includes two University District areas labeled as Summit & 12th and Lane & Neil. If you browse the article you’ll see that 90% of the listed areas are located near a large college campus.