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The general reaction so far to Skybus has been a pretty postive one here in Columbus. But is the buzz just as strong in the eight destination cities? Is anyone excited about cheap airfare going to Columbus, or are we just an inconvenient layover on the way from Boston to San Francisco?
Here’s a couple of quotes from some selected news sites.
The Bellingham Herald wrote Ken Oplinger, president and CEO of the Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce and Industry, hailed the news from Skybus. “The continued growth of the Bellingham/Vancouver market has brought a number of air carriers to our community over the last few years, but the potential expansion which Skybus brings is unprecedented,” Oplinger said. (READ MORE)
Scott Ayer’s Blog on The Bellingham Herald wrote News of the impending arrival of Skybus airlines will not be welcome throughout Whatcom County. Already some people are starting to express concerns that the airport will grow too large and end up damaging our small community.
How big do we want Bellingham International Airport to get? Is it OK if we end up with the biggest minor airport in the region — something smaller than Seattle of Vancouver, but much larger than the airport we have today? (READ MORE)
The San Jose Mercury News wrote Even if Columbus is not your destination, it’s located within 200 miles of Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh. (READ MORE)
The Los Angeles Times Daily Deal Blog wrote Anybody want to go to Ohio? Anybody?
Why Go: I used their system and found that I could get to Columbus for $20.40, and then Columbus to Boston round-trip for $36.30. Columbus back to Burbank was $85.40. That’s Burbank to Boston for $142.10 round-trip, including taxes. I included a couple overnights in Columbus between flight segments so I could seek out more reasons to take advantage of $10 tickets.
Why Not to go: Columbus is the only destination available from Los Angeles (Burbank). (READ MORE)
Kansas City InfoZine wrote “According to the most recent Department of Transportation data, the average one-way air fare between KCI and Columbus exceeded $140,” said VanLoh. “We anticipate Skybus will substantially lower the average fare, allowing more passengers to fly between these two growing cities.” (READ MORE)
Greensboro News & Record wrote Skybus will soon offer promotional $10 seats on flights from Greensboro to Columbus, Ohio. Now, once people exhausted the jokes about $10 airline tickets (“Free life jacket with every purchase!”), the question was, “Why did the chicken book a flight to Columbus?” (Naturally, to be closer to Toledo.)
However, you could also pose the reverse question from the Columbus end — why Greensboro, North Carolina? Skybus already had the answer: PTI is located near the middle of the state, a spokesman observed, close to the Charlotte and Triangle markets.
But doesn’t Greensboro have just one or two attractions to offer? After all, we are the birthplace of Vicks VapoRub. (READ MORE)
Richmond.com wrote All of the flights either originate or terminate in Columbus. Therefore, if you wanted to fly from Richmond to Seattle on Skybus, you would have to book two separate flights. First you would have to fly to Columbus and spend the night. The next day you would fly to Seattle. Upon your return, you would have to spend the night in Columbus again before heading to Richmond. While your travel plans would have to be pretty flexible, the cost savings might be well worth the hassle. (READ MORE)
MiamiHerald.com wrote Columbus ranks as one of the airport’s largest underserved markets. More than 108,000 passengers connected through other cities to fly from Fort Lauderdale to Columbus in 2005, Belleme said, citing Department of Transportation data. (READ MORE)
The Pink Slip Blog wrote $10 one-way, weekday, if I’ve got it straight – means that pretty much everybody in Portsmouth can afford to make the trip. Heck, at that price, the people in Portsmouth almost can’t afford to stay home.
But I’ve been to Columbus and, while it’s a pleasant enough city, unless you’re an Ohio State Buckeye, part of the state government, or trying to sell something to Nationwide Insurance, I don’t think there’s all that much that would woo you there on a steady basis. (READ MORE)
by Jessica Labrencis
June 21, 2007
Though it is Ohio’s capital, Columbus is often overshadowed by Cincinnati and Cleveland. Home to The Ohio State University, Columbus has a vibrant energy and several walkable neighborhoods. Naturally, the German Village has German restaurants, but also features artsy shops and restored 19th-century buildings. The downtown Arena District is a burgeoning mixed-use urban development featuring old warehouses converted into shops, restaurants, hotels, and offices. The stylish Short North area is a quick walk from the Arena District, and features eclectic galleries, boutiques, and eateries.
Several notable museums are scattered around Columbus. The Ohio Historical Center provides a broad history of the state, from exhibits on the first Ohioans to the natural history of the state. The Columbus Museum of Art features works by Picasso, Monet, Matisse, and Degas, as well as Columbus natives George Bellows and Elijah Pierce. COSI Columbus is a hands-on science museum popular with families.
READ MORE
*sigh* No doubt. I, for one, know that I reference where I come from and its superiority so much that I’m turning into “That guy” around here. But, in the 7 months I’ve lived in Columbus, I really don’t have much to say to help the cause. I try to explain to my friends how it’s really not as bad as everyone elsewhere wants it to be, and then I get smashed with: Crime rates, Public School ratings, being in a red state, blatant segregation, the thriving edm scene is top-40 house, suburban sprawl, no mountains, humidity, a place where major tours just tend to skip over, where I can’t get delivery at 4 am, where I struggle to figure out the public transportation system because it is so frequently underused, where recycling isn’t mandatory, where I can’t find a god damned decent Thai place (or Chinese) to save my life, etc. etc. etc.
I joined this board actually in order to help change my perspective on the area that I’ve recently moved. I see shows coming through and I see a generally open, quite liberal stance on a lot of changes that people would like to see from the city. That whole thing is refreshing, but I’m still stuck in a place to where my friends are a 90 minute drive from a 10 dollar flight out here and they are still saying, “dude, what the fuck are we going to do in Ohio?”
To which I reply, “Um.. we can go to a Hockey game, there is a cool area called the ‘German Village’ where we can get a decent sausage and a good beer, and there’s a ‘brewery district.’ OH, and in North Market, you can get a pretty great bowl of Pho.”
What else am I supposed to tell them? Everyone is convinced that this place is even “flatter than it seems,” including me.
edited to say: Oh, and I’m down for suggestions. I’m super open to whatever, so PLEASE… give me a reason that not only somebody would visit this city, but a reason to not slam my head into a wall for moving here.
[quote="Daz"]
edited to say: Oh, and I’m down for suggestions. I’m super open to whatever, so PLEASE… give me a reason that not only somebody would visit this city, but a reason to not slam my head into a wall for moving here.
I’ve never had this issue – had friends in from Boston, LA, Phili, Houston, Athens (Greece, not OH), London (England, not OH), Ann Arbor, Rochester (NY), etc… and all seem to confirm that they’ve enjoyed their Columbus experience. A few top things in my book that may not entice visitors, but attract me as a resident who relocated here 7 years ago:
1. Cool urban neighborhoods I can afford to live in – to catch a mortgage like the one I have here in NYC, I’d have to live in Albany. Chicago, I might find something decent in Aurora. Here I can be in the Short North.
2. Great, highly Zagat rated restaurants that I can get into on almost any night and not drop a 500% increase on the wine alone (great article in most recent Food & Wine comparing NYC, SFO, etc markups to Cleveland). And since I can live downtown, I can walk to 1/2 of them.
3. People are not so up-in-their-sh$% righteous about living on the coast. I hate coasters who pull the old statement “Ohio is something I fly over.” Maybe a vacation to meet unobnoxious people isn’t an exciting lure for skybus, but it makes living here decent.
4. Try Thai Taste1178 Kenny Sq Mall , Columbus , OH
5. Comfest
etc….
I was talking on the phone with a friend from Boston and mentioned my weekend was going to be at Comfest, the nation’s largest indepedent (i.e. non corporate sponsored) music festival and that it would be crazy because it coincided with a Pride Festival of 100k and the NHL Draft. Her response, “Columbus has a lot going on each weekend, Boston is boring.”
Now is Boston boring, not in my experience. But is Columbus boring, not unless you make it.
Agreed. Anywhere can be as much fun as you make it.
Agreed. Anywhere can be as much fun as you make it.
I’ll second that. A fun person can have fun anywhere. :D
Anyone who will complain about something they’ve never tried or someplace they’ve never been is doomed from the start.
1. Cool urban neighborhoods I can afford to live in – to catch a mortgage like the one I have here in NYC, I’d have to live in Albany. Chicago, I might find something decent in Aurora. Here I can be in the Short North.
2. Great, highly Zagat rated restaurants that I can get into on almost any night and not drop a 500% increase on the wine alone (great article in most recent Food & Wine comparing NYC, SFO, etc markups to Cleveland). And since I can live downtown, I can walk to 1/2 of them.
Super true! I guess rent here is ridiculously cheaper than what I was used to paying. As soon as my lease runs out here in Hilliard, I’d like to find a place in the city. I am DYING in a suburb.
Also true, I might have referred to Ohio as a “flyover state” once or twice in my lifetime. However, I’ve found just as many obnoxious ass people here as I did there. Instead of pretentious elitists I get the exact opposite, redneck idiots.
Thank you. I’m on it. Right away.
I plan on checking this out this weekend. I love a good festival.
Thanks for the suggestions. I need somebody to throw things like this at me every once in a while so I can appreciate the fact that we didn’t move to Lansing. HA. (My fiancee was looking for vet schools).
[quote="Daz"]
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Oh and I forgot to add a few things:
1. We can do nothing about the lame topography we have been dealt by millions of years of seismic activity and glaciation. But it doesn’t take too long from here to get to some pretty nice rolling hills with hiking, etc… Did your friends ever venture east of Seattle – 85% of WA is a flat desert that only prospers due to mass irrigation.
2. As for music tours, whenever I talk w/ aforementioned friends in Boston, LA, etc.. and mention my tickets to Coldplay, Interpol, Peter Bjorn & John, Death Cab…, Girl Talk, Asobi Seksu, Morrissey, fill in the blank___________ they state a.) tried to get tix and couldn’t score them b.) tix were $100+
3. Suburban sprawl – what is Pierce county in Seattle; Long Island beyond Queens, or NJ or CO for that matter; Frisco to Dallas, etc… Urbanites who live in coastal cities think they don’t have sprawl because they don’t visit the burbs unless they need to hit IKEA. But I don’t do any of my shopping or socializing in Hilliard. Easton may be considered sprawl, but it’s actually still technically in or adjacent to Cbus incorporated
4. Humidity – are we really any worse than other major urban cities like Houston, Miami, Chicago, DC?
If people think a place sucks it sucks. If people think a place is the coolest place on earth, it is to them.
I like Bangkok and Pad Thai (both on the SE side on Refugee Rd) better than Thai Taste, fwiw.
Quote:
4. Try Thai Taste1178 Kenny Sq Mall , Columbus , OH
Thank you. I’m on it. Right away.
Before you head over, I must state that it will not beat the best Thai you can find in Seattle, Vancouver or LA – but it should cut the urge a little bit! Might want to try the others on Refugee road as well, I hear good things but have yet to make it.
Have to laugh. Wife and all the inlaws went to MSU, and I have a hard time giving my honest impression of life in Lansing. But I think your wife saved you from even more torment when she chose OSU.
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Oh and I forgot to add a few things:
1. We can do nothing about the lame topography we have been dealt by millions of years of seismic activity and glaciation. But it doesn’t take too long from here to get to some pretty nice rolling hills with hiking, etc… Did your friends ever venture east of Seattle – 85% of WA is a flat desert that only prospers due to mass irrigation.
Everybody in Seattle knows that the 85% of WA that is East of the Cascades sucks. But damn good fruit comes from there, so we never bitched too much. I do, however, miss: climbing, big lake fishing, and the ability to get to HUGE mountains in 45 minutes.
2. As for music tours, whenever I talk w/ aforementioned friends in Boston, LA, etc.. and mention my tickets to Coldplay, Interpol, Peter Bjorn & John, Death Cab…, Girl Talk, Asobi Seksu, Morrissey, fill in the blank___________ they state a.) tried to get tix and couldn’t score them b.) tix were $100+
Meh.. never had those problems. I DID see that Interpol is coming through her this summer and I’m stoked. I missed PB & J because I have to work at 4 in the morning on weekdays. I happened to catch Bright Eyes at the Wexner, but the guy running the sound board needed to be shot.
Yeah, that’s because Pierce County is an hour + away. Which brings me to something I’ve discovered that I love about Columbus. Your traffic. It gives me tingles to know that I can drive anywhere in less than 20 minutes.
I’ll plead ignorance on this one. I’ve only lived on the west coast. Humidity without precipitation is a new concept to me. And good god does it set off the allergies.
Very true. I hope you don’t mind me using your arguments later. I’ve needed a lot of these for awhile now.
Awesome. I’m excited. I need my fix.
Head down to Alabama (or Georgia or Mississippi) in August. Most of my family lives on a huge lake in central Alabama and I’ve visited down there during some triple-digit summers and the humidity is unbelievable. You can put on your sunglasses indoors with the A/C on, and walk out the door only to have them immedately fog up with humidity.
:?
Plus, while our landscape is flat, our severe weather is also mild. I’d rather deal with a bit of humidity in the summer and a bit of snow in the winter than with regular tropical storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, mudslides, blizzards, draughts, and whatnot. Central Ohio is probably one of the safest places in the US as far as severe weather goes.
What else am I supposed to tell them? Everyone is convinced that this place is even “flatter than it seems,” including me.
This highly depends on what they’re into… there’s no generic “everyone will enjoy this” pastime ANYWHERE. But I’m willing to guess that depending on what they’re into doing for fun, there’s plenty of it to be done here as well…
Make sure to see the Top Ten Things to do in Columbus and Top Ten Festivals In Columbus threads, all the countless events going on folks talk about, etc…
Oh, and for Thai restaurants, I can’t believe no one suggested it yet, but also try Thai Orchid:
7654 Sawmill Rd
Dublin, OH 43016
(614) 792-1112
What else am I supposed to tell them? Everyone is convinced that this place is even “flatter than it seems,” including me.
This highly depends on what they’re into… there’s no generic “everyone will enjoy this” pastime ANYWHERE. But I’m willing to guess that depending on what they’re into doing for fun, there’s plenty of it to be done here as well…
For any of my friends, I just need to find them a place to drink that isn’t littered with douchebags (and since I’ve only been to campus bars, I am yet to see one of these places… MAN there are a lot of douchebags at Panini’s).
GAH! :shock:
Sounds like someone needs to come to the next CU meetup and meet some cool people. ;)
Daz: Why are you living in Hilliard? Although I try to be point out the good things in Columbus, I can’t even imagine living in a suburb like Hilliard – no offense to people who live there, but if you want to be where things are happening, and live in an interesting neighborhood, you certainly picked the wrong one.
The zip code I live in is really integrated. We have old, young, students, a large Asian population, and a large African American population.
I think if you go to a suburb like Hilliard (insert most other suburbs) in any major city, you’re going to find something similar. Full of the same people driving the same SUVs wearing the same things with the same greedy kids and the same flat screen TVs and the same vapid existence. It certainly isn’t something that’s unique to Columbus.
Yes, Central Ohio is flat. But if you take the time to drive out in the country, I’m willing to bet you will see the most beautiful sunset ever, owing to flatness.
Anyway, I agree with everyone who says you make you own fun. There are so many things going on in Columbus during the summer that I am always lamenting having to work all weekend.
You keep having them during the week! I start working at 4 AM at my job, so it’s kind of out of the option for me to go out during the week.
I am pretty damn sure I’m making it down to Comfest this weekend though, so yeah, organize a CU meetup at that thing ;)
For any of my friends, I just need to find them a place to drink that isn’t littered with douchebags (and since I’ve only been to campus bars, I am yet to see one of these places… MAN there are a lot of douchebags at Panini’s).
please, step away from the campus bars…
i repeat, step away from the campus bars…
unless you’re a 20-21 year old frat dude – or possibly if you’re heading to Bernies for hip-hop, punk, etc…. or perhaps Larry’s because you want to get drunk on $2.18
otherwise i repeat, step away from the campus bars…
The zip code I live in is really integrated. We have old, young, students, a large Asian population, and a large African American population.
I think if you go to a suburb like Hilliard (insert most other suburbs) in any major city, you’re going to find something similar. Full of the same people driving the same SUVs wearing the same things with the same greedy kids and the same flat screen TVs and the same vapid existence. It certainly isn’t something that’s unique to Columbus.
To jump in and provide a quick counterpoint to the stereotype here — I live in a definite suburb area, and yet my neighborhood is ALSO really integrated — we have old, young, students, large Indian and Hispanic populations, Asians, African Americans, African immigrants, etc, etc…
Nor do I drive an SUV, wear the same things as everyone else, or live what I would call a vapid existence… I DO own a flat screen TV (not flat panel though), but from the looks of the other thread, so do several of the other folks who post here… :roll:
I hear ya… I had a fake ID was I was 19 and I have hated college bars since I was… well.. 19 (In WA, there is no such thing as an 18+ place, you’re condemned to house parties if you are under 21, but then… life is bliss).