I moved to Columbus for work. A lot of people move to Columbus for work and for a better life. The population decline in rural Ohio, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh has been a win for Columbus as many of the big corporations headquartered here have drawn in people from the surrounding region.
The city has a lot to offer and it's strongest assets include an array of charming historic neighborhoods with unique architecture, the people for the most part are very nice, a great food scene that emerged from the many ethnic groups that call Columbus home, an amazing park system with bike trails and rivers for water sports, a major university and strong smaller colleges, the library system is great and all the branches are modern and well designed, rapid growth means the city doesn't feel stagnant like some others in the region, and best of all everything here can be had at an accessible price.
Somehow for me, despite so many strengths and having so many things I look for in a good city, it falls flat for me. There is a prevailing feeling of genericness that permeates everything here in a way that I don't think I can quite put into words. The lack of a distinct local culture and identity is frustrating because there are many things Columbus has that could be used to establish a strong sense of self and yet it doesn't use any of the assets to live up to its potential.
People seem to come here from elsewhere for work and maintain strong ties to where they came from, still root for the Steelers or the Browns, and dream of retiring in Florida or Arizona. While they're here no one has taken a step back to invest some time and care in thinking of what we as Columbus residents want the city to be or what the city could be and that's a shame. Columbus is getting a lot of attention as of late and much of it is deserved. Columbus was one of the cities on the NYT list of
52 places to go in 2019 and I recommend visiting Columbus to see what the city that has lived in Cincinnati and Cleveland's shadow for so long has to offer. We just need to give people more reasons to stay otherwise it isn't going to sustain interest for long.
Columbus based RJD2 for music:
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