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Columbus, OhioNeighborhoods Bridge Past and PresentBy Toni Dabbs
True. The zoo is among the city's top attractions. It's one of the better examples of its kind, with 600 wildlife species occupying spacious naturalistic habitats spread throughout a 400-acre park. Perhaps that's why the zoo has such success in breeding endangered species. But Columbus has more to delight the visitor, much of which may be discovered by exploring the city's neighborhoods — from heritage to emerging. A good place to start is German Village, a restored community south of the downtown core, where a large contingent of German immigrants settled between 1840 and 1860. Its more than 1,600 homes and businesses — many sturdy red brick working class cottages, others elegant Queen Anne style houses — were saved from the wrecker's ball by concerned citizens during the 1960s and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
Among the commercial operations in German Village is Schmidt's Restaurant und Sausage Haus, a family business begun by J. Fred Schmidt as a meat processing plant in 1886 and still serving sausages made from his original recipes. The menu is laden with German dishes but also includes some American favorites. In contrast to German Village is Easton, the most modern neighborhood in Columbus, located in the northeast quadrant of the city.
Internationally known retailers such as Abercrombie and Fitch, Ann Taylor, J Crew, Barnes and Noble, and Williams-Sonoma, plus regional specialists such as Buckeye Corner (the Ohio State University logo shop) and Harry London Quality Chocolates attract shoppers from throughout Columbus and beyond. Dining opportunities also abound, with a standout being the Ocean Club. Its contemporary decor maintains the modern mood of Easton, while its menu mixes coastal specialties, from hamburger-sized crab cakes to Cajun blackened catfish to ginger crusted salmon, with Midwest mainstays such as apple glazed pork chop and roasted chicken breast. Entertainment also is varied, with one of the most popular spots being GameWorks, a combination restaurant and arcade. It offers more than 200 video/virtual reality games developed by partners Sega Enterprises, Universal Studios Inc. and Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks SKG. The fun ranges from midway style games that reward players with prizes to motion simulating machines such as Water Ski and Top Skater.
Bordering the district, opposite the Greater Columbus Convention Center, is a unique hotel carved from an 1882 warehouse and appropriately named The Lofts. Its high-ceiling guestrooms have exposed brick walls, wooden beams and duct work, but they also have chic furnishings, luxurious linens and other creature comforts, resulting in a kind of rustic elegance. A special feature of The Lofts is breakfast — delivered a la carte to the guest's door by a neatly uniformed butler. The guest indicates a breakfast time on a card and hangs it on the door before going to bed. The butler arrives at the appointed hour pushing a cart filled with juices, fruit, freshly baked pastries, cereals, yogurt, milk, tea and coffee. The guest makes a selection, and the butler prepares an in-room tray. It's a system that gives new meaning to room service.
The arena itself, designed as a mixed-use facility, is a beauty, with a glass enclosed atrium, open lobbies and concourses that allow fans to stay in touch with the action (be it a hockey game or a concert), rather than separating them from it when they leave their seats to visit concessions. It includes spaces for full-time shops and restaurants with street-level access plus a secondary ice rink for Blue Jacket practices and public skating. The arena's brick exterior blends with the circa 1900 architecture of neighboring office buildings. However, the district also includes newly constructed upscale apartments, parkland and retail facilities.
One of the first restaurants to open in the district was Buca di Beppo. Almost any night, it's packed to the rafters with diners enjoying its comfortable clutter and its flavorful family style Italian dishes. It might be hard to think of dessert while carving up a half-pound meatball, but many people still find room for the chocolate cannoli. IF YOU GOPort Columbus International Airport, about a 15-minute drive east of downtown, is served by Air Canada, America West Airlines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines. Ohio Statehouse, home to the Ohio General Assembly, is situated in the heart of downtown Columbus. A pre-Civil War example of Greek Revival architecture listed on the National Register of historic places, it is one of the oldest capitol buildings in continuous use in the United States. Free hour-long guided tours are offered four times each day. Center of Science and Industry, known as COSI, moved into a new 132,000-square-foot building in November 1999, with former astronaut Kathryn Sullivan at the helm. The facility features "Learning Worlds" — Ocean, Adventure, KidSpace, Progress, I/O, Gadgets and Space — providing hands-on experiences intended to make science understandable and fun. Wm. Graystone Winery, which produces about a dozen kinds of wine, occupies the restored 1875 Schlee Brewery in an area adjacent to German Village. The tasting room is open from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and a gourmet lunch buffet is available from 11:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays. Photos by Toni Dabbs FOR MORE INFORMATIONGreater Columbus
Convention and Visitors Bureau Copyright 2002 by Toni Dabbs. This work, including photographs, is protected by copyright and may be used only for personal non-commercial purposes. All other rights are reserved, and commercial use is prohibited without permission of the author. |
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Mention
Columbus, Ohio, and the first thing that might come to mind is the city's
world famous zoo — and perhaps zoo Director Emeritus Jack Hanna being body
checked by a baby elephant or nibbled by an excited lemur on one of his
numerous television appearances.
Today, German
Village is one of the most desirable areas in the city — a quiet
neighborhood of tree-lined brick-paved streets, wrought iron fences, and
limestone stoops and mounting blocks, originally used for boarding
horse-drawn carriages. Near its southern boundary is pretty Schiller Park,
once a community meeting ground for the German settlement and now the site
of recreational facilities, gardens and an amphitheater.
Centerpiece of
the community is Easton Town Center, a shopping, dining and entertainment
complex that is architecturally appealing rather than intimidatingly
futuristic. It might best be described as an idealized village, complete
with town square, fanning out from a multi-level central station.
In between German
Village and Easton, just north of the downtown core, is a district known as
the Short North. The Columbus version of New York's SoHo, it's a trendy area
of boutiques, art galleries, coffeehouses, restaurants and nightclubs.
Immediately west
of the Short North district, a new neighborhood is taking shape — the Arena
District, with its focal point being the Nationwide Arena, home to the Blue
Jackets of the National Hockey League.
Restaurants,
cafes and clubs have found places in the Arena District — especially along
Nationwide Boulevard, the area's signature street that runs along the south
side of the arena, which has been repaved in brick.