Way OT: Your thoughts on the city of Columbus

Submitted by Blue in Yarmouth on

Having never been to the city before I have no real basis from which to draw any conclusion so I thought I would ask the board. For my part, my only information about the city of Columbus comes from this board which has always made it sound like a sewer and I just took that to be true.

On Friday I played in a golf tournament with Jody Shelley of the Philadelphia Flyers who although he plays for Philly, lives in Columbus. He has lived there since he signed his first NHL contract a number of years ago and when I asked if it was just because his wife was from there he said "no, it's just a great little city".

Now this isn't a guy who hasn't been around either. During the seasons he obviously lives in the city of the team he plays for (or very close by). He has lived in NYC and San Jose as well but still loves Columbus. My brother was part of our team as well and has been to Columbus a couple of times and said he also thought it was a nice city. 

I guess my question to the board is what is it about the city that makes everyone here hate it so much? Is it just that it's the home of the buckeyes or is there more to it? Additionally he also said the people there are great...I suppose if you are a member of the team they cheer for then that's possible...

.Anyway, I am genuinely interested in your opinions of the City of Columbus and whether the distain for the city is mostly due to the team that calls it home.

ppToilet

July 9th, 2012 at 10:42 AM ^

is really pretty nice.  On a sunny day, do a walk in that area to the stadium and back again.

Other parts of Cbus (like others note, which are common to larger cities) are not so great and just drive through without stopping.

AA2Denver

July 9th, 2012 at 10:55 AM ^

My unbiased opinion: it sucks. 

I've done a ton of traveling, been to Cbus several times and I've lived in several cities (PDX, Seattle, Denver, Boulder, DC). There is nothing in Cbus that would make we want to visit for pleasure oand I wouldn't move there for a higher paying job. On a scale of 1-10 (Gary, Ind - Kauai) I'd give it 5. 

triangle_M

July 9th, 2012 at 11:45 AM ^

I loved Kauai ever since I was there cleaning up after Iniki, but you can only rank it that high if you're really into island life.  Its pretty sparse on culture unless you're really into the "cultural center" stuff and chickens.   I like urban centers and diversity, and by diversity I don't mean American, German and Japanese tourists, and by urban centers I don't mean tourist traps and ABC stores.

BeatOSU52

July 9th, 2012 at 11:21 AM ^

I visited my sister there in the Spring of 2011 for my first time.  I would have to say I enjoyed my time there.  However, it did help that I A) Didn't wear anything Michigan (wasn't in the mood to get harassed) and B) Wasn't football season obviously.  If this was the case, what I am writing below I probably wouldn't be saying.

Anyways, I stayed in the area between the actual campus and downtown Columbus, where a lot of the really old houses/duplexes are (forgot the name of the district).  It was a real nice, clean, and quiet area.  I bought a one day pass to the campus work-out place and it was pretty sweet.  They had a track on the top floor that I ran around and you could see inside the football stadium from there.  Also played tennis on the courts right next to the stadium (hit a ball as hard as I could that went into the stadium lol).  The library there was really cool...and ginormous. Sat in my sister's grad class in the College of Health building (?)...real old but interesting building.  The AAA baseball team they have has a cool stadium, right next to a cool food market.

 

Never really talked to anyone on campus besides my sister and brother-in-law so hard to say if the people were nice or not (outside of football talk).

Feat of Clay

July 9th, 2012 at 11:05 AM ^

Honestly?  From visits, and from people I know who live there....seems like a fine place to raise a family.  I say this on the assumption that the worst, most hateful, crazy-ass Buckeye fans live in smalltown Ohio and not in Columbus itself.  I imagine game weekends are dreadful, but I'll bet when its not football season it's a very liveable place.

Ann Arbor is still eleventy billion times better, obviously.

UMMAN83

July 9th, 2012 at 11:44 AM ^

for the Ohio campus that is lame and the terrible, classless fanbase.  Columbus, the city, is nice.

michelin

July 9th, 2012 at 1:43 PM ^

Columbus is named for a guy who drew an inaccurate map, got lost in the middle of the ocean, then got false credit for discovering America.

Now, it's full of false braggarts and conniving liars.

Small wonder.

bronxblue

July 9th, 2012 at 12:05 PM ^

It's a fine little town. Had a friend who lives there years ago, and the downtown is fine. The buckeye-ness of the campus kind of ruins the city on gameday, but it is fine. They had really good ice cream in that little center market area.

teldar

July 9th, 2012 at 12:15 PM ^

Columbus is a good city.
The dickhead osu fans are much more than 2% unfortunately. I regularly get serious negative comments about being from Michigan. Some people are better when they learn I went to U of M. Some get worse.
But the city itself is nice. They spend all kinds of money on parks and activities for the city. And the fact it's a state capital means it gets all kinds of extra cash that should go to the rest of the state. The population is slanted to young professionals and there's always something to do. Just don't talk football and expect anyone to know anything other than that they root for osu.
I liked cinci better. Columbus feels like a much smaller town. Cinci is very metropolitan, and much more southern. It doesn't feel like part of Ohio.

But, from my memories, AA was better.

Brightside

July 9th, 2012 at 12:23 PM ^

She was from Atlanta when we met, and always said she wanted to get back there...  but after a few years she said she just wanted to be able to visit Atlanta now and then...

20 years together now in Dublin, just outside Columbus.  Great city, great community and excellent schools.

I grew up in Cadillac and went to UM from '86 - '90 and have lived down here ever since.  The Buckeye fans get obnoxious in numbers, but are generally good Americans...

Jody's house is in my neighborhood and he and his wife are very nice.  Hard to believe he was the enforcer for the blue jackets, he seems so cool and relaxed.

I'm on Higgins Lake this week, and Ohio does not have anything like it, that is for sure...  Probably what I miss most about Michigan are the lakes and rivers...

Go Blue!

Blue in Yarmouth

July 9th, 2012 at 1:34 PM ^

As for the enforcer part, I agree wholeheartedly. He was never a fighter growing up and never had the personality of one. We played hockey together from the time we were 10 and were both considered skill players, not the grinder, fighter types. Even in Jody's last year in the Q he had a pretty good offensive year, but he Knew the only way he would get into the league was to fight. Interestingly that was my only ticket as well but I elected to go to University instead. There have been many times I look back on that decision and wish I made the other choice.

michelin

July 9th, 2012 at 1:03 PM ^

Columbus called the inhabitants of the lands he visited Indians, as if he had actually reached the goal of his trip to the East Indies.  He continued to deny that he had instead reached a different continent.



Now, after naming Columbus, Ohio after one of the biggest deniers in history,  the city is full of people who deny their home school’s lying and cheating ways.

Wazoo

July 9th, 2012 at 4:03 PM ^

If you like endless strip malls, tracts of bland suburban houses and eating at chains like Applebees, you'll love it. Not much character in a city where cornfields run up to the city limits, but hey they are trying.

GoWings2008

July 9th, 2012 at 5:50 PM ^

Do NOT go during football season.  And make sure you check out Thurman's Cafe for a huge burger.  I did go wearing a Michigan T-shirt and although I got some mean looks, the people were generally nice.  No one, to my knowledge, spit in my food.  But there was a girl behind the bar who was a Michigan fan, so I had SOME protection.  Cool place.  But its JUST far enough outside the area where the university is to be out of the line of fire.  

MaizeNBlueAboveALL

July 9th, 2012 at 8:34 PM ^

One compound word......SHITHOLE! I am sorry to say it but my entire family lives in Columbus and the outskirts. It really is not that bad as much as the people in it.(like previously stated) I think all the people living in that town with a buckeye sized brain are the real problem not the actual appearance of the city. Like I said my whole family lives there and I enjoy it as long as I do not have to interact with idiot ass ohio fans. I can not tell you how many times I have just been in ohio and I have got flicked off by A BUNCH of trash bag ohio fans. So to me it is a place where rednecks go that could not quite make it to the south. GO BLUE! CLASS ABOVE TRASH

MaizeNBlueAboveALL

July 9th, 2012 at 8:44 PM ^

After reading and thinking about all of my experiences in Columbus and Cincy I can pretty much draw the conclusion that I hate the state and every Suckeye fan in it. I wear my Michigan shirts and hats to famil reunions just to stir them up and they sure enough wear scarlet and gray just out of instict. Ohio is the most REDNECK and TRASHY state occupant wise besides Alabama. Alabama #1 and Ohio #2. It is so much different in AA when you see an ohio fan, it is just a joke and we laugh it off, in ohio they see a Michigan fan and they eye ball you, cuss you, try to fight, and flick you off. I have had maybe 2 people besides my family in that state not do any of the above. The eye ball is ok but that was EVERYWHERE and happens even with my family. Point being, its TRASHY.