Young, lively city, read for recs too!
-
11/30/2020
I've lived in Columbus for 3 years now, originally being from Cleveland. Columbus is known for its art and food district especially in the Short North which connects The Ohio State University's campus to downtown. It's full of eateries, and they do a monthly gallery hop down the street giving fun weekend plans. The OSU culture is strong as we are proud of our Buckeyes. The spirit of gameday is extremely evident as people flock from all over the state to cheer on our team. Traffic can be pretty horrendous the weekend of games (especially home games), so it's best to plan ahead. Another con is parking is hard to find and there are no free meters except on Sundays and holidays. I would describe Columbus as an incredibly lively, young city, and mostly left-leaning (as most major cities in the US are that way). I still have places to discover in Columbus, but the best restaurants I have been to so far are Forno (Italian Pizza), Lincoln Social Rooftop Bar, Katalina's, Hangover Easy, Cap City Fine Dining, Northstar Cafe, Fox in the Snow Cafe and Condados Tacos. Fun bars include Brothers Bar & Grill (a personal favorite of wooden booths, large open space and plenty of games like pool and ski ball, with an outdoor patio and fire places), SeeSaw, Lincoln Social (at night), Granero, Pins, Duecento, FoodHall and that's really just scratching the surface. There are many Fortune 500 companies headquartered here like The Limited, Nationwide Insurance, Abercrombie & Fitch, JP Morgan Chase, L Brands, Cardinal Health, Huntington, DSW, Fifth Third Bank etc. When it comes to attractions, I recommend Other World (an interactive art exhibit), German Village (an ethnic village with the best authentic dishes), a Columbus Crew game or Blue Jackets game, gallery hopping in The Short North, The North Market (a market full of ethnic and local food), an OSU football game, The Columbus Zoo (it's really great by the way), CoSi (an interactive science center, especially good for kids) and the Columbus Museum of Art. We also have a wide variety of breweries like Seventh Sons and Tafts. There are 3 malls within 20 or so minutes, Polaris, Easton and Tanger Outlets. Easton is half-outside, half-inside but very trendy. There isn't many woodlands or trailed nearby, you have to drive 30 minutes or more but the best trail I've been to is HighBanks, and I've yet to go to Hocking Hills which is an hour drive but supposedly well worth it. The LBGTQ culture here is extremely welcoming as the city has been very ahead of its times with equal rights, however I would not say we are very racially diverse whatsoever. All in all, I think Columbus is a fantastic place to grow up, go to school, live as a young adult and adult and retire just as my aunt and uncle are doing and my cousin is also moving here to raise her family. I love Columbus.
Katelyn | Columbus, OH