With all the open land surrounding Ohio’s capital city, many of the folks who reside within the limits lead lives that are utterly indescribable to farm folk and suburbanites. Columbus lives the city life to the fullest, nowhere else in a 75 mile radius will you find people navigating a concrete jungle so adeptly. They move fast, they talk fast and they are no strangers to bright lights, big crowds and living life on the go.
The city of Columbus is full of die-hard football fans. Saturdays during football season sees hundreds of thousands of fans decked to the hilt in their loudest outfits, drinking, singing “Hang on Sloopy” and proving to everyone within shouting distance that they do, indeed, know how to spell Ohio. Denizens of the city are quick to point out that there is a lot more to Columbus than the scarlet and grey, but mention the “state up north” and watch how quickly friendly citizens turn into rabid mascots.
“Did you see the show last night?” In a lot of cities that means the latest hit mini-series, but in Columbus they’re referring to a concert either from a nationally touring big-stage mega-star or the next big thing laying their soul on the line at one of Columbus’s many mini-venues. The music scene in Columbus is alive and thriving and anyone who calls themselves a local is well attuned to what is going on and can simultaneously tell you who is at the Schott, Newport, Bernie’s and where to find Under The Sun this weekend.
Dressed in dazzling duds or stepping off a fixie and into the hottest new gastropub--ask anyone in Columbus where they are from, and you can almost bet money that it isn’t from Columbus proper. And many of the people who claim Columbus, when pressed further, will sheepishly reply with a near-by suburb. The dazzle of the city lights have attracted these closet suburbanites like so many moths to a flame. It’s not a matter of lack of locals, but rather that Columbus is such a shining star in a sea of boredom and corn that the odds are just in favor of people playing out their big city fantasies.
The stereotypical Columbusite embodies the classic ‘everyman’. Drop them in any environment and they will flourish without batting an eye. This is mostly because of their intrinsic ideal. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from, all Columbusites see is one giant community. Take a stroll around the Short North or visit ComFest and you will get the true sense of what that means. All walks of life taking the time to get together and have a cooperative good time. Just keep in mind that this mindset is pervasive year round and you’ll understand why so many people around town are consummate smilers.
Columbus has been left off of recent Hipster Mecca rankings… how very ironic. The Columbus hipster is one part town historian, one part community activist, a walking billboard for this week’s food-craze, 100% mustache and would totally correct me if they weren’t late to meet their friends at the Bodega or whatever the new hotspot is that nobody knows about yet.
It’s not as if Columbus reinvented the wheel, but many in the city’s fervent biking community make it seem that way. Gears or not, cruiser or sprinter, bikers in Columbus identify with the ease and convenience of commuting on two wheels and they want to convince you of the same. In Columbus, the urban trekker is both adept at traversing the city’s streets which have become increasingly more bike friendly over the last decade, and also commuting on the scenic bikeways that include the Olentangy Greenway. These two-wheeled champions take to the street in the sweltering Ohio summer heat and can even be found pedaling around when there is snow on the ground.
There’s no doubt Columbus is a big city, but it’s surrounded by farmland, and while the city has slowly spread its fingers into the surrounding areas, the farm, too, has weaseled its way into the city limits Residents are anything if not resourceful and to them, the idea of sustainability isn’t just some catch phrase being tossed around by marketers but rather a not-so-long-forgotten way of life. Yard gardens and chicken coops are sprouting up in neighborhoods across the city, and these days you’re more likely to hear people talking about their pea patch than about the latest sales at the big-box stores.
A Columbusite’s fashion sense isn’t limited to scarlet and grey. The city is home to the headquarters of a few big name brands. High Street might as well be a runway because the clothes you see downtown will be taking off across the country in the following months. And speaking of runways--Columbus has its own fashion week, so you know they’re serious about keeping this city vogue.
For every knucklehead in Columbus smashing chain-store chicken wings, there are ten upstanding citizens who would love nothing more than to smack that person with a wet nap and drag them into one of a hundred other quality establishments and show them what dining in Columbus is really about.
