Columbus: Re-branding & Identity

[Columbo]

Brand, brand, everybody wants a brand.  Okay, you've got your brand.  Happy?

 

Below is an excerpt from a Business First article about the convention and visitors bureau (Experience Columbus) and the Columbus Chamber of Commerce - along with other economic development groups like Columbus2020, the Columbus Partnership and the Greater Columbus Sports Commission - coming up with a unified new look for their organizations.

 

City backers coalesce around 'open, smart' theme for Columbus

 

Business First - by Doug Buchanan

Friday, July 22, 2011, 6:00am EDT

 

The rollout stems from an effort that began a couple years ago by the Columbus Bicentennial Commission, a city-appointed panel looking to determine Columbus’ “core essence” to help it coalesce around an image that would stick, said Pete McGinty, chief marketing officer of Fahlgren Mortine.  Working with the Columbus branding agency Ologie LLC and getting input from many organizations and residents, McGinty said they settled on the idea of Columbus as an “open and smart” city, a message Fahlgren was then hired to develop.

 

Although several organizations are adopting new logos, they deliberately did not come up with a slogan or ad campaign to keep the concept open to interpretation and development by anyone in Columbus, McGinty said.  He compared it to open-source software, noting “nobody owns it.”  Along those lines, he said you can interpret the separated letters in the Columbus logo as standing for “us” and for our place in the U.S., and you’d be correct.

 

McGinty said it’s up to Columbus residents and businesses to elevate the city’s image as “open and smart.”  “We have to pay this off,” he said.  “The real branding is how we behave.”

 

READ MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/print-edition/2011/07/22/theme-emerging-from-city-backers.html

[Jeffery]

I like that..."Open & Smart".  That's the vibe I get from the place.  Open, Smart, ...and Young.

 

Compare this to the Dayton areas two competing (or are they complimentary?) brands:

 

Get Midwest (for the region, which, for me, conjures up images of Gopher Prairie, Spoon River, and American Gothic, and relentless flatness...the nail that stands out must be driven down as flat as the landscape).

 

or

 

Dayton, Patented/Originals Wanted (for the city) (which is nostalgic for the days when  a lot things used to be patented in Dayton, and since they are so dull they need "originals"...hence "originals wanted").

 

Now Columbus...Columbus sounds fresh...open....open to possibilities, open as in tolerant and accepting, open to new ideas.....smart...highly educated, clever, etc.  And thats what I feel when Im there, too.

 

I'm usually pretty dismissive of this branding thing so its sort of funny to see these branding results do sort of reflect their communities, whether for good or (unintenionally) ill.

[Columbo]

I like that..."Open & Smart".  That's the vibe I get from the place.  Open, Smart, ...and Young.

 

Now Columbus...Columbus sounds fresh...open....open to possibilities, open as in tolerant and accepting, open to new ideas.....smart...highly educated, clever, etc.  And thats what I feel when Im there, too.

 

 

I think that's exactly what Columbus officials were looking for.  And it's not bad - as far as branding efforts go. 

 

I'm generally dismissive of branding efforts too.  I've felt that a city's policies and actions always trump this branding talk.  But if ya gotta have a brand - "Open & Smart" works okay for me.

[327]

That's one of the better city marketing slogans I've heard.  I agree about the value of branding vs action, but it can certainly help.

[GCrites]

The steam dummy... that might be the special rail system in the area that I know I learned about when I was a kid, but later forgot about. I vaguely recall learning about a very old "short, single-line subway" in Old North Columbus/Clintonville, but it could have been a steam dummy. It's been at least 20 years since I heard about it.

 

OK, I finally figured this out after years of going bonkers. It was not a rail subway at all; it is a pedestrian one... and it's still there! Something like this might not be all that interesting in Cincinnati or even Huntington WV, but it is here. It runs under High Street at Clinton Heights Avenue/Brighton Road. Here it is on Google Street view: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=3336+n.+high+st.+columbus+oh&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x88388c592bce27e7:0x215a79c80d0c5d68,3336+N+High+St,+Columbus,+OH+43214&gl=us&ei=W_d4TqXuOOjhsQLu4YyvDQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CBoQ8gEwAA

[DarkandStormy]

I'm not sure the appropriate place for this, so feel free to move if needed.

 

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/united-states/ohio/why-columbus-should-be-on-your-travel-radar-hipster-city-ohio-next-brooklyn/

 

At least one writer thinks Columbus is an untapped hipster hotbed.  Fashion, craft beer, art, innovation, coffee, etc.

[ColDayMan]

That's a good look.

[eastvillagedon]

I'm not sure the appropriate place for this, so feel free to move if needed.

 

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/united-states/ohio/why-columbus-should-be-on-your-travel-radar-hipster-city-ohio-next-brooklyn/

 

At least one writer thinks Columbus is an untapped hipster hotbed.  Fashion, craft beer, art, innovation, coffee, etc.

did you read the comments? Someone from California who supposedly went to OSU said this: "THe draw is that there are two good schools here- Ohio State and Oberlin." I wondered if "Sumi Allen" was even ever in in Columbus.

[DarkandStormy]

I'm not sure the appropriate place for this, so feel free to move if needed.

 

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/united-states/ohio/why-columbus-should-be-on-your-travel-radar-hipster-city-ohio-next-brooklyn/

 

At least one writer thinks Columbus is an untapped hipster hotbed.  Fashion, craft beer, art, innovation, coffee, etc.

did you read the comments? Someone from California who supposedly went to OSU said this: "THe draw is that there are two good schools here- Ohio State and Oberlin." I wondered if "Sumi Allen" was even ever in in Columbus.

 

I typically skip the comments.  I saw Jeff Lake tout the generalizations of Cbus...from the '80's.  College grads can't find jobs (false), everything closes at 5:00 (false), progressives being overthrown by conservatives (wut?), etc.

[GCrites]

I'm not sure the appropriate place for this, so feel free to move if needed.

 

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/united-states/ohio/why-columbus-should-be-on-your-travel-radar-hipster-city-ohio-next-brooklyn/

 

At least one writer thinks Columbus is an untapped hipster hotbed.  Fashion, craft beer, art, innovation, coffee, etc.

did you read the comments? Someone from California who supposedly went to OSU said this: "THe draw is that there are two good schools here- Ohio State and Oberlin." I wondered if "Sumi Allen" was even ever in in Columbus.

 

Oberlin, Otterbein -- the difference is academic I guess.

[Toddguy]

I did not find a thread for something like this when searching, so I decided to create one.

 

How can Columbus best 'Brand" itself?

 

There has been discussion lately on several sites about this. It is a conundrum for me as I really just come up with a blank slate when thinking about this. I just really don't come up with anything on this one.

 

Do any Columbusites have any ideas? Is branding even really that important..what do you think? 

Anybody from other Ohio cities or beyond have any ideas or input?

[Robuu]

The best jumping off point would be working with what is already there, as anything inauthentic is doomed to fail.

 

Ohio State is obviously the biggest association people have with the city. And more specifically Ohio State football. I don't see how you make a brand out of that, quite honestly.

 

Next in my mind would be agriculture. That's something that could be worked with. Columbus is definitely the biggest city in the country to still have farming as part of its identity, so work with that as a strength. LED lights, genetic modification, work at becoming a hub of high-tech agriculture. OSU's agriculture program is pretty solid, I believe, which probably lends to the existing association between agriculture and the city. That would be a good partner for any start-ups in the sector.

 

Edit: Also, stop trying to make Columbus pizza a thing.

Edited December 21, 2018 by Robuu

[Toddguy]

^^ I think OSU has not kept up in that regard(OSU and AG) especially compared to other Midwest Universities. In fact I think Aaron Renn mentioned that at some point, if I am not mistaken. And yes this is a big lost opportunity.

 

We don't seem to value our history or what is authentic about the city. It used to be OSU football, the Ohio State Fair(biggest in the country!-which was a lie really lol), and not really a whole lot else except making a lot of buggies back in the day and having arches on High street..nothing really stands out to me I have to admit. And none of those things that do would seem to work. Columbus has excelled at being average/good/steady/etc, and it is hard to market that.

 

Maybe marketing our intact revived inner urban neighborhoods more? Going back to the whole 'High Five" thing/marketing the High street corridor from German Village to Clintonville as a great urban street more?  The way the city and region are able to collaborate more than other areas that are more balkanized? I don't know how we would really market that. But it seems that we need to have some "bullet points" to go along with some general something or other.

 

I don't even know what Columbus Pizza is?  I favor Chicago Deep Dish myself.

[Robuu]

https://www.experiencecolumbus.com/blog/post/there-is-a-columbus-style-pizza-and-you-need-to-try-it/

[Chas Wiederhold]

I appreciated the COLUMBUS branding efforts that I saw when visiting the city a couple years ago. Was that for the DNC bid? I think it is subtle, broadly interpretable, progressive, and unconstrained. It also makes a truly special statement: what makes a place a place is the people.

[DevolsDance]

42 minutes ago, Robuu said:

Edit: Also, stop trying to make Columbus pizza a thing.

 

Hey now, Columbus pizza is an amazing magical thing and was probably my favorite food discovery when I moved here. So delicious! 

Haha

 

But yeah, pizza is not going to gain this city notoriety anytime soon.  

 

Honestly, I have always said that Columbus' best angle to work is it's community aspect. We're a city of festivals and gatherings. It's just something that we take for granted that really I have not experienced many other places. Columbus comes alive in the spring and its fascinating to see. Many cities have festivals but not many have true all city and community festivals that they take pride in like Columbus. 

Edited December 21, 2018 by DevolsDance

[BigDipper 80]

I've been thinking about how at the statewide level, the "Find it Here" slogan doesn't really impart anything meaningful about what Ohio is. With a little tweak from "Find it Here" to "Make it Here", you'd have a slogan that captures the state's history of manufacturing and innovation but also how anyone can "make it" here and have a pretty good life for themselves. I think Columbus' big strength is that it has become the place for people to make a better life for themselves, and it's somewhat of a blank slate in that regard. It's hard to sell a blank slate - "hey, come to Columbus, we have nothing!" isn't going to get any marketing folks excited. But if you start sharing the stories of people who came to Columbus and made something of themselves or their city, maybe you can start inspiring a little pride of ownership in Columbus, so to speak. "This is my town, I can do with it what I want". 

 

If you try to force some narrative, people are going to see right through it. Hunting down a distinctive culture is futile with the exception of a handful of cities, honestly. No one moves to Charlotte because of how authentically North Carolinian it is; they moved there because Bank of America transferred them there and they wanted to make the most out of their city. 

[ink]

It seems like the current branding direction (in addition to the ColumbUS branding) is being a Smart City.

 

 

[Columbo]

9 hours ago, Toddguy said:

I did not find a thread for something like this when searching, so I decided to create one.

 

How can Columbus best 'Brand" itself?

 

There has been discussion lately on several sites about this. It is a conundrum for me as I really just come up with a blank slate when thinking about this. I just really don't come up with anything on this one.

 

Do any Columbusites have any ideas? Is branding even really that important..what do you think? 

Anybody from other Ohio cities or beyond have any ideas or input?

 

There was an older "Columbus: Re-branding and identity" thread.  So I've merged your new Columbus Branding thread with that older thread.

[Toddguy]

On 12/21/2018 at 3:36 PM, Columbo said:

 

There was an older "Columbus: Re-branding and identity" thread.  So I've merged your new Columbus Branding thread with that older thread.

I searched for "Branding Columbus" and "Columbus Branding" so the "rebranding" did not come up. Thanks for merging the threads.

[David]

I've lived all over Ohio - recently, years in Cleveland, teen/college/early adult years in Cincinnati, with stints in smaller cities like Chillicothe, London (where I currently reside - just outside of Columbus) but Columbus has always been home as I grew up there, lived there as an adult and have always had close ties to the people, places and things there. So I feel I'm qualified to speak on this and trust me, it's FOR SURE a real thing. 

Growing up in the City of Columbus... I'm telling you... it's a weird one. When you grow up here, you feel like you live nowhere and anywhere. I always struggled with my own identity; I never felt like I fit in with any group or personally represented an archetype and it dawned on me that the entire city I live in seems to deal with the same thing I've struggled with internally for a long time... trying to figure out who I am. There are so many things for which I could say, "That's very Cincinnati!" or "That is FOR SURE a Cleveland thing..." "Not surprised she's from Chillicothe..." I honestly can't do that with Columbus... it sucks and I don't think I'm thinking this simply because it's my home town. I've met a lot of people in Columbus from here and elsewhere who have noticed the same thing.

I've seen the city go through so many changes - an extreme explosion in urban development, economic boom, inflows of transplants and influxes of so many foreign populations from Laos, Vietnam, Somalia, Japan, Mexico, Ghana, India, you name it, over the past 3 decades I've been on earth. There isn't much on the surface to complain about, living here. There isn't much to gloat about either, though... On paper, the city has been doing great but it hasn't transpired that Columbus has produced any sort of identity. If you disagree, that's fine and I love to hear different perspectives but I know I'm not alone in thinking this.

I don't think it's that Columbus lacks culture at all, it's that it lacks a distinct culture. In that regard, I think the city has sort of become a victim of it's own success, I feel like. The lack of distinct culture seems to be a hidden injury of multi-culturalism, progressivism, integration and things along those lines, that... don't get me wrong, I stand strong for, with good reason. Frankly, it just doesn't make the city cool like Cleveland and Cincinnati, as much as I love Columbus.

What I find odd is that whenever I bring up Columbus' identity crisis to people, they totally agree, but they immediately bring up sports and how they wish Columbus had major league Baseball, Football or Basketball teams. We all know why that's a problem;  there's just too many God damn teams 100-150 miles in every cardinal and intermediate direction for that to be feasible. For many simpletons, sports teams ARE the source of identity for their city. I'm not going to lie, that whole thing is F---ING weird to me because I'm just not in to sports, outside of martial arts, so that isn't at all what I'm talking about. I'm talking about shared values, interests, habits, customs, traditions, cuisine, style, linguistics and literally thousands or perhaps millions more things which are markers for 'culture.'

Some people argue that culture takes time to develop and Columbus is a newer city. Columbus isn't at all a new city, at least to the extent that it could be used as a valid excuse for this. 

I was going to try and pick your brains and ask if you think Columbus is headed toward having a distinct identity, if you think it's a lost cause, or if you have any ideas for what Columbus would need to do to acquire an identity and know what direction it needs to go in, or even if you think a case can be made that Columbus does in fact have a distinct identity... but as I'm writing this, what also comes to mind is how the internet and with how well-connected we all are now, perhaps it is making local distinctions increasingly less prevalent across the board or even relevant and it makes me wonder if that will even exist in the next 10-30 years.

 

I'm obviously curious what your thoughts are on this as well as any notable mentions on distinct culture in Ohio's many cities (big or small.) I find the subject extremely fascinating. 

Edited July 5, 2021 by David

[surfohio]

Interesting topic David. I think these things take time. And right, Columbus indeed has some great history and historic spots but so much is still so relatively new. 

[audidave]

My thoughts are that Cbus is so car centric combined with being an easy demographic representation of America that it is a self-fulfilling representation of anywhere USA. 

 

What is interesting is that typically Its outsiders from coastal states bringing new restaurant and bar concepts

to try in Cbus.  The last 3-5 years, it seems that Ohio breweries and restaurants from other parts of Ohio are making a splash by adding operations in and around Cbus. 

 

I can think of Swensons right off the bat for fast food.   Jackie O’s, platform altho maybe short lived, Saucy, and various Cinci breweries have opened operations. Seems that there are taco places from both Cle and Cinci that have opened in Cbus area. Townhall and Cosmic Daves subs have arrived.  Winking Lizard and Skyline came in a while ago. To me Columbus is getting a lot more hospitable an option to live with all my favorite local chains opening. 

 

So in this regard Columbus is improving from a city chock full of random coastal chains or home grown chains that are everywhere else to the best of Ohio chains that can go toe to toe with big chains so much they can expand to Columbus to compete in one of the toughest markets. 

 

In short, Columbus is becoming a melting pot of Ohio. 

 

 

[Toddguy]

I agree I don't think the city has a strong distinct identity, but I really don't think it is that big of a deal or a significant problem.  I would not say that the city has an "identity crisis" as I don't think it is anything that could really be called a "crisis" and the city does not appear to be "suffering" from  or "struggling" due to lacking a very strong distinct identity. 

 

Also, sometimes it can be a good thing to fly under the radar. A lack of a strong "identity" is better than having a strong identity(which maybe otherwise be known as a reputation at times) and having that identity be a negative one. Look at how other cities have acquired strong negative identities and have struggled for decades to overcome them as they either were not very accurate at the time and/or certainly are not accurate now. Sometimes no reputation is better than having a bad reputation. "Branding" can be both a blessing and a curse in the long run.

 

If this is an "identity crisis", then how is it a "crisis"-what factors exist that would be labeled as being part of a crisis?-that are critical?-that are harming the city in a critical way?

 

So I say no, Columbus does not have an identity crisis. It does lack a distinctive identity compared to many cities with rather strong identities, and I am not sure that this is that big a deal, and we will have to see if this changes in the future. 

 

 

*If anything Columbus did have an identity, and it was that of a bland cowtown-not exactly an identity to embrace, huh?. This fact alone should make the city be wary of "needing" an identity.

 

JMHO(as a lifelong resident of the city and environs for 59 years).

[Luke_S]

I think one thing that can help shape a cities culture is it's industries, which I'm not really sure what that would be for Columbus outside of the state government and Ohio State/higher education. Could very well be due to my ignorance of Columbus, broadly speaking. 

 

And thinking about Ohio State's affect on the city; it's been such a major part of the city for so long that areas have crafted themselves to serve the college, but with a transient population of students its a moving target. It seems like that has started to change more that Columbus has grown up and had to be less reliant on the college crowds. But this could just be my perception due to where my friends have decided to show me around when I visit as we age out of the college bar scene. 

[westerninterloper]

Does Columbus have an identity crisis? 

 

Writing after 15 years in Ohio, I'd say it's very weak, as others have mentioned. The dominant industries/sectors in Columbus - state government, flagship university, insurance, retail, are not ones that lend a strong identity to a place. It was never a steel town, or a river town, or a port, nor does Ohio State have a particularly strong culture (outside football) to color the city.

 

My dominant impression of Columbus is a city of bureaucrats, claims adjustors, and retail and restaurant workers, kind of a mini-DC, or Indianapolis (long known, rightly, as "India-no-place") without a university. I think planned cities and capitals, suffer from this - Brasilia, Canberra, Indianapolis, Oklahoma City, Sacramento, Columbus, DC...the "there" was manufactured, not natural like river or port cities. I find my home of Toledo to have a much richer culture than Columbus, for example (Jeep, Glass history, M*A*S*H, Packo's, deep football culture, the port/shipping, fishing/the lake/walleye, birding etc). 

 

Residents of Columbus seem a lot more mobile, maybe dropping into the city for a job but not necessarily staying forever. OSU and the government jobs have a lot to do with this. I'd say this also bleeds out to the bland image Ohio promotes for itself nationally - "Find It Here" has to be about the emptiest state tourism slogan in the US - it reinforces the idea that there's nothing special about the place, except that we have a lot of everything. 

 

I do like to visit Columbus from Toledo - it's a more open and innovative place compared to Cleveland or Cincinnati in my opinion. That openness and transitory nature means it doesn't have a set way of doing things, identities stuck on high schools (I see you Cincinnati), or debilitating nostalgia (Ahem, Cleveland, Toledo). 

Edited July 5, 2021 by westerninterloper

[X]

Ohio in general suffers from being, "Anywhere, USA"- it's the curse of being average. And Columbus is "Anytown, OH".  So it's a bit of a recursive curse.  You'll just have to deal with being an average, but nice city.  It's not the worst thing in the world.

[westerninterloper]

2 hours ago, X said:

Ohio in general suffers from being, "Anywhere, USA"- it's the curse of being average. And Columbus is "Anytown, OH".  So it's a bit of a recursive curse.  You'll just have to deal with being an average, but nice city.  It's not the worst thing in the world.

I agree...Ohio believes itself to be the heart and soul of America, representative of what is "real" America to those east of the Mississippi; it's four regional cultures and Columbus:

 

East Coast - Cleveland and the Firelands;

Midwest: Toledo and NW Ohio

Upper South influence: Cincinnati and along the Ohio

Appalachian: Southeast

 

All of these together are the culture of Columbus - with the Upper South being the weakest of the four.

 

I sometimes think of Wallerstein's World Systems Theory, and how Ohio used to be until 1970 very close to the top of "metropolitan" power in the US for its corporate and organizational prowess. It has receded in influence since the 1970s, become more of a "peripheral" (flyover) state since then, losing many Fortune 500 companies, strong blue collar jobs, airport hubs, and generational wealth, with declining rates of international immigration since the 1960s.

 

Columbus comes closest to recapturing some of that industrial era magic in an information age form, but does so at the expense of Cleveland mostly, and other Ohio metros to a lesser degree. 

Edited July 5, 2021 by westerninterloper

[GCrites]

It's had one as long as I've been around so I'm used to it. Some other cities such as Austin and Portland were able to ditch their crises in that time. Since we don't have rail transit like they added in that period we weren't able to become a "choice" city but rather a "have to" city.

[NEOBuckeye]

As a few others have chimed in, and as someone who has lived all over Ohio including in Columbus, I also don't see Columbus as having an identity "crisis" so much as a general lack of a strong, static identity. I also agree that could actually be a sign of good health, in a sense.

 

Bear in mind that despite its age (founded in 1812), Columbus remains somewhat fluid in terms of population influx, social and economic growth, municipal boundaries, etc. compared to cities like Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati, places that have maintained static borders for decades due to suburb incorporation and state annexation laws making it nearly impossible for these cities to grow through direct annexation, and which have also bled out hundreds of thousands more people since the collapse of industry in this region than they have taken in.

 

Columbus for its part has more than doubled in size since the 1950s, when Cleveland was near its all-time economic and population zeniths. Today, Cleveland is less than half its high-water population mark of 915,000, while Columbus is set to eclipse that stat within the next few years and will likely soon after become the first city in Ohio--and second in the midwest after Chicago--to achieve a within city limits municipal population of 1 million.

 

Columbus has taken on a lot of new people during the past several decades, and with it, new ideas, cultures, and investment, resulting in the creation of new businesses, groups, and the rise of new individuals, all of whom are adding their own pages and chapters to a story of Columbus and its accompanying network that still remains largely accessible and undefined, compared to the story and networks in other, "older" cities.

 

Maybe Columbus starts to settle into "something" approaching a static culture and identity in another few decades when it is finally built out and walled-in on all sides by future built-out suburbs like Sunbury and Jeffersonville, and once the influx of new people and investment has slowed and shifted to other places?

 

For now, it seems there is benefit to the churning and growth that is happening. I say take advantage of it.

[westerninterloper]

7 minutes ago, NEOBuckeye said:

Columbus for its part has more than doubled in size since the 1950s, when Cleveland was near its all-time economic and population zeniths. Today, Cleveland is less than half its high-water population mark of 915,000, while Columbus is set to eclipse that stat within the next few years and will likely soon after become the first city in Ohio--and second in the midwest after Chicago--to achieve a within city limits municipal population of 1 million.

Third after Detroit. 

[NEOBuckeye]

Thanks for the correction. I did overlook Detroit.

[BelievelandD1]

In my opinion Columbus identity is tied to Ohio State. I literally know people who move there to be a part of all that. I’m pretty sure that’s not an anomaly.  I know other things are going on in Columbus, but ask anyone across the country what they think of when they think Columbus, my guess is they will say Ohio State.  The city will have a tough time ever shaking that

[westerninterloper]

21 hours ago, BelievelandD1 said:

In my opinion Columbus identity is tied to Ohio State. I literally know people who move there to be a part of all that. I’m pretty sure that’s not an anomaly.  I know other things are going on in Columbus, but ask anyone across the country what they think of when they think Columbus, my guess is they will say Ohio State.  The city will have a tough time ever shaking that

The city should build on it, for sure. Many years ago (early 1970s), civic leaders in Indianapolis commissioned a survey to find out what people across the country thought of in relation to Indianapolis. The results were: the Indy 500 and nothing else. There was no impression. Positive or negative. Until five or ten years ago, Columbus' results to a similar survey would probably have been OSU and nothing else. This is not a problem, though - it means people don't have a negative view of the city (Detroit, Cleveland, Rust Belt in general). OSU is a strong institution to build from, but OSU doesn't have much of an image outside winning football teams. OSU needs to build its brand too beyond football.

 

Columbus has started expanding its identity from just the university - but not in ways I can tell are unique from other cities. It has a strong identity with retail companies that maybe isnt too well known, perhaps, but I'm not sure how else the city is trying to build its identity.

 

Indy decided after that 1970s survey to pursue an amateur sports identity, and hosted different sporting events, attracted sports org hqs, eventually the NCAA itself from Kansas City, and now regularly hosts the Final Four. That's five decades of investment in venues, events, organizing, and so on, but it has helped Indianapolis gain an identity as a sports and convention town, not just a racing town. 

[David]

I wonder why Austin, TX is so much more successful when it has/had all of the exact same things going for it as Columbus. 

[TH3BUDDHA]

We should just make Columbus not having an identity our identity.  KEEP COLUMBUS IDENTITYLESS!

Edited July 7, 2021 by TH3BUDDHA

[Toddguy]

8 hours ago, David said:

I wonder why Austin, TX is so much more successful when it has/had all of the exact same things going for it as Columbus. 

I would not say it has/had the exact same things going it for it. It is in Texas, has a milder climate, etc.

 

Edited July 7, 2021 by Toddguy

[westerninterloper]

3 hours ago, Toddguy said:

I would not say it has/had the exact same things going it for it. It is in Texas, has a milder climate, etc.

 

It's an interesting comparison, but Austin is capital of a much larger, and since the 1970s, wealthier state; much more international migration; it's also not the only metro in the state to keep pace with national population growth. 

[David]

4 hours ago, westerninterloper said:

It's an interesting comparison, but Austin is capital of a much larger, and since the 1970s, wealthier state; much more international migration; it's also not the only metro in the state to keep pace with national population growth. 

It certainly seems like that would help (when you happen to be the state capitol of a much larger and wealthier state) but if you go solely based on that, Albany and Sacramento should be the hippest places on earth and they absolutely are not when they should be killing it. Most people forgot that Albany is even the capitol of NY. Perhaps its a combination of a larger economy AND the large college population. I don't know. Austin has a remarkable restaurant and nightlife scene for a city of it's size (it's metro population is essentially that of Columbus) but it has WAY more venues for things like live music and stand-up comedy. Austin's skyline is also insane, compared to Columbus. When I look at Austin, I can't help but think Columbus is doing things wrong.

Edited July 7, 2021 by David

[David]

To expound on what I've talked about earlier... Comparable MSAs. Pretty damn remarkable. 

[GCrites]

Austin has rail transit. Beating the drum here.

[Brutus_buckeye]

On 7/5/2021 at 10:41 PM, BelievelandD1 said:

In my opinion Columbus identity is tied to Ohio State. I literally know people who move there to be a part of all that. I’m pretty sure that’s not an anomaly.  I know other things are going on in Columbus, but ask anyone across the country what they think of when they think Columbus, my guess is they will say Ohio State.  The city will have a tough time ever shaking that

Columbus also suffers because it seems like a lot of its, and Ohio in general's idenity amongst those on the coasts and internationally revolves around Cleveland. So many people I speak to about Ohio who are not too familar with it or know very little about it always ask how we deal with so much snow all the time, or how close we are to Canada, or how the river caught fire, or if we are all Browns fans.  For such a long time Cleveland was such an indellable behmouth over Ohio that it was Ohio's idenity. Cincinnati was always just the sleepy city in the Southern part of the state that did its own thing, but Ohio for so long revovled around Cleveland. 

I think you also see that with the migration patterns. The people coming to Columbus were coming more from Northern ohio and bringng their Cleveland culture with them.  I think that may have contributed to the "lack of idenity". Plus, with Austin, you have a lot more people relocating there from all over the country whereas a lot of Columbus's growth is from other parts of Ohio, mostly northern Ohio.

[Toddguy]

1 hour ago, David said:

To expound on what I've talked about earlier... Comparable MSAs. Pretty damn remarkable. 

Jman, is this you?

[Toddguy]

6 hours ago, westerninterloper said:

It's an interesting comparison, but Austin is capital of a much larger, and since the 1970s, wealthier state; much more international migration; it's also not the only metro in the state to keep pace with national population growth. 

So basically you are saying that Columbus is being held back by the rest of Ohio? lol. Just JOKING! 

 

 

[David]

1 hour ago, GCrites80s said:

Austin has rail transit. Beating the drum here.

Barely...I mean it's not like they're known for it. They have 1 line and their ridership blows. I'm sure Cleveland, as underfunded as RTA/The Rapid is, blows Austin out of the water. Just seems like another city that has light rail, just to be able to say they have it.

[David]

1 hour ago, Toddguy said:

Jman, is this you?

Who is JMan? 

Am I being suspected as being a troll from Skyscraperpage or citydata? I'm just David.

[GCrites]

21 minutes ago, David said:

Barely...I mean it's not like they're known for it. They have 1 line and their ridership blows. I'm sure Cleveland, as underfunded as RTA/The Rapid is, blows Austin out of the water. Just seems like another city that has light rail, just to be able to say they have it.

 

I know what you mean, but even if our rail only ran in the median of 104 it would still change perceptions.

[GCrites]

19 minutes ago, David said:

Who is JMan? 

Am I being suspected as being a troll from Skyscraperpage or citydata? I'm just David.

 

He was (is?) A super negative user on Columbus Underground. 

[David]

4 minutes ago, GCrites80s said:

 

He was (is?) A super negative user on Columbus Underground. 

I'm not at all trying to bash Columbus. I love my hometown. I've spent a lot of time in Cincinnati and Cleveland and I love those cities as well. Please don't get it twisted. There's nothing wrong with having criticisms of your own city. You have to identify problems in order to come up with solutions. 

[David]

Columbus, for SURE, should be known as a fashion place. We have Abercrombie, Hollister, Victoria's Secret, The Limited, Express Men and God knows what else. Why there isn't any fashion shows here, is beyond me. Maybe Les Wexner was too busy being a creep to make that happen.

Edited July 7, 2021 by David