Category Archives: Columbus Resources

Weekly Update 5/27-6/2

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On April 22nd of this year, All Columbus Data suffered a major hack. Several attempts were made to restore the website in full and to save the content through backups. At least twice, the site was restored only for it to fall back into the hacked configuration- some kind of jewelry website. Eventually, it was determined that there was corruption within the core files themselves, and since it could not be safely determined which ones, the host refused to restore any of the original content, as the attack was malicious enough to threaten the hosting servers themselves. So, the site was completely scrubbed and at least some of the original content that was not otherwise saved on archived websites was lost. After 7 years of work, it was a sickening result. Now, the rebuilding process has begun.
Fortunately, a lot of the core lost data much of the site was built upon still existed in my own personal files, so for many of the pages, it’s simply a matter of putting that information back up on new pages. That is what I’ve been working on this week. Here is what I’ve done so far this week:

-2 new articles were added.
-Monthly weather pages for April and May have been restored, complete with updated data for 2019.
-Several pages within the Historic Building Database have had at least a few buildings added.
-Partially restored the Completed page for Columbus Development .
-Added several population graphs to the Columbus city, county and metro area demographics pages.
-Partially restored- and expanded- the Columbus Tornado History page, one of All Columbus Data’s most popular.

I will continue to work to restore more pages and posts over time, but it will be an extended process.

The Week in Review 3

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The Week in Review 3 includes some big news that has me very excited. The Columbus Metropolitan Library announced that it had reached an agreement with The Columbus Dispatch and its parent company to purchase the rights to its entire newspaper collection, which it will make available in digital form on its website as early as November. The Columbus Dispatch has been publishing since 1871, but the library has had Dispatch content from 1985-present only, and only in text format for a limited number of articles. The agreement will allow the library to offer every issue of the paper online since 1871 in its entirety, including its enormous photograph collection.
This is an massive win and game-changer for researchers and history buffs alike. This information has largely been difficult to access. Microfilm at the library was impossible to search through unless you knew the exact date of an article. The digital collection will allow for easy searching for any content with just a simple search box, as it has with its other digital collections.

The other news this week was the ongoing saga with the North Market Tower project. A few weeks back, I posted renderings that were released, perhaps be accident, on an architect’s website. Well, this week we saw yet another rendering, seen below:

All I can say is… I hope to god this isn’t the final design. Not only is it shorter (and the planners promised that the project would absolutely NOT be reduced in height regardless of the final design), but it has none of the interesting architecture of any previous renderings. It’s just another box on top of another box. I call this style Modern Vanilla. It’s so painfully boring and architecturally sterile that to see this being built would remove all the excitement from this project. The height reduction would be pure Columbus.

The Week in Review 2

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In Week in Review 2, we find that the FBI has finally released the full crime numbers for 2017 for all cities. How did Columbus fare? Well, it was a decidedly mixed bag. Total murders were their highest ever, at 143, but the rate fell quite short of the record set back in 1991. So far for 2018, murder is behind 2017’s rate by about 22%, so it’s a good improvement, but still not even close to where it should be.

Other violent crime figures 2016 to 2017
-Rape continued its multi-year rise in the city, reaching 919 incidents. This was a 6% increase over 2016.
-Assaults were up 4% over 2016, but in the context of still being one of the lowest totals in the past 30 years.
-Robberies were down almost 8.5% over 2016.
-Despite the rises in most types of violent crime, the drop in robberies meant overall violent crime dropped by about 0.5%.
Property crime figures 2016 to 2017
-Burglaries were down more than 8%.
-Larceny thefts were down about 2.9%
-Motor vehicle thefts were up 17.6%, so not a good trend, but still less than half the rate it was 15-20 years ago.
-Overall property crime was down about 2% versus 2016.

And if you think this year’s been particularly wet, you are right! Through October 1st, Columbus is having its 3rd wettest year on record. Only 1882 and 1890 are ahead of 2018 at this point, and by barely 1″. 2018 at this point is running almost 14″ above normal.
Top 10 Wettest Years Through October 1st
1. 1882: 44.55″
2. 1890: 43.56″
3. 2018: 43.31″
4. 1979: 42.17″
5. 2003: 41.58″
6. 2011: 41.12″
7. 1990: 39.10″
8. 1949: 38.54″
9. 2004: 38.46″
10. 1996: 37.46″
It is surprising how many recent years are on this list. Still with 3 months to go, the pattern could break, but it’s very unlikely that 2018 doesn’t end up in the top 10. Here are the top 10 wettest full years.
1. 2011: 54.96″
2. 1990: 53.16″
3. 1882: 51.30″
4. 1890: 50.73″
5. 2004: 49.27″
6. 1979: 49.17″
7. 2003: 49.03″
8. 1883: 48.88″
9. 1881: 46.99″
10. 2017: 46.61″

I guess it could always be worse…
The week in review 2 Columbus, Ohio




2017 Demographic Estimates Show a Changing City

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2017 demographic estimates

The US Census 2017 demographic estimates came out today for cities and counties, and they show that Columbus is continuing to change quickly.

Highlights for the City of Columbus
-The non-Hispanic Asian population continues to skyrocket, up over 67% since 2010.
-Beyond that, all other racial groups saw population growth within the city since 2010.
-The foreign-born population has climbed above 105,000, and now represents 12% of the total population, the highest % level since 1890.
-Every age group has increased since 2010, but the older working-age population increased the most, as seen below:
19 and Under: +17,962
20-34: +22,627
35-64: +32,045
65+: +22,234

Check out all of the City, County and Metro Area demographic and population data on the Demographics and Population page.

Cool Link of the Day: Census Record Transcribing

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http://usgwcensus.org/cenfiles/

Okay, so a link on Census record transcribing may not be the coolest I’ve put on this site, but it may be one of the most important. The US Census records go back all the way to the 1700s, and a lot of these records have either not been digitized at all, or only rough copies exist in many different formats. Due to age, use, insect and water damage, etc., some of these records are in danger of disappearing forever. Many others are difficult to use because of the varying formats. Because of this, transcribing them into a standardized digital form is critical.
This site allows anyone from the general public to choose individual records and volunteer to transcribe them digitally. No experience necessary! The site gives basic walkthroughs and other how-to information, so anyone can do it, and at their own speed in their free time. Just click on the state and area of your choice and go from there.