Tag Archives: Columbus neighborhoods

Random Columbus Photo 12

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For today’s Random Columbus Photo 12, we don’t go back too far in history, but the before and after are definitely one of the more dramatic comparisons featured so far. Larger versions of both photos are available if you click on them.

Before: N. High Street at Hubbard Avenue looking northeast, around 1980.
The Short North by the 1970s was considered a declined neighborhood with significant crime and prostitution problems. Police were called there often, and history tells that it was the police themselves who coined the name of the neighborhood, since it was an area that was just “short of Downtown”.
In the photo, you can see buildings at 790 N. High and beyond. At the time, they were a Trailways bus station and some kind of office building. Trailways was eventually replaced by other businesses and restaurants over the years, the last being the restaurant Haiku until it was all demolished for the current hotel building.
Random Columbus photos 12 High and Hubbard

After: The same view in 2024.
The picture from 2024 shows a drastically transformed neighborhood. After more than 40 years of renovations, revitalization and construction, the Short North has shed it’s drab and shady past. Crime stubbornly persists despite the improvements, but not nearly to the same degree. The taller apartment building in the older photo was torn down in the 1990s.
Hubbard and High

Before and After Iuka Ravine

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Iuka Ravine, much like Glen Echo Ravine to its north, is a hidden gem in the heart of the city. Columbus isn’t exactly known for its interesting topography, so such features offer welcome variety from the otherwise endless flatness of Central Ohio. That the feature sits in the middle of the Campus area makes it even more special.

Iuka Ravine was named by Robert Neil when he returned home from the Civil War and built a home along it. Neil gave names to many local streets in the area, all based on his time in the Union Army and the places he had visited. He named the ravine after the Battle of Iuka, and Indianola Avenue was named after the location of that battle, Indianola, Mississippi.

The ravine went largely untouched until the early part of the 20th Century. Large homes sprung up along its edges beginning in the early 1900s, built to take advantage of the natural scenery. Iuka Avenue seems to have been built around 1905 given references for it don’t appear in any media before then. In 1912, Iuka Avenue was improved and the viaducts were built over the ravine at Indianola and Summit.

Before
before and after Iuka Ravine Columbus, Ohio
The before photo shows the Indianola viaduct over Iuka Avenue in 1916. Strangely enough, the ravine appears rather treeless, most likely due to construction of the viaducts and improvements 4 years prior to the time of the photo. A large building behind the bridge to the right was home to the Chi Phi fraternity at 2000 Indianola Avenue.

After

In the 2020 image, Iuka Ravine is now filled with trees- and, unfortunately, many cars- but otherwise remains remarkably untouched. Even the old Chi Phi house can still be seen peeking above the viaduct.

Over the years, Iuka has been threatened by development, but is now on the National Register of Historic Places. This popular running road and adjacent Iuka Park will likely continue to offer a bit of nature in the growing city for generations to come.

The Battle of Iuka was not a huge battle overall in comparison to other Civil War events, but over 400 soldiers still lost their lives during the fighting.



Franklinton Rolling in New and Future Development

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Franklinton has seemingly been rolling in new and future development in recent years, so I thought it was time to do a bit of a review as to what’s been built so far, as well as development that is yet to come.

Franklinton Development Timeline

March 15, 2004: Dedication of the new Franklinton Floodway occurs. Prior to its completion, the neighborhood had seen period and occasionally massive flooding since its founding in 1797. The worst floods, in 1913 and 1959, prompted the federal government to ban most types of new construction and made even renovations prohibitively expensive. This led to decades of stagnation and decline. 3/15/2004 can be called the beginning point for Franklinton’s revival.

December 19, 2005: Mount Carmel West Hospital announces that it will spend up to $80 million on landscaping, a new residence hall and inpatient tower, the first significant development announcement after the floodwall’s completion.

January 9, 2006: After virtually no development occurs in the neighborhood in the first 2 years post-floodwall construction, an article in Business First suggests that it may take another 15 years before the area sees any major projects or revitalization.

February 22, 2006: The first development proposal appears for the B & T Metals site at 425 West Town Street, which includes up to 134 condos.

August 8, 2006: Mount Carmel announces it will spend $3.3 million to build build 2 3-story residential buildings for students of its nursing college across Town Street from the college.

January 26, 2007: The Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority announces it will build a 4-story, 100-unit senior housing complex called Worley Terrace at 99 Central Avenue.

January 28, 2007: The Columbus Dispatch reports that Franklinton has had fewer building permits issued each year since the completion of the floodwall than in the years prior, baffling many who thought the neighborhood would see increased activity.

April 16, 2007: The B & T Metals site proposal is updated to include 130 residential units, a small theater, art gallery space and retail space. The $23 million project is proposed to break ground later in 2007.

May 3, 2007: The now defunct The Other Paper writes and article questioning whether Franklinton may be “the next Short North” due to its cheap housing and beginning migration of artists into the neighborhood.

March 28, 2008: The B & T Metals site proposal still hasn’t begun, and The Dispatch writes an article questioning its progress. Its Los Angeles developer insists it’s still going to happen.

January 28, 2009: The B & T Metals project still hasn’t started, but it is announced that it may receive $750,000 to help clean up the site in preparation for construction.

May 8, 2009: It is announced that the 129-unit public housing complex, the Sunshine Annex, will be demolished later in the year.

May 15, 2009: The B & T Metals project wins the $750,000 cleanup grant, and the developer promises a mid-2010 construction start.

August 7, 2009: Another senior-housing project is announced for 768 W. Rich Street. The proposal is for a $9 million, 4-story, 54 unit apartment building.

Late 2010-Early 2011: The 400 West Rich project begins by renovating space in an existing warehouse for the artists, sculptors and others.

February 25, 2011: The Dispatch reports that the A.D. Farrow warehouse site at 435 W. Town will be purchased by the Franklinton Development Association to renovate into a 42-unit condo building with the help of $900,000 from the city.
Also updated are the B & T Metals site, which still hasn’t begun, and the continuing demolition of Sunshine Terrace and Riverside Bradley public housing complexes for later redevelopment.

May 16, 2011: The B & T Metals factory building, which had already partially collapsed, is demolished. The plans for the site remain.

July 25, 2011: It is reported that Development Committee Chair Zachary Klein is sponsoring an ordinance to authorize spending $250,000 to fund the creation of the East Franklinton Creative Community District Plan. The plan is meant to guide development in East Franklinton, the area bounded by 315 and the Scioto River.

January 24, 2012: Bonds are issued to build the $7.9 million, 3-story, 100-unit Franklin Station Columbus Metropolitan Housing Association Project at 524 W. Broad Street.

April 3, 2012: Planning for the redevelopment of the Scioto Peninsula is announced to begin as plans for the Scioto Greenways riverfront project are also announced to be moving forward.

April 20, 2012: Orange Barrel Media it plans to build its new $6 million HQ at 250 N. Hartford Avenue. The project includes renovating and adapting a former concrete factory.

June 2012: Dodge Park’s renovation is largely completed, including its new pool.

July 16, 2012: The East Franklinton Plan is completed. Although just a development guide, it calls for up to 4,300 condos and apartments, 400 single-family homes and 350,000 square feet of retail, office and artist space. The plan also proposes there be no parking requirements for new projects.
Rendering from the East Franklinton Plan.

August 22, 2012: The B & T Metals site project again rises, with the developer now proposing a 4-story, 42-unit apartment building called The Franklinton Art Lofts. However, the developer states that construction won’t begin for another 1-2 years.
Rendering for Franklinton Art Lofts.

King-Lincoln Neighborhood Profile

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The Lincoln Theater.

This week is Demographics week. First up, ACD’s King-Lincoln neighborhood profile. King-Lincoln is Columbus’ historically African American cultural heart.

I was going to write a history for the area, but this video tells it better than I ever could.

History aside, what I can do is provide a more detailed demographic picture from the past, present and possible future of the neighborhood.

Population
1930: 17,970
1940: 18,282
1950: 20,527
1960: 17,746
1970: 11,627
1980: 9,291
1990: 8,456
2000: 8,025
2010: 6,439

Population peaked around 1950, but during the 1950s began its long-term decline. Some might say this was a product of White Flight, but in this case, the neighborhood was already almost entirely non-White. The White Flight movement was more than just about racial demographic changes in neighborhoods, it was a factor of urban neglect. Just like in the rest of urban Columbus, King-Lincoln lost its urban appeal due to infrastructure deterioration, lack of city-focused leadership, decline of schools and increasing crime rates (among other things). One of the biggest blows to the area, just like what occurred with Olde Towne East to its south, was the construction of I-71 in the early 1960s. The highway cut the neighborhood off from Downtown, demolished hundreds of historic buildings, and allowed more people to effectively leave the neighborhood altogether. This is a good reason why the population dropped by almost 35% between 1960 and 1970.

The population loss rate had been slowing down each decade through 2000. During the 2000s, the city cleared out Poindexter Village, one of Columbus’ first public-housing projects and home to several hundred residents. This accounted for a very large chunk of the loss that occurred from 2000-2010 and why the loss increased during that time. The city is now tearing the complex down with plans for mixed-use development on the site. If not for this action by the city, it’s very likely that King-Lincoln would’ve had it’s lowest total population loss since the decline began in the 1950s.

Demographics
White
1990: 6.1%
2000: 6.2%
2010: 9.6%
Black
1990: 90.7%
2000: 87.7%
2010: 84.0%
Asian
1990: 2.4%
2000: 0.7%
2010: 0.5%
Hispanic
1990: 0.6%
2000: 1.1%
2010: 2.2%
Other
1990: 0.9%
2000: 5.4%
2010: 5.9%

% Change By Demographic for Each Decade
1990-2000
White: -3.7%
Black: -8.2%
Asian: -71.6%
Hispanic: +63.0%
Other: +501.4%
2000-2010
White: +24.5%
Black: -23.1%
Asian: -42.1%
Hispanic: +60.2%
Other: -11.8%
The demographics for the last 30 years show Hispanic and White populations are becoming an ever larger chunk of the neighborhood, while Asians have declined significantly. The African American population is still, by far, the largest demographic, but it too is on a long-term decline. This suggests a gradual gentrification of the neighborhood.

And what of the future of the area? Significant revitalization news has been coming out in recent months. As mentioned above, the 36-building Poindexter Village, long a hot spot for crime and concentrated poverty, is currently in the process of being torn down. The site will be replaced with residential, retail, office and arts space over time. A larger area plan was recently announced here: http://www.columbusunderground.com/pact-plans-165-million-strategic-redevelopment-for-near-east-side. The $165 million plan will focus on King-Lincoln’s main thoroughfares: East Long Street, Mount Vernon Avenue and Taylor Avenue. Increasing density with mixed-use development and revitalizing the commercial corridors is a big part of the plan, as well as infrastructure and green space improvement. Smaller developments include Homeport’s housing renovations, which have been very successful so far.

So while King-Lincoln has seen better days, the neighborhood is currently in transition. 5-10 years from now, the neighborhood should be radically changed, hopefully for the better. Its proximity to Downtown and other central neighborhoods give it a great advantage as the city has become fairly popular again.