Before and After: The Near East Side Transformation



Given the popularity of the Weinland Park Before and After, I am finally getting around to posting this one for the Near East Side, which is a combination of Olde Towne East and King-Lincoln. Like Weinland Park, the NES has seen its fair share of struggles over the years, but unlike Weinland Park, its revitalization has been decades in the making. It has seen steady house-to-house renovations since at least the 1980s, and is now at the point where the pace of larger scale redevelopment is picking up. There are currently at least a dozen infill projects in the works, with even more renovations.

North Ohio Avenue
Before: 2009 North Ohio Avenue looking north.

After: 2017

These photos don’t represent all that big a change, but it shows some of the infrastructure improvements going on around the neighborhood. This picture is just south of the Poindexter Place development on North Ohio Avenue. The photos show the addition of a multi-use path, new sidewalks and pavement. Bike lanes, which aren’t shown in the Google image, were also striped.

Poindexter Village
Before: 2009 North Ohio and Hawthorne, looking east.

After: 2017

Poindexter Village was the first large-scale public housing complex in Columbus, built back in the 1940s. All but 2 of the original buildings were torn down to make room for a redevelopment, called Poindexter Place. The last 2 buildings will become a museum. The change from 2009 to 2017 is drastic.
Before: 2009 Champion and Mt. Vernon, looking southeast.

After: 2017

Before: 2011 Champion Avenue and Hawthorne Avenue looking south.

After: 2017

Oak Street
Before: 2009 Oak and 18th looking northeast.

After: 2017

Long Street
Before: 2011 Long and 17th, looking southeast.


After: 2017

Before: 2011 Long Street and I-71 looking northwest.

After: 2017

Bryden Road
Before: 2009 Bryden and Garfield looking northwest.


After: 2017

Before: 2015 Bryden and Ohio Avenue looking north.

After: 2018