My brother and sister-in-law lived outside both NYC and Chicago for the first 15 they were married. They moved to the Columbus area in 1997 and were stunned and the difference in cost of living and the surprising amount of interesting stuff going on here. It’s certainly not perfect, but there’s more than enough to do here. And, if you really miss the big city, there are direct, relatively cheap, flights to both NY and Chicago.
Scribble makes lots of good recommendations (I need to check out the Mexican restaurants…).
In things-to-do-and-see category, I would add the Short North (just north of downtown). Lots and lots of interesting galleries and quirky shops. The Gallery Hop that happens there the first Saturday evening of each month is very entertaining. They’ve also just finished building a cap over the freeway that cuts through downtown (if you’re on the street, you barely notice it’s there anymore; inside the buildings, you would never guess that there are about 6 lanes of traffic running under you). There are only a couple of stores open there so far, but one of them sells chocolate (and has excellent gelato as well) and is definitely worth a visit. (I second the recommendation of Jeni’s in the North Market, by the way - AMAZING flavors and quality.)
Several local gallery owners have big-time connections to the world of glass arts, so we’ve had both major and minor Chihuly exhibits, a truly spectacular exhibit of works by Lino Tagliapietra at the art museum last year, and several exhibits by Christopher Ries (one opens Thurs. evening this week). But there is a very wide variety of art galleries located all around town.
The Columbus Museum of Art has an OK collection, but its strength is the exhibits it brings in. Currently, they have a small Georgia O’Keefe exhibit (I hear it’s good - focus is on her landscapes, which aren’t widely known), an exhibit of Aminah Robinson’s works (she just received a “genius grant”), and another couple that sound interesting (there are pretty good descriptions on the website). They teamed up with the Franklin Park Conservatory last year to bring two major exhibits to Columbus. Tagliapietra was at the museum while Chihuly was at the Conservatory. The Tagliapietra exhibit was one of the most stunning exhibits I’ve ever seen (did I mention I really liked it?). I’ve seen some really neat exhibits in Mexico City, Chicago, New York, Cologne, Vienna and Berlin, and this one was at or near the top. I went back about 10 times because I kept seeing new angles and effects. Chihuly was really impressive as well. The conservatory currently has an exhibit of sculptures from Zimbabwe and is having workshops with the artists throughout the exhibit. (There’s apparently still quite a bit of leftover Chihuly, too). Both the museum and the conservatory are open one evening a week (one Wednesday and one Thursday, can’t remember which is which).
If you like music, check out the events calendar on WCBE’s website as well as the free papers recommended earlier. WCBE is one of Columbus’s 2 public radio stations and has a live stream from its website if you want to get a feel for alternative music offerings in Columbus. There are always nationally popular acts stopping by Columbus, but the strength is in less-popular genres (jazz, blues, celtic) and smaller venues (restaurants and clubs, PromoWest Pavilion, the Blues Station, Newport Music Hall, Little Brother’s). My brother is a major jazz fan and he feels Columbus has a really strong jazz scene.
I agree with eponymous that you really need a car to take advantage of interesting things in Columbus. I take the bus to work every day and live in a neighborhood (Grandview) where I can run nearly all of my errands on foot, but I’d never make it to some of the most interesting places without a car.
Looks like you’ve received enough tips to stay entertained in Columbus for a while, but if you’ve got specific questions feel free to send me e-mail.
GT
