Columbus has been the subject of countless articles and news stories in national and international publications over the years.
There have been so many that it’s hard to find any that are much different from the others.
Let’s face it … there’s a limit on different ways to tell outsiders that Columbus is an architectural mecca developed primarily through the generosity and vision of philanthropist J. Irwin Miller.
Almost every story has touched on the same essential information … the sixth-leading city in the country for examples of contemporary architecture … the involvement of Miller and Cummins Engine Co. in establishing a funding mechanism that attracts the world’s leading architects to Columbus …. the roll call of those architects who are represented here … etc.
It’s important to keep in mind that these articles are written for audiences that are unfamiliar with Columbus and that the information and appraisal of the city strike those readers as fresh material.
It’s also important to be thankful that almost every one of them has been positive and complimentary.
Still, I find myself yearning for a truly insightful article about the city that indicates the writer has done more than take the architectural tour and eat at Zaharakos.
One was forwarded to us earlier this week. It originally appeared as a blog on a website called Urbanophile.
It was written by Aaron M. Renn, who describes himself as an urban analyst, consultant and writer on a mission to help America’s cities thrive and find sustainable success in the 21st century.
Renn was part of a tour group of urban analysts who got a cook’s-eye tour of Columbus several months ago and access to a number of city leaders involved in the current downtown redevelopment project.
He does pay the expected attention to the architecture, but he uses most of his article to talk about the one quality that sets Columbus apart from so many others — its people.
Even on this subject he departs from the expected — the image of Columbus as some sort of unique urban oasis that could be very easily picked up and placed in an upscale New York City neighborhood.
Instead he talks about Columbus’ similarity to other Hoosier cities by quoting Tom Vujovich, chairman of the aforesaid Redevelopment Commission.
“This is a blue collar town,” Tom said.
That might be a death knell for any other upwardly mobile community, but Renn considers it a badge of honor.
“I happen to think that’s the most exciting thing about it,” he wrote. “If it is really a successful town … it offers a model of success similar Hoosier cities can imitate.”
He adds that Columbus also provides a model of people who live in Indiana.
“Telling Terre Haute to act more like Portland — or even Indianapolis or Bloomington — is purest fantasy. But potentially they could aspire to be a lot more like Columbus.”
That could take a lot of doing, according to the analyst who says Columbus is not only outperforming other Indiana cities but that “it’s total world domination.”
He uses statistics relating to population growth, the number of college graduates in the community, average weekly salaries and per capita income to buttress his arguments. But he also talks about the character of the people in Columbus and their expectations.
He cited the case of Tony Moravec and his massive private sector investment in the restoration of Zaharakos as an example of the city’s people living up to the high expectations of their neighbors.
He also described the acceptance of the people of Columbus that they are living in a global environment, not one defined by the activities and attitudes of their next-door neighbors.
He paints a picture of a people and a city that would seem to be in conflict with each other as measured by life in so many other Hoosier cities. While its residents struck him as not only down-to-earth but also accepting, he noted that they would only go so far in embracing some forms of social urbanization.
He cited the story of a recent visitor who suggested that Columbus would be ideal for her if it “had a Trader Joe’s.”
To that Vujovich bluntly replied, “It’s never going to happen here.”
Renn’s full article can be accessed at http://www.urbanophile.com/2010/07/11/the-columbus-indiana-values-proposition/.
Almost as interesting as his comments are the reviews following the article.
Many are from Columbus residents, and they reflect the same attitude that the urban consultant wrote about.
Harry McCawley is associate editor of The Republic. He can be reached by phone at 379-5620 or by e-mail at harry@therepublic.com.