Right Now Downtown

POTTY TALK

Red, White & BOOM! is here.  Every year it’s the same ol’ story: go early, sit around.  Sit around.  Sit around.  Sit around and wait for the fireworks.  With the sitting, comes the drinking.  And with the drinking comes…

The port-a-potty.

Given a choice between a port-a-potty and public embarrassment, the port-a-potty wins every time.  But this year, it’d be nice to avoid the tall green box.  It’d be nice to avoid the line and the claustrophobia and worrisome puddles.  Here are three port-a-potty alternatives for Red, White & BOOM!

1.  Depends.  As in, Depends Adult Undergarments.  They’re NASA-approved and one pair should last for the duration of the festivities.  The manufacturer suggests the Fitted Maximum Protection model for the long haul.

2.  Dehydration.  How bad could that be?  Well, okay, pretty bad.  Dehydration outside on a hot summer day is a recipe for disaster.  Ask Laura Flynn, a dietician at Grant Hospital.  She says, “That’s just not a good idea.  It throws your whole body ‘off,’ and it can be really damaging to the kidneys.”  The expert says that using the port-a-potty would be better than being hospitalized.  Maybe she’s got a point.

3.  Patronage.  There are eleven zillion businesses downtown, and most of them have bathrooms for customer use.  For a couple bucks, you can support a local business and do your business in air-conditioned puddle-free comfort.

Downtown businesses, something you can depend on.

REAL COMFEST

ComFest is always a big deal among Columbus groovies.  With the logo contest and band selection, the build-up is big.  That’s followed by a three-day massive celebration of all things alternative.

In the aftermath, the comedown is hard.

We’re here for you, with all the things you need for ComFest withdrawal and rehab.

Need a Solar Power fix?  Downtown has Design Group’s passive solar four-story building on Main Street.  The architecture group is also fully committed to green initiatives in design.

How about cool art?  It’d be difficult to match the faculty and student talents on display at the Columbus College of Art and Design.

There’s recycling too.  Downtown has plenty of venues for recycling paper and plastic.  For those who want a little education in recycling, COSI has a big exhibit in the hallway year-round.  And the science museum also recycles old computers and gizmos in a learning lab.

Music lovers can find free concerts at Downtown LIVE, Thursdays at 5:30 pm on 3rd and State.  For interesting apparel, there’s Big Dog Motorcycles for leather biker-wear.

Which brings us to the inevitable search for tattoo removal services.  In 2008, Grant Hospital added a new cosmetic surgery team to its plastic surgery department.  Perhaps the docs can do something about all that sun damage too.

Downtown Columbus, the only thing ComFest has that we don’t is topless tourists.

TAKE WHO?

Take Your Daughter to Work Day?
Take Your Son to Work Day?

Who comes up with these ideas?  Some of us go to work for the express purpose of hiding from our children.

Take Mom&Pop to Work?  That’s a different thing entirely.  This is the highly unofficial announcement of Bring Your Mom&Pop to Work Week.  Downtown Columbus is home to 100,000 employees, 5,000 residents and 31,000 students.  With the addition of visitors, we have a potential $750 million to spend annually.  We want to spend the money on Mom&Pop – so it’s time to import some more hometown Mom&Pop businesses.

Plenty of little joints thrive here now.  Stanton Sheet Music (one of the few spots in town that sells sheet music) has been around for forty years.  Jeni’s Fresh Ice Cream started its dairy empire from The North Market.  B1 Bicycles is a newcomer that’s doing so well, it’s already expanded.

There’s still room for more.  Jen Wells works in the Smith Brothers Hardware Building and she says she’d like to see a whimsical stop like Ruby’s downtown.  Pattee Boham, who’s employed at Grant, votes for an antique store; her colleague Lisa McClelland would like to see a comic book place.  Jim Sheridan in the Ohio Supreme Court Building just wants some El Vaquero…

And you?  What do you want to bring downtown to celebrate Bring Your Mom&Pop to Work Week?

Mayor Coleman gets his three servings of veggies on the opening day of Pearl Market.

END OF THE LINE FOR GAS

While folks in New York City never seem to feel self-conscious about lacking a car, they always looked a little crazy from the Midwestern perspective.  But now it’s happening: the price of gas hovers around four dollars per gallon and the NYC style of life is really starting to make sense.  Kevin Woods, of the Downtown Resident’s Association says it best, “Gas prices and environmental concerns are two things that tend to make downtown living even more enticing.”

On Saturday, June 14, eighteen enticing properties will be on display at the annual City Hop, put on by Columbus Landmarks.  Urban living is definitely chic in Columbus, but there are still a few critical differences between life here and life in NYC:

1.  They have Broadway, we’ve got Broad Street.
Locals can, however, create their own dramas at 8 on the Square or The Seneca.  Both are lovely Broad Street living spaces featured on the tour.

2.  Money Honey
The classic Tribecca loft in NYC is over $1000 per square foot (they run about $1.5 million).  Tri-Becca?  Try-Jeffrey: The Jeffrey will also be on tour, with more space for less money.

3.  Park It
Central Park is nice, but does it have kitchens like the Condominiums at North Bank Park?  Come see for yourself at the Hop!  Real estate pro Donna Carstens adds, “Over and over, I hear people say they didn’t know there was so much to see, and so many new businesses they didn’t know about in the downtown area.”

FEELING IS BEING

Being cool is very important in the music world… and half the battle of being cool is feeling cool.  There are two ways to feel cool at this summer’s Downtown Live.  You could learn all the bands’ songs; that takes time.

Or

You could take just a few moments to master impressive bits of band trivia.  After all, in the battle of cool, nothing can trump music minutia.  Here’s a trivia kick-start for some of the scheduled performers…

Red Wanting Blue claims to be influenced by a good cup of coffee and breakdowns of all sorts: emotional, mechanical and financial.

One of Lt. Dan’s New Legs’ band members started out in gospel music as a child.

The Menus named the band after their massive collection of artifacts (menus) from restaurant visits.

Feeling cool yet?  Now add these bits to your trivia repertoire:

The Mac Band’s name is a reference to two members, the McCampbell brothers.

You might find Fonzie Monroe helping wanna-be rockers realize their dreams: the group also does live-band karaoke gigs.

The Spikedrivers member Jesse Henry went to Capital on a saxophone scholarship.

Got better band trivia?  Check out the Downtown Live line up and post your trivia here!  Best bit ‘o trivia wins two tickets to this week’s CAPA Summer Movie Series showing of Thunderball, a James Bond classic.

Today, Capital Crossroads released a study that identified the key areas for downtown retail growth, summarized here in a press release.  Yes, growth!  There is lots of room, in fact nearly $110 million worth of spending power that is not being realized.  Downtown retailers who are currently successful are local entrepreneurs who understand how to run a business, meet a need and enjoy the urban setting.

Who do you know that fits that profile in your local community that may be interested in relocating or expanding downtown?  While there’s always room for different restaurants, businesses that can provide home, luxury, fashion, pet and service retail offerings are needed most.  Post a note here with a favorite locally-owned store or enterprise that you’d like to see move or expand downtown.  All ideas are welcome!