In Search of a City: City Kids
Raising kids in the downtown area is a great experience. When my kids were young, we had easy access to parks, playgrounds, COSI, BalletMet Academy, Columbus Museum of Art, the downtown library, festivals, and many other amenities. For years, my kids considered COTA buses and skywalks to be as much fun as amusement parks. They loved walking to bakeries and the North Market.
Downtown neighborhoods get better as city kids get older. They develop a healthy sense of independence long before they get a driver’s license, because they can walk to each other’s homes and with their friends to movies, hockey games, coffee houses, Gallery Hops and clothing stores. My teenage girl loves taking COTA to visit her friends, which I encourage because the bus is so much safer than driving.
Columbus City Schools keep getting better and better. Although many City schools still struggle as they address high levels of poverty, many others maintain a balanced enrollment. These schools often out-perform suburban schools.
To parents of young kids, I say. “For the sake of your children, stay in the city!
Tags: BalletMet, Columbus Metropolitan Library, Columbus Museum of Art, COSI, COTA, Gallery Hop, North Market
March 30th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Great topic! I agree that there is a lot of cultural value to raising children in an urban environment. We recently did a podcast on this topic with three other parents who are choosing to raise their kids in the city.
March 31st, 2009 at 9:28 am
Cleve: As a parent doing the same in the north University District I couldn’t agree more. Thanks for your comments!! One challenge becomes getting our children out into the woods and open spaces on a frequent basis, but that challenge seems just as great in the suburbs. There also are plenty of ways to keep kids in touch with urban nature in the parks, river valleys and in their own neighborhoods/backyards.
March 31st, 2009 at 10:11 am
This is definitely a great topic. A couple of months ago I created a Yahoo group, Downtown Columbus Moms, and have had a really great response. We have moms from Merion Village (where I live), Italian Village, Downtown, Olde Town East. The neighborhood associations were more than willing to put my blurb in their newsletters which is how some found out about the group. Hopefully, through this post, the group will grow.
March 31st, 2009 at 11:19 am
We’re raising our son in the city – by design. He’s 2 and thriving.
April 9th, 2009 at 7:45 am
[...] been some talk on local blogs recently about raising kids Downtown.The discussions site the public school system as the No. 1 [...]
April 14th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Stepanie, if you want, check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/downtowncolumbusmoms/.
April 21st, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Fun KidzArtz event this weekend for any parents interested!
http://www.columbusunderground.com/second-annual-kidzartz-takes-place-on-saturday
April 25th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
As a citykid, I haven’t heard that one before. Normally people flee at thirty!