Right Now Downtown

They vied for your votes via video.  The competition was fierce.  And the final margins were razor thin.

Congratulations to the 2010 Show Your Love Contest Winner (drum roll please…)

Dirty Frank’s Hot Dog Palace!!!

Thanks to all of you who voted for your flav-o-favs!  With hundreds of votes cast, J. Gumbo’s fell short of the winner’s spot by a mere three votes, with Jack’s Diner, last year’s Show Your Love winner, and Burgers Dogs and Fries in hot pursuit.

Now the love showing worked both ways.  By voting for their favorite lunch spot, food fans were entered to win free lunches from our featured downtown restaurants: Barrio, Burgers Dogs and Fries, Caffe Daniela, Dirty Frank’s, J. Gumbo’s, and Plantain Cafe.  Congratulations to our winners who now know that there is such thing as a free lunch:

Erika Haske
Trish Mester
Alyson Miles
Angela Butler
Kristine Kring
Jen Town
Christina Ringley
Mary Groves
Jeremy
Chris Powers
Joshua Young
Rhonda Ries
Sandy Auckerman
Chris Carpenter
Mark Siple
Kris Davis
Charlie Letson

LOVE ‘EM UP

(to cast your vote immediately, click here.  if you want to learn more about the campaign, read on…)

Time flies: it’s been a full year since DowntownColumbus.com’s Show Your Love project launched.  Back in 2009, six local eateries joined in a good natured contest to become Downtown’s Official Sweetheart.

The competition was brutal.  The love was intense.  Ultimately, Jack’s Diner emerged as number one.

But it can be number one for only one year.  Jack’s reign has ended.  Although we still love the joint, it’s time to find 2010’s Official Sweetheart.

Just like last year, we’ve sweetened the deal for the voting public.  Cast a ballot for your favorite eatery and you’re automatically registered for a set of gift certificates from all the competitors: Barrio Tapas Lounge; Burgers Dogs and Fries; Caffe Daniela; Dirty Frank’s Hot Dog Palace; J. Gumbo’s; and Plantain Cafe.  Vote early and vote often.

(Sigh)… and it seemed like just yesterday when Jack’s claimed its award.

EDITOR’S NOTE: It was yesterday.  SOMEBODY kept hoarding Jack’s award plaque in our office.  Oops.

If you want to re-watch anyone’s video, to really take in the message, just click on the link: Barrio Tapas Lounge; Burgers Dogs and Fries; Caffe Daniela; Dirty Franks Hot Dog Palace; J. Gumbo’s; and Plantain Cafe

Show Us Some Love 2010 from Downtown Columbus on Vimeo.

Show Us Some Love: Barrio Tapas Lounge from Downtown Columbus on Vimeo.

Show Us Some Love: Burgers Dogs and Fries from Downtown Columbus on Vimeo.

Show Us Some Love: Caffe Daniela from Downtown Columbus on Vimeo.

Show Us Some Love: Dirty Franks Hot Dog Palace from Downtown Columbus on Vimeo.

Show Us Some Love: J. Gumbo’s from Downtown Columbus on Vimeo.

Show Us Some Love: The Plantain Cafe from Downtown Columbus on Vimeo.

DOWNTOWN SPEAKS

You know how suggestion boxes work?  Fill out the form, put it in the box… and it goes away forever.

We’re not that way.  At the end of last year, we asked for reader thoughts and suggestions, you followed through and offered all kinds of comments.

Now we’ll follow through too.  Here’s the plan:

1.  You want more places to have lunch, including fast food chains.
Although our focus has been on independent operations (here’s our online directory of almost one hundred eateries), we welcome all sorts of purveyors.  Heck, if there’s room for Dunkin Donuts, we’ve got room for a McWendy’s King.  But please be patient.  The chains will be slow to return to downtown.  In the meantime, check out the quick bite places in the directory…  we promise good eats are ahead!

2.  You want more retail stores downtown.
We do too.  Since the survey, Capital Crossroads SID has announced that it will create a retail recruitment program for downtown with Kacey Campbell taking the lead on revving up downtown retail.  You can be proactive in this process too: shop at downtown’s Pearl Market, nurture those businesses and they’ll grow into a full-scale retail community.  And support the downtown retails we have.  You can find a list of retailers here.

3.  You want to know about marches and rallies happening downtown.
Duly noted.

4.  Some readers wanted City Center open again as a mall; some wanted it to remain standing and repurposed.
City Center ran its course as a mall.  It faced fierce competition from Tuttle, Easton and Polaris malls.  Its closed-off-fortress design was no longer cool.  So bye-bye mall; hello sweet opportunities!

As for redesign, the mall was build to be a mall.  Did you know it doesn’t even have a heating system, because the lights and people generated enough heat?  The best evidence indicates that the single most cost effective way of dealing with the structure was to disassemble it entirely.  To do otherwise would be a statistically improbably gamble.

5.  Readers want the magic of their childhood.
Can we pull a rabbit out of the hat and make our downtown dreams come true?  If you care, and we know you do, then we can!

ALL ABOUT YOU

You may recall receiving an email survey through Right Now Downtown a few months ago.  While numerical scores are interesting, many of you took the time to write in your own comments and ideas about downtown.

Want to know what you think?  We can tell you now…

1.  Not one single comment was abusive or ugly.  That’s an anomaly on anonymous surveys.  It says something about you as a group.  We’re very proud to live and work among such unusually constructive souls.

2.  You want more places to have lunch.

3.  You want more places like McDonald’s and Wendy’s.

4.  You want more retail stores downtown.

5.  You want to know about marches and rallies happening downtown.

6.  You want City Center open again as a mall.

7.  You want City Center to remain standing and used for something else.

8.  You want the magic of your childhood.

We’ve been brainstorming on how to best follow up on these ideas.  While we finalize, we’re sending the intern out to chain himself to the wrecking ball at City Center.

Meanwhile, perhaps you have some follow-up solutions of your own?  Stay tuned for next week…