Meet Melissa Fast.  She’s officially on board at Capital Crossroads SID as Marketing Director.

Officially, she started last Monday.  Unofficially, she’s been supporting the downtown community for years.

As a local patron of the businesses, restaurants and arts scene, the new director has long celebrated the city’s core as its crowning glory.  She says, “I want to help promote the fact that it is a destination – whether it’s for a cup of coffee in the afternoon or a night of entertainment.”

She continues, “I really want to do my part to make sure that people embrace the fact that downtown is a cool place to be.  I think it’s important for the experience to be easy for people so they want to keep coming back.”  It’s everyone’s neighborhood.

Her favorite downtown finds have stories behind them – like the treasures from Pearl Market.  In fact, the Pearl Market itself is a great place to find a story.  The shops were just highlighted in The Columbus Dispatch… and the market caught the national spotlight when the Associated Press picked up the story for distribution.

Downtown Columbus is indeed a place with a great story.

The sheer volume of great, urban experiences in this part of Columbus compares favorably to any other place in the U.S.  It has everything Boston has except urban rail, department stores and outrageously high housing costs.

Good public transit and city sidewalks will take you to 20 movie screens, a public market, Barnes & Noble and more than 200 high quality, independent retail stores.  It is home to an NHL arena, a AAA baseball park, historic theatres and one of the county’s most prestigious universities.

There are scores of nightclubs, beautiful city parks, charming neighborhoods, several world-class museums, great live music and 40 art galleries.  You can stay in one of 4,000 hotel rooms, quickly hail a taxicab and dine at 150 full-service restaurants.

The Columbus High Five is a magnet for highly educated people from throughout the world.  It is young, creative and entrepreneurial.  Best of all, it is in our backyard.

During The Arnold, the downtown population adds 17,000 athletes, 170,000 spectators and 700 exhibitors.   That’s twice as many athletes as the recent Winter Olympic Games.  Due to the volume of visitors, Capital Crossroads boosts its normal staffing levels with six additional Ambassadors and other staff members.  From Thursday, March 4 at 11 a.m. until Sunday, March 7 at 7 p.m., three to four staff members will be dedicated to the northeastern corridor of downtown around the convention center, along with the iCart kiosk, to ensure that someone is available to answer questions, provide safety escorts and keep the area clean.

In addition, a new pushcart – sort of a mini-iCart – will be deployed with an Ambassador at Broad and High for a few hours a time, loaded with pamphlets and other information.

“We really dedicate ourselves to this event,” explained Ryan Smith, Downtown Hospitality Coordinator.  “We are there to help people navigate around downtown, find great places to eat, provide directions, answer transportation questions and provide safety escorts.”

In addition, Capital Crossroads is in contact with hotels in and outside of downtown, to let them know that the SID is available to offer services and information, sort of like an additional concierge out on the street.

Statistics from 2009 show that through the four-day event, Capital Crossroads provided over 5,000 public assists, with 2,775 of those on the iCart alone.  The extra effort is well worth it.

For the second year, Capital Crossroads has partnered with The Arnold to print a hotel keycard map, which serves as a walking map, shuttle map and parking map for the event.  It also highlights the downtown wayfinding signs and the Capital Crossroads hotline number.

“We have gotten very positive feedback from the folks at The Arnold,” added Smith.  “They are very appreciative of what we do and believe we add real value to their event.”

Smith says that he and the rest of the staff enjoy the atmosphere and energy downtown during The Arnold weekend.  Plus they receive plenty of positive feedback from the visitors, including praise for the cleanliness of the city and the help that Capital Crossroads provides.

It’s important to note that this type of service is available during any event downtown; it’s what Capital Crossroads Ambassadors do.  But the size of The Arnold requires a bigger mobilization of people and effort.  When The Arnold is here, it’s all hands on deck.

The Columbus Dispatch

If people want to live in Dublin, that’s their business, although I should not have to subsidize the lifestyle.  But to call Dublin sustainable is an oxymoron.

According to the city’s web site, the average home value for Dublin is “347,633, which buys a big house, and homes account for the biggest carbon footprint a person makes in the U.S.  The city is also one of the most automobile-dependent places on Earth, and personal vehicles make the second biggest carbon footprint.  All other forms of environmental degradation pale in comparison.

Here’s how to make Dublin more sustainable:

1.  Eliminate its zoning code and allow mixed uses and much higher densities;

2.  Redevelop the city along transit corridors;

3.  Worry about the robins later.

Decisions are made by those who show up.

That’s usually a political battle cry – a call to voters.  In this case, it’s an earnest invitation… for TONIGHT.  As stakeholders in the future of our downtown, the whole community has been invited to participate in the core planning process for the next 10 years.

Leaders like Mayor Coleman, Councilman Ginther and Guy Worley, Director of the Columbus Downtown Development Corporation, will be in attendance to begin the meeting; and MSI’s Keith Myers will provide analysis and a review.  And then?

And then it’s up to you.

According to Columbus Downtown Development Corporation’s Amy Taylor,

“It’s all about the participants.  We’ll have eight breakout tables with various topics, including revitalizing High Street, transit, mobility and connections around downtown.  This is where the public will really take over, answering questions and sharing their thoughts about strategies and goals to continue downtown’s renaissance over the next 10 years.”

She continues, “If you can’t make it to every table, or if you think of great ideas after you leave the meeting, we’ll have opportunities for feedback through our web site.”

This is it!  This is your chance to show up, your chance to be a decision-maker: Tuesday, March 2, 6 – 8 pm at Columbus State Conference Center.  Visit downtowncolumbus.com for details and a free parking pass.

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

Yeah-yeah, you can do level seven on the arm machine, and your toes are seriously mighty on the calf thingy.

But are you functionally fit?  Can you move your body with power and intention through a healthy range?  Downtown Columbus is now home to Fit Club (15 W. Cherry Street), a facility and a community of people that are dedicated to real fitness.

The studio offers group interval training, yoga and mixed martial arts (and private appointments too).  Owner Mitch Potterf describes the set up.  “We’ve got barbells, kettle-bells, sand bags, heavy bags… things similar to what you might actually have to pick up in the real world.”  That’s what functional fitness is all about – developing the strength and skills for a healthy, effective body.

Potterf holds several professional certifications, including one as a CrossFit Trainer… and if he sounds serious, it’s because he IS serious.  He admits that the classes require hard work from the participants.

Any yet, Fit Club works with people from all starting points.  “Our classes are scalable for everyone.  We meet you at your level.”

How functional is functional fitness?  Members of Fit Club got to test out their skills in one of the biggest downtown snowball fights this season; you can read all about it, as well as the schedule for Fit Club classes at ohiofitclub.blogspot.com.

Without a major developer pulling those corporate chains downtown, they likely won’t reemerge anytime soon.  But that does not mean that downtown cannot attract retailers.  Independent and start-up retail are the likely players in downtown’s retail future.  But after years of negative coverage surrounding City Center’s demise, there is a negative perception of downtown retail.

Capital Crossroads SID and the City of Columbus have developed a new retail initiative to educate independent and start-up retailers about downtown to and to help overcome the misperceptions that abound.  Announced by Boyce Safford, Director of the City’s Development Department, at the Capital Crossroads Annual Meeting in November, the City is offering several incentives to entice retailers downtown.

The incentives, which apply to the “Mile on High” are on High Street from Spring Street to Mound Street and from Front Street to Fourth Street, include cash incentives and tax abatement specifically for retail investments for property owners and retailers.

However, there remains a communication gap.  Work must be done to overcome the misapprehensions retailers hold and to share the information regarding the City incentives.  Relationships need to be built with independent retailers throughout the area to encourage them to consider downtown as a location.

To that end, Kacey Campbell, the former CCSID Promotions Coordinator, has been tapped as the new downtown Retail Recruiter.  Campbell will serve as a “matchmaker”, reaching out to retailers, answering questions, encouraging them to consider downtown, then matching them with leasing agents who can finalize the deal.

For the last four years, Campbell has connected with existing downtown retailers and with the many vendors who participate in the very successful Pearl Market.  She has an understanding of downtown and believes in its potential.

“There is a huge demand for retail in downtown,” says Campbell.  “It’s a matter of getting accurate information to people and then helping them navigate downtown.  It will take time to see results, but there is good opportunity.”

The seeds of success are already sewn, evidenced by the burgeoning pockets of retail on Gay Street and Fourth Street.  Programs such as this have also proven successful in other cities with a dearth of downtown retail, including Nashville, St. Louis and Minneapolis.  With new incentives from the City and a retail recruiter making the pitch, look for retail to return to the heart of Columbus.

Lots of us can do an Aussie accent; or perhaps whip out a leetle somezing zat’s French sounding.

But can you do Cajun?  That one’s tough.

Today is Fat Tuesday.  In this country, that celebration is headquartered deep in the heart of Cajun Country, New Orleans (oopf, N’awlins).  It’s high time to put a little south in your mouth, and downtown’s Pearl Market is just lucky enough to have its very own in-house expert.  Patrons can find real New Orleans Pralines made by a real New Orleans Native: Chandra Noble.

Actually, Noble was born in Ohio – but she spent the first thirty years of her life down in The Big Easy.  While her voice is usually velvety smooth, she can whip out that distinctive dialect from her roots in a heartbeat.

There is a RIGHT was to talk about her New Orleans Pralines.  While we say pray-lines, back south they say prah-lines… or worse.  Noble says, “Sometimes it’s like the L and the R are switched.”  Then she pronounces it in a silky southern style that sounds like a cross between prah-reeeeen and plah-reeeeen.

“Or,” she continues, “We just call it pecan candy.”  Only she does it with an accent again.  Suddenly pecan has three syllables: peh-cah-wnnn.

Regardless of your accent, you can celebrate in Fat Tuesday-style every Friday with New Orleans Pralines in the Pearl Market.  No worries about pronouncing the sweet confections: we all sound the same with a mouth-full.

The experience got me thinking more about the logic of company policies toward parking and transit.  Employee parking benefits are common, but transit benefits are not.  Some companies pay $85 to $160 per month for an employee to park at commercial garages or lots.  Others build and maintain their own parking facilities and offer “free” parking to employees.

Both options are expensive and create an artificial demand for parking, unless companies also offer transit benefits.  Parking benefits can drive up the cost of doing business downtown because bus passes are generally less expensive than parking.  Given a choice, many employees will choose to take transit if free passes are offered as an alternative to free parking.