Inside 43215: Independents’ Day ‘09
Monday, September 21st, 2009
Highlights from Independents’ Day, September 19.
Inside 43215: Independents Day Montage from Downtown Columbus on Vimeo.
Right Now Downtown
Posts Tagged ‘Couchfire Collective’
In Search of a City: Land of Opportunity
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009
Like many people in Columbus, I struggle with the tension between staying in Columbus and moving to a city that better accommodates my lifestyle. Portland, Oregon, for example, appeals to me because it is a Columbus-size city that has made radically different choices than central Ohio for more than 30 years. The result is a compact, transit-oriented city with a healthy core and vibrant downtown.
Columbus, however, offers something far more special: the opportunity to make a difference. For a person with an entrepreneurial spirit, Columbus is a gold mine, whether one channels that spirit into business ownership, advocacy or community organizing.
In Columbus, entrepreneurs are heroes. Witness Liz Lessner (Betty’s Family of Restaurants); Pete Scantland (Orange Barrel Media); John Angelo (Short North Business Association); Adam Brouillette (Couchfire Collective), to name a few. Someone who might go unnoticed in Portland can be a meaningful agent for change in Columbus.
Portland may have its act together. But tell me another city besides Columbus where, if you are competent, hard working and imaginative, people think you are a genius.