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Columbus is the capital of the U.S. state of Ohio. Founded in 1812 at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, it assumed the functions of state capital in 1816.

According to the 2000 census, Columbus has a population of 711,470 residents, making it the largest city in Ohio and the 15th largest in the United States. The population increased to an estimated 730,657 in 2005The greater Columbus metropolitan area has a population of 1,708,625 as of 2005 [http://www.census.gov/popest/counties/files/CO-EST2005-ALLDATA.csv, ranking it third in Ohio (behind Cleveland and Cincinnati) and 31st in the United States. With regard to the Combined Statistical Area (which includes Chillicothe and Marion), Columbus ranks 24th in the country with approximately 1.84 million residents.

Located near the geographic center of the state, Columbus is the county seat of Franklin County, though parts of the city also extend into Delaware and Fairfield counties.

History

Evidence of ancient mound-building societies abounds in the region near the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers. Mound Street, located in downtown Columbus, was so named because of its proximity to a large Native American burial mound. Those ancient civilizations had long since faded into history when European explorers began moving into the region south of Lake Erie. Rather than an empty frontier, however, they encountered people of the Miami, Delaware, Wyandot, Shawnee, and Mingo nations. These tribes resisted expansion by the fledgling United States, resulting in years of bitter conflict. A decisive battle at Fallen Timbers resulted in the Treaty of Greenville, which finally opened the way for new settlements. By 1797, a young surveyor from Virginia named Lucas Sullivant had founded a permanent settlement on the west bank of the forks of the Scioto River. A great admirer of Benjamin Franklin, Sullivant chose to name his new frontier village "Franklinton."

19th century

After achieving statehood in 1803, political infighting among Ohio's more prominent leaders and a series of fires resulted in the state capital moving from Chillicothe to Zanesville and back again. The state legislature eventually decided that a new capital city, located in the center of the state, was a necessary compromise. Several of Ohio's small towns and villages petitioned the legislature for the honor of becoming the state capital, but ultimately a coalition of land speculators, with Sullivant's support, made the most attractive offer to the Ohio General Assembly. Named in honor of Christopher Columbus, the capital city was founded in February, 1812, on the "High Banks opposite Franklinton at the Forks of the Scioto known as Wolf's Ridge."

The National Road reached Columbus from Baltimore in 1831, which complemented the city's new link to the Ohio and Erie Canal and facilitated a population boom. A wave of immigrants from Europe resulted in the establishment of two ethnic enclaves on the outskirts of the city. A significant Irish population settled in the north along Naghten Street (presently Nationwide Boulevard), while the Germans took advantage of the cheap land to the south, creating a community that came to be known as Die Alte Sud Ende (The Old South End). Columbus' German population is responsible for constructing numerous breweries, the Lutheran Theological Seminary, Capital University, and for instituting the first kindergarten in the United States.

In 1850 the Columbus and Xenia Railroad became the first railroad to enter the city, followed by the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad in 1851. The two railroads built a joint Union Station on the east side of High Street just north of Naughten (then called North Public Lane). Rail traffic into Columbus increased -- by 1875 Columbus was served by eight railroads, and a new, more elaborate station was built.

On January 7, 1857, the Ohio Statehouse finally opened to the public after eighteen years of construction. During the Civil War, Columbus was the home of Camp Chase, a major base for the Union Army that housed 26,000 troops and held up to 9,000 Confederate prisoners of war. Over 2,000 Confederate soldiers remain buried at the site, making it one of the largest Confederate cemeteries in the North. By virtue of the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act, the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College was founded in 1870 on the former estate of William and Hannah Neil.

By the end of the 19th century, Columbus saw the rise of several major manufacturing businesses. The city became known as the "Buggy Capital of the World," thanks to the presence of some two dozen buggy factories, notably the Columbus Buggy Company, which was founded in 1875 by Harvey Firestone. The Columbus Consolidated Brewing Company also rose to prominence during this time, and it may have achieved even greater success were it not for the influence of the Anti-Saloon League, based in neighboring Westerville. In the steel industry, a forward-thinking man named Samuel P. Bush presided over the Buckeye Steel Castings Company. Columbus was also a popular location for the organization of labor. In 1886 Samuel Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor in Druid's Hall on S. Fourth Street, and in 1890 the United Mine Workers of America was founded at old City Hall.

20th century

Columbus earned its reputation as "The Arch City" because of the dozens of metal (formerly wooden) arches that spanned High Street at the turn of the twentieth century. The arches illuminated the thoroughfare and eventually became the means by which electric power was provided to the new streetcars. Then, on March 25, 1913, a catastrophic flood devastated the neighborhood of Franklinton, leaving ninety-six people dead and thousands of West Side residents homeless. To prevent future flooding, the Army Corps of Engineers recommended widening the Scioto River through downtown, constructing new bridges, and building a retaining wall along its banks. With the strength of the post-WWI economy, a construction boom occurred in the 1920s, resulting in a new Civic Center, the Ohio Theatre, the American Insurance Union Citadel, and, to the north, a massive new Ohio Stadium.

The effects of the Great Depression were somewhat less severe in Columbus, as the city's diversified economy helped it fare marginally better than its Rust Belt neighbors. World War II brought a tremendous number of new jobs to the city, and with it another population surge. This time, the majority of new arrivals were migrants from the extremely depressed rural parts of Appalachia, who would soon account for more than a third of Columbus' rising population. In 1948, the Town and Country Shopping Center opened in suburban Whitehall, and it is now regarded as one of the first modern shopping centers in the United States. Along with the construction of the interstate highway, it signaled the arrival of rapid suburban development in central Ohio. In order to protect the city's tax base from this suburbanization, Columbus adopted a policy of linking sewer and water hookups to annexation to the city. By the early 1990s, Columbus had grown to become Ohio's largest city in both land area and in population, though not in density due to the aforementioned annexation policy.

Efforts to revitalize downtown Columbus have met with mixed results in recent decades. In the 1970's old landmarks such as Union Station and the Neil House Hotel were razed to construct high-rise office and retail spaces, notably Columbus City Center and the Greater Columbus Convention Center. However, newer suburban developments at Tuttle Crossing, Easton, and Polaris have inhibited much of the anticipated downtown growth. Still, with the addition of the Nationwide Arena District as well as hundreds of downtown residential units, significant revitalization efforts are sure to continue in the downtown area.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 550.5 km² (212.6 mi²). 544.6 km² (210.3 mi²) of it is land and 5.9 km² (2.3 mi²) of it (1.07%) is water. Unlike many other major US cities in the Midwest, Columbus continues to expand its reach by way of extensions and annexations, making it one of the fastest growing large cities in the nation, in terms of both geography and population, and probably the fastest in the Midwest. Unlike Cleveland and Cincinnati, the central cities in Ohio's two largest metropolitan areas, Columbus is ringed by relatively few suburbs; since the 1950s it has made annexation a condition for providing water and sewer service, to which it holds regional rights throughout a large portion of Central Ohio. This policy is credited with preserving Columbus' tax base in the face of the U.S.'s suburbanization and has contributed to its booming economy, much like other cities pursuing similar policies such as Charlotte, North Carolina and San Antonio, Texas, both of which are similarly lacking in surrounding incorporated suburbs.

The confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers occurs just west of downtown Columbus. Several smaller tributaries course through the Columbus metro area, including Alum Creek, Big Walnut Creek, and Darby Creek. By and large, Columbus has relatively flat topography thanks to a large glacier that covered most of Ohio during the Wisconsian Ice Age, but numerous ravine areas near the rivers and creeks help give some variety to the landscape. The region is dominated by a humid continental climate, characterized by hot, muggy summers and cold, dry winters. The highest temperature ever recorded in Columbus was 106°F (41°C), which occurred twice during the Dust Bowl drought of the 1930's - once on July 21, 1934, and again two years later, on July 14, 1936. The coldest was -22°F (-30°C), occurring January 19, 1994. As far as trees, deciduous trees are common, including maple, oak, hickory, walnut, poplar, cottonwood, and of course, buckeye.

Cityscape

See also: List of Central Ohio Suburbs

Columbus also has a number of distinctive neighborhoods within the metro area. The Short North, situated just north of downtown, is rich with art galleries, dining, pubs, and specialty shops. A number of large, ornate Victorian homes are located nearby, and together they comprise Victorian Village. To the south, German Village is known for its quaint 19th century brick cottages, and it holds the distinction as the largest privately funded historic district on the National Register of Historic Places. Franklinton, sometimes known as "the Bottoms", is the neighborhood immediately west of downtown. It gets its colorful nickname due to the fact that much of the land lies below the level of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, and a floodwall is required to contain the rivers and protect the area from devastating floods. Just to the west of Franklinton is a group of smaller neighborhoods commonly referred to as "The Hilltop."

The OSU Campus area is populated by a high concentration of students during the school year (approximately 35,000 undergraduate students and 15,000 graduate students for a total of 50,000 students) and features many old homes which have been converted to apartments for student use. The stretch of High Street that runs through the campus area caters to the student body with its abundance of dive bars, sandwich shops, and bookstores. Located between OSU and Worthington is Clintonville, where a mix of middle class Levittown-type homes can be found alongside beautiful old stone and brick-faced houses nestled among rolling hills. Clintonville is home to Whetstone Park, and the Park of Roses, a beautiful 13 acre rose garden. Further west of downtown, San Margherita is a community formed by Italian immigrants who arrived at the turn of the 20th century.

In 2003, a documentary entitled "Flag Wars" by Linda Goode Bryant and Laura Poitras premiered on the PBS series P.O.V. The film chronicles the plight of African-American homeowners in the Old Towne East neighborhood who are at odds with white gay couples buying older Victorian houses in the area, fixing them up, and in the process creating a tense gentrification that is captured in the documentary spanning from 1999 through 2002. Crime, economic sustainability, and culture clashes are highlighted against the backdrop of personal and family struggles and a beleaguered Environmental Court trying to enforce zoning and other regulatory laws.

Other neighborhoods and crossroads around the area include: Berwick, Hungarian Village, Merion Village, Steelton, Milo Grogan, Linden, Flytown, Italian Village, Weinland Park, Driving Park, Olde Town East, Grandview-Marble Cliff, Seagrave, University View, Valleyview, New Rome, Briggsdale, Urbancrest, Eastmoor, Minerva Park, Huber Ridge, Mifflinville, Linworth, Riverlea, Northland, Olentangy, Amlin, Lincoln Village, and Alton.

People and culture

City of Columbus
Population by year *
1840 6,048
1850 17,882
1860 18,554
1870 31,274
1880 51,647
1890 88,150
1900 125,560
1910 181,511
1920 237,031
1930 290,564
1940 306,087
1950 375,901
1960 471,316
1970 539,677
1980 564,871
1990 632,910
2000 711,470
2005 730,657

Demographics

See also: List of Famous People from Columbus, Ohio

As of the census of 2000, there were 711,470 people, 301,534 households, and 165,240 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,306.4/km² (3,383.6/mi²). There were 327,175 housing units at an average density of 600.8/km² (1,556.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 67.93% White, 24.47% Black or African American, 0.29% Native American, 3.44% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 1.17% from other races, and 2.65% from two or more races. 2.46% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 301,534 households out of which 28.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.1% were married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.2% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 3.01.

The age distribution is 24.2% under the age of 18, 14.0% from 18 to 24, 35.1% from 25 to 44, 17.9% from 45 to 64, and 8.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 94.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $37,897, and the median income for a family was $47,391. Males had a median income of $35,138 versus $28,705 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,450. About 10.8% of families and 14.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.7% of those under age 18 and 10.9% of those age 65 or over.

The demographics of Central Ohio is changing rapidly with the influx of immigrants from Latin America, Africa, and Asia. As is the case in much of America, there is less assimilation going on than compartmentalization, with large monoethnic neighborhoods developing. This influx is putting pressure on all of the social services institutions, notably the public schools and the public health system.

Landmarks and Museums

Columbus is home to several world class buildings, including the Greek-Revival State Capitol, and the Peter Eisenman-designed Wexner Center and Columbus Convention Center.

The Ohio Statehouse, built of Columbus limestone from the Marble Cliff Quarry Co., began construction in 1839 on a 10 acre (40,000 m²) plot of land donated by four prominent Columbus landowners to form Capitol Square, not part of the original layout of the city. The Statehouse stands upon foundations 18 feet (5 m) deep, which were laid by prison labor gangs, rumored to have been swelled by masons jailed for minor infractions *. The Statehouse features a central recessed porch with a colonnade of a forthright and primitive Greek Doric mode. A broad and low central pediment supports the windowed astylar drum, under an invisibly low saucer dome, that lights the interior rotunda. Unlike many US state capitol buildings, the Ohio State Capitol owes little to the architecture of the national Capitol. During the long course of the Statehouse's 22 years of construction, seven architects were employed. Relations between the legislature and the architects were not always cordial: Nathan B. Kelly, who introduced heating and an ingenious system of natural forced ventilation, was dismissed because the commissioners found his designs were too lavish for the original intentions of the committee. The Statehouse was opened to the legislature and the public in 1857, and finally complete in 1861.

The Columbus Museum of Art opened in 1931, with a collection focusing on European and American art up to early modernism. Columbus also boasts the Franklin Park Conservatory, which was also home to AmeriFlora '92, and a to-scale replica of the Santa Maria on the Scioto Riverfront that was installed to commemorate the 500-year anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus' namesake. Columbus is the home of COSI-Columbus, a notable science museum, as well as the museum of the Ohio Historical Society.

To some extent, the Ohio State University is a museum unto itself with its rich history and roots in the Columbus psyche, but it does host a number of museums and museum-like exhibits. Notable among these are the Wexner Center for the Arts, a contemporary art gallery and research facility located on the OSU campus, the Ohio State University Athletics Hall of Fame located in the Jerome Schottenstein Center (home of the OSU basketball and men's ice hockey teams). The Chadwick Arboretum is nearby.

Fairs and festivals

Annual festivities in Columbus include the Ohio State Fair—one of the largest state fairs in the country—and the Columbus Arts Festival and the Jazz and Ribs Festival, both of which occur on the downtown waterfront. ComFest (short for "community festival") is an immense three-day gathering in Goodale Park (just north of downtown Columbus) with art vendors and live music on multiple stages, hundreds of local social and political organizations, body painting and beer. Coinciding with the weekend of ComFest is the large Gay Pride Parade, reflective of the sizeable gay population in Columbus. Around the Fourth of July, Columbus hosts Red, White, and Boom, the largest fireworks display in the midwest on the riverfront downtown to crowds of over 500,000 people, as well as the popular "Doo Dah Parade", a nonsensical satire of ordinary parades. Each June the Park of Roses in Clintonville holds its annual "Rose Festival" featuring 13 acres of blooming roses. The Origins International Game Expo is held around the first week of July. The Short North is host to the monthly "Gallery Hop", which attracts hundreds to the neighborhood's art galleries (which all open their doors to the public until late at night) and street musicians. Each September, German Village throws an annual Oktoberfest celebration that features authentic German food, beer, music, and crafts. The Hilltop Bean Dinner is an annual event held on Columbus' West Side that celebrates the city's Civil War heritage near the historic Camp Chase Cemetery. Festival Latino is held in June and celebrates Latino culture with music, food and activities. This free event is held downtown and draws over 300,000. The Jazz and Rib Fest is a free downtown event held each July featuring jazz artists and rib vendors from around the country. In either late May or early June, Columbus holds the Asian Festival in Franklin Park. The Asian Festival is immensely popular and is sponsored by many companies, most noticeably McDonald's. Hundreds of restaurants, vendors, and companies open up booths, traditional music and martial arts are performed, and cultural exhibits are set up.

Columbus also hosts many conventions in the Greater Columbus Convention Center, a pastel-colored building on the north edge of downtown that resembles jumbled blocks, or a train yard from overhead. The convention center was designed by famed architect Peter Eisenman, who also designed the renowned Wexner Center, also located in Columbus at the campus of The Ohio State University. Completed in 1993, the convention center spanned nearly 600,000 square feet (56,000 m²) at the time, and has recently been expanded.

Sports

By far, the sports team that draws the most attention in Columbus is the Ohio State Buckeyes college football team, a member of the NCAA's Big 10 conference. Games are played from late August through late November (and fairly frequently in early January, due to post-season bowl play), with home games at Ohio Stadium in front of over 100,000 rabid Buckeye fans. Tailgating at OSU home games has become an event in and of itself, with as many as 30,000 more people partying during the game in the parking lots and at controlled events on Lane Avenue. The OSU-Michigan football game is the final game of the regular season and is played in November each year (alternating between Columbus and Ann Arbor, Michigan). It is easily the biggest annual event in the city, with an estimated 80% to 90% share of television viewers in the Columbus market. ESPN and Fox Sports even recognized it as the greatest rivalry in all of sports. Moreover, "Buckeye fever" permeates Columbus culture year-round and forms a major part of Columbus's cultural identity. During the winter months, the Buckeyes basketball team is also a major sporting attraction.

Columbus has no major-league teams in the three most popular sports (baseball, football, or basketball); many Columbus residents thus root for major-league teams from Cincinnati or Cleveland for these sports. However, Columbus has a National Hockey League club (the Columbus Blue Jackets) and a Major League Soccer club (the Columbus Crew).

Since 1976, the Columbus suburb of Dublin is the location of the PGA Tour's Memorial Tournament at the Muirfield Village golf course, which is closely associated with Jack Nicklaus. In 1987, the course hosted the Ryder Cup.

From 1985 to 1988, Columbus hosted major league auto racing, with the IMSA Columbus Ford Dealers 500. The event was only moderately successful, and discontinued after only four years. However, Columbus is home to a few well-known race teams. Rahal Letterman Racing has a home in the west suburb of Hilliard and races in the Indy Racing League. Intersport Racing has a home in the northwest suburb of Dublin and races in the American Le Mans Series. Kilisport has a home in the northwest suburb of Powell and competes in the Champ Car Atlantic Series. TrueSports, owners of the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, has a home in the northwest suburb of Dublin.

Columbus hosts the annual Arnold Classic weightlifting and fitness exposition in late February, as well as the annual Quarterhorse Congress. Both of these conventions are very large tourist draws to the city.

Professional Club Sport League Stadium Logo
Columbus Blue Jackets Ice Hockey National Hockey League Nationwide Arena
Columbus Crew Soccer Major League Soccer Columbus Crew Stadium
Columbus Destroyers Football Arena Football League Nationwide Arena
Columbus Clippers Baseball International League Cooper Stadium
Columbus Comets American football National Women's Football Association Dublin Coffman High School

Performing Arts

There are several major concert venues in Columbus, including arenas such as Nationwide Arena, Value City Arena, and Ohio Stadium. Columbus also has a number of medium-sized venues downtown, including the historic Palace Theatre, the Ohio Theatre, the Southern Theatre, The Verne Riffe Center for Government and The Arts which houses The Capital Theatre as well as numerous studio theatres, Franklin County Veterans Memorial Hall, and the Lifestyle Communities Pavilion (the LC for short) (formerly the PromoWest Pavilion). The Newport Music Hall, located in the OSU campus neighborhood, is a smaller venue, but highly respected by the alternative music scene. Performers such as U2, Smashing Pumpkins, and Sarah McLachlan honed their live acts at the Newport before achieving wider fame. Performing artists hailing from Columbus include Foley (bass player with Miles Davis), Bizzy Bone, The Sun, Dwight Yoakam, Bow Wow, Fatty Koo, Gary LeVox and Jay DeMarcus (of Rascal Flatts), O.A.R., Saving Jane, New Bomb Turks, Watershed, and RJD2.

Much of the growth in entertainment capacity in Columbus has been recent. The expansion of Ohio Stadium to over 100,000 in capacity, and the construction of the Crew Stadium (the first soccer-specific stadium in the United States), Nationwide Arena, Value City Arena, the Greater Columbus Convention Center, and the Lifestyle Communities Pavilion are all projects completed since 1990.

Columbus is the home of many renowned performing arts institutions, including Opera Columbus, BalletMet, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, the Contemporary American Theatre Company (CATCo), and the Columbus Jazz Orchestra.

Throughout the summer The Actor's Theatre offers free live performances of Shakespeare's plays in an open air amphitheatre located in Schiller Park in German Village.

Media

Columbus's sole remaining daily newspaper is the Columbus Dispatch; its erstwhile main competitor, the Columbus Citizen-Journal, ceased publication on December 31, 1985. There are also a number of weekly newspapers, including neighborhood/suburb specific papers such as Suburban News Publications which serves 23 suburbs and Columbus; The Daily Reporter, central Ohio's only daily business and legal newspaper; ThisWeek; and "alternative" arts/culture/politics-oriented papers such as The Other Paper and aLIVE (formerly Columbus Alive). C-BUS Magazine, C Magazine and Columbus Monthly are the city's magazines.

Among Columbus's notable radio stations are WTVN (610) and WBNS (1460), both among the oldest AM stations in the country; WOSU (820 AM) and WOSU-FM (89.7 FM), operated by The Ohio State University; WCBE (90.5 FM), a National Public Radio affiliate run by the Columbus Board of Education; WLVQ (96.3 FM), a long-running classic-rock station; WWCD (101.1 FM), Columbus's locally-owned alternative rock station and WUFM (88.7 FM) "Radio U", one of the U.S's most notable Christian Alternative Stations.

Columbus's television stations include WCMH 4 (NBC), WSYX 6 (ABC), WBNS 10 (CBS), WTTE 28 (Fox), WOSU 34 (PBS), WSFJ 51 (a Christian-oriented station), and WWHO 53 (UPN).

Economy

See also: List of Largest Central Ohio Employers

Public sector

As Columbus is the capital of the state of Ohio, there is a large government presence in the city. Including city, state, and jobs at the public Ohio State University, government jobs provide the largest single source of employment within Columbus.

Businesses

Columbus is the headquarters for a number of nationally and internationally-known corporations. Nationwide Insurance makes its home downtown in a large, multi-building complex that dominates the northern end of the downtown area. Limited Brands (formerly known as The Limited, Inc.) is located on the east side of the city and is the parent company of the retail stores The Limited, Express, Victoria's Secret, and Bath & Body Works, among others. Worthington Industries, a large steel-processing company, is primarily located on the north side near the city of Worthington. Two fast food chains have their home base in the Columbus metro area as well, Wendy's and White Castle, with Wendy's still operating their first store downtown as both a museum and a working restaurant. Bob Evans Restaurants is also based in Columbus. Cardinal Health has its headquarters in the northwest suburb of Dublin. Abercrombie & Fitch headquarters are located in the northeast suburb of New Albany. Huntington Bancshares also has its headquarters in the downtown area. Hexion Specialty Chemicals (formerly part of the Borden, Inc. corporation) is located downtown as well. The Ross Products Division of Abbott Laboratories, makers of Ensure nutritional drink and Similac infant formula, is also headquartered in Columbus, with over 7,000 employees.

Several other large corporations have a major presence in the Columbus area. Honda has two auto plants, in Marysville and East Liberty. The facilities are located to the northwest of Columbus along US-33. The Marysville plant is Honda's first and largest North American auto plant. Together the plants produce Honda Accords, Civics, Elements, motorcycles and some of Acura's models for the North American market. Bank One, which used to be headquartered in Columbus prior to the merger with First Chicago-NBD, still has a major presence in Columbus. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., which announced a merger with Bank One in 2004, has a large mortgage servicing unit in the city. CompuServe still has its roots in Columbus, although it has been owned by AOL since 1998. Budweiser has a major brewery located on the north side of the city. McGraw-Hill Inc. has large offices within Columbus as well. In addition, Sterling Commerce a B2B software company has its headquarters in the Northwest suburb of Dublin. Qwest, a major telecom provider has offices in the Northwest suburb of Dublin. Commerce National Bank, a $500 million publicly traded business bank, serves hundreds of businesses in greater Columbus. UPS has a large distribution center on the west side of the city.

Columbus is also home to the Chemical Abstracts Service, making it one of the world's leading centers for scientific information distribution, and to the Battelle Memorial Institute, a major research and development facility.

Due to its demographics, which include a mix of races and a wide range of incomes, as well as urban, suburban, and nearby rural areas, Columbus is considered to be a "typical" American city, and is often used as a test market for new products by retail and restaurant chains.

Infrastructure

Government

See also: List of Mayors of Columbus, Ohio

The government is administered by a mayor and a unicameral council elected every two years, the mayor appointing the director of safety and the director of public service. The people elect the treasurer, auditor, and solicitor. A charter commission, elected in 1913, submitted, in May, 1914, a new charter offering a modified Federal form, with a number of progressive features, such as nonpartisan ballot, preferential voting, recall of elected officials, the referendum, and a small council elected at large. The charter was adopted, effective January 1, 1916. The current mayor of Columbus is Michael B. Coleman.

Education

Colleges and Universities
Columbus is the home of The Ohio State University, which is currently the largest single campus in the United States, with a total enrollment of 50,504 (as of Autumn, 2005). Other institutions located in Columbus and its metro area include Columbus State Community College, Franklin University, Ohio Dominican University, the Columbus College of Art and Design, Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Capital University in Bexley, Denison University in Granville, Otterbein College in Westerville, and DeVry University.

K-12 schools
Columbus Public Schools dominates the K-12 primary school landscape, and each of the suburbs operates a fairly large district as well, sometimes across overlapping municipal boundaries. CPS offers many alternative schools, such as Columbus Alternative High School, Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School, and Ecole Kenwood. Notable private schools within Columbus include The Wellington School, the Columbus Academy, Columbus School for Girls, St. Francis DeSales High School, Saint Charles Preparatory School, Bishop Watterson, and Learning Unlimited Village Academy.

Columbus is noted for a couple of important "firsts" in American public education. The first kindergarten was established here by Louisa Frankenberg, a former student of Friedrich Fröbel who immigrated to the city in 1838. In addition, Indianola Junior High School became the nation's first middle school in 1909, helping to bridge the difficult transition from elementary to high school at a time when only forty-eight percent of students continued their education after the 9th grade.

In 1977, Federal Judge Robert Duncan ruled, in the matter of Penick v The Columbus Board of Education, that segregation existed in the Columbus Public Schools and that to correct this problem, Columbus Public Schools would be required to bus children from one neighborhood to another to achieve greater racial balance in each school. This began a period of 'white flight' into the suburbs, fueling the growth of the suburbs as communities and pushing most suburban school systems into a state of financial difficulty which continues to the present. Today, the Columbus Public Schools, and the City of Columbus for that matter, are blacker and poorer than they ever were prior to Judge Duncan's decision, and many school buildings go underutilized and stand in ill repair. In the suburban districts, the problem is just the opposite: growth is explosive and the communities are being constantly requested to pass new levies to pay for building construction and additional staffing costs.

The Columbus Public Schools and several of the suburban school districts, notably Hilliard and Southwestern, have absorbed a large number of immigrant children who are steadily arriving from countries all over the world. Many of these children are from Latin America, but significant numbers of African and Middle Eastern refugees have been settled in Columbus as well.

Transportation

Columbus is bisected by two major Interstate Highways, Interstate 70 running east-west, and Interstate 71 running north to roughly southwest. The two Interstates combine downtown for about 1.5 miles in an area locally known as "The Split", which is a major traffic congestion point within Columbus, especially during rush hour. U.S. Highway 40, aka National Road, runs east-west through Columbus, comprising Main Street to the east of downtown and Broad Street to the west. It is also widely recognized as the nation's first highway. U.S. Highway 23 runs roughly north-south, while U.S. Highway 33 runs northwest-to-southeast. The Interstate 270 Outerbelt encircles the vast majority of Columbus and its suburbs, while the newly redesigned Innerbelt consists of the Interstate 670 spur on the north side (which continues to the east past Port Columbus International Airport and to the west where it merges with I-70), State Route 315 on the west side, the I-70/71 split on the south side, and I-71 on the east. Due to its central location within Ohio and abundance of outbound roadways, nearly all of the state's destinations are within a 2-hour drive of Columbus.

The I-270 Outerbelt was the subject of national media attention in late 2003 and early 2004 when a number of sniper shootings were reported along the southern portion of the interstate and other neighboring highways, resulting in the death of one person. Charles McCoy, Jr. is accused of the shootings and stood trial in 2005, however the jury was hung as to McCoy's mental state. McCoy later pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter, attempted murder, assault and discharging a firearm near a school and was sentenced to 29 years in prison.

The city's street planoriginating in the oldest parts of the city, that is downtown and the immediate vicinities a roughly gridiron model bisected by High Street (running north-south) and Broad Street (running east-west). Much of the city street numbering plan originates at their intersection in mid-downtown (the Ohio Statehouse building sits at the corner of Broad and High, incidentally), so house numbers increase with distance from downtown. This rigid street grid breaks down the further out one goes, particularly in the suburbs (mostly old towns with their own street plans still intact) and the newer subdivisions. Besides High Street and Broad Street, major thoroughfares in Columbus include Main Street, Morse Road, Dublin-Granville Road (aka SR-161), Cleveland Avenue/Westerville Road (aka SR-3), Olentangy River Road, Riverside Drive, Sunbury Road, and Livingston Avenue.

Columbus does not have a metro or other passenger rail system. Numerous attempts have been made to fund a light rail system, but there are no plans to pursue such a system in the near future. Columbus does maintain a widespread municipal bus service called the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA). Columbus used to have a major train station downtown called Union Station, however it was razed in the late 1970s. Columbus is now the second largest city in the U.S. (after Phoenix) without passenger rail service. Columbus is served by Port Columbus International Airport, Rickenbacker International Airport, Don Scott Airport (run by OSU), and Bolton Field Airport.

Aircraft production

Port Columbus International Airport was once home to the North American Aircraft factory (later North American/Rockwell). Aircraft built in Columbus include the North American F-86 Saber, A-5 Vigilante, OV-10 Bronco, T-2 Buckeye (named after the state tree, and Ohio State University's mascot), and components for the B-1 bomber, as well as numerous missiles and guidance systems.

Sister cities

Columbus has seven sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International. Columbus established its first Sister City relationship in 1955 with Genoa, Italy. To commemorate this relationship, Columbus received as a gift from the people of Genoa a large statue of Christopher Columbus. The statue overlooks Broad Street in front of the Columbus City Hall.

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All-America City | Cities in Ohio | Cities named for Christopher Columbus | Columbus, Ohio | County seats in Ohio | Delaware County, Ohio | Fairfield County, Ohio | Franklin County, Ohio | Planned cities

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Columbus, Ohio".

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