East Main Street, Columbus

[Columbusite]

Main Street. Nothing else needs to be said to conjure up warm, fuzzy images of the heart of a community experienced in the form of a bustling urban street. While some towns and cities have regained the activity of those bygone days, others have a long way to go if they are ever to come back. Main Street in Columbus used to be the other main street which basically served as the east-west equivalent of High Street in Downtown and connected to Bexley. What used to be a series of commercial buildings serving the richest city dwellers and seamlessly connecting Downtown and Olde Towne East became a local symbol of decay and the victim of an obsession to tear down anything a over a few decades old. The majority of the old East Main Street sits in the near east side and much of it has been demolished leaving huge gaps in the urban fabric. Empty, dilapidated buildings, run-down carry outs and barber shops make up much of what is left. Gloria's Soul Food is really the only bright spot that exists. It's probably fitting that I took these on Halloween.

MAP

[ink]

There is much work to do on East Main, but at least the neighborhoods are fabulous to the north. Bryden Road running parallel just north of Main is the best architectural street in the city. If restored, it would put Neil Avenue to shame.

The kids at Capital always talk about how bad it is "across the tracks" or "past the Kroger." I bet Bexley wishes it were oriented around Broad instead.

[UrbanSurfin]

The Sav-a-Lot grocery store is much needed in the Near East "food desert," but the big parking lot pushes the store away from the customers, many of whom will be walking to the store. The lot was not exactly filled on a Saturday afternoon.

[kingfish out of water]

This is a favorite bike ride of mine. I'm not really shocked by the desolation; it's reminiscent of parts of Detroit. What I find interesting is how Bexley's stretch of Main is being nibbled away from the east and west. Plenty of vacancies in upscale Bexley.

[David]

The houses are beautiful. I hate to see 'em in such bad shape. This area is the epitome of the midwest.

[ink]

Plenty of vacancies in upscale Bexley.

Thank you for leaving, Mr. Wexner and friends.

[edale]

Wow, I've never pictured Columbus like this.  Is this Columbus' most ghetto neighborhood?

[Clueless,Ohio]

Despite the condition of this neighborhood, it is still very photogenic just like a lot of other parts of C'bus.

[ink]

Is this Columbus' most ghetto neighborhood?

That is hard to say. Parts of Linden, Weinland Park, Hilltop, Franklinton, Milo Grogan, and King-Lincoln struggle similarily, but East Main is probably the roughest commercial street, even worse than the notorious Parsons.

[kingfish out of water]

^Definitely worse than Parsons. Parsons is more notorious as a dividing line than being bad unto itself. Another interesting bike ride, Parsons Ave.

[mrnyc]

nice work. it's not in that awful of shape, the stock is still good. at least some stretches of it'll come back.

[WalkerEvans]

East Main Street History Lesson 101:

Scars remain 40 years after Near East Side riot

[Columbusite]

Is this Columbus' most ghetto neighborhood?

That is hard to say. Parts of Linden, Weinland Park, Hilltop, Franklinton, Milo Grogan, and King-Lincoln struggle similarily, but East Main is probably the roughest commercial street, even worse than the notorious Parsons.

I dunno Ink, I've been through all of those (South/North Linden photos still pending) and East Main probably has the highest concentration of rundown structures I've seen. I'd have to do a bit research to see if crime is much higher than other similar areas. I just maintained a sense of awareness of my surroundings and no one bothered me. One guy riding by on the sidewalk said it was good to see me there (not sure what that meant exactly) and that was it.

What I really think is holding back the mostly improved neighbrohoods that include/border E. Main, OTE on a western stretch and Franklin Park on an eastern stretch, is the lack of focus on this commercial street. This street here is actually right off of E. Main, but improvements along here look to have it a brick wall.
 
 

 
Until there is a focus on the commercial aspect of these neighborhoods like there was in the Short North there's not going to be more improvements and OTE has already been in a rut for years and I'm quite certain it's because both east west commercial streets, E. Main more than Oak, of course, have remained virtually untouched. The latter looks like E. Main around each intersection with vacant lots and empty buildings. It's no surprise then that the best part of OTE borders a revitalized business district on Parsons.

[ink]

I dunno Ink, I've been through all of those (South/North Linden photos still pending) and East Main probably has the highest concentration of rundown structures I've seen.

Oh, I would tend to agree; East Main might have more vacant parcels as well.

Ghetto means many different things though, which is why I haven't settled on my declaration.

Honestly, I would like to give it Whitehall.

[dmerkow]

While nowhere near as dramatic as Walnut Hills in Cincinnati, but this neighborhood seems to have a lot of the same benefits and negatives that have held that 'hood back - close to downtown but not really in the main direction of current development, pinned by stable upper class neighborhood that is a separate world (legal in Cbus, all but in Cincy), a history of racial violence, and I'd be willing to guess a number of less than scrupulous landlords.

[edale]

^Funny you mention Walnut Hills, as that was the exact same connection I made when viewing these photos.  It seems to be a flattened out, less dense, and possibly less ghetto/run down version of WH.

[GCrites80s]

East Main Street History Lesson 101:

Scars remain 40 years after Near East Side riot

That article mentioned firebombing. It seems to me that all throughout its history (including today) Columbus has had a lot more firebombing activity than other cities.

[kingfish out of water]

It's kind of our thing.

[ColDayMan]

The quintessential "has been" street in Columbus.

Well, that and Long.  And Mt. Vernon.  And Cleveland.  And Sullivant.

[Wheelingman]

Nice shots of an area I have been to many times.

[Columbusite]

May I ask why?

[Wheelingman]

So I could see the rough parts of the city and kind of compare how they are to other cities. Plus I used to read the Columbus Dispatch in print Sundays and on the internet weekdays when I was a lot younger. It seemed like that the area had lots of crime and homicides there compared to the rest of the city. To truely know a city you have to see the good and bad and measure that. Just as with Chicago I had to see the Southside and what all the hype was about and E. St. Louis, IL, Detroit, Camden, Gary, Chester, PA, eastside of Cleveland, etc. Now I don't care as much because I have seen the worst, and Columbus or Cleveland is nowhere close to the worst. Maybe I will do it again, especially if a friend wants tour, or my girlfriend(not likely), but I don't need to anymore for myself at this point in time. I have to admit though that urban ruins are neat especially in the cities mentioned above that I have seen in person.

I really like Columbus. It was one of the only major cities I had ever been to when I was a kid other than Pittsburgh. I could have gone to Ohio State, but that didn't happen. Everyone said the best way to get a job in geography was teaching. There was a great teaching school right by me (West Liberty University). Maybe someday to get a Masters in Geography or Urban Planning from there.

I always said I could live in Columbus, but it comes down to jobs and my girlfriend.

 One of the main flaws Columbus has had forever was the downtown area as we all know. Finally it is improving at a faster clip. Indianapolis has the downtown, but Columbus has better neighborhoods, better architecture, more density and character. All it needs to do is increase the vibrancy downtown, build on all of those parking lots, add lots of residents, keep improving the parks and waterfront, get light rail or streetcars etc. You know what I mean. See you later City Center. It would be so much more complete with that in order. It still wouldn't be perfect, but what city is. Mayor Coleman has done a really good job. He is all about urban issues.

[Columbusite]

Gotcha, I appreciate the response. For me, it's more to better know the city and overcome my fears of these places which are unknown mostly because I bike and they're out of the way/not a part of my daily experience. Unfamiliar hostile roads are my biggest mental obstacles (and why Linden still isn't up). I'm just not a fan of traversing highway interchanges by bike. In fact, I have never used Main from Downtown to get to OTE ever, again because there's a big tangle of highways.

If you think about it, despite the lackluster condition it wouldn't take all that much to revitalize this strip considering how long it is. So much of it is long gone (and keeps being demolished since no one notices/cares what happens in lower-income neighborhoods) that there is little left that would need to be revitalized.

E. Main De-Urbanization Map

I don't remember seeing this building with the sign "Coming Soon Rehabilitated Commercial Space" as shown on streetview and like a few buildings on Long St in King-Lincoln they just get torn down and the city government remains totally silent. Anyway, with our much larger present-day population we'd have no problem supporting a street like this and making it somewhat vibrant again, it's just a question of whether we want to and if we can overcome our exaggerated fear which marks areas like these as places to avoid at all costs. I did want to check out Gloria's Soul Food while I was there (I like to put my money where my mouth is, especially if it's food-related), but they were closed. Sure, visiting vs. living here is a huge difference, but I've been walking and biking down streets like this all over the city with little incident. Livingston Park/Southern Orchards was the only area where someone was cranky about my photography and me riding my bike on the road. It was like I was back on East Campus or Clintonville.

[kingfish out of water]

Linden isn't so bad; I commuted up Cleveland Ave. from IV to the Westerville Rd. split countless times. Hudson Ave between Cleveland and Summit, however...

[David]

I worked for a temp agency one time that sent me and a few guys to that part of Hudson. I was like "D@mn this is hood!" and the guys I was with looked at each other and one guy was like "it isn't THAT bad". Whaaat? I saw SWAT raids, prostitutes and bottles of MD busted all over an elementary school parking lot. If that area isn't bad, I don't know what the hell is.

[kingfish out of water]

It is a bit down.

[C-Dawg Njaim]

Wow, I didn't know Columbus still had grit and abandonment like this. This is a lot like Detroit Avenue in Toledo- similar buildings, similar decay, similar potential. I think there's a tendency to sugarcoat things in Columbus (I'm guilty of this myself), and this proves that Columbus does have some of the same problems found in Cleveland, Toledo, and Cincinnati.

[dmerkow]

We take Westerville Ave to Cleveland Ave to 17th for all the Crew games. It is as rough a couple neighborhoods as you will find in any major city in America. It has actually taken a dramatic turn downward in the last year and a half. The number of abandoned and boarded up homes in that area has sky-rocketed along the number of drifters and generally questionable fellows and fellowettes.

[kingfish out of water]

^What's odd about that stretch of Cleveland is that it looks much better from a bike than it does from a car.

[Columbusite]

KOOF, you're right, I should just take 2nd over to Cleveland and head north. Is it all uphill though?

As far as Hudson, it's not nearly as impressive as East Main (I might do it, but covering all of Cleveland alone will wear me out, I'm pretty sure) . My friend knew someone that lives just south of Hudson and it's not the best place with neighbors doing crack deals in the alley and  trying to bum smokes, etc off of her and there was that one time a group of men was following her around for over a half hour. But hey, housing is dirt cheap there.  It serves as a dividing line for South Linden and North Linden, with the southern half having a worse reputation, though many will say Linden in general is a bad neighborhood.

There's also the East Main Street Camera Program where locals, businesses I think, have a handful of cameras streaming video of the street. They caught some crimes in the act and are on Youtube. Other streets like Hudson could probably use something similar.