Changing Face of Olde Towne East

Mike strolls down Oak Street in the Olde Towne East neighborhood of Columbus, while reflecting on the changes and development throughout the neighborhood.

Good morning, this is Mike George coming at you live from Columbus, Ohio, on this beautiful Friday morning, 22 September 2023. I’ve been back "home" for a few weeks now, but I have to tell you—there are times when I’m walking through my old neighborhoods and I actually have to ask myself, "Am I even in Columbus?!"

I’m standing here on Oak Street, right in the heart of Old Town East. This was my old stomping grounds; I lived right near Oak and Parsons back in the mid-2010’s (2015-17). Now, six to eight years might not seem like a lifetime, but the speed of change in this city is just incredible. I’m from Steubenville, so I’m used to seeing things leave town, not arrive. But Columbus? This city is in a phase of breakneck growth.

It’s like playing a real-life game of SimCity. Just look at these modern townhouses popping up like mushrooms where there used to be empty lots or old single-family homes. I’m passing a massive new development right now near 17th or 18th Street, right caddy-corner to the Old Towne Tavern. The urbanist in me loves seeing the density and the city prospering instead of declining, but the cynic in me sees those $1,500-a-month studios and starts to get a little nervous. You have to wonder: who is this changing for, and who can actually afford it?

It’s a strange paradox. You’d think with all this new housing stock and density, the "supply and demand" would eventually lower the pressure on the market, but the rents just keep climbing. And it’s not just the big cities; even small towns I've visited recently, like Mansfield, Ohio, Natchez, Mississippi, and Alexandria, Louisiana, are seeing rents like $1,200 for a one-bedroom. It makes you wonder what happens to the people who can no longer afford to live in the places they call home.

Still, there’s no denying the beauty that’s still here. If you head down Bryden Road, which runs parallel to Oak, you’ll see some of the most stunning houses in the state — that’s where the "cream of the crop" lived before everyone fled for the suburbs in the 60’s. I love that people are coming back to the city.

I’m passing the famous Olde Towne East mural now, where the old Yellow Brick Pizza used to be before they moved over to Franklinton. That’s another neighborhood that has changed at a lightning pace, and I’ll probably head over there for a future video to show you the transformation.

But for now, I’m going to keep exploring my old neighborhood. Happy Friday, y'all. Take care of yourselves, and take care of somebody else.