Showing posts with label Gentrification Blows. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gentrification Blows. Show all posts

1/31/10

The Gateway: In With The New, Out With The New.

Aarthi and I were once going to make a zine about the South Campus Gateway which, at the time, had just opened. This is a version of that text, unedited for non-clarity and replete with a sort of half-baked political rumormongering. But our naysaying has been thoroughly vindicated through the years. Today, the Gateway is a mess that is currently relying on "The Arts" to bail it out and keep it populated. The movie theater has changed hands annually, people have been killed their annually, and businesses seemingly close monthly. Their current roster of business can be summed up as tanning salons and bars for the people who love them. Some of the storefronts - smartly - never even opened. And, yes, the houses directly across from it on 9th still lay vacant. Without further ado:


IN WITH THE NEW, OUT WITH THE NEW:

THE FIVE THEMES OF
THE SOUTH CAMPUS GATEWAY:

James y Lux


Introduction:
In 1995, The Ohio State University and the city of Columbus created Campus Partners for Community Urban Redevelopment to “revitalize” the southern section of High Street in the University District between 9th Avenue and Chittenden.  (///) The South Campus Gateway was set into motion—a supposed safe-haven for the college market directly adjacent to the area. The existing bars that lined High Street were to be replaced by “student-friendly” drinking spots, along with other various businesses that would draw a more acceptable clientele. The bar district and residents that once inhabited the unattractive Southside of Columbus’ University District were made to disperse, their premises vacated and gutted, and construction began in 2004. The South Campus Gateway was opened for business in the fall of 2005, and immediately became an all-inclusive entity: where one could eat, live, and play—and never have to leave.