One of the Fastest-Growing Big American Cities is Often Overlooked

I was raised in Ohio, and then I left to earn some degrees and become a professor—a short-lived career that I decided wasn’t for me. But before I exited that exciting life of grading and faculty meetings, it brought me back to Ohio and, so far, I’ve stayed.

Ohio is more than the controversial headlines it makes. It’s more than beautiful farmland. It is pinned on almost every corner by creative, vibrant cities, cool, small college towns and historic villages, with a flourishing outdoor world in-between. All of that magic of Ohio comes together in the state’s capital, Columbus. At the invitation of Experience Columbus, I road-tripped down from my place near Toledo, and spent a weekend exploring the city’s food scene and its newest greenspace—which includes a waterfall—and I was reminded why I’ve stayed in this state.

Situated along the Scioto River in central Ohio, Columbus is south of Toledo and Cleveland and northeast of Cincinnati and Dayton. It is also the 14th largest city in the U.S., with a population of 906,528, a greater metro area of 2 million, and is one of just 6 cities among the nation’s 15 largest to increase in size during the pandemic. My love for visiting Columbus is that despite being Ohio’s largest city, it is still small enough to navigate to its various neighborhoods, cultural centers, and food scenes.

My home for the weekend was the 149-room Hotel Leveque, a boutique hotel in the historic 47-story LeVeque Tower that was built in 1927. At the time, this Art Moderne wonder was the fifth-largest building in the world. It still stands out in Columbus’s skyline, especially when it lights up at night.

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