West Columbus, sometimes referred to as ''westside'' or the ''West Side'', is a neighborhood in

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Unlike other Columbus neighborhoods, it is a broad geographical term used by locals rather than a subdivision or suburb. West Columbus is defined as the entire

southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

side of Columbus, bordered on the north by interstates 70 and

670 __NOTOC__ Year 670 ( DCLXX) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar, the 670th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 670th year of the 1st millennium, the 70th year of the 7th century, and ...

, within

Interstate 71 Interstate 71 (I-71) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the midwestern and Southeastern United States, southeastern regions of the United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 64, I-64 and Interstate 65, ...

on the east, and on the south and west by the city limits that reach several miles to the outside of the I-270 outerbelt. It covers the ZIP Codes 43223, 43204, 43228, and 43222.

Surrounding areas

There are several large, broad neighborhoods in Columbus: West Columbus, South Columbus, East Columbus, the Near East Side,

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

, North Columbus, the Northeast, the Southeast, and the Northwest. Out of all these areas, West Columbus may be the largest, being rivaled with East Columbus and the Northwest.

Attractions

Camp Chase Trail The Camp Chase Trail is a paved multi-use trail in Madison County, Ohio, Madison and Franklin County, Ohio, Franklin counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. It serves as the Southwest Columbus, Ohio, Columbus segment of the Ohio to Erie Trail. The e ...

Hollywood Casino Columbus Hollywood Casino Columbus is a casino located in Columbus, Ohio. It opened on October 8, 2012 and is owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties and operated by Penn Entertainment. History Ohio voters approved a state constitutional amendment in Nove ...

, owned and operated by Penn National Gaming * Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park *

Camp Chase Camp Chase was a military staging and training camp established in Columbus, Ohio, in May 1861 after the start of the American Civil War. It also included a large Union-operated prison camp for Confederate prisoners during the American Civil Wa ...

Confederate Cemetery * Historic

National Road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...

* Columbus Rec and Parks: Big Run Park and Athletic Complex, Westgate Park, WestmoorPark, Holton Park, Glenview Park * The Hilltop Y * The Hilltop Swim Club

Politics

West Columbus is usually a heated political area because it is and has been a suffering area. Politicians often elect to center certain speeches and topics in West Columbus, especially when the topics are about the economy, poverty, and crime. These problems were highlighted when the FX television series '' 30 Days'' chose to do an episode on poverty and living on the

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...

. They thought that this problem related to West Columbus and they taped the show in The Bottoms, or Franklinton, on the city's West Side.

Crime

The crime rate in West Columbus has been surging. Out of all the neighborhoods listed in the Surrounding Areas Comparison, West Columbus generally ranks in the top three in all crime categories. Franklinton, a neighborhood in West Columbus, consistently has the highest rate of crime in Columbus on a yearly basis. Homicides, drug trade, and gang violence are common issues encountered across the area. A common theory for the crime on the west side is the poverty that the residents there live in. It is policed by the

Columbus Division of Police The Columbus Division of Police (CPD) is the primary law enforcement agency for the city of Columbus, Ohio, in the United States. It is the largest police department in Ohio, and among the twenty-five largest in the United States.Based upon the ...

, Precincts 10, 19, and 8. It is also policed by the Franklin Township Police Department and the Franklin County Sheriff's Department.

Neighborhoods

The following are neighborhoods in West Columbus: * The Bottoms * Briggsdale * Cherry Creek * Franklinton * Georgian Heights * Hardesty Heights * Hilltop * Murray Hill * Riverbend * Westgate * Wilshire Heights * Moneyback * Lincoln Village *Hilliard

References

Sources

* J. Testa, The Franklin County Auditor * The Columbus Dispatch * The Westside Messenger * This Week on the West Side *
mages of America: West Columbus, Ohio

WBNS

NBC

NeighborhoodLink
{{Columbus, Ohio Neighborhoods in Columbus, Ohio