Columbus
Axios Columbus
Survey: Half of Ohioans almost never attend religious services
Data: Household Pulse Survey; Note:Β Adults who say they never attend a service or attend less than once a year; Map: Alice Feng/AxiosAround half of Ohio adults say they never or seldom attend church or religious services, per a new Axios analysis of Household Pulse Survey data.Why it matters: More than three-quarters of Americans say religion's role in public life is shrinking, per a recent Pew Research Center survey β the highest level since the group first started tracking such sentiment in 2001.By the numbers: 49% of Ohioans report attending services zero or one time per year.That matches the national average of 49% and is relatively in line with our neighboring states.13% of Ohioans attend 1-3 times per year, 5% attend 4-11 times per year and 20% attend 12 or more times.The big picture: Religious service attendance has been dropping for decades, per a separate Gallup survey published this week.This is driven largely by "the increase in the percentage of Americans with no religious affiliation β 9% in 2000-2003 versus 21% in 2021-2023."Sign up for Axios Columbus for free.
Columbus weekend events: Blue Jackets game, Fall Out Boy and a debut musical
πΈ Snap last-minute photos with the Easter Bunny at Polaris Fashion Place.11am-6:30pm today, 11:30am-6:45pm Saturday. $40-50, reservations and walk-ups allowed.π Enjoy outdoor family activities like mini golf and laser tag as KidsFest heads to Upper Arlington's Tremont Elementary School.6-8pm tonight, 2900 Tremont Road. Free registration, price varies for some activities.π΅ Rock out with Fall Out Boy and supporting acts Jimmy Eat World, Hot Mulligan and CARR.6:30pm tonight, Schottenstein Center. $65+.π Catch the debut of "Normies: A New American Musical" performed at MadLab.8pm tonight and Saturday, 227 N. 3rd St. $17-20.π Cheer on the Blue Jackets and retiring announcer Jeff Rimer in a game against rival Pittsburgh.7pm Saturday, Nationwide Arena. $32+.π¨ Stroll through the Columbus Museum of Art and take advantage of free Sunday admission.10am-5pm Sunday, 480 E. Broad St. Free!Sign up for Axios Columbus for free.
Columbus weekend events: Blue Jackets game, Fall Out Boy and a debut musical
πΈ Snap last-minute photos with the Easter Bunny at Polaris Fashion Place.11am-6:30pm today, 11:30am-6:45pm Saturday. $40-50, reservations and walk-ups allowed.π Enjoy outdoor family activities like mini golf and laser tag as KidsFest heads to Upper Arlington's Tremont Elementary School.6-8pm tonight, 2900 Tremont Road. Free registration, price varies for some activities.π΅ Rock out with Fall Out Boy and supporting acts Jimmy Eat World, Hot Mulligan and CARR.6:30pm tonight, Schottenstein Center. $65+.π Catch the debut of "Normies: A New American Musical" performed at MadLab.8pm tonight and Saturday, 227 N. 3rd St. $17-20.π Cheer on the Blue Jackets and retiring announcer Jeff Rimer in a game against rival Pittsburgh.7pm Saturday, Nationwide Arena. $32+.π¨ Stroll through the Columbus Museum of Art and take advantage of free Sunday admission.10am-5pm Sunday, 480 E. Broad St. Free!Sign up for Axios Columbus for free.
Imagining a season of "Love Is Blind: Columbus"
Have you been binge watching Netflix's "Love Is Blind"? Confession: So have we, and we think it's time for a season filmed in Columbus.Why it matters: A season here would be the talk of the town and fleetingly put Columbus on the pop cultural map.Catch up quick: The series involves a few-dozen singles who date in pods β they can hear but not see each other.Couples get engaged in the pods before meeting in real life and marrying just weeks later.The reality show's track record for marital success is predictably lackluster, and each season comes with a bevy of twists,...
Old NYT article gives snapshot of Columbus life in 1981
It's been 43 years since the life and culture of our capital city was prominently featured in a New York Times article titled, "What's Doing in Columbus, Ohio."Why it matters: The snapshot of Columbus during the early Reagan years helps showcase just how much has changed since the days of Colo the Gorilla and Lazarus department store.Let's compare Columbus from 1981 to today:β Travel: A round trip between New York and Columbus once ranged from $260-292, but we can find trips now for cheaper than $200. Take that, '80s!"A car is not a necessity but a great convenience for this...
Women's History Month: A lasting legacy of service
A local nursing group founded in 1898 to serve poor families and immigrants is still active as a major nonprofit more than 125 years later.Flashback: Catherine "Carrie" Nelson Black, whose husband Samuel was Columbus' mayor at the time, founded the Instructive District Nursing Association (IDNA) to "take care of the people who nobody else paid any attention to."Nurses went door-to-door helping residents in an era with poor sanitation and a lack of public health resources.Years later, IDNA superintendent Jane Tuttle led relief efforts after a 1913 flood devastated the area of Franklinton.She also oversaw the city's "Baby Camp," an early...
Three MLB teams Columbus fans can root for this season
Maybe you're a diehard fan, or maybe you just like the smell of fresh hot dogs and popcorn.Either way, opening day is a big deal.Why it matters: Today signals the joyous and long-awaited arrival of spring, a day when all MLB fan bases share a glimmer of hope that this is finally the year. (It usually isn't.)So, who to root for? If your loyalty isn't already locked up, some options:π₯ Cincinnati RedsTravel time to stadium from downtown Columbus: 1 hour, 36 minutesUnique hot dog: The "Big Red Dog" wrapped in bacon, topped with pimento cheese and "signature sauce" and served...
Charted: Ohioans' favorite Easter candy
Reproduced fromΒ Instacart; Note: "Top-selling" candies were ranked by total number of items sold in each state during the week ending Easter Sunday; Map: Axios VisualsOhioans and most other states prefer Reese's chocolate for their Easter candy, per Instacart and DoorDash sales data shared with Axios.The big picture: Even the Easter Bunny is feeling the pinch of inflation this year with skyrocketing cocoa prices.Cocoa is more expensive than copper with prices surpassing more than $9,000 a ton for the first time on Monday, Axios' Kelly Tyko writes.In all, consumers are expected to spend $3.1 billion on Easter candy this season.π§ Pro tip: Do your wallet a favor by waiting until next week, when stores mark down the Easter candy like crazy.Sign up for Axios Columbus for free.
Ohio school levies are falling flat on the ballot
It's getting harder to convince Ohio voters to pay for schools.The big picture: Voters rejected almost every new operating levy proposed on last week's ballots.And they're increasingly reluctant to renew operating levies β existing funding that has historically been an easier sell at the ballot box.Why it matters: Local districts say the denials will force them to take undesirable steps to balance their budgets, such as increasing class sizes.By the numbers: Only three of 16 new operating levies on the ballots across Ohio this year passed, per statistics tracked by public policy researcher Howard Fleeter of Fleeter & Associates.That's a...
Help pick a news reporter's next license plate
Primary election season is over, but there's another important vote to cast: Deciding my next custom license plate.State of play: Since 2021, I've held an annual social media poll to determine the year's plates.Previous winners include "Cat Friendly," "Ohio Beef" and the reigning champion seen above, "Ohio Wetlands."Per state law, proceeds from each plate sale go toward their respective causes.How it works: You can vote on this X poll or email columbus@axios.com with your pick.This year's options include "Ohio State Parks," "Scenic Rivers," "Ohio 4-H" and the "Circleville Pumpkin Show."π³ Vote wisely!Sign up for Axios Columbus for free.
First-time buyers dominate Ohio housing market
Data: LendingTree; Note: Mortgage offer refers to any type of mortgage offered to a LendingTree marketplace user by a LendingTree lender; Map: Axios VisualsFirst-time homebuyers received 63% of mortgage offers in Ohio in 2023, per a recent LendingTree report.Why it matters: It's one more sign current homeowners are still feeling the golden-handcuffs effect of not wanting to give up existing low-rate mortgages, Axios' Brianna Crane and Simran Parwani write.The big picture: Nationwide, around two-thirds of mortgage offers in 2023 went to first-time homebuyers, per the report.The share of first-time buyers has increased over the past five years.Reality check: Fewer people overall took out mortgages in 2023."First-time buyers simply appear to make up a larger portion of a relatively small pool of buyers," LendingTree senior economist Jacob Channel says.Zoom out: President Biden proposes to loosen up the market via a $10,000 tax credit to home sellers.The credit is aimed at middle-class families angling to move up the "housing ladder" and to empty nesters looking to "right size," the administration says.Go deeper: Inside Biden's plan to unlock the housing market's golden handcuffsSign up for Axios Columbus for free.
Suburban counties growing in Central Ohio
Explore the interactive map. Data: U.S. Census Bureau; Chart: Axios VisualsNearly all of the recent Central Ohio population growth is taking place in suburban counties, per Census Bureau data.Zoom in: All the surrounding counties grew by at least 1.7% between 2020 and 2023, while Franklin County recorded a modest 0.1% gain.Tyler's new home of Licking County has grown by around 5,000 residents in that timespan, or 2.5%.Sign up for Axios Columbus for free.
A real estate reporter's story of buying his first home
After years living in dorms and apartments, I'm proud to have finally purchased my very first home.Why it matters: It's one thing to write about the local real estate scene and another to experience it firsthand.The big picture: I've moved 15 times in 15 years, thanks to college, job changes and greedy landlords.Between high student loan payments, ballooning real estate interest rates and low housing supply, homeownership long felt out of reach.Yes, but: Renting isn't sustainable, either.I ditched my first Columbus apartment after rent suddenly spiked by 55%.The next place tried to illegally raise the rent in the middle of...
The Central Ohio data center boom is straining our power grid
Columbus' data center boom may be running out of juice.Why it matters: Ample, affordable electricity is part of what made the area so attractive to data centers and tech manufacturers in the first place, helping land mega-projects from Intel, Amazon, Facebook and Google.But a 146% expansion of local data center inventory from 2012-2021 has gobbled up much of our excess grid capacity, per a new report by researchers at JLL, a commercial real estate firm that caters to the tech industry.Threat level: The company is warning data center developers that the area's grid capacity will be "constrained" over the next...
Best Day Ever: Donatos Pizza CEO Tom Krouse
Where does Donatos CEO Tom Krouse eat when he's not eating at, well, Donatos?For the latest installment of our Best Day Ever series β and a nod to our weekly Columbites food column β we checked in with the man behind the franchise that brought Columbus style pizza to the masses.πͺ Music to start your day: You cannot listen to bluegrass music and be unhappy. I particularly love Billy Strings and David Grier.WCBE 90.5 always plays great music in the mornings too!π³ Breakfast: Oat milk cappuccino at The Roosevelt Coffeehouse.If I'm going out for brunch, Northstar is the best! The...
Ohio's weirdest 2024 primary election results
Each election cycle, Axios Columbus scours the state's 88 counties to find the weirdest and most interesting unofficial results.Here's our 2024 primary election list:π Fun with names: Lawrence County Sheriff Jeffery Lawless ran unopposed for another term of tackling lawless behavior.In an O'Brien vs. O'Brien matchup, two days after St. Patrick's Day, Ken defeated John (as well as Don Rankey) in the race for Delaware County treasurer.Jack K. Daniels of New Franklin can celebrate (perhaps with some β¦ whiskey) after winning his primary for the Ohio House's 32nd District.π¬ Quite a day: Congressional candidate Derek Myers accidentally conceded his race...
Your guide to a great spring in Columbus
It's time again to say goodbye to those winter doldrums and bask in the joys of spring.Why it matters: It's a season of rebirth and renewal β for us as much as the natural world.There are plenty of spring activities to enjoy, but it can be good for our body and soul to simply get outside and wander.We asked readers for their best springtime suggestions and came up with our own. What you said:Nathan T.: This spring, I'm most looking forward to spending Sunday mornings watching F1 races at Land-Grant Brewing's Beer Garden. Nothing beats some sunshine, cool drinks and...
It wouldn't be that crazy to see an armadillo in Columbus. Here's why.
A recent Reddit post by a driver who swears she saw an armadillo waddling along a Columbus off-ramp got us wondering: Could this be real?Why it matters: We were delighted (and maybe a little alarmed) to learn it wouldn't be the first time one of the critters has turned up in Ohio.By the numbers: There have been two confirmed armadillo sightings in Ohio, per the Department of Natural Resources. Both were reported in 2021 and (rest their little souls) found deceased along interstate highway exit ramps.The intrigue: Armadillos are most closely associated with Texas, but they've been slowly expanding their...
Ohio's tax coffers get a huge sports betting payout
Data: U.S. Census Bureau; Cartogram: Jared Whalen/AxiosOhio received 0.38% of its tax revenue from sports betting in the third quarter of 2023.By the numbers: That places us eighth highest among 43 states with legal betting programs, which includes traditional sports books and pari-mutuel wagering on events like horse racing.Ohioans bet nearly $7.7 billion in the program's first year, or $878 for every resident above the legal betting age of 21.The state raked in $133 million in tax proceeds.What's next: U.S. bettors are expected to wager over $2.7 billion on the 2024 men's and women's March Madness tournaments, the American Gaming Association estimates.Sign up for Axios Columbus for free.
Columbus weekend events: Tim McGraw, a wine walk and a space lesson
π© Celebrate Women's History Month at the Ohio History Center through the stories of women who shaped our state's past.10am-5pm Friday-Sunday, 800 E. 17th Ave. $10-16, kids under 4 free!π Try a Friday Fish Fry at one of the many churches and organizations across Central Ohio in observance of Lent.Locations and cost vary.π· Take a sip and a stroll around the Short North during the Columbus Wine Walk.1-5pm Saturday. $20, tickets include a souvenir cup and wine samples.π· Enjoy the sounds of the Roaring Twenties as the Columbus Pride Jazz Band gives its inaugural performance.7pm Saturday, Lincoln Theatre. $17.π€ Join fellow country music fans for a Tim McGraw concert at Nationwide Arena.7pm Saturday. $40+.π Explore the solar system and snag a pair of eclipse glasses at the Westerville Public Library.4pm Saturday, 126 S. State St. Free!π» Hear the duo Black Violin blend "exquisite classical sounds and exhilarating hip-hop beats" at the Ohio Theatre.7pm Sunday, 39 E. State St. $26+.Sign up for Axios Columbus for free.
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Axios Columbus, anchored by Tyler Buchanan and Alissa Widman Neese, is here to help readers get smarter, faster on the most consequential news and developments unfolding in their own backyard.
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