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One of the things I’ve always loved about Puerto Rico is the town squares. Natural gathering places, they are conducive to a people and a culture that place television viewing a distant second to the real deal of sitting on a bench and talking to one another.
America, we’re missing the boat.
Right about now, I’m supposed to trot out that old media cliché on our love affair with the car. True, but if you travel through enough small towns in rural Ohio, you’ll find loads of these squares. Not quite as cozy as Puerto Rico, but the idea is the same.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you—in lieu of a week in Old San Juan—our very own Grandview Avenue. It is the best 60 yards of street life in Greater Columbus. You can find it on the west side of the street between the two alley entrance ways (just south of Third Avenue). You’ve got Stauf’s coffee shop, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, the Grandview Cafe and Spagio and its winery, among other really cool stuff, including a barbershop and a dance studio bustling with kids and their parents.
Thanks to a deep and wide sidewalk and lined with eateries providing tables and seats, some of my best nights hanging out are right there. Unlike the almost-but-not-quite-the-same atmosphere of the Short North’s ever ongoing street carnival, there are virtually no sketchy characters. Heck no, this is Grandview USA, and it attracts families with cute little kids and cute little dogs plus a nightlife scene filled with cuties of another kind.
In the true heart of the city that is the heart of the state that is the heart of our country, The Grand Ave is one vital artery. It’s fun to walk past, drive by or make it a destination. I just don’t think I’ve ever parked my butt down there without seeing at least one and usually several acquaintances and friends, particularly my pal Phil, who has retired from the gas company and now practically owns a few feet of real estate in and outside of Stauf’s. (He’s a good ol’ boy, as good as they come. Looks like Levon Helm of The Band, definitely a nonthreatening type.)
And here’s the great thing: Everybody is talking, listening, enjoying each other. Right on, brother and sister city planners (and merchants who offer a social product service).
During the summer, the amount of nightlife there rivals what I’ve seen in Palermo, Sicily, where on a Saturday night nearly a decade ago my motorcycle companion and I marveled at how entire families came and stayed and were still there when we turned in around 1:30 am—clustered around small tables, snacking and sipping wine. It was great. Not a television in sight.
Life, life, life.
Grandview Avenue . . . not quite Puerto Rico, not quite Palermo, and it may only be a 60-yard stretch, but it’s our 60-yard stretch and the best 60 yards in town.
