Small Talk: Letters and Chatter about Columbus Monthly

Parking Predicament

Emily Thompson's story about the economics of parking Downtown-rising demand, slow-to-respond supply, rising costs-got readers talking. "We need better transit options in Columbus," reader Lisa Craig Morton wrote on ColumbusMonthly.com. "The Cbus circulator is a great start, but we need some type of rail transit connecting the suburbs and airport to Downtown. We also need some type of rail/streetcar connecting the inner-urban neighborhoods and the inner-tier suburbs like Grandview, Bexley, etc. And people need to get more comfortable walking and biking … I live in the Short North and try to walk or bike to everything so I don't have to deal with parking anymore." Reader Tim Chavez wrote: "Mayor Coleman wanted to make a light-rail system from the university to Downtown. I thought it was a bad idea due to the expense and if that money was spent to make the entire COTA bus system more efficient and more hours, it would serve the city better. The Cbus that runs from Third Avenue to German Village is great, and they should expand that to the university." Steve Szuter offered a suggestion: "Build a walkable Downtown with more investment in transit and this 'parking problem' will disappear."

The Ship of Gold

Our November cover story about the 25-year legacy of explorer Tommy Thompson's discovery of deep-sea treasure continues to capture imaginations. "Amazing story. Harve Thompson was a friend who loved adventure and invention," wrote reader Jeff Lang, referring to Tommy's hometown nickname, Harvey. "Such a great discovery but too bad it went so sour. Hope old Harve is still kickin' on a beach on Boracay or Phuket with gold in his pocket and a young girl on each side!"

And Michelle Sullivan, who wrote the story, got a letter from a reader identifying himself as an investor but who asked not to be named. "I think Tommy's behavior is consistent with a 'true' inventor," he wrote. "In my career I dealt with a wide range of engineers and technical people who develop ideas. They were often very concerned about others stealing their ideas and every once in a while a true inventor came along. The true inventor is super-secretive to an obsession and in their mind, any action that protects their 'secret' can be rationalized."

Poll Politics

Every month, we post a fresh poll to ColumbusMonthly.com riffing on a recent event, and we print the results in the magazine. Reader Jake Michael wrote to us on Facebook to offer some criticism of our most recent question: "What's the problem with Ohio Democrats?" The answer options: a) Party leadership needs to change. b) Better candidates should run. c) They need to raise more money. d) They're in Ohio.

"How about e) They've been gerrymandered out of the democracy by Republicans? And that snide last answer, "They're in Ohio," once again shows Columbus Monthly's slant (actually too mild a term here) under Dispatch ownership," Jake wrote. "How can there not be an 'other' for a question like this? You may claim you're just going for irreverence, but that claim is easy to see through after your recent love-fest writeup on Kasich ('Four More Years?', October 2014) … and a softball-lobbing, trivial farewell to Batchelder ('Mr. Speaker,' November 2014)."

We want to hear from you.

Send to: Editor, Columbus Monthly, 34 S. Third St., Columbus, Ohio 43215. Or email: letters@columbusmonthly.com. A letter must include the writer's name, address and daytime phone number. Letters will be edited for length and clarity. All letters sent to Columbus Monthly are considered for publication, either in print or online.