The Short North is the mile-long stretch of High Street between downtown and the Ohio State University campus, and it is by far the most pleasant area in Columbus for wandering. Named ironically after the neighbourhood's gritty past, the Short North has been thoroughly transformed since the 1980s by artists and small businesses who moved in when rents were cheap.
Today it runs gallery openings alongside craft cocktail bars, vintage clothing stores next to innovative restaurants, and tattoo parlours beside boutique hotels. On Gallery Hop nights (the first Saturday of each month), galleries open their doors and the street fills with pedestrians. It is also where to eat well in Columbus — most of the city's more interesting restaurants are concentrated here or nearby.