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informational pages.
[a world traveler, Ian James
feels at home in Woodland Park]
[name]
ian james
[age]
40
[profile]
married, white male
[urban neighborhood]
a dog, Waverly, who is soon to have a new playmate,
“Waverly was an abandoned puppy on our front porch”
[hobbies]
carpentry, renovations, “computer geek skills”
[favorite movie]
“My favorite movie is, by far,
Godfather II”
[favorite restaurant]
“Bag of Nails on Nelson and Broad”
[recent book]
Germs “It’s about biochemical warfare and what the
United States needs to do to stop it from affecting us.”
[recent vacation]
Costa Rica earlier this year
[a great thing about the neighborhood]
“It’s a well-established neighborhood, similar to
Victorian Village, but the lot sizes are bigger at
Woodland Park, it’s got a more diverse architectural look
and feel to it.”
Ian James talks about Ohio politics, Merv
Griffin’s Players Island and…riding on Columbus’ metro?
[on life beyond ohio]
When Ian talks about living in
other Ohio cities, in addition to his hometown of Athens, he
tries to slip German village in there. “I’ve lived outside of
German Village,” he says. His justification? “That’s below the
Mason Dixon line, I-70.”
Outside of Ohio he lived in
Knoxville, TN; Milwaukee, WI; and Lake Charles, LA. “I spent a
year and a half in Lake Charles working for Merv Griffin’s
casino enterprise, Players Island.”
Ian says family vacations have
taken him all over the world.
[on what currently consumes him]
Ian is part of the Ohio Learn and
Earn Committee that proposes placing slot machine parlors at
several Ohio racetracks. Money from the slots will go to college
scholarships for Ohio high school graduates. “Every second of my
day, for the most part, is learn and earn, learn and earn, learn
and earn,” he says.
Ian does strategic planning for Ohio campaigns
and elections. For the recent Learn and Earn campaign, he makes
sure the project stays on target and on budget, which is no
small task.
Although he has lived everywhere from Knoxville
to Milwaukee, Ian says he has been able to work on Ohio
elections from just about anywhere. “I can virtually work from
anywhere, as long as there are fossil fuels and the economy
doesn’t crash…or as long as George Bush and Bob Taft don’t screw
up the economy anymore.”
[on getting around]
Ian’s favorite mode of
transportation? “I would like to say the Columbus metro, but we
don’t have one, so it’s actually a range rover,” he says.
While he does have a specific
route that he jogs, Ian says Woodland Park is residential enough
that a car is necessary. “If you want to shop you have to drive
out of the area.”
If you love to get out and walk,
however, Ian says there are plenty of opportunities for that.
“Because it’s older and established there are great sidewalks
and just to our southern border is
Franklin Park.
There are parks and trails you can get to, and bike trails that
connect the metro parks together.
[why woodland park?]
“It’s an interesting area because
it’s got all the very large houses-the 5-7 hundred thousand
dollar range-then there are the smaller houses and everything in
between.”
Ian was drawn to his current
5000-square-foot home, built in 1917, because of his interest in
carpentry and renovation. “We saw it and said ‘This is it! It’s
definitely going to be something to work on and I like to do
renovation work.’ So I have my hands full and obviously didn’t
have a lot of sense,” he jokes.
Ian says Woodland Park has really
transformed over the last seven years. He compares it to the
Short
North-where he works-and the nearby
Victorian Village, both areas that have enjoyed a
renaissance. “The [Short North] used to be ‘Flytown.’ It had
every urban trapping imaginable from whores and pimps to gun
fights and knife fights,” he says.
He sees Woodland Park undergoing a
similar renaissance. “Woodland Park has gotten through the rough
periods. It’s really starting to evolve…its coming back into its
own again. It’s a really fascinating mixed community,
predominantly black; there are a lot of white, Hispanic and
Asian families moving in. It’s gay and straight, very mixed.”[on history and identity]
A member of the
Woodland Park
Neighborhood Association (WPNA),
Ian has a hand in implementing positive change and promoting the
community. “For neighbors that are older, we have a
Neighbor-to-Neighbor Program to help residents who can’t get out
and work in their yard.” Volunteer groups go out and help these
people.
Ian points out that Woodland
Park has great historic relevance to Columbus. “We had artists
like Emerson Burkhart here. Resident Hannah Dillard, who
recently passed away, was the city’s first Education Czar.
Stephanie Hightower, the former president of the school board,
lived here. Many teachers and artist settle here so it makes
sense to call it the arts and education district,” he says.
Ian says the neighborhood is
always finding new ways to come together and as a result he has
seen a rise in community pride and turnout at neighborhood
events. As Woodland Park grows and improves, new faces crop up
all the time to settle in the area.
