Although it is my second year at The Ohio State University, I feel like I have only absent-mindedly walked around campus. When you are talking with friends, or are late to lecture, the configuration of sidewalks and street width aren’t really topics on my mind. I enjoyed this assignment because it helped contextualize the things we have been discussing the past weeks in class, and through it, I feel like I have a better understanding of the campus area.
Woodruff Avenue
For the most part, I would say Ohio State’s campus and the areas surrounding it have a sufficient amount of green space, and are walkable. The first area I observed was around the dorm building I lived in last year, Blackburn House. In front of Blackburn house, there was a rectangular grassy area, bordered by Scott House and North Recreation Center. Due to COVID, there is currently a tent in this area, to provide outdoor seating for the nearby dining hall. Closer to North Rec, there are picnic tables and benches that are there for year round for use by students. Having these green spaces around campus is important, particularly amidst this pandemic, because they give students an area to congregate. When I lived on campus, I would make an effort to spend time outside, whether it was doing homework at a picnic table or eating with friends on a picnic blanket in the grass. Now I live off-campus on 8th Avenue, but I imagine that If I still was on campus, the green spaces would have provided an area to congregate with friends all while respecting social distancing guidelines. Green spaces, as we’ve discussed in class, offer many social and environmental benefits to the residents that surround them. For one, they reduce noise and air pollution. Noise pollution would be especially important to counteract around campus, as streets like High Street are consistently busy, regardless of the time of day. Secondly, studies have shown that green spaces improve mental and physical health, and in a setting where students are struggling to balance their studies alongside their jobs and social life, mental health is a priority. Outside all of the buildings, there are automatic door openers printed with the handicap symbol, making dormitories and campus dining locations accessible to persons with disabilities. As I walked down Woodruff Avenue, in the direction of Knowlton hall, I continued to notice ways that OSU made buildings accessible. For example, Hitchcock Hall has a ramp and side entrance, so people who cannot use the stairs at the main entrance can enter and exit with ease. Woodruff Avenue is two lanes, traveling in opposite directions. For the most part, it seemed sufficient, especially since with COVID, traffic around campus has decreased. From memory though, I do remember that it would often get crowded around 5 PM, around when commuter students and faculty would be traveling home. The speed limit was 25 mph, making it safe for students crossing the streets, as walk signs and traffic lights were placed in close proximity to one another.
Next, I walked past 18th Avenue Library and turned right onto N High Street. Now that I live on 8th Avenue, I walk on High Street a lot more than I did last year. The campus side of N High Street is lined with campus buildings, like Ramseyer Hall, Sullivant Hall, and the Union. The other side of High Street is mostly lined by food, retail locations, and bars, which makes sense in a college setting. Food establishments offer mostly fast food, with places like Bibibop, Chipotle, and Cane’s. For college students with tight budgets, these places allow access to quick meals. Cafes like Starbucks and Cielo’s offer a place to study. Other establishments include banks; companies like Chase, Bank of America and Huntington Bank. Less frequented are the retail locations, which include Urban Outfitters, City Gear, and Pitaya. The building use on High Street, for the most part, is logical, and provides students without cars easy access to food, banking, simple groceries, and shopping. Catering to the campus population is important to High Street retailers, as it allows them a steady business flow. The buildings are all setback evenly, and the sidewalks are even, making them easy to navigate by foot. Crossing High Street is also fairly safe, as there are many crosswalks. One issue, however, is that sometimes crosswalk buttons do not respond when pushed, and leave students waiting unnecessarily long sometimes just to cross to the other side. In terms of parking, High Street is lined with street parking and parking meters, which generates revenue for the city of Columbus. Past Gateway, there is the South Campus Gateway Garage, which offers visitor and permit paid parking. One downfall of parking across campus, in my opinion, is accessibility. Sometimes it is hard to find parking on High Street, especially during high traffic hours. Furthermore, free parking is almost impossible to find, which can be a barrier to low-income students, who cannot afford the ostentatious prices CampusParc charges for their garages and parking lots.
The Oval
My favorite area on campus is surrounding Mirror Lake, which I passed through after walking through the Oval. The Oval and Mirror Lake both provide green spaces for students, and make campus a more enjoyable place. Right now, to comply with social distancing guidelines, the Oval is covered in white circles, which mark areas that people are encouraged to sit. The trees offer shade, and makes the Oval a popular place to congregate and have events. The pathways connect some of the most notable campus buildings, like Thompson Library, Hagerty Hall, The John Glenn College of Public Affair, and the Wexner Center for the Arts. Unfortunately, due to COVID, the Oval was quite barren, and as the weather is getting colder, less and less students are able to enjoy the outside. Pedestrian traffic flow is important to campus planners, and they made sure the Oval connected buildings without being nuanced by cars. Skateboards and scooters are also prohibited in the Oval’s pathways, which ensures the safety of students walking to and from class. Last year, the Oval was really crowded at times, especially when campus tours were walking though, but it gave campus a livelihood it doesn’t have right now. The sidewalks are even, making them accessible to individuals who use wheelchairs. Mirror Lake on the other hand, is a little less accessible. Students with disabilities are limited to one access point, with a steep ramp that leads to the lake a little past Thompson library. The other entrances require students to take stairs. This, in part, alienates students with disabilities as it forces them to take a longer trip around campus, to reach the same location.
Mirror Lake
As I mentioned earlier, this assignment really helped bring things into perspective, because it allowed me to apply concepts we’ve discussed in class to the real world, in areas I walk around every day. It also forced me to think about accessibility. As someone who does not have an accessibility, I am privileged because planners automatically cater to me and my needs. Students with disabilities are not always afforded this right, which complicates the way in which they can travel to classes, to their dorms, and to dining locations. It would be interesting to walk through campus and around Columbus again when COVID has subdued—I wonder how different the route I walked would be when campus is near full capacity. Right now, because of online classes, things like traffic flow and parking are different in comparison to how they usually might be.
