People who are from a place can never truly appreciate it

Columbus, Ohio is way cooler than it gets credit for.

We recently observed “614 Day,” a local holiday and celebration of all things Columbus. It takes place every year on June 14, aka 6-14, aka 614, the Columbus area code. 614 Day even has its own Facebook page.

I love that we have a special day to celebrate our town because this place is truly awesome.

Having lived in NY (both on Long Island and in upstate NY, and worked in Manhattan) and in a few different suburbs of Dayton, Ohio, I had a pretty good sense of what it’s like to live and work in other places when I moved to Columbus. I was 35 when I arrived- and part of me never wants to leave.

Columbus has been my favorite place I have ever lived – and the best place I could ever imagine to start our family and raise our daughter.

But you wouldn’t believe how anti-Columbus people who are from here can get. They don’t realize that in other cities, jobs are less plentiful, the traffic is far worse, the cost of living is way higher and the people are far less friendly.

Columbus has it all except for mountains and oceans. However, this town makes a great hub from which to travel to mountains and oceans, so it all works out in the end.

Once long ago in a far-off lifetime, I worked with the team responsible for promoting tourism to Columbus. We did focus groups and research to determine what our city’s “brand” should be. What symbols, words, colors and visuals best represent the Columbus, Ohio experience?

It was a tough assignment. Columbus is awesome, but also hard to describe. It’s a college town and home of the legendary Ohio State Buckeyes. It’s a foodie haven and known as “America’s test market” because if a new restaurant or product does well here, it will likely do well in general.

Columbus is not quite part of the East coast, but it’s also not quite the Midwest. I like to call it the Mideast – we have qualities of both regions. We also have excellent proximity to 60 percent of the US. If you love road trips, Columbus is a perfect home base.

Here are some of my favorite past posts about this wonderful town we call home. Columbus rocks – and it’s time you knew!

What have I missed? If you have other favorite spots in and around central Ohio, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below or over on Facebook or Instagram!