Opinion: Columbus isn't La-La Land, Beantown or the Big D. What it is anguished, but why?

Kevin Cox is emeritus distinguished professor of geography at Ohio State University and author of "Boomtown Columbus (OSU Press)."

A front page article in the April 23 edition of the Dispatch took up the question of the city’s identity.

As the article notes, this is something that has long been a source of anguish.

So what to do?

The idea of a purposeful search for an identity as suggested there, is a non-starter. It has to be organic; emerging from the bottom-up. Was it a committee of notables who came up with La-La Land, Beantown, or Big D?

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Almost certainly not.

Trying to impose something risks absurdity. Why replace Port Columbus International with John Glenn International, particularly as he wasn’t even born here? Utterly and transparently fake. If anything, it simply consigns the city to the realm of provinciality.

Sure, there is O’Hare and LaGuardia, but they have acquired organic status. Who remembers who they were? There is nothing wrong with Kansas City International or Denver International. And there was nothing wrong with Port Columbus International.

The desire for visibility in a country of cities jostling with one another for attention and inward investment is to be understood. But identity is a minor matter.

Denver doesn’t need ‘Mile High City’ to make it attractive to outside money. This is because it has material advantages, which is what investors look for. It has an airport with vastly more connections than Columbus: 215 versus 31 even while the population of its metro area is only barely forty percent greater.

Denver also has the major league sports that Columbus has always craved, only to be left with the consolation prizes of ice hockey and Major League Soccer. It is that sort of thing that corporations look at, not some silly hashtag.

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The problem is, Columbus was dealt a bad hand. It was a late comer surrounded by already burgeoning cities.

Just over thirty years ago, the Columbus metro area had barely half the population of Cleveland; now Columbus is bigger. Columbus is not quite level with Cincy, but it soon will be.

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Thirty years ago, it was just three-quarters the size.

This is crucial.

Cleveland and Cincinnati got the major league franchises because they had size and Columbus didn’t. Even though Columbus is now their equal, the franchise holders will oppose any group wanting to bring the NFL or MLB to Columbus. We’re their market! Likewise with the airlines. Cincinnati and Cleveland both had hubs because they had size. Putting one in Columbus, wedged between the two did not make commercial sense. Sure, those hubs have gone and the numbers of destinations they serve has plummeted, though still quite a few more than Columbus: 38 for Cleveland and Cincinnati has 51.

So what to do?

Cincinnati, barely bigger than Columbus, even has flights to London and Paris, which is a bit odd. So, what is the story there?

Should the Columbus Airport Authority be doing a bit more? But more generally, be patient. It is Ohio’s boomtown and continues to grow, and marked by some major coups, most recently the Intel investment.

Relax.

Don’t waste time on dreaming up some name that people will be embarrassed about. There is too much of that already, as when you say you’re from Columbus and you get a blank stare.

Kevin Cox is emeritus distinguished professor of geography at Ohio State University and author of "Boomtown Columbus (OSU Press)."

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus shouldn't waste time coming up with an embarrassing identity| Opinion