Acrylic Fridge Magnet: United States. Ohio. Columbus Sunset

The author of the photo: Stephen Wolfe. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0).

Columbus Sunset in Ohio

This is an acrylic fridge magnet souvenir of the Columbus Sunset in Ohio, United States. Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Named for explorer Christopher Columbus, the city was founded in 1812 at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, and assumed the functions of state capital in 1816. The population of the city was 787,033 and the Columbus Combined Statistical Area (which also includes Marion and Chillicothe) has a population of 2,031,229. The city has a diverse economy based on education, government, insurance, banking, fashion, defense, aviation, food, clothes, logistics, steel, energy, medical research, health care, hospitality, retail, and technology. In 2011, the city had five corporations in the U.S. Fortune 500, including Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, American Electric Power, Limited Brands, Momentive Specialty Chemicals, and Big Lots. In 2012, Columbus was ranked in BusinessWeek's 50 best cities in America. Forbes Magazine in 2008 ranked the city as the no. 1 up-and-coming tech city in the nation, and the city was ranked a top ten city by Relocate America in 2010.

Depressions and Recessions

The effects of the Great Depression were somewhat less severe in Columbus, as the city's diversified economy helped it fare marginally better than its Rust Belt neighbors. World War II brought a tremendous number of new jobs to the city, and with it another population surge. This time, the majority of new arrivals were migrants from the "extraordinarily depressed rural areas" of Appalachia, who would soon account for more than a third of Columbus' rising population. In 1948, the Town and Country Shopping Center opened in suburban Whitehall, and it is now regarded as one of the first modern shopping centers in the United States. The 2010 United States foreclosure crisis has forced the city to purchase numerous foreclosed, vacant properties - either to renovate them or to demolish them - at a cost of tens of millions of dollars. As of February 2011, there are an unprecedented 6,117 vacant properties in Columbus, according to city officials.