User:VidTheKid/Evidence of the Significance of Columbus
When people say Boston, everybody knows they are referring to Boston, Massachusetts, not Boston, England. When people say Paris, everybody knows they are referring to the one in France, not Texas, or any of the more than two dozen other towns by that name around the world. When people say Manchester, everybody knows they are referring to Manchester, England, and not the city in New Hampshire or any of the 3 dozen other towns by that name. Unless of course we are referring to a progressive rock band or a hotel heiress, or the mention is made in a context local to one of the lesser cities. This sub-article intends to present evidence to suggest that when someone says Columbus in a national or global context, people should know that they are referring either to the capital of Ohio, or the explorer credited for discovering America.
Numerical Comparison of American cities named Columbus[edit]
| State | Population | Area | Density | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Figure | Factor | Figure | Factor | Figure | Factor | |
| Ohio | 730,657 | 551 mi² | 1,327 /mi² | |||
| Alabama | (no available data) | |||||
| Georgia | 186,291 | 4 | 572 | similar | 325 | 4 |
| Illinois | 112 | 6,524 | 0 | 2,193 | 446 | 3 |
| Indiana | 39,059 | 19 | 26 | 21 | 1,480 | similar |
| Kansas | 3,396 | 215 | 2 | 229 | 1,415 | similar |
| Kentucky | 229 | 3,191 | 0 | 1,376 | 573 | 2 |
| Mississippi | 25,944 | 28 | 22 | 25 | 1,163 | similar |
| Montana | 1,748 | 418 | 1 | 459 | 1,457 | similar |
| Nebraska | 20,971 | 35 | 9 | 60 | 2,279 | similar |
| New Jersey | 5,735 | 127 | 22 | 25 | 262 | 5 |
| New Mexico | 1,765 | 414 | 3 | 197 | 630 | 2 |
| New York | 931 | 785 | 38 | 15 | 25 | 53 |
| North Carolina | 992 | 737 | 2 | 306 | 551 | 2 |
| North Dakota | 151 | 4,839 | 0 | 1,835 | 503 | 3 |
| Texas | 3,916 | 187 | 3 | 197 | 1,399 | similar |
| Wisconsin | 4,479 | 163 | 4 | 138 | 1,120 | similar |
Notes:
- "Factor" columns compare the raw numerical data to that of Columbus; for example, Columbus, Ohio is 28 times as populous as Columbus, Mississippi.
- All numbers rounded to the nearest integer; actual data used for calculation is more precise.
- Source: Wikipedia articles on each city.
Places where "Columbus" is sufficient[edit]
Here is a list of examples of Columbus being referenced without Ohio appended to its name, and/or to the exclusion of any other Columbus.
On Wikipedia[edit]
Examples are difficult to find, given the tendency to name the state after a city for all but the largest few American cities under encyclopedic content style.
- Beltway mentions Columbus under the section heading "Ohio," but no other Columbus is mentioned; this indicates Columbus's Outerbelt (I-270) as the only beltway around a city called Columbus in the world.
- City Beautiful movement#Influence in other cities
- Global city lists Columbus in the category of "minimal evidence" of becoming a Global City. No other Columbus even made the list, and the only other Ohio city to make the list was Cleveland, under "some evidence."
- Insomniac with Dave Attell
- London Borough of Bexley, kind of
- Megabus
- Midwestern United States
- Stonewall riots#Legacy refers to Columbus without also naming Ohio. Considering Columbus could be considered a regional hub of gay culture, this should not be surprising.
- United Dairy Farmers
- Template:USLargestCities
- Columbus itself is a disambiguation page. While this may seem to be evidence against the point of this article, it is noteworthy that (after people named Columbus) the first listings are Columbus, Ohio and the Columbus Metropolitan Area, followed by other places named Columbus in alphabetical order. If it weren't for the notable people named Columbus, Columbus might redirect to Columbus, Ohio.