Thursday, October 8, 2009

Marketing tools: Packaging the East Village as a processed, luxury lifestyle



And as we turn our attention today to Columbus, Ohio, let's take a look at a new luxury apartment complex going up near the Ohio State campus. And what might this oasis of student life and luxury be called...?

Welcome to The East Village. It’s not in Manhattan, but it is inspired by the city’s once dilapidated neighborhood transformed by the artists, poets, and writers of the 1960’s. Like the original East Village, our project invites the creatively inclined or aspiring into a modern, urban village in a revitalized neighborhood on OSU’s campus. The East Village is where urban means community, where local meets luxury, and where people define the experience.


What blather. Of course, in reality, the "artists, poets, and writers" are driven out because of escalating rents caused by new luxury housing such as this... (I think you can even draw some parallels to this project to Red Square.)

As The East Village Web site notes, "luxury amenities such as 42-inch flat screen televisions, complimentary cable and wi-fi, fully equipped kitchens, washers and dryers, security and off-street parking distinguish the East Village community from much of the campus living experience."

And, if you happen to be in Columbus on Saturday, you can swing by for the official "ground-breaking" that includes a tailgate party and screening of the Ohio State-Wisconsin football game.

UPDATE:
Thanks to Mike Spence at NYPress for picking up this item... and he has more to say on the topic. "A housing complex near Ohio State University is calling itself the East Village. By the time this blog is posted, NYU plans to own half of it."

15 comments:

Jeremiah Moss said...

this is incredible. it reads like parody.

they're not selling the bohemian lifestyle, nor are they selling the luxury lifestyle--they're selling the bohemian-destroyed-by-luxury lifestyle!

which, thanks to them for letting us know, IS a lifestyle desired by some!

EV Grieve said...

I just want to take a moment to thank the artists, poets and writers for inspiring me to live in a community with really modern washing machines.

Anonymous said...

Kind of reminds me of those kids singing praise songs to Obama.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone else find it ironic that the East Village is coming to the suburbs at the same time the suburbs are invading the East Village?

Ken from Ken's Kitchen said...

So real it's unreal!

Bowery Boogie said...

OSU blows.

Laura Goggin Photography said...

Wow, I don't have *any* of those amenities...what's the rent??

mason55 said...

Aha that's like 5 mins from where I grew up.

The neighborhood is more Alphabet City - esp Ave D - than it is EV.

EV Grieve said...

The monthly rent will vary from $550-$650 per bedroom....

esquared™ said...

Ok, that's it, I'm moving to Ohio. Absurd as this concept maybe, whatever they're packaging there would probably feel more of what East Village was than today's East Village.

Erich said...

42-inch flat screens are luxury items? Is it still 2004 in Ohio?

Laura Goggin Photography said...

If you're throwing out your old junky 42-incher, lemme know where I can pick it up.

Colonnade Row said...

At least the grand opening sounds like a fairly accurate current EV lifestyle what with the tailgating, football and probable kegger party.

Anonymous said...

Bet Bowery Boogie went to Michigan.

Anonymous said...

Bet Bowery Boogie moved here from LI 2 years ago.