At the north end of downtown is a new development/neighborhood, the Arena District. Centered around the Nationwide Arena, the district has many pubs, restaurants, and residential projects, most notably the new 20-story Condominiums at North Bank Park tower. The Lifestyle Communities Pavilion is also an anchor for the district and the recently-completed Huntington Ballpark has become the new home of the Columbus Clippers baseball team.

There are also the Heritage Districts, which include the Driving Park, Livingston Park and Old Oaks areas on the near east side of the city, home to a part of the city's large black population.
The University area is populated by a high concentration of students during the school year (approximately 60,000) and features many old homes which have been converted to apartments for student use. The stretch of High Street that runs through the campus area caters to the student body with its abundance of bars, sandwich shops, music stores, and bookstores. Located between OSU and Worthington is Clintonville, where a mix of middle class homes can be found alongside beautiful old stone and brick-faced houses nestled among rolling hills. Further west of downtown, San Margherita is a community formed by Italian immigrants who arrived at the turn of the 20th century.

Columbus has its own city park system, and there is a metropolitan area parks system as well. Reservoirs and parks on the major streams offer recreational opportunities. The Scioto and Olentangy river corridors are becoming connected as greenways with bike paths, and the Scioto Mile project is enhancing the riverfront in the heart of downtown. Columbus was ranked #27 for most walkable cities in the country in 2008, according to WalkScore.com.