Columbus - You don't have to be in the market for a delicately carved, 200-year-old Chinese wedding bed, a selection of chic men's underwear or a restaurant that specializes in local and organic meals for under $10. But if you are a bit curious about these items - or creative ideas in general - the Short North area of Columbus has a storefront for you.

These days, walking neighborhoods almost seem a quaint idea, as if they existed only in old photo albums with sepia images of relatives hanging off the backs of trolleys, clutching their fedoras. We avoid walking from our tight- lidded cul-de-sac communities. We drive just to get from one end of the mall to the other. Or we take special trips to new Disneyesque malls ironically made to look like little old villages.

There also are banks, stores, a yoga center and new condominiums fashioned within restored properties from the late 1800s.