columbusbestblog.com

In the Columbus Dispatch series on Ohio’s big cities Bruce Katz of the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C. talked about what is referred to as the Ohio Brain Drain   in an audio comment.  

Katz  says young people are looking for “diverse, distinctive and dense” in a community. He says bright, educated Ohio young adults are attracted to Chicago, Madison and Minneapolis. 

This is the part where the real estate agent in me wants to do a quick plug for Columbus… but I will resist… but graduates from Ohio colleges would be closer to “Mom” for the holidays in Columbus than if they head off to Minneapolis, Madison or Chicago… back to your regularly scheduled blog… about big cities in Ohio.

Wednesday the  Columbus Dispatch series focused on Akron.  Definitely a more upbeat story than the one on Dayton Tuesday.   Since 1983 (why does the Columbus Dispatch use  1983?) Akron has not lost population should say jobs not population unlike the other big industrial cities of Ohio.  Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown.   

The Columbus Dispatch article written by Mark Niquette does say of Akrons population historically:

“Akron, which once boasted of being the world’s fastest-growing city with a boom in the rubber industry boosting the population from 69,067 in 1910 to more than 208,000 a decade later, has lost nearly 30 percent of its population since 1960.”

But remember… no population loss since 1983.  The reason I question the 1983 is ‘The Pretenders’ song “My city was gone” was a hit in 1983….  Chrissie Hynde the lead singer of The Pretenders wrote the song about the city she had grown up in, Akron Ohio…

“I went back to Ohio

But my city was gone

There was no train station

There was no downtown. …

A, O, way to go Ohio”

The lyrics above  as quoted in the Columbus Dispatch article.  I lived in Akron from late 1983 to 1986…  I worked downtown at O’Neill’s (the O’Neill’s buying office was in the downtown store.)  The Columbus Dispatch article has a slide show of old photos of downtown Akron…  ooooooold.  Long before Chrissie Hynde came back from London (the London in England NOT the London in Central Ohio) and downtown Akron was all parking lots… and I moved there.

Working with a young couple from Akron  recently I got blank stares when I said “O’Neill’s” to them.  To them the department stores in Akron was May Company….

This fall Chrissie Hynde opened a vegetarian restaurant (or vegan?) in Akron.  VegiTerranean  is Italian / Vegetarian?  The Northside Lofts where the Chrissie Hynde’s restaurant VegiTerranean is located look exciting. 

 on an Akron Beacon Journal forum it says:

“When Chrissie Hynde’s opening number is the O’Neil’s department store jingle, you know it was a special night for Akron.”

Gee I don’t remember O’Neill’s jingle…

Monday Blame “Sex in the City”

Tuesday’s installment in the Columbus Dispatch series about Ohio’s big cities is about Dayton, Ohio. On the brink: Dayton, City of invention seeks to dream up a future  I moved to Columbus from Dayton… long ago. Or I say I moved from Dayton but I never lived in the city of Dayton. I lived in West Carrollton, a suburb of Dayton…. We bought a house in West Carrollton in the late 80’s for under 60K.

When my husband was transfered to Columbus in 1990 we bought a ten year old house that was in the City of Columbus, in the Dublin school district. It seemed like there were more choice in housing in Columbus. Bigger city or just plain different?

The moving van driver who moved us from West Carrollton Ohio to Columbus, Ohio 43235 was concerned that our house was not inside 270…. he said inside 270 was bad… outside 270 was good. Our house was inside 270, off Snouffer Rd. between Sawmill and Smokey Row. The moving van driver was relieved we were only a little bit inside 270, the north outer-belt.

In an audio comment(mp3) Ohio Suburbs in the Columbus Dispatch series Bruce Katz of the Brooking Institute commented our Ohio suburbs today are still 1950’s suburbs… we are still building 1950’s suburbs in 2007, in Ohio… Give it a listen to the experts  solutions for Ohio’s big cities and their suburbs in this and the other audio comments online.

Teri Lussier a woman I know in the Dayton area wrote about the Columbus Dispatch series about big Ohio cities on Dayton OS Monday (and gave me a link… Thanks Teri!) “Solving Dayton’s problems: Whiners and wimps need not apply” Teri lives in Huber Heights Ohio, a suburb northeast of Dayton. Teri wrote a rant today, “It’s education, Stoopid” on Dayton OS Tuesday. I guess she’s disappointed the Columbus Dispatch didn’t publish the formula to make Dayton all better… Teri wrote:

“Gawd I hate these news stories that are not news. They talk to Nan Whaley and Rhine McLin and paint their doom and gloom picture and ohbloodyhell! Where’s the beef? Do they offer solutions? No. Oh wait, let me guess. That’s going to be in Sunday’s Edition.”

Psst Teri… The Columbus Dispatch is written for Columbus people… it may be old news to you but to us in Columbus it’s news… Yes we know about the Wright Brothers but a lot of the rest of the history, politics, economy of Dayton is new to most Columbusites.I’ve heard of Rhine McLin  but could not have told you she was the  Mayor of Dayton.  Nan Whaley (City Commissioner) is a new character to me. 

Maybe the Columbus Dispatch will wrap it up nicely in next Sunday’s issue and publish the solution for Dayton. Maybe some of the answers were in the two articles… last Sunday. Maybe the solution is on the Columbus Dispatch website in the audio comments in the Dispatch Special Report.  Is Katz talking Dayton Ohio? No, he’s talking Ohio’s big cities including Dayton… and the whole ball of wax, the Ohio big cities and their suburbs.

The Columbus Dispatch wrote about Cleveland yesterday too… I’ll have to check to see if the Columbus newspaper reporters solved Clevelands problems for them… Nope, the Columbus Dispatch just told the Columbus readers about Cleveland…

I particularly enjoyed the part of the article where Nan Whaley described the Dayton “spirit” after reading the rant.

“Whaley quickly learned that Daytonians are no-nonsense folks, a mixture of Appalachians and minorities, sprinkled with a salt-of-the-earth pioneering spirit.

“There’s no sugarcoating anything in Dayton,” she said. “In this town, it’s ‘What have you done for me lately?’”

Is the search for cool, dense, urban areas outside of Ohio leading to declining populations in Ohio cities?

Is not being able to get a cup of coffee at 11:00 at night part of the Ohio “brain drain” you hear about?

Pop Culture is responsible for young people wanting to move back to urban neighborhoods? “Seinfeld”, “Frasier” and “Sex in the City” and other television shows are among the pop influences that effect perception of cities according to Bruce Katz of the Brookings Institute. Listen to The Idea Virus - audio (mp3 on the Columbus Dispatch.)

Older Americans were brought up with movies like Blade Runner and other apocalyptic stories of city life… so we settled in suburban areas…. Who knew?

Dispatch Special Report On the Brink Can Ohio’s Cities be saved? Is written by By Mark Niquette, Alan Johnson and Joe Hallett of the Columbus Dispatch. The great graphics of changes in the 7 cities in population, housing values, jobs and geography… in “a snapshot of Ohio’s cities. ” is included online.

What are the seven big cities in Ohio?

In alphabetical order, Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown.

Of the other six largest Ohio cities Sunday’s Columbus Dispatch Article says:

• “Youngstown has adopted a “shrinking city” concept, tearing down vacant houses and buildings and replacing them with green space”

• “Akron is relying on polymers and foreign investment to help ease the blow from the decline of its rubber industry.

• “Dayton is counting on development of surrounding medical centers with names such as Phoenix and Renaissance,”

• “Cincinnati is trying to polish the tarnished image of a signature neighborhood, Over-the-Rhine, and negotiating for $1 billion in new riverfront development.”

• “Toledo is banking its future on past successes as a manufacturing and assembly powerhouse.”

• “Cleveland is luring residents back to inner-city neighborhoods with unique incentives, using Cleveland Clinic as the anchor to make the city an international biomedical research and treatment destination.”

Columbus? What about Columbus? The Dispatch article says “Ohio’s cities, as we have historically known them, are dead. Forget the past. Except for Columbus, Ohio’s big cities have endured vast population and job losses. “

Columbus was not industrial. Columbus has not had the job losses the other six Ohio cities have had. Columbus population has continued to grow… The city of Columbus boundaries have continued to grow.

I was surprised by some of the stats in the Columbus Dispatch, especially about Cleveland and Youngstown. I am familiar with the Ohio cities, except Youngstown and Toledo. Youngstown, I was there one weekend and Toledo I’ve only driven through. I lived in Akron and Dayton before moving to Columbus. Living in Akron and Dayton you get to explore Cleveland and Cincinnati.

Blaming the Ohio legislature - the Columbus Dispatch Article “Legislature has let cities down, mayor says” is also written by Niquette, Johnson and Hallett.

Monday’s installment of the Columbus Dispatch Article is about Cleveland.

On the brink: Cleveland - Pockets of rebirth amid ocean of poverty

“Friends” a television show that Katz of the Brookings Institute did not mention popped into my head after reading a comment in todays installment:

…from a 34 year old physician raised in the Cleveland suburbs now living in the City of Cleveland ” If and when kids come, Pujazon-Zazik said, “I would probably move to the suburbs even though I love this place.”

Didn’t the TV show “Friends” end with Monica and Chandler moving from New York City to the suburbs when they had a baby?

Sunday December 2, 2007 is Mingle with our Mutts at the Franklin County Dog Shelter. Their website says:

Please adopt your next pet from a shelter or rescue, not a pet store or a backyard breeder!

It’s not just about adopting mongrels (mutts) either… groups who sometimes attend Mingle …. No guarantee they will be there this week but Mingle With Our Mutts often includes:

Beagles R Us Rescue

Chihuahua Rescue

Columbus Cocker Rescue

Greater Ohio Boxer Rescue

Harlequin Haven Great Dane Rescue

North Coast Doberman Rescue

Ohio Basset Hound Rescue

Sheltie Rescue

Tri State CollieRescue

Other rescue groups / shelters involved in  Mingle with our Mutts  are available on the Franklin County Dog Shelters website.  It does not look like it is updated for December yet but it says Mingle With Our Mutts is aways the first and third Sundays of the month from 12:00 to 2:00 P.M.

Not sure what conventional wisdom today is about getting a new dog just before the holidays.. As a kid my family got a dog in December, we even named her Mistletoe, we called her Missy. She was a Christmas present… Missy was a Basset Hound puppy.The volunteers with the rescue groups and shelters can tell you if it is a good idea… based on your family and lifestyle I am sure… but if you do want a dog, adopt a puppy or an older dog from the shelter or a recsue group! In fact the Franklin County Dog Shelter has a color coded match up system based on the dogs age /temperiment / breed / needs and training…

My dog Buddy was and older puppy when I adopted him from the Capital Area Humane Society in early November one year… even so it was a rough first Christmas. He left the tree alone. I think the worst was taking the baby Jesus figure from the creche and chewing it up… He could have chosen the cow or the sheep or even a shepherd or angel… wooden nativity scenes still make me nervous.

The Franklin County Dog Shelter is at  1731 Alum Creek Drive, Columbus, OH 43207.

The 16th of December, the third Sunday of the month, will be the next Mingle with our Mutts and the last one before Christmas…

Santa Claus hung out in front of the Worthington Inn all afternoon Sunday, November 25, 2007 meeting kids. However when the Worthington Police delivered Santa to the Worthington Green for the Tree Lighting he seemed disoriented, saying something about being in Westerville…

Westerville, Worthington, I guess when you only visit a couple of times each year, you could get the two Central Ohio communities confused.  He’ll have his reindeer to help him out on December 24 when he comes back to deliver the goods.

It was raining pretty good by the time Santa got to the Worthington Green for the tree lighting at 5:30. A few Christmas carols were sung by candle light. There were lots of umbrellas as you can see of the photo of the tree on the south- east quadrant of the Worthington Green.

We got there late afternoon, walked up and down the street, took lots of photos that did not turn out, got coffee at the Mean Bean and listened to e Christmas carols in the rain.