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Today’s installment in the Columbus Dispatch series about Ohio’s seven big cities is about Cincinnati. 

I will admit, I love Cincinnati. 

I love the history, I love the architecture,  I love the riverfront. I love the hils….  I have never lived in Cincinnati.  When I lived in Dayton, Cincinnati was the place to go for fun and  I have only been to Cincinnati a couple of times in the past 17 years.

I remember the race riots in 2003 in the Over-the-Rhine neighorhood from the news coverage. I remember Marge Schott’s making the news for comments.  I remember the Maplethorpe exhibit being in the news.  I know of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center but have never been there… then again I have never been to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland either…

To me Cincinnati is exotic.  Neighborhoods built on hills… I envy Cincinnati’s hills.  When I lived in Dayton (long ago) I loved the Mt. Adams neighborhood  in Cincinnati.  I loved the restaurants on the river front… but I bet a lot of those restaurants were really in Covington Kentucky not in Cincinnati.

Up close to me anyway when I frequented Cincinnati it looked less like the “uptight, conservative, old-money town” that the Columbus Dispatch article refers to, than it does from a distance via the news.

The On the BRINK : Ohios big cities series

“The Dispatch takes a look at the issues, through the eyes of those living in those cities.”  I have heard of Rookwood Pottery but did not know it’s recent history until reading the Columbus Dipatch article.

Something I’ve been thinking about through the whole Columbus Dispatch series (or at least since the installment on Dayton… ) are who did the Columbus Dispatch talk to in the cities and what was their agenda.  Were the people interviewed by the Dispatch reporters honest about the community or were they cheerleaders for their city? Did the reporters talk to the mayors? There’s a video from the mayor of each city in the interactive online part of the Dispatch series… 

Still to go in the series…Youngstown and Columbus…. and I assume a recap of the seven big Ohio cities.  … if anyone is reading my attempt at a recap of the Columbus Dispatch series… I’ll bet tomorrow is Youngstown but don’t expect more than a link from me.  I spent a weekend at a retreat in Youngstown.. for all I know I was not even really in Youngstown.

Cleveland -  Blame “Sex in the City”

Dayton - Ohio Big Cities’ burbs…

Akron - “I went back to Ohio”

Toledo - Ohio Jobs, Jobs, Jobs….

Toledo… I drive by Toledo occasionally but that’s the extent of my exposure… My view of Toledo is from the highway… actually once in the 80’s I remember driving through the city.  Toledo was foggy that night.

The Columbus Dispatch article today in the series about the seven large Ohio cities is about Toledo,  On the brink: Toledo  Leaders say manufacturing remains the answer for city  

The  Dispatch article written by Joe Hallett says ProMedica Health Systems and Mercy Health Partners, combined are the largest employers now with a  combined 18,400 employees (approximate.)

Yet city and regional officials say manufacturing remains the answer for the city.  Manufacturing and technology… doing old things in new ways. 

Manufacturing in Toledo means Jeeps and Chryslers… to me anyway.  I can see that from the highway.  I am not sure I knew there is a GM transmission plant…  other manufacturing, the Dispatch article says:

“At its 1970s peak, when the population was 383,818, Toledo was home to five Fortune 500 giants, but now only Owens-Corning and financially ailing Dana Corp. remain in the city limits. A downsized Owens-Illinois moved to a suburban industrial park, fleeing the downtown glass skyscraper it built on the Maumee River that, with the now-defunct Portside Festival Marketplace, symbolized yet another rebirth for Toledo in the 1980s.”

Does that mean the Jeep Chrysler plants and the GM transmission manufacturing facility are not in the Toledo city limits?

The former chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, James Rivulo who now works as a lobbyist lives in Toledo.  Rivulo says the low cost of living and Toldeo amenities including the Mud Hens keep him in Toldedo.  Rivulo lobbies lawmkers in Columbus and Washington. 

Rivulo said in the article that  his three children will settle where they get the best jobs.

I had missed the news in late October that the Jeep / Chrysler Plant in Toledo had laid off the third shift because of lack of demand for the Chrysler Nitro.  In a discussion on ActiveRain another Columbus real estate blogger had commented “

“but didn’t Chrysler decide to stop building Jeeps up there? If so, that might explain why their focus is on assembly plants and why population declined if the workers went elsewhere.”

From the stats and graphs (also online in the Special Report in the Sunday December 2, 2007 Columbus Dispatch article: 

Toledo grew geographically from 1950 to 2000 from 38.3 square miles to 80.6 square miles.  Columbus is over 200 square miles as of 2006.

Toledo Population dropped from 303,616 to 298,448 from 1950 to 2006.  Columbus opoulation has grown to 733,203 as of 2006. 

Toledo Housing - median home value in 2000 dollars rose from 57,376 (in 2000 dollars) to 75,300 in 2000.  Columbus median home value in 2000 was 101,400.

Toledo Employment (average annual jobs ) went from 143,400 to 136,400, those figures are from 1983 to 2006…  Columbus had 392,300 averge annual jobs in 2006.

The Sunday December 2, 2007 Columbus Dispatch Special Report says:

“Except for Columbus, Ohio’s big cities have endured vast population and job losses, but now city leaderws realize the glory days aren’t coming back.”

“I went back to Ohio”

Columbus Big Cities’ Burbs

Blame it on “Sex and the City”

I woke up hearing it on the clock radio this morning.  Columbus is waaaaaay down on the list. 

From what I found looking at a bunch of different sources…. according to ”City Crime Rankings, 14th Edition”  from CQ Publishing:

Cleveland is 10th

Youngstown is 15th

Cincinnati is 16th

Dayton is 19th

I was in Detroit this weekend… Detroit is number one on the list.  I am not sure I was ever really in Detroit though I may have just been in the suburbs.  It is 300 + cities…  It is cities with population of 75,000 + .  That may be a stretch to compare / rank Detroit MI against  a city with a population of 75,000.   

I of course hopped out of bed to Google the news… and  see where Columbus was on this  list.  The  report by CQ Press  has riled up cities, mayors, police chiefs and the FBI.  The stats used to make the ranking come from FBI stats but may not be used correctly… according to much of the commentary about the report.

A Cinci political blog, The Bellweather Daily wrote ‘National Crime Rankings: Ohio Has 4 Of The ‘Most Dangerous’ Cities’  The blogger wrote:

Columbus comes in as the nation’s 47th most dangerous city, Toledo is 46th and Canton 42nd. Akron did not submit data.

He bought the report.  I am not going to… you can buy a pdf for 5 dollars, a paper back book for 49 dollars, a CD of the info for 99 dollars.

WOSU reports on the story - Columbus is number 48.    They say Toledo is 47th…

The Associated Press noted:

The study excluded Chicago, Minneapolis, and other Illinois and Minnesota cities because of incomplete data.

Number 47, or number 48… it doesn’t include Chicago, Minneapolis…or the rest of Illinois or Minnesota.. maybe it can’t be taken seriously. 

A bit of a drive from Columbus but Haunted Attractions  calls Mansfield “North Central Ohio.”  The north part of Central Ohio?  Or the central part of Northern Ohio. 

 The architecture of “the big house” is something to behold.  

If any place is haunted, of course the old penitentiary there has got to be haunted.

The Halloween Experience “The Night They Came Home” in MansfieldOhio  is 15 dollars per person.  

Dead Ohio - Mansfield Reformatory

Mansfield Reformatory Official Site

The Reformatory has Ghost Hunts and Ghost Tours throughout the year.   The Ghost Hunts and Ghost Tours  for 2007 are sold out but the 2008 schedule is up. 

More info Wikipedia about The Ohio State Reformatory - Including the prisons  starring role in films.

The photo is from Wikipedia  in the public domain (OK to use!)

I heard on the news that ODNR (Ohio Department of Natural Resources) is urging bow hunters (it must be deer season for bow hunting) to kill wild hogs in the state too.  Ohio has a problem with wild hogs? 

Hunters of all ages need a valid license in Ohio, I believe… and you need permission of the land owner to hunt, of course.

I thought wild hogs were in the deep south… the US south… like Arkansas?  Georgia? Not the midwest, Ohio

“Known in Ohio as “wild boars,” they also are also called free-ranging European wild boar, Russian wild boar, wild pigs, wild hogs, or razorbacks. These “eating machines” damage agricultural crops, degrade wildlife habitat and consume the eggs of ground-nesting birds, as well as, reptiles, amphibians or just about anything else they come across. They also carry diseases that can infect domestic livestock, wildlife and even people.  The rangy-looking non-native members of the domestic swine family are increasing their distribution in Ohio, according to state wildlife biologists. “

Watching the story on the local news I thought they were talking about Central Ohio… The story is from Columbus Ohio (the capital of Ohio) but the article says:

 ”The greatest numbers of hogs are generally reported from southern Ohio counties.”

I guess we still could have some wild hogs in the woods in Central Ohio…. but they are not prevalent here.   I am not going to list the counties because they are not the area I live in or work in and I have been getting emails from FSBO”s about properties all over the state of Ohio… yep that county is in there.  Where the heck is _____ County, Ohio?    To add to their troubles There are wild boars two and a half hours away…

Look at the ODNR story to see what counties have the most wild hogs.

The ODNR site does say they (wild hogs) make good eating as long as you cook them thoroughly.  Not sure if I could eat the meat after reading “They also carry diseases that can infect domestic livestock, wildlife and even people.”

This is the year of the pig in the Chinese calendar, year 4705.  The picture above was used earlier this year to say Happy New Year 4705 Columbus.  Comment spam seems to be attracted to that entry… spam has some hog parts in it I think.