Why the Midwest is gonna boom again. (Columbus, Cleveland: condos, crime)

[nickolaseposter]

Cleveland. Indianapolis. Dayton. St. Louis. Cincinnati. Grand Rapids. Columbus. Pittsburgh. Toledo. Fort Wayne. Kansas City. Memphis. Chicago. Nashville. Louisville. Peoria. Des Moines. Minneapolis. Detroit. (I'm probably forgetting a few other ones.)
The midwest definitly has an interesting array of cities. But what is going to make it boom the most???

I don't think that we'll have to worry much about competition between the West Coast (California's population is, for the first time in eighty years, seeing a decline) or the East Coast (NY is not growing as much, and the only REAL cities that are growing is D.C.). The real competition will be between the midwest (north) and the southern states. Cities like Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, Dallas, Houston, Austin, New Orleans. Thats the competition. The midwest has gotta get smart and outwit the southern states. And the BEST way to do that. THE WAY WE'RE GONNA GROW, is by mere affordability. The recession isn't over yet, but when it ends, the markets will rise in a direction where people want to spend their money in a way that they can get more BANG for their BUCK. So what should the midwest do? Not lower their standards, but provide strong middle class housing that is diverse and offers plenty of ammentities. Wanna grow our downtowns? Offer middle class housing downtown or near it. Clean up old houses with character and clean up dirty neighborhoods. It's all about making things look nice, having at least okay schools, having a diverse economy, and having an affordable, realistic setting. That is whats gonna draw people to your city in the 2010 and even into the 2020's.

[ndrobles]

I agree that the midwest has some house with some character. I seriously think all those abandoned homes are a waste and shame. Its sad that many people have moved to the burbs or even worse invested in what I like to call "Ikea-like-houses".

I am hoping the Midwest booms again....I can only imagine what Cinicinnati will look like in 20 years, specially OTR, Northside, etc.

I am originally from the west coast....San Diego and Seattle

[austiNati]

You brought up a good point, but there are other issues as well. the Midwest really needs to do something about its aging population (specifically Ohio) Too many young people moving out and not enough moving in, simple because it's so boring and plain. Don't get me wrong, there is some cool stuff here, but nothing that will lure in a younger more professional demographic. It's time to start thinking outside of the box. Our cities should follow the example that other cities set to keep young people (i.e. Seattle, Atlanta, Vegas, Washington etc...)

[ndrobles]

aging population......good point! Cinci neighborhoods are really old and many of their residents. Another things too, racial tensions. I believe this are more evident in the older generations and less in the younger generation. I think we have to work harder in integration and most importantly look beyond physical features.....and the best way to begin "fixing the problem" is by working in our communities/neighborhoods.

What part of cinci do you live in?

[Cincy-Rise]

^ Fixing our public transportation system will fix a lot of this.

[The Don]

Originally Posted by Cincy-Rise

^ Fixing our public transportation system will fix a lot of this.

Public transportation is nothing more than another form of weath redistribution.

There are darn few public bus or train routes which are self sustaining. As such, by definition, their subsidization by the working class via taxation would discourage exactly the kind of citizens the midwest needs and likewise encourage more marginal people.

Population will follow jobs. Job creation, all other things being equal, is influenced by taxes and government regulation.

Of course, all things are not equal, the midwest does not have a very attractive climate, for example. All the more reason to keep taxes and government interference to a minimum.

I don't see public transportation being an asset in this circumstance.

[The Don]

Originally Posted by nickolaseposter

So what should the midwest do? ... Clean up old houses with character and clean up dirty neighborhoods.

Well count Cincinnati out then. The idiots on City Coucil, as a payoff to their constituents, want to make substantial cuts in the police force. Good luck in cleaning up the crime in dirty neighborhoods with a smaller police department.

[Cincy-Rise]

Originally Posted by The Don

Well count Cincinnati out then. The idiots on City Coucil, as a payoff to their constituents, want to make substantial cuts in the police force. Good luck in cleaning up the crime in dirty neighborhoods with a smaller police department.

How many cops do you put on a 1/2 mile radius in OTR? 2, 5, 6, 8? What do they do - ask all criminals to press a button before they commit the crime? Most criminals don't report crimes like this and we haven't reached the technological state that we see in the movie 'Minority Report'. You want to lower crime, put more eyes on the street. It works because history says so ... and what are we doing? Putting market-rate condos up and down Vine at blazing speeds and then common sense tells me they'll go out.


Where do you live Don?

Just a little FYI, the "idiot" council members have had Part 1 crime fall on their watches year over year ... or is this not what you're bitching about? [ mod cut ]

[Froman3]

Unfortunatley, the Midwest will never boom again.

[Cincy-Rise]

Originally Posted by The Don

Public transportation is nothing more than another form of weath redistribution.

There are darn few public bus or train routes which are self sustaining. As such, by definition, their subsidization by the working class via taxation would discourage exactly the kind of citizens the midwest needs and likewise encourage more marginal people.

Population will follow jobs. Job creation, all other things being equal, is influenced by taxes and government regulation.

Of course, all things are not equal, the midwest does not have a very attractive climate, for example. All the more reason to keep taxes and government interference to a minimum.

I don't see public transportation being an asset in this circumstance.

[ mod cut ] Do you realize that we are the largest metro in the US to not have rail transit? Do you realize there is some 30 something cities trying to implement a streetcar system as we speak, hell, smaller cities are even getting them. Did you know that Cincy had one of the most extensive streetcar systems in the US at one time and that time also happens to represent our population boom and our population free-fall also happens to occur when we sold the system to auto and tire makers. i.e. we shot ourselves in the foot.

Tell me something Don, if I spend $5, and make $20 because of that $5 that I spent is this not a "an asset in this circumstance?"


I would put my money on 3 things:

A. You're old.
B. You don't live in the city.
C. You've never been to Toronto, NYC, Oregon, Charlotte, D.C., or Boston and ridden their streetcars or lightrail have you?

People my age that are married and have kids want [ mod cut ] options. We don't want to spend the average annual $5,000 whatever it is to own a car. We'd rather spend that on restaurants, drinking, and entertainment. We want to walk. We don't want to have to drive 20+ mins just to shop for groceries or shopping. It's not economically viable to own an automobile. Buses face the same downfall that the car does ... If I'm on 75 and it just so happens to come to gridlock (which never happens, right?) does that bus not get caught in that same traffic? If my wife has to be at work and relies on the metro bus every morning, why is it that they can switch their stop and scheduled time at the drop of a time - who cares if she's pregnant and has to walk to work in -5º weather with her hair freezing, right?

Gee ... I can't see why developers gobble up property around fixed rail lines - can you???


Let's start using Google around here a little more folks, this isn't subjective information.