Do you think Dayton and Columbus will starting growing towards each other via Springfield? (Cincinnati: foreclosure, crime rates)

[cbusflyer]

I know Cincinnati and Dayton are closer but do you think Columbus and Dayton would ever grow out towards each other?

[Ohio Hello]

I don't see it anytime soon. The growth in the Dayton region is happening south, toward Cincinnati. Austin Landing is a great example of that. Cincinnati is a bigger pull for a lot of people in this area -- it's a bit closer, there's King's Island, a water park, pro football, pro baseball, shopping up and down the 75 corridor, Jungle Jim's, Ikea, the riverfront, casinos (even before Ohio approved them, you could gamble on the water), etc. Lot's of Dayton's residents head south when they need a bigger city.

The drive between Springfield and Columbus is mostly farms and fields. Springfield isn't growing and pushing outward like Columbus, so it would be no help in closing the gap. Even then, what would draw people from Columbus to Springfield? I can't think of a thing. I think Springfield has a beautiful downtown, I really do, but it's a dying city. Many of the manufacturing jobs have gone away, it's rundown, and the mall's even dying. This, coupled with the fact that there are only a few small towns between them, there's no sense of connectedness like there is with Dayton and Cincinnati.

[bjimmy24]

There is still a ton of room for more people in Dayton and Columbus. Could probably fit double Cbus's current population within its massive borders. A Columbus that stretches to Dayton would be a sprawl nightmare.

[Ohio Hello]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

A Columbus that stretches to Dayton would be a sprawl nightmare.

Agreed.

[dxdtdemon]

There is also enough protection of parts of the Darby Creek Watershed that would keep things separate as well.

[chet_kinkaid]

look for continued development between columbus and springfield on 1 70,as columbus grows west,the western part of franklin county and eastern madison county are a great location close to downtown columbus with quick access and i know so many ppl i work with who drive from springfiled to columbus for work.

[TomJones123]

Originally Posted by chet_kinkaid

look for continued development between columbus and springfield on 1 70,as columbus grows west

I doubt it will happen any time soon in any meaningful way.

[SWOH]

Not in our lifetime.

A lot of the reason why is because wealth / desirable areas around Dayton, Springfield, and Columbus are centered away from this corridor. Part of the reason why development stagnated around the 1970's in western Clark Co. near New Carlisle and the 675/70 interchange is because Tecumseh Schools, among other districts, are not good. Despite the good location, the schools and historically poor characteristics of the area there stalls development.

The Springfield region neighbors this area to the east. But Springfield's most desirable areas are north, concentrated to the north and east of Bechtle Ave. The area along I-70 is a less than desirable neighborhood.

As for Columbus, its growth is also concentrated to the north. Hilliard is solid, but Dublin/Powell is where the growth is happening. A Columbus / Marysville merger is more likely.

[woxyroxme]

Originally Posted by cbusflyer

I know Cincinnati and Dayton are closer but do you think Columbus and Dayton would ever grow out towards each other?

In the name of all that is good and holy, I hope not. Delaware Co. is already a nightmare, as is Warren Co.

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

A Columbus that stretches to Dayton would be a sprawl nightmare.

Suburban sprawl sucks.

I miss my small farm town I lived in as a kid where I rode my bicycle anywhere I wanted, if I was to ride my bike to work today I would be killed by some jackwad in a hummer talking on his cell phone. I used to work on a farm baling hay, picking produce 14 hours a day for $1.50/hour in the 70s, things kids today are too spoiled to do so the mexicans do it. Cornfields morphing into subdivisions is NOT a good thing. The Lebanon I moved to in 1973 is not the same Lebanon I live in now, Traffic jams on I-71 causing EPA air quality violations, over crowded schools, higher crime rates, litter thrown in the streets, etc. Here's a thought, if you work in a downtown of a major city, live closer to where you work, we don't need you driving your SUV 30 miles each way to your McMansion in a "silk panties" development. That's insane! How many hours do you need to sit in traffic in an idling vehicle going nowhere to accept the fact that you are not "normal." Personaly I am glad we had the foreclosure crisis, the housing bubble bursting will be viewed as the salvation of small town America in the future, although too late.

I am retiring to an economicallly depressed run down town in Maine I lived in as a young kid where little has changed it is trapped in a time warp and to me it is a heaven on earth.

[natininja]

^ It's amazing how much effort has gone into the "housing recovery" -- which is just the phoenix of a broken model. Construction is the new manufacturing, but it's a Ponzi scheme, fueled by credit lines, subsidies, and tax-dodgers. It's a highly toxic combination of individualism and "statism". Proponents seem to think it's the free market at work, while they clamor for more subsidies and handouts.