Ohio: know the details (Cleveland, Akron: real estate, new house, YMCA)

[paintballer1708]

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“$1.2B power plant, 150 jobs coming to Meigs County.” Not quite. There are 10 states in the running for the new FutureGen power plant – Ohio is just one of the states.

“Gahanna: 80-acre Bedford landfill site to become office park, 4000 jobs.” Great news! See: epa.gov/brownfields/06arc/Gahanna.htm

“Quicken Loans expanding to Cleveland.” Again, this is Good news, BUT Discover Financial Services just fired 264 people in Hilliard (near Columbus.) this month -- jfs.ohio.gov/warn/current.stm

“Suburban Cleveland: Progressive to add 1000 new jobs.” You are right, this is GOOD news!

“Teleperformance USA bringing 400-600 jobs to downtown Akron.” Trouble is -- these are not high paying jobs; they start at $9.00/hour or $18,720/year. This may be good for someone without an education or who is unemployed, but it is dismal pay for anyone else.

Ok first off Ohio is getting that 1.2 billion dollar plant. Ohio was never in the running with 10 other states. See all these things go through a proposal then an approving stage. All this info was off an Urban Plannning site so it will be happening. Gahanna is getting that Office Park. Hilliard might have gotten 264 jobs lost. But that suburb is booming. And those progressive jobs were going to the Cleveland metro. Not the Columbus metro where Hilliard is located. And progressive is based in Columbus giving thousands of people jobs. Progressive is a fortune 500 company. And Columbus has 7 of those and that is one of the highest in the country. And those Teleperformance jobs may be low paying but if someone is unemployed and they are desperatly in need of a job they would take the job since it pays.

[paintballer1708]

Oh and about the office park. Hilliard is not far from Gahanna so im sure people from Hilliard might consider going to Gahanna for that office park with jobs. Any way both Gahanna and Hilliard are both booming. Not only with headquarters like Wendy's and Progressive right around the corner but their populations are growing rapidly and people all across the country let alone the world are moving to Columbus and their suburbs. I dont know about you but to most when a city and its metro are growing that means people are attracted to that area. Columbus is one of the fastest growing metros in the northern USA. Competing with Seattle and Portland. Cincinnati's metro grew by an excellent 8.9% one of the fastest growth rates in the Midwest. It just passed the 2.1 million mark. Cleveland's metro just passed the 2.3 million mark. With about an 86,000 growth rate every two years. No matter how you look at it Ohio might not have that industrial power that it might use to have back in the 60s. But states like Ohio and PA have diversivied their economies to more high tech and here in the Cleveland metro we have turned to Healthcare. Cleveland Clinic provides thousands opon thousands of jobs. And not only is construction around the Cleveland Clinic booming but all across Cleveland. And the Cleveland Clinic is one of if not the best hospitals around. See with development at the stages they are in Ohio cities that means growth in many areas. Jobs, Population, Developmental Growth, ect. City governments have so many plans right now. Clevelands lakefront from Edgewater State Park to Gordon State park will be changing with the "Connecting Cleveland Plan". This is including Cleveland's downtown lakefront. Soon after 10 years when this major project is finished Cleveland's lakefront will rival Chicago's. Cincinnati spends the most on its riverfront than any other city in the country. Soon the "Banks Project" will get underway. This project will be in between Paul Brown Stadium and Great American Ball Park. This will be adding Entertainment, Jobs, Housing, Restaurants and more. So when the football and baseball games are done people have even more entertainment after they are done.

[Ohioan]

More relevant information concerning Ohio -- this time on job growth.

Again, newcomers need to know this information – this is the only way one can make an intelligent, informed decision on moving to any state. If you plan on moving to Ohio, move to one of Columbus’s suburbs – this is really a bright spot in this state. But beware, air pollution (especially particulate matter – PM2.5 -- is really outrageous!)

One out of 10 Ohio adults - 575,000 workers - isn't fully employed, a percentage worse than 34 other states.

One in five jobs in Ohio - about 1 million - pay less than a poverty-level wage.

Wal-Mart is Ohio’s #1 employer with 42,800 employees and Kroger Co., a grocery store chain, is #2 with 32,700 employees. The average full-time Kroger worker makes $9.85 an hour ($20,488/year); part-timers make $6.15 an hour. (And it isn’t a secret how well Wal-Mart pays it employees!)

The impact on family income was dramatic, according to American Community Survey data released by the Census Bureau.. Median family income in Ohio, in just four years, plummeted 9 percent when adjusted for inflation.

In the last four years, one in five Ohio manufacturing jobs disappeared. Ohio still has a 156,000 net loss in employment since the start of the recession in 2000.

Ohio and Michigan stand out from most states in experiencing net job losses, both in manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors.

The state’s 2004 median hourly wage of $13.37 is lower than at any point since 1998.

Ohio and Michigan stand out from most states in experiencing net job losses, both in manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors.

Ohio is in the top four states with the worst job growth in the country.

The state’s 2004 median hourly wage of $13.37 is lower than at any point since 1998.

Ohio lost 4.2% of its jobs during the recession while the United States was losing less than 1% of its jobs (0.5%).

During the recession, incomes of average taxpayers fell in 26 of Ohio’s 30 most affluent communities.

Ohio employment numbers released on 1-20-06 shows that the state added only 10,600 jobs during 2005. The only states with worse job-creation performances during 2005 were Michigan and hurricane-battered Mississippi and Louisiana. The statistics "tell a very consistent and, unfortunately, very depressing story.”

Ohio ranked 47th in the nation with an anemic year-over-year job growth rate of 0.2 percent in third quarter 2005.

Ohio relies heavily on the struggling automotive industry and doesn’t have a vibrant, growing industry to offset it.

“Another telling number he revealed was that Ohio holds a record of 113 straight months with job growth below the national average - that's more than nine years. Last month's figures (Sept. 2005) showed national job growth at 1.8 percent while Ohio's job growth stood at 0.1 percent, meaning the rest of the country's growing 18 times faster than Ohio.”

4-3-06: America's Job Boomtowns: Florida's Hot, Midwest Not. Nine of the bottom 10 spots on the index (200 cities) were from the Midwest -- five from Michigan and four from Ohio -- reflecting the region's troubled manufacturing sector.

Delphi’s bankruptcy filing and General Motor’s (GM) and Ford’s recent announcement of plant closures likely will dampen future employment prospects. Many jobs will be at risk as GM, Delphi, and Ford are among the top 25 employers in the state of figures from the Bureau of Employment Statistics.

Ohio’s 88 county unemployment rate maps – compares Ohio’s counties to the U.S.: lmi.state.oh.us/laus/ColorRateMap.pdf

3/28/06: Among the state's 88 counties, the February 2006 unemployment rates ranged from a low of 3.8 percent in Delaware County to a high of 13.9 percent in Monroe County. Rates increased in more than half of the counties. The comparable rate for Ohio in February was 6.1 percent. Ohio's nonfarm wage and salary employment dropped 2,000 over the month, from 5,438,500 in January to 5,436,500 in February.

1-24-06: Ford and GM recently announced layoffs: “If you live in the Midwest, you’re going to feel it,” said Peter Morici, University of Maryland professor and economist. “People are going to earn less money, their homes are going to be worth less and the overall communities are going to be less prosperous.”

[Ohioan]

April 2006 unemployment rates in Ohio: lmi.state.oh.us/laus/ColorRateMap.pdf

The following link shows Ohio's 88 counties and their unemployment rates.

Notice that 77 of the 88 counties (87.5%) had HIGHER unemployment rates than the national average (5.4% for Ohio vs. 4.7% for the U.S. as a whole).

If I counted right:

29 of Ohio's 88 counties -- 33% -- had unemployment rates higher than 6.0%.

Of these 29 counties, eight (8) or 9% of all of Ohio's counties had unemployment rates of 7.0% or higher.

This information is critical when deciding where to live in this state.

[paintballer1708]

Yes job growth is a very important factor in moving to a state. LOL first thing i agree with you on. But like i said Ohio's major metros are growing at good rates. And when a metro is growing above 3.0% than that means that area is attractive to people from all across the nation and let alone the world. Ohio and PA realized back in the 70s when the industrial age came to an end that they had to diversify their economies. Which they did. Look at North East Ohio. Cleveland and Akron turned to HealthCare. Columbus turned to Insurance. And Cincinnati and Dayton turned to Aviation and High Tech. http://www.census.gov/popest/national/. Check out this website to see the growth rates in Ohio. The metros are growing pretty well. And Ohio is home to the 12th and 25th fastest growing counties out of the 100 fastest growing counties in the nation. Deleware and Warren counties. No matter what you say though is not changing what is going on in the state and the cities. Like i said as an Urban Planner i know the development of cities. Right now Cleveland,Columbus,Cincy,Dayton and Toledo have millions and billions of dollars in developments and plans underway for each city. Not only is the construction creating short term jobs but it is creating thousands of jobs for the workers. But also the new constuction of office buildings, hospitals, nightclubs, law firm offices, insurance companies,etc. Which Quicken Loans is building a new office in downtown Cleveland but possibly thinking on moving its home base here. No matter how you look at it Ohio and other states i dont know about Michigan yet, but most are on the rebound. Im not going to look at the negatives all the time. Because if you tend to be negative you make your whole life negative and nothing will seem to get better. I moved to Ohio and i love it here. And so do alot of the other people that have moved here from across the country that work at my Urban Planning Firm. You can sit there and post negatives all you want about Ohio but that doesnt change peoples' opionions on moving here. Yes it is important to tell them what is going on. But the negatives on here just dont seem to end. Like i said i have went to other states on the city-data some that are in worse shape than Ohio and i dont see one person listing negative facts about the state. They tell them a nice area to live in. Are the schools good, hows the shopping, hows the housing market, the entertainment, is the area safe in general, etc. PA, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin all four states are on the rebound, you might not see it but the population growths and the new development definatly speaks for itself. People find these places attractive.

Posted by: rrtechno
If you are down on everything, you will feel overwhelmed with negatives. If you go in with an open mind and look for the positives, you will find them. It depends on how you want to live your life.

This makes great sense. Take it into consideration please. Thank you.

[Ohioan]

I am sorry that a few people feel that my posts are negative on Ohio, but the information that is presented is factual. I realize that native Ohioans’ may not like to hear some of this stuff about their state and that most of it is probably new to them. This thread is mainly aimed at people that are considering moving to Ohio -- this is just some additional information so that they can make an informed decision on whether or not to make Ohio their new home. I am by nature not a negative person, and I do not go out of my way to find negative things to say about Ohio, but this information is absolutely everywhere. The trouble is -- most people do not know how to find it.

[snakecotc]

COLUMBUS — The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) has extended the Air Quality Alert for the central Ohio region through today.

Today is the fifth straight day of Air Quality Alerts for Licking County.

Air Quality Alerts are issued when heat and humidity combine with low winds to cause particle pollution formation. These conditions, along with high pollutant carryover, have caused AQI levels to be Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups.

Particles will remain high for the first part of today, as continued light winds limit pollutant dispersion. However, a cold front is expected this afternoon, with light rain showers and scattered thunderstorms, dispersing pollutants and lowering particle levels later today.

By Friday, AQI levels are expected to drop to low-end moderate. For more information, visit http://airquality.morpc.org or call 888-666-1009.

[paintballer1708]

I am sorry that a few people feel that my posts are negative on Ohio, but the information that is presented is factual. I realize that native Ohioans’ may not like to hear some of this stuff about their state and that most of it is probably new to them. This thread is mainly aimed at people that are considering moving to Ohio -- this is just some additional information so that they can make an informed decision on whether or not to make Ohio their new home. I am by nature not a negative person, and I do not go out of my way to find negative things to say about Ohio, but this information is absolutely everywhere. The trouble is -- most people do not know how to find it.

Its ok i im sorry for the way i acted too. I should have just dropped it at a certain point. But i didnt. You said that native Ohioans dont want to or dont see the problems in this state. I think they do. And it also seemed that you said that native Ohioans are the only ones who actually like it here. Well i know plenty of people who have moved to Ohio from all across the country and the world. Most of them like it here. Alot of people moving to the Cleveland Metro are from Michigan. They are moving to a better job market. And the population growth in Columbus shows alot of people coming from the south. Like WV, Kentucky, TN. Yes Ohio has faced its fair share of problems. But which state hasnt? And about the air quality. Yes Ohio has bad air but head down south and go to Florida and Georgia. Smog fills the air in Atlanta and Miami. I was driving down I-95 in Miami and there was a layer of grey across the horizon. Then i left Atlanta by plane and as we were taking off you could see the smog all across the city. Ohio has bad air in parts of the state but so does every state in this country. From NY to Oregon. I dont mind if you list some facts. But it would be nice to see some positive ones for a change. Thanks. And once again sorry.

[ban]

That pollution information is very good! However, I am looking at living in the northern part of the state, near the water, along Lake Erie, the area of Put-in-Bay, Marblehead, Port Clinton. Does this apply in that region?

[Ohioan]

paintballer1708:

I am going to stop posting on City-Data's forums starting after this last post -- I feel that many, many readers really do not want to hear what I found out about the state of Ohio. Of course there are good things about Ohio, but in my opinion, the negatives greatly outweigh the positives. I started collecting this "negative" information as a project due to all of the downbeat articles that were being written on the condition of Ohio. I was absolutely shocked to see so many of these types of articles being written in such a short period of time -- it was just amazing.

I have so much more to share, but maybe this is not the right place in which to do it. You are right; people on City-Data (including myself) want to hear good news on Ohio, not bad news. I can find bad news nearly everyday – I would like to hear something good for a change – something that can be verified by facts, not by someone’s opinion.

You clearly believe in Ohio – maybe you are a new breed of resident that can actually change this state for the better!

I am now asking the moderator of this forum to delete all of my posts in the next few days.

Ohioan