Why is Ohio so cheap to live in? (Cleveland: rentals, prices)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
OP, it sounds like you need to learn a bit more about doing some actual basic geographic research and not get your information from your kids tik toks.
Short answer as to why Ohio is cheaper than Colorado?
Housing supply and demand.
Colorado has outdoor recreational activities (skiing, hiking/backpacking, fly-fishing, etc. etc.) that few states have with the Rocky Mountains. Denver and Boulder have been attracting people for decades who want the career opportunities and amenities of a big city and a world-class college town while still having access to all that mountain wilderness. However, for the same reasons - there is a strong environmental ethic to protect these natural resources, which limits the level of housing expansion (that would ruin the very natural scenery people moved there for), and with more people who want to move to Colorado, and housing construction not keeping up, its gotten more expensive.
Conversely, Ohio has a more stagnant population growth. Ohio was the center of US industry and manufacturing which let to urban expansion and population growth in a bygone era well before most of us were alive. But in an era of automation and globalization, there has been a decline in manufacturing, overall there is comparatively more supply of housing than there is demand, because as manufacturing and industrial jobs have disappeared Ohio has struggled to keep their best and brightest. Now this varies - Ohio's college towns and three Cs, and maybe to a lesser extent the second tier cities are better equipped to transition to the 21st century economy.
It's that simple.
Now, here are a few facts for not only you, the OP - but for many of you on this forum that seem to have little to no knowledge of even very recent history. (I'm not being smug and arrogant - just telling it like it is).
In the most basic statistics - Ohio is technically WAY more "crowded" than Colorado. Colorado has a population density of 52 pp/sq mi, while Ohio has 282 pp/sq mi. Colorado is over 5 X the population density of Ohio. Ohio has THREE cities with a metro population over 2 million, whereas Colorado has just one. And that one, Denver, while an AWESOME city, is also the most isolated major city in the US. Whereas Ohio is within a days drive of NYC, Chicago, Toronto, Canada, etc.
Colorado is not some universal haven for "lefties" and potheads." Depends where you go. Colorado Springs is honestly, probably the most right wing/conservative city of over 300,000 in the country! Its all military and evangelicals there. That's a potent combination. Yes, its true that Colorado is firmly blue, but Colorado went for George W Bush in BOTH 2000 and 2004.
(I don't care what any Gen Z thinks, I'm 43 and to me anytime in the 21st century is "not that long ago" and I will continue to refer to as such. And the 80s and 90s will always be the reference point of pop culture to me. And if you're a parent and presumably deep down feel the same way, you should insist on referring to these years and decades in the same way. You've earned it!).
Meanwhile, Ohio voted for Obama TWICE. Columbus Ohio has the second largest LGBT population in the midwest after Chicago (and the third largest university in the country), and has some of the most liberal college towns in the Midwest. NE Ohio is still fairly blue, and even Cincinnati which is seen as conservative still is solidly blue in the city limits. Ohio is a diverse state in the cities.
Thank you! It's in an inner ring, East side suburb. The East side of Cleveland tends to be progressive to moderate. It's not MAGA country. Not by a long shot.
Ohio as a state was long known as a Bell Weather State, meaning what president Ohio favored, was also favored by the rest of the U.S. It was also known as a moderate state. People are very nice here, and most of them do not force their beliefs upon others. They aren't judgmental, preachy or insistent that you convert to their political point of view or "over invite" you to their church. I think I have been invited to a church twice in the decade that I have lived here. Once I said no thank you, I am a member of another church and she said "Oh that's great I know someone who goes their and loves it!" The other time I just said thank you but I wasn't interested. She let it go.
Politically, Ohio is Gerrymandered in Ohio on the part of the Republican party. This gives a distorted view that the state is wildly right wing.
Recently, after Roe v Wade was overturned there was a much publicized incident involving a 10 year old girl who was raped and wanted to terminate the resulting pregnancy.
Most Ohioans were outraged. The negative press generated by all of this justified outrage focused on Ohio. It may have seemed as though most Ohioan agreed with this. Actually, I do not know anyone Republican, Democrat or Independant was not horrified by this.
The Cleveland area, especially on the East Side leans liberal. The city of Cleveland tends to vote for Democrats in most elections. I think that Cleveland in the most progressive. Columbus is more moderate, and Cincinatti is more conservative.
Rural areas are conservative EVERYWHERE. My home state, New York, is very conservative in rural areas. Not only Upstate New York, bur rural and ex-urban, Eastern Suffolk County Long Island. Not the Hamptons, but rural small towns and fishing communities. They are conservative. Yet New York as a state has a "Liberal Reputation".
The same goes for California. The Inland Empire is notably conservative. There are a large population of Californians who are VERY CONSERVATIVE and yet all we hear about is how outrageously Far Left California is.
Many of these conservatives in California are dependents of migrants from the 1930s Oklahoma Dust Bowl. They brought with them their conservative values, their fundamentalist and Pentecostal religious beliefs.
California is the home of several newer, 20th century religious denominations. The Pentecostal Four Square Gospel Church, founded by Aimee Semple Mc Pherson, and in the 1960s, two very conservative denominations that are all over the US - The Calvary Chapel and The Vinyard Churches.
All from "Far Left, Godless, Left-Wing California".
My point is that states do have reputations. There is also the reality.
A Conservative can be happy in NYS or California. So can a moderate.
Anyone can be happy in Ohio. Don't believe reputations. There is probably a place for you in Ohio, and its beauty, vast variety of cultural, recreational, outdoor and indoor activities, and our good life at a bargain price.
It's a very warm and accepting state. Maybe that's because lower mortgages, and rents, coupled with decent wages, access to health care and people who are generally less stressed out makes for a happy place to call home.
Don't take mt word for it! Visit us this summer.
Excellent post! Couldn't agree more. My one disagreement would be that Columbus is politically moderate. Columbus might be one of the most liberal cities in the midwest. Cincinnati is liberal in its urban core, but yes . . . does get conservative really fast in the suburbs and exurbs. A lot of folks with traditional German-Catholic roots and/or Appalachian-evangelical roots.
Ohio can have up to 4 income taxes: state, school district (may be total income or just earned income), city of residence, and the city where you work. A lot of people get fixated on the income taxes to the exclusion of everything else. When they talk about states without income taxes, they ignore the other ways these states tax people. This includes higher sales taxes, including sales tax on groceries, higher property taxes, personal property taxes, estate & inheritance taxes, high insurance rates, etc. As someone who had a higher than average income, but not a high income, I found the income to cost of living ratio in Ohio to be quite favorable.
Facts. A lot of Tik Tok creators love to dis Ohio for some reason. To a lot of people, it's the trendy thing to do right now on social media ("If everybody else is doing it, I should do it too."). IMO, most people now base their views of cities and states based on memes, media and social media. A lot of them haven't been to half of the places they either hype up or put down; a lot of it's based on hearsay and/or biases. But, they're dogging Ohio but this is the same state who voted for a woman who was an escort to D.C. Newsflash: not everyone in Ohio is MAGA!
I am the OPPOSITE of MAGA. And I am a former New Yorker. NYC and NYC area. I love Ohio.
Are there places I would dislike? Sure. Probably most rural areas. And more conservatives or boring cities.
New York's Long Island's Eastern suburb Suffolk is pretty MAGA - with the exception of Huntington, Sayville, Stony Brook, Setauket, East Setauket, and Port Jefferson.
There are NYC burbs that are WORSE than anything I have seen in Ohio. I just won't go there. The people are MAGA and confrontational.
I will name names -
Holtsville
Shirley
Mastic
Mastic Beach
Centereach
Holbrook
Manorville
Farmingville
Selden - AND MORE.
Don't say anything about a place where you have never visited - extensively.
I am the OPPOSITE of MAGA. And I am a former New Yorker. NYC and NYC area. I love Ohio.
Are there places I would dislike? Sure. Probably most rural areas. And more conservatives or boring cities.
New York's Long Island's Eastern suburb Suffolk is pretty MAGA - with the exception of Huntington, Sayville, Stony Brook, Setauket, East Setauket, and Port Jefferson.
There are NYC burbs that are WORSE than anything I have seen in Ohio. I just won't go there. The people are MAGA and confrontational.
I will name names -
Holtsville
Shirley
Mastic
Mastic Beach
Centereach
Holbrook
Manorville
Farmingville
Selden - AND MORE.
Don't say anything about a place where you have never visited - extensively.
Exactly! A lot Tik Tok creators, folks on social media and a lot of people in other cities assume that everyone who lives in Ohio is MAGA. I had to check a lot of people online over that. Meanwhile, there are a lot of people that wouldn't even think that MAGA existed in places like the NYC, anywhere on the Coasts or other progressive areas. I'm not down with MAGA either. I try my best to talk about places that I never visited. But, you have some people out there who think they're experts on a place because either a friend or a family member visited or watch they see on TV or the Internet.
Last edited by QCongress83216; 04-02-2024 at 09:07 AM..
Sheena12 is yet another example of an NYC-ex patriot who has really taken to greater Cleveland. Coming from the place many call the greatest city in the world, that says a boatload of positives about Cleveland.
Sheena12 is yet another example of an NYC-ex patriot who has really taken to greater Cleveland. Coming from the place many call the greatest city in the world, that says a boatload of positives about Cleveland.
Well, ahem...uh you know, it is still the center of the universe, but I do love Cleveland.! !
And much of what I like is what is similar to NYC and the metro area. Now it's so unaffordable that living there is just crazy.
My son lives in Brooklyn with 4 roommates. Two bedrooms. The living room doubles at a bedroom for two tenants. The five of them are seldom there are the same time, but many of them have over night guests. There is one bathroom.
The rent in over $2000 per month. This is NOT a great apartment, in a not-so-great area - Bushwick, which in getting trendy, but my husband - who knows Brooklyn like "the back of his hand", says is in one of the WORST parts of Bushwick.
This apartment is tiny. Under 1000 square feet.
To me? It's just not worth it. I think he's like Tremont, Coventry or Ohio City.
Sheena12 is yet another example of an NYC-ex patriot who has really taken to greater Cleveland. Coming from the place many call the greatest city in the world, that says a boatload of positives about Cleveland.
I think it says a lot too. If you do not like, or appreciate NYC, I have observed that you probably really don't like CITIES in general. You don't like diversity, the arts, late night activities, meeting people who are open minded and from every corner of the world, restaurants that are good and are not chains.
Cle and NYC have both of these.
One of those is affordable to almost anyone.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
!
