Why is Columbus Doing So Much Better Than Other Cities in Ohio? (Cleveland: college, to live in)

[Clevelander17]

Pretty self-explanatory question. Thoughts?

[krock1dk]

Columbus is doing better than OH as a whole due to it being a college town and a state capital that brings economic diveristy and better and higher paying jobs.

[Ohiogirl81]

The state government takes care of its own.

[Ohioan58]

There is a concentration of white collar and high technology businesses there. Several software vendors, too - it's quite unusual to have more than one significant software product company in a single metro area in Ohio. A more progressive vibe.

The city seems "younger" overall than the big industrial cities in Ohio. IMO, Columbus is not burdened with its past like an albatross.

[Daytonnatian]

Basically the only reasons are Rickenbacker AFB, OSU, and the State gov't.

For instance, the state just moved into a former department store location at Northland mall, saving the city from blight and the cost of demolition/redevelopment. That would never happen in Dayton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Youngstown, Akron, or Toledo.

[costello_musicman]

I know some people get sensitive about this....but annexation has helped a lot....

For example, the population of 1950 (pre annexation...) has a much lower population today than in its 1950's borders...I wanna say about 100,000 less. So, if they hadn't annexed, they would have lost population like much of the rest of the state. Columbus has also had good press over the years with "city growth" that has even helped fuel more growth itself since people want to live in areas that are on the rise. Your metro has grown too, which is also a plus.

Other reasons:
College town
Diverse Economy
State Capital
Plenty of LAND (what Cleveland and Cincy stopped enjoying about 1950ish)

[Hey_Hey]

Are you speaking of the actual cities or the metro areas? In terms of metro areas Cincinnati is doing just as well as Columbus. Both had pretty solid, but not spectacular, growth since 2000. Columbus has grown a little less than 10% in total population while Cincinnati has grown a little over 7%. The city of Cincinnati has generally lost population for the last few decades (although that may now be changing). However, the city of Columbus includes many areas that would be suburban in Cincinnati's area. If the city of Columbus hadn't annexed a lot of the land that they did years ago it's likely the city would have seen a drop in population as well.

For comparison here's the % population change in the other MSAs of Ohio since 2000:
Cleveland - -2.79%
Toledo - -1.25%
Akron - +0.63%
Dayton - -1.37%
Youngstown - -5.35%

The division should really be stated as Columbus and Cincy vs the rest of the state's metro areas.

[costello_musicman]

I was curious, so I looked it up:

Columbus population 1950 (Original boundries) 375,901
Columbus population 2000 (Original boundries) 244,347

Columbus population 2000 (New boundries) 711,470


Columbus land area 1950 -- 42 Sq. Miles
Columbus land area 2000 -- 220 Sq. Miles

Here's the Annexation map http://assets.columbus.gov/Developme...hmapseries.pdf



Too put it in perspective

Cleveland -- 78 sq. miles
Cincinnati -- 78 sq. miles

That's why these cities feel so much denser--because they are.

[Clevelander17]

Originally Posted by Hey_Hey

Are you speaking of the actual cities or the metro areas? In terms of metro areas Cincinnati is doing just as well as Columbus. Both had pretty solid, but not spectacular, growth since 2000. Columbus has grown a little less than 10% in total population while Cincinnati has grown a little over 7%. The city of Cincinnati has generally lost population for the last few decades (although that may now be changing). However, the city of Columbus includes many areas that would be suburban in Cincinnati's area. If the city of Columbus hadn't annexed a lot of the land that they did years ago it's likely the city would have seen a drop in population as well.

For comparison here's the % population change in the other MSAs of Ohio since 2000:
Cleveland - -2.79%
Toledo - -1.25%
Akron - +0.63%
Dayton - -1.37%
Youngstown - -5.35%

The division should really be stated as Columbus and Cincy vs the rest of the state's metro areas.

I'm talking metropolitan areas. However with Cincinnati, a large chunk of the metro growth is actually in Kentucky, which I'm not a big fan of seeing.

[Cincy-Rise]

Originally Posted by Clevelander17

I'm talking metropolitan areas. However with Cincinnati, a large chunk of the metro growth is actually in Kentucky, which I'm not a big fan of seeing.

NOKY contains about 5% of Cincinnati's MSA.