My Ohio 'Dear Jane' Letter...... (Columbus, Cleveland: apartment, homeowners association, home)

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Originally Posted by Donna7

At least 40-50% of the people I saw there are unemployable, I said, UNEMPLOYABLE. There were fat, tatooed, toothless, and pierced (everywhere) people there. And apparently, there is a phenomenon called "skinny fat" in which the person is skinny at the top and bottom of their body, but fat/thick around the waist, complete with love handles. This comes from eating junk food, consuming alcohol, drugs (I've been told).

Originally Posted by Donna7

these somewhat mutant-looking people. Tatooes on ham hock legs and calves, tattooes on thick, flabby arms - are not attractive.

donna7, do you run a modeling agency, the cosmetics industry, or the movies? not every industry is based upon how people look. a down-right ugly mechanic that can get your car running quickly or a salesman that moves units despite a bad comb-over would be two examples off the top of my head. heck, even tattoo artists and piercers can contribute to the economy.

Originally Posted by Donna7

To be clear, I'm not exactly thin, that's for sure.

this admission is the kicker. "judge not lest ye be judged" indeed.

[costello_musicman]

I was forced to move to NC recently, and I couldn't believe how much I hated it. It was actually being there that made me appreciate and love Cleveland.

The only city I liked in NC was Wilmington. Raleigh and much of NC is Sprawl-ville. Chains everywhere and very few original type stores and places--basically I'm saying it's lacking character other than Civil War History and Plantations. Also gets HOT in the summer....believe me.

I noticed your previous posts and if you're moving to Jacksonville, NC like I think...don't get into any bar fights. That's Marine-country man. (unless you're also military??) The town to me is strip clubs and strip malls....and Marines. You will have the ocean next door, but that's about the only thing I can think of.

Wish you luck, but you picked a very odd place to go. If you would have said Charleston, SC or Richmond, VA or Savanah, GA....I would have been like "awesome!" I can think out 1000 cities I'd rather live than Jacksonville...just fair warning.

[CortlandGirl79]

Jacksonville is a hole. My brother moved there to teach high school. I think the only reason it's bearable is the fact that he found a g/f down there and he's so busy teaching, coaching, working a part time job for the park dept, etc, etc, etc that he doesn't notice how crappy it is!

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Originally Posted by CortlandGirl79

Jacksonville is a hole. My brother moved there to teach high school. I think the only reason it's bearable is the fact that he found a g/f down there and he's so busy teaching, coaching, working a part time job for the park dept, etc, etc, etc that he doesn't notice how crappy it is!

at least in jacksonville they do not have the time to blog and message board each other into the delusion that the city is not a hole because there are jobs to work. am i right?

[SorryIMovedBack]

Originally Posted by Beavercreek33

The problem is, you find people like that all over this great country. They can never be truly happy. Another problem is they have never lived in another place or lived in a place long enough to appreciate what they left.

Well, I'll side with the OP. If you want opportunity, and an upscale younger population, then PA and OH don't have either. I think the reason a lot of people still stand at the pulpit and preach that NE OH and NW PA are great places to raise a family, is because they never go anywhere and are just simply clueless about how decayed and deviate the prevalent "culture" has become, and just how tattered the moral fabric of the old, decayed, industrial towns has become. Take Youngstown, for a great example. Today, your neighborhood might be "transitional." Well, which way do you want to bet it transitions? To financially secure middle class professional people, or to some more divided-up Section 8 and HUD housing? Huh? Which way are you going to bet?

I have lived "in another place," actually more than one, and I moved back to the Rust Belt. Compared to where I lived previously, it's much less educated and much more lower socioeconomic here. The people here look careworn and prematurely aged at best, appallingly so. The younger ones, as an earlier post detailed, are tattooed and unemployable, because the all of the factory work that tolerated the weirdazzes and the drunks and the people with a criminal record has gone offshore now.

True, healthcare has created jobs. But if you read the dress codes for LPN and RN schools, and also for hospital employment, they all say "no visible tattoos," or "if you have a tattoo, we have to see it before you can be accepted," or "any visible tattoos must be covered with a bandage." Now, there are many LPN schools admitting students. But they have a preadmission test that tests on math, science, and English. For a test of high school level abilities, there surely are lots of questions out of college-level A&P and microbiology. Now, if you want RN, the diploma programs require a host of college pre-reqs that include 2 semesters of A&P and one of microbiology, and all of that college work must usually be completed before you start the nursing part. There are associate degree nursing programs, but they have a PAX or HESI pre-admission test that requires you to have at least had a thorough college-prep high school track that included the life sciences like A&P that are needed specifically for health care fields. And the schools say "75% score required to be considered." But that is considered, and what you'll need to be accepted is more like 93% or up. You essentially wait 1 year from start of app to actually starting RN school, and there are at least 6-7 applicants for every seat this year.

OP, you are entitled to your opinion. If you want a better way of life than what you backyard offers, go for it. Too many people here hold onto home, and are just stubbornly insisting that the ship isn't sinking. The adage is "rats leave a sinking ship." Yes sir. Only the captain is morally obligated to go down with it. >;-) Best of luck and much success in your new location, wherever that may be. This region drives us forward-thinking people insane, because it just is not moving FORWARD! It's determined to stand still and wait to be rescued.

[Peregrine]

I just cannot get over the "tattoo hate". Are you kidding me?

The OP was mostly referring to Barber-tucky. You are refering to Youngstown. No offense to either of those areas... but come on. Youngstown? Barberton?
Walk around downtown Cleveland, Cincy, Columbus, Toledo. Count the tattos you see. Walk around the suburban areas of any of those areas. Count the tattoos.
Ridiculous....

I try to never call people names on internet forums. Let me just say there are some real morons on these forums and leave it at that....

[CortlandGirl79]

Isn't Columbus full of young, professional types??? Actually most of the people i know in Columbus are from the Youngstown area, so apparently we aren't all uneducated, tatooed former factory workers. I in fact i have BBA in Management, worked in a factory for almost 8 years and have a professional job just south of Youngstown.

Most of my friends dress well, have degrees and have good jobs. My boyfriend is a general manager at a golf course, my well dressed 32 year old, good looking, single friend works for an architecture firm in downtown youngstown. I have other friends that work in sales, management, contracting, etc. All of them live in the Youngstown area. I'm not saying the tatooed uneducated bunch isn't here, we have those types, but please acknowledge the decent hardworking people here!

There wouldn't be over 500k people living in the Youngstown metro if most of us didn't have jobs. Sure we might have to commute a little further and many of us worked in factories, but that doesn't mean we're stupid. In fact when i worked my factory job many of my coworkers had associates, or bachelor's degrees or had a journeyman's card. I am appalled by stereotype that all factory workers are uneducated, tatooed, motorcycle riding, terribly dressed individuals that have no worth and are sucking from white collar america. You might be describing your uncle or weird cousin that worked in a factory in Cleveland, Youngstown, or Akron, but the rest of us former factory workers will hold on to our dignity. We had jobs that created wealth and if you think the service jobs down south, healthcare jobs, etc are going to bring this country back you've been sucking on the crackpipe a little too long. Service jobs and this new economy are killing this country, people are just exchanging money and debt. When a society builds or makes something, that is when wealth is created, those good paying jobs support other good paying jobs and those employees spend their money buying things, eating out, etc so all the service workers can keep their jobs too! Please tell my house an $8/hr job is supporting anyone??? Someone making that kind of money is probably getting foodstamps and or assistance, plus section 8 housing. Why do i say that? because i work in the service industry now where most of our employees make $8/hr, they're on welfare, foodstamps, etc and they're working 40 hours a week, busting their butts with no recognition. Sad world we live in.........

[5Lakes]

Ohio does not have any more trashy people than most other places I have seen in this country. People bring up Barberton, but that is an area that has a reputation for being kind of white trash. Personally I don't even think Barberton is all that bad. Yeah, it's not the epicenter for sophistication, but I can think of a lot of worse places in this country I have been to.

I don't know how people can complain about tattoed people in Ohio either. I don't really see a lot there. Also, there are different types of tattooed people. In this case it seems we are talking about rural white trash (something I'm quite familiar with growing up in Ashtabula County). Why focus only on this? What about tattooed urban hipsters? Ghetto Balcks? Gang banger Mexicans? For the record, southern California has the most trashy tattooed people of the places I have lived in. There is a large culture low-class white people there (referred to as Bros) that is unique to that area, as well as a lot of tattooed gang banger Mexicans.

As for as dressing goes I think Ohio is a bit behind the curve on this one, at least compared to other areas that have a high urban population. It is noticeable to me that people in Cleveland are not as well dressed as people in Chicago, and I don't think Chicago is all the trendy of a city despite its size.

I also think Ohio's cities could use more of a critical mass of urban professionals, but criticizing Ohio compared to places like North Carolina is a joke.

[Crew Chief]

Well, one of these days all us old farts with the sense, manners and ability to read cursive will be dead and gone and all you youngins' can have all the tats you want...

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Originally Posted by sorryimovedback

well, i'll side with the op. If you want opportunity, and an upscale younger population, then pa and oh don't have either. I think the reason a lot of people still stand at the pulpit and preach that ne oh and nw pa are great places to raise a family, is because they never go anywhere and are just simply clueless about how decayed and deviate the prevalent "culture" has become, and just how tattered the moral fabric of the old, decayed, industrial towns has become. Take youngstown, for a great example.

amen!