Canton IS improving

[whitmeyer]

Originally Posted by JR_C

Like what? What makes Canton, and other Ohio cities, so exceptionally boring? Please anwer, because no one else ever does.

I didn't think an explanation was needed as to why major cities have more things to do than really small cities. I assume you're just being intentionally obtuse.

If you'd like a list of what Canton does not have that large cities do, I could name a few things, assuming you've never been to a big city.

Canton is basically lacking in the areas of:

Restaurants
Bars
Plays
Theaters
Culture
Sports
Public Transportation
Shopping
Jobs

That is what comes to mind off the top of my head. Large cities have exponentially more to offer than tiny cities like Canton. Even Columbus is a HUGE step up from Canton.

[JR_C]

You're right, small cities generally don't have as much activity/infrastructure/culture as bigger cities. But, that doesn't have much to do with Canton, specifically.

I re-read your previous few posts, and see that that was your argument. I've read other posts, (not in this thread) that claimed Ohio's small cities were somehow more boring that other small cities elsewhere. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

[mkeller234]

Originally Posted by whitmeyer

I didn't think an explanation was needed as to why major cities have more things to do than really small cities. I assume you're just being intentionally obtuse.

If you'd like a list of what Canton does not have that large cities do, I could name a few things, assuming you've never been to a big city.

Canton is basically lacking in the areas of:

Restaurants
Bars
Plays
Theaters
Culture
Sports
Public Transportation
Shopping
Jobs

That is what comes to mind off the top of my head. Large cities have exponentially more to offer than tiny cities like Canton. Even Columbus is a HUGE step up from Canton.

Well, comparing Canton to Columbus is not even close to fair. Columbus is a large city with a major College campus, it is only natural that it offers much more.

Restaurants:
I can't agree here, Belden village is stuffed to the brim with restaurants. Downtown Canton also offers a nice selection of upscale and casual places to eat. I am sure there are certain ethnic food / chains we don't have but that's just life in a small-sized city
Bars
I will half agree with this one. We do have bars, many of which I don't like. Belden village offers a large selection, Downtown Canton has a handful as well. Akron is only half an hour away and offers a decent selction. That's not really that far.
Plays
Actually no, The Canton Palace Theatre does have plays. The most recent being Rent, and it got decent reviews. Even at that, Cleveland's Playhouse Square is not far off and it is one of the best.
Theaters
I am not sure what you want here?? We have the Palace theatre, Tinseltown, the great escape, movies 10 and the Lynn drive-inn. What more do you want?
Culture
That is not really tangible... How do you define culture? Upscale events? Gritty Brooklyn style? Louisiana street performers? I could argue that we are to up to our necks in hillbilly culture. I do agree that we lack what is normally defined as culture.
Sports
Totally 100% disagree. This is Canton, OH... cradle of football. Home to the some huge High School football teams. They made a movie about the Tigers, that goes to show how big it really is. Check out the seating capacities of either stadium, it's nuts for high school. On a professional level, sure... but how many small towns have a pro team... Green Bay? We did have the indoor football team, that was actually very good but they had problems getting people to go.
Public Transportation
Well, we are guilty of being car-centric like most small towns in the USA. I really hope that changes some day.
Shopping
Again, define shopping. There is no denying that Belden Village offers a lot of shopping. I suppose we lack high end boutique shopping.
Jobs
Yes, Canton is economically depressed and getting hit particularly hard. So are a lot of other cities at the moment. There is no easy answer for this one and it is a genuine problem. Probably the root of a lot of the cities other problems.

[SquareBetterThanAll]

Canton just lacks volume in many of those areas. Even for "culture," how many cities of under 100k have a symphony orchestra? An art museum? So I wouldn't say it's entirely lacking.

But yes, comparing Canton to Columbus is ridiculous. It's like comparing Columbus to New York.

A more apropos gauge would be to look at cities of similar size and make a comparison.

I.E. Sports - few cities Canton's size would have a pro baseball or football team (notable exception is Green Bay), although it is nice to have the HOF. Conversely, although Columbus has OSU, how many cities of 700k have virtually no professional teams (and I'm not talking NHL or whatever).

You could also note that Columbus is the primary city in its region whereas Canton is peripheral.

So it goes both ways. But yes, just by sheer size Columbus is going to be the winner.

[mkeller234]

Yes, not to mention that Columbus is home to the state government. Columbus has been aggressive with annexation in the past too, so they do not have the duplication in city governments and services that Canton, Akron and Cleveland do.

I still feel that what Canton may lack, the region more than makes up.

[PhillytoCincy]

Honestly, Canton is a small city, but its still a very livable area, and people call it home. Its not as bad as people make it out to be. The whole perception of the area needs to change in my opinion.