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BLUE COLLAR
When making sweeping generalizations about Columbus I usually use the word "white collar." Columbus is more blue collar than say Miami Florida. But for the Midwest it is one of the LEAST blue collar cities.
On the other hand, the MOST blue collar cities tend to have the least economic growth. However, there are some metros that walk a middle ground. IE Chicago still has an underlying blue collar history yet is a great modern white collar city.
Columbus could possibly work for you, but only a visit going to many different parts of the city would let you see if it's blue collar enough. Really the only concentration of blue collar are in the west and SW sides.
As far as Cincinnati goes, I also wouldn't use the word blue collar to describe it either. It had a greater industrial past but something about Cincinnati never feels blue collar, "southern" is a word that can be used to describe Cincinnati. I would venture to say Columbus and Cincinnati both have blue collar areas though. I am not sure which would have more but they exist in both places and especially in western Columbus.
Indianapolis is described as "conservative" compared to Columbus, yet I not largely blue collar.
Can anyone with experience in Indianapolis say if there exists a decent blue collar population there?
ECONOMY
As far as economy goes, all 3 metros have had better economic growth than other cities. You could have a shot at a job in all 3. Cincinnati and Columbus do have more headquarters in their metro than Indianapolis and had lower unemployment in the recession.
NIGHTLIFE
Columbus is regarded as having more "urban entertainment neighborhoods/districts" than Indianapolis. This is largely due to a MUCH larger percentage of the population being between the age of 18-25 and 25-31. On the other hand there are many neighborhood bars/restaurants that are populated by 30s and 40s age groups as well.
Cincinnati has a great amount of places for 30-40 yr olds. I would say the larger abundance of young professionals and younger college aged people in Columbus may not be your cup of tea. Yet all 3 cities have a lot for anyone of any age to do.
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
Columbus beats INDY in this boat. Columbus' bus system travels much of the city and metro and has benefited from a doubling of its revenue allowing later routes, more express routes, more frequent trips, and now nightlife bus routes. Cincinnati also has a very extensive bus system. Indianapolis' bus system trails both. None of the cities offer any better mass transit than buses at this current time.
Urban SPRAWL
This is one that could be debated and would need some hardcore stats. Technically INDY and COlumbus get the bad rap for sprawling city limits. Yet when you look at the geographical size of the Columbus metro it is actually more compact than say Cleveland or Cincinnati. So Columbus and INDY have more sprawling areas in the city limits, yet less sprawl in the metro all together than Cincinnati.
Last edited by streetcreed; 02-01-2011 at 12:07 AM..
Columbus is regarded as having more "urban entertainment neighborhoods/districts" than Indianapolis. This is largely due to a MUCH larger percentage of the population being between the age of 18-25 and 25-31. On the other hand there are many neighborhood bars/restaurants that are populated by 30s and 40s age groups as well.
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
Columbus beats INDY in this boat. Columbus' bus system travels much of the city and metro and has benefited from a doubling of its revenue allowing later routes, more express routes, more frequent trips, and now nightlife bus routes. Cincinnati also has a very extensive bus system. Indianapolis' bus system trails both. None of the cities offer any better mass transit than buses at this current time.
Nightlife
It's true that Columbus does have more urban districts than Indianapolis, but downtown Indianapolis is above and beyond downtown Columbus. I would say downtown Indy is also more vibrant than downtown Cincinnati, but at least downtown Cincinnati has a decent amount of activity after 6 PM.
Public Transportation
I heard Cincinnati is building a streetcar system right now. Indianapolis has the Indy Connect plan right now http://http://indyconnect.org/ (broken link). Does Columbus have any transit expansion plans, I was just curious?
It's true that Columbus does have more urban districts than Indianapolis, but downtown Indianapolis is above and beyond downtown Columbus. I would say downtown Indy is also more vibrant than downtown Cincinnati, but at least downtown Cincinnati has a decent amount of activity after 6 PM.
Public Transportation
I heard Cincinnati is building a streetcar system right now. Indianapolis has the Indy Connect plan right now http://http://indyconnect.org/ (broken link). Does Columbus have any transit expansion plans, I was just curious?
Columbus has much better nightlife directly north and south of its immediate downtown. It's true that the downtown area is not that busy in the evenings/nights, but that's mostly because it has become a lot more residential than commercial. There are a lot of plans for continued development, so eventually that will change. The neighborhoods north and south, especially north, stay busy late into the night.
There has been talk about light rail, etc in Columbus, but nothing that seems likely anytime soon. The city has a great highway system and it's fairly easy to get around, so perhaps that's why there has yet to be a big push for that. Still, if the city continues to grow at the pace it has the last decade or so, I would think that public transportation is going to see an upgrade.
Don't Columbus and Cincinnati have lower unemployment rates than Indianapolis? In fact, isn't Columbus' well below Indy?
Columbus and Cincinnati are home to more fortune 500 companies and are more white collar, while Indy is more blue collar. Plus someone mentioned the suburbs; Columbus and Cincinnati's suburbs are much better than Indy's in my opinion. Plus, Cincinnati has the high density, older with character suburbs.
I am from Anderson, Indiana, and have visited Columbus and Cincinnati more times than I can count.
Columbus and Cincinnati are home to more fortune 500 companies and are more white collar, while Indy is more blue collar.
They do have more Fortune 500 companies, but to say that Indy is more blue collar is shockingly ignorant coming from someone from Anderson. It is certainly no more blue collar than Cincinnati. What are the major factory employers in Indy? Rolls-Royce and Allison are doing well, but the Ford plant is closing, as is the GM stamping plant. The Chrysler foundry was torn dorn years ago. Look at Indy's largest employers - Eli Lilly, Wellpoint, One America, the State of Indiana, Sallie Mae, FedEx and the various health corporations. Indy is downright corporate these days.
They do have more Fortune 500 companies, but to say that Indy is more blue collar is shockingly ignorant coming from someone from Anderson. It is certainly no more blue collar than Cincinnati. What are the major factory employers in Indy? Rolls-Royce and Allison are doing well, but the Ford plant is closing, as is the GM stamping plant. The Chrysler foundry was torn dorn years ago. Look at Indy's largest employers - Eli Lilly, Wellpoint, One America, the State of Indiana, Sallie Mae, FedEx and the various health corporations. Indy is downright corporate these days.
Oh please, Cincinnati has a much heavier corporate base than Indy, and it is much more diverse and has history of having very powerful companies. Cincinnati is far more white collar than Indianapolis. To say otherwise is laughable.
And that's what I thought, Columbus' unemployment rate was quite better than Indy's.
Oh please, Cincinnati has a much heavier corporate base than Indy, and it is much more diverse and has history of having very powerful companies. Cincinnati is far more white collar than Indianapolis. To say otherwise is laughable.
And that's what I thought, Columbus' unemployment rate was quite better than Indy's.
You consider .6% "quite better"?
The fact that Cincinnati has more Fortune 500 ("powerful companies," as you call them) doesn't make Cincinnati more white collar.
The fact that Cincinnati has more Fortune 500 ("powerful companies," as you call them) doesn't make Cincinnati more white collar.
.6% is a big differance when you look at the unemployment percentage rates, it doesn't take much to realize that.
I love how you put quotes around powerful companies. Because Cincinnati's are significantly more powerful than Indianapolis' i.e. Macy's, Procter and Gamble, etc. Come on now, really? Not saying Indianapolis doesn't have powerful companies, but they don't quite hit Cincinnati's levels. I am not saying because Cincinnati has more powerful companies that it is more white collar, but when it comes to the workers at those companies being more college educated, then yes, Cincinnati is more white collar. Last I checked, that is usually what white collar meant. Overall, more residents (percentage wise) have more degrees in Cincinnati than Indianapolis.
BTW, what does it matter if being from Anderson, and me calling Indianapolis blue collar? Yes, of course most of Anderson is based off manufacturing (in fact a very large percentage of it), but being from Indiana, and moving to Ohio, Cincinnati and Columbus seem more white collar than Indianapolis. It is an observation I have made.
I am not saying because Cincinnati has more powerful companies that it is more white collar, but when it comes to the workers at those companies being more college educated, then yes, Cincinnati is more white collar. Last I checked, that is usually what white collar meant. Overall, more residents (percentage wise) have more degrees in Cincinnati than Indianapolis.
According to C-D, the difference is 1.2%. Hardly statistically significant. Furthermore, I'd bet a lot of the lower-level administrative workers in state government don't have a bachelor's degree. Does that make them blue collar?
As for unemployment rates, I guess it all comes down to interpretation. But, no, I hardly see a .6% difference between roughly equivalent metros to be statistically significant.
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