Quote:
Originally Posted by Redsfaithful
Ohio seems to hate it's cities and refuses to spend money on infrastructure that's not roads. I seriously wonder all the time if I should be raising my kids here, because it's not a state with much of a future.
I can't picture a scenario where Ohio becomes innovative enough to attract jobs and seriously increase population. Hopefully I'm wrong, I really want to be. I love Columbus and many things about the state.
|
Where does the idea come from that Ohio "seems to hate it's cities?" As has been the ongoing discussion in another thread, Cincinnati is spending tons of money developing the banks area right now. They've added new stadiums, a new bars/dining complex, a new garage, and they're building a park.
Then, there is this story about the fantastic success 3CDC is having at renting remodeled and rehabilitated apartments in OTR:
http://www.wcpo.com/dpp/news/region_...ithin-3-months
I don't get where the idea is that people "hate" the cities. I think there's a very valid other side to this debate that gets overlooked -- namely that "city life" isn't for everyone. A lot of people enjoy the space and privacy that comes from the suburban lifestyle (having the yard for the kids to play in or for the dog to run in, etc.) and the relative affordability of owning property in the suburbs as opposed to the city. I think it's entirely possible (and indeed, sound policy) to run a State that caters to both types of citizens: urbanites and suburbanites. One way of life isn't inherently evil and the other way of life isn't inherently good.
And, as far as infrastructure goes -- I'd like to see them revisit the idea of light rail in Cincinnati. I'm 100% in favor of high-speed rail (high speed from day 1, mind you) connecting the major cities in Ohio. But the projects they've curbed thus far have all had serious defects to them. The 3C line was an antiquated system that was being built on the promise (wink wink) that it would be something useful (high speed rail) eventually. The Streetcar didn't really serve a transportation need in the City, and the primary purpose for building it seemed to be this speculative claim that "development" would follow along the line. To that end, there are lots of ways to encourage development that don't result in the city incurring a yearly, multi-million dollar budget expense subsidizing a streetcar.
I agree that Ohio needs to be forward thinking, but wake me when something forward thinking gets tabled and I'll be concerned then.