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Its time for your regularly scheduled growth update from The Dispatch: “Central Ohio continues to grow“. Feel like you’re having a bit of Deja Vu? That’s because you are.
July 2008: Columbus Grows, Rest of Ohio Shrinks
March 2008: Columbus Region Grows, Ohio Stalls
March 2008: Columbus Population Up, Rare in Ohio
December 2007: Ohio’s big cities trying to reinvent themselves
June 2007: Columbus leads Cincinnati in growth & development
March 2006: Columbus Grows While Rest of Ohio Shrinks
It’s good news for Columbus, but bad news for the state of Ohio as only one major population center thrives while the others decline. Is there anything that can be done to get Cincinnati, Cleveland, Toledo, Youngstown, Akron, Canton, and Dayon back on their feet?
Commercial entities and state government aside, do you think it can be argued that Columbus also happens to be one of the most progressive and tolerant Ohio cities and this was a large contributing factor to this growth?
Caveat to Cleveland’s troubles: while the area is losing population has been shrinking, the average income has actually stayed basically the same. So actual bodies are leaving, but they were mostly unemployed/underemployed. Good? No. But it also indicates that quality jobs aren’t leaving as quickly as you’d think—recession aside.
JonMyers – I think those things are correlated, but the cause is actually in reverse: when you have strong growth, then young, educated folks move in, making an area more tolerant. I think that’s why NC and VA went blue in November on the backs of young migrants. Both states have had strong economies in the last few years—again, recession aside.
I think 3C would help the entire state. Especially if biotech/research/healthcare can be regionalized on the backs of OSU, Battelle, Case, the Cleveland Clinic, and UC.
I would say that Cleveland is about as tolerant and progressive as Columbus.
I think the difference is more that Cleveland is primarily a blue collar city and Columbus is primarily a white collar city. And the blue collar industries have been on a downward trajectory since the 1970s.
I know how to fix it…
Global warming! If Cleveland had the weather of California everyone would want to move there. I am thinking maybe some extremely large solar heaters or a bubble. You would also need someone to remove the clouds.
In all seriousness though I think Columbus is growing because it is a lot nicer place to be then the other ones. Low cost of living and one of the largest schools in the country bring young people. A great community and a midwestern-urban feel keep people here. I know I could never stand the foot of snow and nothing but clouds Cleveland gets every year. Columbus isn’t nearly as bad.
Now if Columbus can focus even more of their attention away from the Buckeyes, this city can be even greater….Columbus may be larger than Cleveland, but Cleveland is much much “cooler”…contrary to the rest of the countries belief….Cbus needs a whole new identity – but with all the people who only care about football – it will be a slow change….
ryan-
a. virtually none of the positive press Columbus has received of late in the New York Times, Chicago Times, Washington Post, NBC Today, etc… has been about our identity as a college football town. It has all dealt with lifestyle and culture.
b. if there was a correlation between downplaying college football and creating an identity as a “cool” place, then towns like Austin and Athens, GA would have never ascended the rungs of the hip ladder. I don’t think anyone at SXSW gets bummed that so many people follow the Longhorns. it would also be hard to explain how Columbus keeps growing and its reputation keeps spreading while OSU football has been overwhelmingly successful. it all easily coexists for those who want it to.
Having lived & worked there for a number of years, “tolerant” & “progressive” are two adjectives I would never use to describe Cleveland.
Sure, there’s individuals who fit those descriptions, but not the city or region as a whole. In my experience, it was a pretty racist, homophobic, xenophobic place. (Without a single vegetarian restaurant, to boot!)
Throw in the snow, cold, clouds, lack of jobs & various layers of government that have impeded any progress for years & you can see why, over the past several years, it’s been one of the top few cities & counties in the U.S. to bleed residents.
I will say this, though – at least Cleveland has an “edge” that definitely separates it from the more white bread, vanilla atmosphere that makes up much of Columbus.
Love the vanilla atmosphere line! per Rustbelt.
And to dru – when i think of Austin, Texas, I think about rock n roll and burritos…never the longhorns.
When i think of Athens, Georgia, I think of R.E.M. and fried chitlin’s…never about their football team.
When i think about Columbus, Ohio, I think about Buckeyes…dont tell me no one else in the world doesn’t….and i think that’s sad.
that’s your perspective, because you follow music and have at least a penchant for classic 80′s alternative – so you think SXSW and R.E.M. I also think of those, but to the Austin mix I add the Longhorns, bbq and Keep Austin Weird. For Athens, I add the B-52s and the Bulldogs. But if I asked people who were not deeply into music, they’d probably list UT and UGA as the first things they think about for those towns. OSU probably dominates most peoples’ opinions about Columbus, but the articles I referenced clearly show that this is increasingly not the case. Times New Viking and Agora may not be up there with REM or SXSW, but an increasing amount of people I meet elsewhere seem to know something larger is happening in Columbus (either that, or they don’t know us at all). So yes, I just told you there are people who don’t think solely about the Buckeyes. But more to my point, a deemphasis of rabid Buckeye football worship will do nothing to make us cooler in the eyes of the world. Adding things to the mix in addition to that will.
cleveland and cincy suck compared to cbus..theyre screwed.
The Buckeye debate and “Cleveland and Cincy suck” are just noise.
Flip side: anyone who only thinks Columbus is the Buckeyes probably won’t invest, move, or develop here. So who cares? They’re probably sitting on their couch with a bag of Doritos instead of producing innovative new economic and social ventures. Economic and developmental metrics are what interest those folks, and we’re doing well there.
Also, Cleveland has seen over $10 billion in private investment either made or pledged along the rebuilt Euclid Ave health corridor. Columbus could take a page from their book since it directly relates to the mayor’s streetcar plan. Cincy is moving with theirs, and so should we.
Constructive conversation please.
This is misleading, as usual. The old city has lost approximately 1/4 of its population from its peak decades ago, it’s just that you never go to these parts of the city, so you don’t notice. I haven’t checked to see if that has started to turn around, but it’s doubtful it has increased, especially in light of people leaving even those gorgeous inner-ring suburbs of ours. The amount of abandoned homes, razed commercial buildings now consisting of vacant, grassy patches of dirt which I have seen is astonishing and depressing. The people out there do not share the optimism seen here on CU or in our popular neighborhoods nor do you see anything resembling pride, as is evident by the amount of trash people have in their yards in some neighborhoods. I get the strong impression that they do not feel like they’re a part of this city, whereas here you have lots of boosters and I think it’s safe to say that a good deal of people here have become involved in city-related affairs.
That said, shrinking doesn’t have to be “bad”. Witold Rybczynski, Professor of Urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania, states in his book City Life that as long as resources are properly managed that they can be attractive, with Venice being an example. Otherwise, cities that lack a good tax base, are dumped with all the poor, and can no longer provide decent city services, will have to give up their place as the epicenter of the city and instead be one of many united parts of a metropolitan area, unless they get a larger share of national resources allocated to them.
I think Columbus serves as a good example of a shrinking city. We swallowed up land for would-be suburbs separate from the city and the money there stays in the city. Cleveland or Cincinnati could try out a regional approach, but I have to say that considering that they didn’t go the annexation route that I find them to be great places to visit regardless with a good array of neighborhoods (including their downtowns), and all of the architecture, cuisine, bars, etc within. Further strengthening their downtowns (those have, in fact, gained in popualtion) and popular urban neighborhoods like Ohio City and Clifton are an important piece of the puzzle. Cincinnati is still going forward with the streetcar with firms competing for the contract. Improving our urban centers by making them multi-modal will go a long way in complimenting the 3C corridor.
For cities like Dayton, people have all but given up on the city. They’ll slam it at any given chance, while they’re the reason it’s the way it is. I have little optimism for these smaller cities.
Also, Cleveland has seen over $10 billion in private investment either made or pledged along the rebuilt Euclid Ave health corridor.
Please, don’t hold up the Euclid Corridor Project as a positive example to follow. A couple hundred million dollars spent to shorten the drive between Public Square & University Circle by less than 10 minutes. When traffic between the two locations was not even an issue. When there are multiple busses that drive that same route.
In the meantime, many of the businesses, already operating on the margins, shut down because of the traffic & parking upheaval caused by the construction.
Not to mention, a lot of money for development in that area was underway before the Euclid Corridor Project was ever announced & much of it would have been spent without the ECP, even though people like to attribute it to the ECP.
It makes about as much sense to dump a couple hundred million dollars into trolley cars between OSU & Broad Street. Oh, wait…..
I think Columbus serves as a good example of a shrinking city. We swallowed up land for would-be suburbs separate from the city and the money there stays in the city.
As I would agree that the old 1950′s boundary population may have a population decline similar to cincy and cleveland; because Columbus had annexed puts the city in greater advantage since they can use the resources (more funds) towards infill or other large developments that cincy and cleveland only can dream to do.
I believe Columbus does better because it has a more diverse economy and younger demographic. Not only does Cincy and Cleveland both have older populations, they have older infrastructure that needs to be attended to and is being neglected since they don’t have the funds for it.
Columbus regional control over utilities especially sewer and water installations gives the city an opportunity to have regional economy which I believe Cleveland and Cincy doesn’t. See the JEDD oportunities that have appeared lately.
The next step Columbus needs to do to keep the region growing is introducing light rail and streetcars in order to provide green alternatives and allow smart development within its metro border so that it won’t have to annex additional land.
Ummm… sorry, are we talking about the same Euclid Ave? There was minimal economic development. Midtown and Fairfax were falling apart, but for a few speculative real estate deals. The infrastructure project is directly responsible for targeting and fostering that investment. The only exception might be money spent by the Clinic—although many donors have noted that Euclid Ave project made them optimistic in their giving.
A few hundred million spent to incubate and focus a few billion in investment? Yes please. Even with growing pains.
Are infrastructure projects now a bad thing?
Also, ten minutes a day every day multiplied by hundreds or thousands of drivers/commuters is a LOT of time saved, and workers’ time is very expensive, as I noted here (in a VERY rough calculation, admitedly, but it gives the idea).
I think all cities seem to be oriented towards experience a rise and fall, sometimes followed by another rise and a sort of “leveling out” at that point. The way it seems to work in Ohio, and maybe elsewhere, is that there is a “big problem” or challenge that comes at or near a major turning point in the city’s development. If city planners and leadership know how to properly address the problem and successfully do so, then the city passes the “test” and positively moves forward into the next stage of its’ development. If not, then the city enters a long period of decline, maybe eventually rebounding into a sort of renaissance and long term stasis some many years down the road.
There was a time early in Ohio’s history when Cincinnati was THE city. Early in US history, Cincinnati was the westernmost major city in the country. After the turn of the 20th century, Cincinnati’s planners were expecting it to grow exponentially and become something akin to New York City (at that time), even going as far as planning the now infamous and never-completed Cincinnati Subway. However, the exponential growth never came, and unfortunately, the subway was never completed. Perhaps completing the subway wouldn’t have led to Cincinnati’s exponential growth anyway. But who knows how it might have transformed the city, its’ economy and its’ culture over the following century? Perhaps the Cincinnati Subway was the key component that would have eventually lifted the city into a new and successful phase of growth and development.
At any rate, Cincinnati was then surpassed by Cleveland both in terms of massive population growth and industrial expansion. The city of Cleveland once had a population of 915,000, clearly establishing itself at its’ peak as THE city. Cleveland’s planners spent a great deal of time during the city’s prime debating how to take the next step towards regionalizing the city’s government to firmly establish its’ strength and influence, and properly handle the needs of a population they expected to easily surpass 1 million. But they never could muster enough public support and a broad-enough political consensus to do so. Eventually, an unfortunate combination of social upheaval, riots, white flight to the emerging and thriving suburbs and the collapse of local industry paved the way to Cleveland’s long and seemingly inexorable decline.
Today, Cleveland and its’ surrounding region struggles to address economic and infrastructure issues, among other things, but cannot do so successfully due to fractured, cumbersome and ineffective government between the city, its’ county and the suburbs. Divided against itself, Cleveland was surpassed two decades ago by Columbus in relative terms of economic and population growth, and so Columbus became THE city.
Columbus, unlike Cleveland, never permitted itself to be walled in by multiple rings of suburbs, and instead forced the would-be new municipalities into annexation for water and sewer services. In doing so, Columbus maintained annexation as a powerful tool for its’ own growth and economic development, and has used it successfully for half a century.
The challenge I see for Columbus now is the collapse of suburban sprawl as an engine for economic growth and development. Annexation therefore will no longer work as a major economic engine for the city, helping Columbus where Cleveland and Cincinnati were unable to help themselves. Columbus must therefore successfully make the transition from economic growth and development based upon being an expanding, sprawling city, to a workable model of economic development based upon being a re-centralized, livable and walkable city. So far, I think we are doing very well in this regard with a thriving core of communities and districts from German Village to the University District. And streetcars would also help a great deal towards this end.
Not sure when the other cities will make a comeback, but I’m betting in Cleveland and Akron, it will have much to do with the medical industry, which remains a great strength and advantage in these areas.
Census: Columbus bests state, lags rivals in growth
Business First of Columbus
Thursday, March 19, 2009
The government data indicate the population of the six-county Columbus metropolitan area grew 1.1 percent to 1,773,120 residents during the 12 months ended July 1, 2008. Stacked against the state’s other two largest cities and the state as a whole, the growth was notable – the Cincinnati region’s population of 2.16 million rose marginally from 2007, while metro Cleveland’s 2.09 million population was down slightly.
READ MORE
I lived in Florida for a few years. One time somebody pointed out a car in the parking lot with its lights on and asked me if it was mine. When I went to check, the license plates were from Iowa. Similarly, many people assumed that I am familiar with Cleveland. I grew up in Dayton and have only been there a few times. And these people were familiar with Athens and Austin. So there has to be something missing. Maybe encouraging a bigger and more organized live music scene would create a common thread?
For people outside the Midwest: I’m from the Peace Accords town (this is more familiar to people outside the US). And now I live in Alex P. Keaton’s home town. Not WKRP, not Drew, not Klinger. And yes, the roads are paved here, and we have electricity (as long as the wind doesn’t blow a certain way).
My main beef with the Euclid Corridor Project is it was sold to taxpayers as a transportation project, not an infrastructure project. Officials were scared they couldn’t sell “just” infrastructure improvements to the public if there wasn’t something new & shiny to show for their investment.
No doubt, the infrastructure improvements provide much needed repairs & updates. That’s helpful to most development but let’s be honest – The Cleveland Clinic would have spent that $1.2 billion regardless. CSU would have spent $300+ million regardless. And the CIA, CMA, VA hospital, etc, etc.
But, the transportation aspect of the ECP was entirely unnecessary. There were/are already multiple busses, day & night, that go up & down Euclid, Prospect, Carnegie & Chester to connect Public Square & University Circle.
So, now you have this shiny new quasi-rail system that people don’t use with any more frequency than the regular busses. At least as far as I can tell.
Don’t get me wrong, I hope Cleveland experiences a rebirth where tens of thousands of people move back into the city & everything’s rosy.
But I’m also a person who lived in Cleveland for years & heard millions of promises about what great things would happen because of Tower City, the still-missing 100% taxpayer-funded Medical Mart, RTA’s Waterfront Line & three different 100% taxpayer-funded sports venues, among other “city-saving” projects.
Yet, the Cleveland area, and the city itself, is consistently among the top 3-5 regions in the U.S. people are moving away from –
http://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2009/03/metro_cleveland_is_third_natio.html
http://blog.cleveland.com/plaindealer/2008/07/cleveland_leads_big_cities_in.html
No doubt the Clinic would have spent the money anyway. That place is a beast. CSU? No idea. You may very well be right. That’s still only $1.5b of $10b+ that’s come in or pledged along the line. I can’t speak to how it was sold to taxpayers or its usage. The idea that officials are scared to sell the real deal is pretty omnipresent in every initiative. Granted, the public has some blame there, too.
I’m still a big fan of any project that saves people time. We really don’t think enough about the cost of lost productivity from work and/or decrease in well-being from leisure. That’s part of why I wish Ohio had higher gas taxes and use the income to spend more on infrastructure & mass transit, including not only finishing 3C, but make it truly high speed. I also think it could be the key to a regional medical/biotech corridor, like I mentioned above.