FloridaBound21

I am a registered voter in Florida, I couldn't vote in Ohio. Registering to vote in Florida is part of the residence establishment process. Like I said, I didn't vote so I shouldn't complain. I am not trying to make this off as a complaint. I am just tired of seeing leaders like Kasich go into office, when voters get rid of Strickland because they think he has failed. That has been the story in Ohio for a long time. I want to see politicians that come forth that bring in new ideas, and not stick to the old way of doing things. That way of doing things has not done much good for Ohio since the 70s. It was easy for Kasich to make his ads that said Strickland lost 400,000 jobs. That is all I heard from Kasich. Yet Strickland was doing a lot more than a lot of Ohioans ever even gave him credit for. It was easy for them to see that 400,000 and get upset. It is just like the 3C. It is easy for Ohioans to hate it because we don't have that here. It is easy for them to see that it will start out slower, and think it won't be successful. Ohioans aren't very well educated on trains.

Trying to learn how to post here on UO. I wrote something that didn't show up. Sorry to be off topic. Ok, I should have copied and pasted what I said. It was a detailed sort of essay about my thoughts on the 3C and Ohio. Anyway, I have been checking in on UrbanOhio for about a year now, and have decided to join. I am from Columbiana, Ohio just south of Youngstown by the Pennsylvania border. I graduated highschool in 2009, and I went to Cleveland State University and was/am majoring in Urban Studies. They have a great program there. But as much as CSU was changing, the city of Cleveland didn't quite live up to my expectations. I cancelled my classes for my fall semester my sophmore year. Cleveland was lacking in vibrancy, and was a city that didn't seem to care where its fate lied, and adding on a negative population with a corrupt government didn't help me wanting to stay either. Don't worry, I will talk about the 3C. I am not trying to get off topic, it is just the 3C/Ohio is very important to me. The 3C was an important project to me. As a young Ohioan in college who hopes to get into transportation planning down the road, this was a deal changer for Ohio in my opinion. I didn't vote so I shouldn't bi***. But I wanted Strickland to win in the worst way instead of this radical dictator Kasich. I am a registered voter in the state of Florida where I will be moving to in two weeks. I am moving to Florida because they are not afraid to get things done, plus I have family down there and my eyes on some schools that I want to go to. I know their economy is in the pits, and Orlando is about as fake of a city as you can get. Downtown Jacksonville and Tampa are more lame then Downtown Columbus, but their ever-expanding rail and high hopes for inner city development and transportation has recieved my attention. I can't stand the ignorance and lack of insight most Ohioans have on new things. Rail, investment in the cities themselves instead of the suburbs, getting away from this manufacturing mentality (which I believe is extremely important to Ohio, but I live around Youngstown which unfortunately is all this area has.) I am tired of watching Cleveland decline while Pittsburgh does great things. I live right in the middle of both. The residence of Pittsburgh are trying, while it seems like the majority of Clevelanders have given up. Strickland was bringing forth new ideas and ineciatives to Ohio in which nobody was standing up and doing before. He made it possible for young Ohioans in college to actually believe Ohio's future had bright spots. I fear for Ohio's future now with Kasich. I wanted to return to Ohio in 10-15 years being able to work in cities that had rail, sustanibility, impressive infrastructure, progressive city neighborhoods, and people who were excited about the places they lived in. I unfortunately don't see that happening in Ohio for a very, very long time. I would have liked to of been able to ride a train from Cincinnati (a city that I really love) to Cleveland home to so many great cultural ammenities. But I can do that in Florida where they are taking their rail money and DOING SOMETHING WITH IT! I look at all the Ohioans that have moved to work somewhere else, taken the education they have recieved at our universities and taken it south or out west. So many in my family have done so, including my brother who moved to Hawaii last month. I wanted Strickland to stay in office and bring in the new jobs, ideas, positive attitudes, etc. He said it best.... "Ohio will be an island to itself." We will be now because so many more are putting their rail money to good use. Ohio which is already the most populated corridor in which our cities are not linked by rail. Downtown Cleveland and Columbus are nice, but are dead after 5. I lived in CSU's Fenn Tower. My friends and I would go downtown in the evening to East Fourth, Barroom, Tower City, etc. Me being the urban studies major would pay attention to the lack of pedestrian traffic, wide streets and barely any density. I want to be in a city that offers those types of things. With the current leadership in Ohio, I have given up faith on the 3C happening. I am starting to worry about the streetcars in Cincinnati. I fear many more jobs will be lost under Kasich's budget cuts, and Ohio will continue to fall behind so many other states. Ohio is home, but I plan on making somewhere else home. A place that WANTS to get things done. It pains me to talk about Ohio like this. I stick up for Ohio any chance I get, but it really is getting harder to. Ohio built a lot of this country, and it is wrong the path that so many have let it take. Home to 11.5 million great people, this state deserves better leadership. I will always be a Buckeye....