mrCharlie

Sound logic for all the reasons you stated, but I'm thinking if Wilmington it would more likely be east or south of town in order to have rail for receiving bulk materials (or even shipping finished goods). Plenty of options along 22/3 between Wilmington and Washington CH, and there is a north/south rail line near 71/41. Definitely an underserved labor market in that area after Airborne left. Maybe it would add enough traffic on 71 to justify 3 lanes between Cincinnati and Columbus so I can visit my parents without constantly being stuck behind two semis. I'll throw out a crazy wildcard guess and say somewhere along the Rt 32 corridor in Clermont, Brown, or Adams County. Would draw from much of the above labor market and even some much more rural areas. Lots of cheap land, and there is rail - depending on the scale this could justify reactivating the rail banked eastern end of the old N&W Peavine to direct ship resources from east-coast ports (and ship finished batteries back to Japan). While I'd personally rather see Honda locate closer to one of the metros so this doesn't enable exurban sprawl - just like with Wilmington, there are already plenty of people living in this area that formerly had decent job opportunities not too far away (Ford in Batavia, Piketon plant, and also Airborne). Plenty of them drive to the Cincinnati suburbs for work now.

Definitely been some trial-and-error since they opened in Granville. It opened sort of cafeteria-style - walking through the line picking out your food, then grabbing a table if you wanted to eat it there - which felt very natural for this kind of place. Easy to see what looked good and very takeout friendly. When they changed over to full table service a few months ago, ordering takeout meant ordering at the register and waiting awkwardly for your food by the front door, telling everyone who comes in you aren't in line for a table. It wasn't terrible, but it was confusing, and thinking about it we haven't been there as often since that change was made. It's usually busy enough when we drive past (a few times a week) that I'm hopeful there is no danger of closing. It's not a great location though - out of the way and easily forgotten, not at all walkable compared to most Granville restaurants. Going from having a great takeout setup to making takeout feel like an afterthought probably doesn't help in a community that remains fairly COVID-conscientious. Not helping in that regard is the dining room is fully enclosed, unlike a few of the busier places in town. There are some tables in back that don't come across as especially inviting - again in contrast with most places in town - but no idea how they are to eat at in practice (living a few blocks away I'd expect the mosquitoes to be unbearable next to the creek).

The couple of blocks of residential along 21st past Deo/Goose Pond implies the business district doesn't just go any further north. We cut down this section of 21st from 13 a few weeks ago on the way back from picking blueberries in Mansfield, and realized it's been a few years since we were last on that stretch of road. I was always hopeful this strip would one day become Menards or the return of Meijer to Newark, but I'm sure both realize its just too out of the way. This use for the property is enough of a destination that I think it will do well.

When we moved in our house had a row of four hemlocks no more than 30 ft behind it (to the south). These were tall enough to go above the roofline, despite being probably 10 ft lower than the walkout basement. Further down the hill were a couple of Norway Spruces (?) that were also quite large. These looked nice, made the yard feel like a park, kept maintenance down on the hillside, and provided great shade for the house. Sadly, these trees were planted far too dense back in the 70's-80's, and both species were apparently not good choices for the growing conditions. After years of brown branches and increasing die off from the top down, an arborist confirmed they were pretty much all goners - so we sadly had to cut them all down. Not only was the loss of privacy and aesthetics annoying, but the south face of our house went from full shade to full sun. It's an old two story house with so-so insulation and ventilation, it's painted purple, and the south side has a walkout basement. The formerly adequate air conditioning was suddenly barely able to keep up on sunny days, making it very obvious just how much the trees were helping keep the house cool.

It will be fascinating to see if Troy Balderson sides with his district or his party.

To have a chance the Democrats needed something to change the conversation away from gas prices and inflation, two things (at least in my opinion) they have little control over but would almost certainly get the blame for in November. Fortunately the Supreme Court really came through for them, and Republicans across the country are doing everything they can to make sure we stay focused between now and November.

Does look to be the same address as the bakery/bistro. FWIW, we went there a few times when it was still in Granville (it's two blocks away, and I do love baked goods...). It was the second of three bakeries to occupy that tiny space. The first was more or less by-order only so nobody ever got to try it or remembered it existed. The second were very nice but had odd hours and (at least the couple of times we went) the stuff felt very homemade - but not in the good sense. I'm not even sure it was baked in the store. They didn't seem fully committed to the venture, perhaps that changed once they moved. The current (third) bakery is very good, definitely bakes in store, and seems to be doing well. We do our best to support them, possibly more than we should.

Yes, that range is about right. If most schools are like our daycare it gets cheaper as the kid gets older, teacher/kid ratios are larger for older kids (and less hands on post potty training), but also some actual teaching skills are needed. That's if you can find a place with openings to being with - we got on the list right after he was born, he was 10-11 months when he started. We are extremely fortunate to have found a great school in the first place, and be in a position to afford it.

Can't wait for the no-more-daycare "raise" when our son starts kindergarten this fall. Even with WfH daycare is still a necessity for most people - I've been fully remote since 2012, my wife mostly remote throughout the pandemic. Kid was in daycare pretty much the whole time daycare was open, it's just not realistic with our jobs for him to have been home. WfH does make things easier during the occasional sick day, we trade off and he gets a lot of extra screen time.

I would love to see more things happening in downtown Alexandria. It's an easy bike ride from my house, but just far enough that going there for dinner would seem like an adventure. I had high hopes for Village Taco, but I don't think Alexandria was quite ready yet to sustain a vegan taco place with erratic operating hours (and neither were we, or Columbus once they moved).

Station is now open for breakfast and lunch in Granville! Made the two-block trek down there today for an early lunch, great cafe food, great coffee, and excellent baked goods (provided by Granville Baking Company [formerly Lucky Cat], also owned by Chris Crader). Great use of the circa-1880 train station, which looks better than it has in years both inside and out. Along with sister-restaurant Harvest Pizza opening sometime soon-ish across the street, this really helps bridge the gap between downtown Granville and the spread-out businesses along Main Street (and even River Road). Hoping that this area becoming a true part of Granville's business district will help serve as a realty check for the rather-greedy landlords downtown pushing otherwise viable businesses out with crazy high rents.

I'm glad to see some growth down that way, but I do have too admit I hold a bit of a grudge against Kirkersville and would love to see it get swallowed up by a neighboring municipality. The only speeding ticket I've received in the last 15 or so years was a few years back in Kirkersville, I missed the not-well marked drop to 35 heading north on Outville Rd and continued going 50 through the undeveloped area south of town, where this is going in. Ultimately my fault and I totally accept that, but the whole encounter was kind of weird with the officer (chief?) acting as if he was doing me a huge favor by "only" ticketing me with 15 over and not a bunch of other things (I have no idea what...I was in my early 40's, driving an almost new grey hatchback with toddler sleeping in the back - there was nothing crazy going on). And of course the advantage presented is that I could pay my fine online and not have to appear in person. Back when I was a lot less careful about watching my speed, it was always a simple admission on my part that I messed up, and the ticket was handled my way without any sort of implication I was getting a favor. Anyway, no real point to this post, other than if anyone wants to check out the development site be sure to watch your speed...

Nice! Great location for OSU-N students as well. I've always wondered what the story is with that building. The size of it, the kind of awkward split, and parking lot make me think it originally was a grocery store built to serve the surrounding neighborhoods. That would have been a really busy corner before the highway was built. (And now that I bothered looking... Licking County Recorder shows a lease recorded 3/1/1974 between BRUMBAUGH, L LLOYD / TWIN RIVERS REALTY CO - Twin Rivers shows as the current owner - and CASES CARDINAL FOODSTORE INC. I can't see details or verify the address, but that seems plausible give how large grocery stores were in the early 60's when that was built. A quick search of the owner name above shows someone who passed away a month or so ago - which would fit with selling the building off that's had the same owner for at least 40 years.) (This goes even deeper 🤪 - searching for Twin Rivers Realty lists company in Columbus with George Hadler as president. Searching for George Handler of Columbus show a LinkedIN page that lists him as President of Hadler Companies, and CEO of Columbus Square Bowling Palace. This all makes sense!)

I was going to post this in response to the 3C+D discussion, but realized its not at all Ohio specific. Hopefully this is more appropriate. Regarding travel time comparisons, for short and medium range routes it's probably worth considering electric vehicle charge times as their adoption increases. Within Ohio, Cincinnati to Cleveland is going to need at least one charging stop for the majority of EVs. Same with any of the 3Cs to Chicago. Yes that could be concurrent with eating lunch, but it is still a stop and does add time versus being able to drive straight through. The train option makes it a lot easier to buy an inexpensive commuter-range EV for most driving, taking the train for regional trips (assuming it goes where you need it to). That got me thinking - as EV popularity increases, it feels like there is an opportunity for a rethought version of the Autotrain aimed at effectively "extending the range" of electric cars. Maybe even add chargers, get to your destination with a fully charged car. That's one way to solve both the range challenges of affordable EVs with current battery technology, and the last-mile problems of rail.

Unfortunately part of the reason for the rise of the crossover is the tendency of people to associate what they grew up with as parent-mobiles. Kids who grew up in station wagons embraced the minivan, kids who grew up in minivans embraced the crossover. An aging population also loves the seat height in crossovers, no need to plop down or climb up. The current popularity of larger vehicles with aggressive styling can also make it a bit intimidating driving anything small or low. Despite the added risk of rollover in a taller vehicle, it's hard not feeling a bit more secure when you are no longer at eye level with a pickup truck's bumper. Small cars also feel smaller than they used to, pillars are thick and belt lines high to meet modern safety standards. I personally prefer the smallest vehicle I can get away with, but that is challenging when a kid is involved. The Fiesta SFE we had before my son was born was great (3-cyl, 1L turbo hatch that got hybrid-like MPG), but modern car seats are huge and there was no way one was fitting in there with enough room for me to drive. I traded it in for a Focus ST thinking it had just enough extra space (we'd use my wife's Forester for long trips), but it still was a bit tight rear-facing, and then recommendations changed to keep kids rear facing as long as possible. Room for the car seat was never a second though in the Forester, and it was a lot easier getting him in and out. When used car prices started to spike last summer, we realized we never drove the Focus because it was too small to be comfortable for anything beyond around town, and the Forester was getting a bit old for long trips. So I took advantage of the crazy trade-in prices on the Focus for a Toyota Venza hybrid crossover. The kid seat fits great along with other people in the back, as does his stuff, and we get 40 MPG. The roofline is a little lower than I'd like, but it does everything we need and since I don't prioritize "fun" like I used to there is little downside versus a car (especially since it's a hybrid). I work from home exclusively, my wife occasionally goes in but is mostly home as well. We live right in town, have flexible schedules, and we can walk or bike to most everything we need (daycare is a little sketchy with gaps in the sidewalks). Three months ago today, we realized we were never driving the Forester and sold it outright to one of the national chains for more than half of what we paid for it. As of now, unless we move or my wife changes jobs I don't see us getting another car anytime soon. It's been an occasional minor inconvenience, but so far there hasn't been anything we couldn't plan around with minimal effort. The savings aren't massive since the other car was paid off, but lack of insurance and maintenance aren't nothing. We are lucky to be able to accomplish a lot without driving because of where we live, and that's the value of living in a proper walkable community with a healthy mix of residential and business - even a small town like Granville. If we had some actual public transit here (might be happening if COTA takes over for Licking County as recently announced) this will only get easier.

I posted this in the COTA thread, but it seems relevant here - it looks like COTA is taking over Licking County Transit. https://www.newarkadvocate.com/story/news/2022/05/13/licking-county-transit-eyes-takeover-cota-eliminates-board/9734841002/ No doubt Intel and the growth it will bring are the catalyst for this, and it's a great step towards regionalism and accepting the changes that will be coming. Licking County Transit is on-demand only and aimed mostly towards people who can't drive, and nobody seems happy with the level of service they currently provide.

Looks like COTA might be taking over Licking County Transit. https://www.newarkadvocate.com/story/news/2022/05/13/licking-county-transit-eyes-takeover-cota-eliminates-board/9734841002/ This is almost certainly great news for those of us in Licking County. The previous system was on-demand only, and from what I've heard pretty much nobody is happy with it. I have no idea what the routing was like either, whether or not origins/destinations all had to be within Licking County which certain limits its utility. This is a great step forward to proper regional transit, and an acknowledgement of what will be happing with Intel coming to town and the growth (and new traffic patterns) that will almost certainly bring. If I could walk to a bus stop here in Granville I'd probably actually use the service. I'm sure plenty of Denison and OSU-N students will be cheering this possibility as well!

Pretty sure it's the middle finger.

Fair enough, you are probably right that he is better off not addressing this issue directly to whatever extent possible. He has a lot to go on that will be a lot more popular in this state. That said, I still think if we see a lot of extreme restrictions taking effect across the country between now and November, that will be a huge benefit to any candidate with a (D) after their name. Even if they don't run on it directly.

I might be wrong about this, but doesn't Ohio have Sore Loser laws that keep a primary loser from running third party in the general? Regardless, his supporters should still "make a statement" by voting for him write-in...

I don't think there is enough excitement to drive MAGA voters to the polls in November. Comments I've seen from some of our local crazies makes me think they see the governor choice as between two Democrats and vote for neither, hopefully some random third-party candidate is on the ballot to be Ohio's Jill Stein. I didn't have a ton of hope for Nan in the general, but supreme court shenanigans have me rethinking things. I don't know what the polling looked like for the primary (was there polling?), but I suspect there was a huge surge of support yesterday for any female, pro-choice candidates. Given our's state's recent history, it's not difficult to see some extreme ban finding its way to DeWine's desk, and he would almost certainly sign it. That would almost definitely drive turnout enough to cost him his job.

Tim Ryan certainly has history running against Democratic leadership (versus Pelosi for house leadership), it will be interesting to see how he frames that. I laughed about it then, but in retrospect it was a smart strategy for later seeking higher office. That's an entire line of typical R campaign strategy that isn't much of an option. I get the feeling Ryan (an a lot of other Democrats) will be running against Alito this year.

Huge fire underway at The Station development in Newark. Building was supposed to be vacant so hoping for no injuries. Fingers crossed that this is the building in the complex that was coming down anyway, not the one they were planning to renovate. https://www.newarkadvocate.com/story/news/local/2022/04/17/fire-strikes-newark-station-development-former-westinghouse-site/7349658001/ Photos by Patrick Guanciale on Facebook.

I'm not usually one to be all excited for chain places to come to town (typical Granville resident...), but I have had my fingers crossed for years Menard's would build here (or at least somewhere close). Newark Home Depot is tiny and Lowes has crooked lumber, tired of driving to Reynoldsburg to save big money. Might be kind of lame across from a world heritage site though. Also pretty excited about Dunkin since that's the best chain coffee, spent a year in Rhode Island where there are 164 (!) of them in a tiny little state. There were legitimately DD locations you could see two other stores from. If that's going where I think it is, the check cashing place right there looks suspiciously like it was a Dunkin Donuts back i the 1980's.

We've been fans of Mai Chau/Three Tigers since it was just the food truck, they've worked hard and definitely earned the success. They should have no problem filling that huge space, which looks fantastic (roll up doors!). Ugh Brew's only has themselves to blame. It was our favorite place to eat when we first moved to Granville, but the decline was noticeable after the owner decided he didn't want to pay for a head chef. Then the tragedy happened - and when it did, they posted on Facebook about not blaming the poor, innocent business for overserving him. They took it down quickly but enough people saw it (including my wife), and word travels fast in a small town. Not long after they had the infamous health inspection with the bat in the freezer, and closed not long after. We all thought Donato's was here to stay, and apparently business was actually good even during COVID. The owner posted online the closing really was because of the absurd rent increase and requirement for a long-term lease, and he just wasn't comfortable with that financial commitment. The 16 entrance has been crummy since we moved here. I think part of the issue is that its township (I think it might have been annexed since), and I don't think utilities were available until recently. Creno's Pizza was aways pretty crummy in that space, so we were thrilled when Ray Ray's took it over. The assisted living facility actually looks pretty nice and did improve the area quite a bit. The abandoned gas station though...see below about that. Around Thornwood does have some potential, but clearly has some access issues now that there is a proper interchange (which is still a huge improvement). Maybe we'll see something after the new bridge is in place which will probably bring more cars to the area. There is a common theme among any sub-optimal or vacant spaces you see around town. I'm not sure how accurate it is, but I always think of it as "Old Granville", or maybe "the Granville Elite". I moved here right after the highway opened, and you could tell a lot of restaurants and businesses still took the "where else are you going to go" approach, and didn't try to compete with offerings in Columbus. Brews was one of the worst for it, as well as the terrible Italian restaurant (now Hashi) under the same ownership. There are a number of property owners in the area who can afford to sit on vacant property indefinitely (even though most of us here in town want to see development), and they want absurd amounts of money for these spaces. They are happy to exploit the limited locations around town, and there aren't a lot of businesses who can make the numbers work. Some examples (taken from www.shai-hess.com), which were about as bad before the Intel announcement: • Donato's/Brews - 9600 sq ft (admitted big, though split across three non-contiguous floors) for just $2.5M or $13k/month • Abandoned gas station on 16 is $750k - less than 1 acre • Vacant house at 661/Weaver is $550k - .75 acre • Lot next to Arby's (2.1 acres) is $250/acre • Empty lot by fire station has a development plan to lease a new building for $20 sq ft/yr. I don't have a great sense of commercial prices, but these all seem absurd. Not sure what the answer is. The village annexing more spaces and taking a more pro-delvelopment stance might help, simply by increasing competition - but there is only so much space close to downtown. Increased population might increase volume of customers, so larger businesses can make the numbers work. I'd personally love to see the county assess all these spaces at the full asking price (instead of the pittance its all valued at now) - make it really expensive to sit on indefinitely, motivate owners to be a little more reasonable.