Cleveland and Cincinnati people like to talk about Columbus' annexations a way to assert their city's position as more of a major city than Columbus, in spite of Columbus' larger population. (I am a Cleveland person so I can say that haha) And to a certain extent it is true... there are way more people, as well as various cultural, historic, and architectural significance, in the metro areas of CLE and CIN than in Central Ohio.

 

The metro populations were within about 180,000 people from highest to lowest position in 2013, so really they're not that far apart, especially considering the differing growth rates.  Columbus is almost guaranteed at this point to not be in 3rd place come 2020, or possibly even before that.  And how are we measuring what's important culturally, historically or with architectural significance?  This seems completely arbitrary to me.

 

But this is an example of the problem within Ohio.  People are so insecure that they can't talk about one city without bashing another or trying to downplay anything positive about them.  We'll lie or fudge the truth or stereotype just so we can feel better about where we live.  It's terrible and so counterproductive.  I don't even know if people realize they're doing it all the time, it's just become second nature.

 

 

 

Cleveland and Cincinnati people like to talk about Columbus' annexations a way to assert their city's position as more of a major city than Columbus, in spite of Columbus' larger population. (I am a Cleveland person so I can say that haha) And to a certain extent it is true... there are way more people, as well as various cultural, historic, and architectural significance, in the metro areas of CLE and CIN than in Central Ohio.

 

However, that doesn't mean that Columbus' annexations were not absolutely the correct strategy. Most of us dislike sprawl on here, but sprawl was the trend during the time of the annexations... why should Columbus not benefit in it? Why should Columbus give away all of their wealth? Columbus city leaders looked at Cleveland and looked at Cincinnati and saw disaster, and they formulated a strategy to protect themselves from it. They had an advantage in that their city was surrounded by far more unincorporated land than CLE or CIN. (Although Cincinnati still has lots of unincorporated land bordering the city so Cincinnati leaders really dropped the ball on that one). They kept wealth and a tax base in their city, as well as avoided the crippling decentralization caused by the presence of 60-some bickering municipalities in Cuyahoga County. And today the positive effects of that decision show.

 

Columbus' approach (and Toledo's too BTW) was the most-correct survival strategy in light of Ohio's anti-urban policies in which cities subsidize urban and rural development. But the best strategy wouldn't have been to subsidize the suburbs and rural areas at all.

I don't see why this has to be an argument of Columbus verses Cincinnati verses Cleveland.

 

Cleveland and Cincinnati people like to talk about Columbus' annexations a way to assert their city's position as more of a major city than Columbus, in spite of Columbus' larger population. (I am a Cleveland person so I can say that haha) And to a certain extent it is true... there are way more people, as well as various cultural, historic, and architectural significance, in the metro areas of CLE and CIN than in Central Ohio.

 

However, that doesn't mean that Columbus' annexations were not absolutely the correct strategy. Most of us dislike sprawl on here, but sprawl was the trend during the time of the annexations... why should Columbus not benefit in it? Why should Columbus give away all of their wealth? Columbus city leaders looked at Cleveland and looked at Cincinnati and saw disaster, and they formulated a strategy to protect themselves from it. They had an advantage in that their city was surrounded by far more unincorporated land than CLE or CIN. (Although Cincinnati still has lots of unincorporated land bordering the city so Cincinnati leaders really dropped the ball on that one). They kept wealth and a tax base in their city, as well as avoided the crippling decentralization caused by the presence of 60-some bickering municipalities in Cuyahoga County. And today the positive effects of that decision show.

 

All of the unincorporated areas bordering the City of Cincinnati are nearly 100% residential.  These are money-losers from the city's standpoint since the city supports itself overwhelmingly with the earnings tax.  Norwood and north along I-75 and I-71 do have many jobs but those areas are pretty much 100% incorporated. 

Rural doesn't have sewers.  This discourages suburban-type developments.

 

Rural areas have had the hammer brought down on them ever since energy prices skyrocketed except  natural gas. Most of them can't get natural gas so winter means an automatic $5000-8000 bill. People had to go back to laborious wood burning stoves. Many more rural houses are being demoed than before. Also the lack of internet is making people leave.

But this is an example of the problem within Ohio.  People are so insecure that they can't talk about one city without bashing another or trying to downplay anything positive about them.  We'll lie or fudge the truth or stereotype just so we can feel better about where we live.  It's terrible and so counterproductive.  I don't even know if people realize they're doing it all the time, it's just become second nature.

 

Amen. Amen.  Oh, and Amen.