This sounds like a bubble.  There's been no corresponding gain in local jobs or wages.  I suspect it's also a function of dwindling candidates for home ownership, which suggests not a bubble.  At least some bathrooms are getting updated in the process, that's a community benefit. 

 

 

Greater Cleveland is undergoing job replacement therapy...

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2017/05/good-paying_jobs_in_ne_ohio_re.html

"(However,) another report we did showed that over the next decade Northeast Ohio will need 50,000 new production workers," Stanton said, adding that many of the job openings will be to replace retiring workers.

 

Then there's the eds-n-meds sector which is growing as fast in Cleveland as the tech sector is in San Jose or Austin.

As someone who frequents most of the Westside, maybe not everything is gentrifying, but most most neighborhoods are looking better as the land bank tears down problem houses. If suddenly you are the worst looking house on your street you take notice and step up repairs, painting, etc.

 

I know in my end of things (old Brooklyn) property management companies have been snapping up houses as fast as they can; fixing up houses and raising the rent to unheard of levels. And people are paying it!

 

It's not always a full house gut and rehab; update the kitchen and bath and now a 600 a month double unit  is now worth 800. Double and duplex prices have similarly risen.

 

I've looked at buying houses in the Westside "hood", and prices have taken a similar leap in the last 2-3 years. Not everywhere is up to Tremont or Gordon Square pricing but a definite price floor is being established.

 

The average for a Lakewood double was nearing $900 this past summer. I expect to see many asking over $1000 by next summer.

 

This sounds like a bubble.  There's been no corresponding gain in local jobs or wages.  I suspect it's also a function of dwindling candidates for home ownership, which suggests not a bubble.  At least some bathrooms are getting updated in the process, that's a community benefit.

 

Sales prices are increasing in Lakewood too.  Although rents and sales prices are generally a function of each other.

I'm not a real expert on the CLE, but I'd say that gentrifiers and other urbanites are moving in while the 'hood empties out more. So even without an increase in jobs or wages you're seeing people from 'burbs and small towns both in and outside of the metro driving up rents. Remember, the small towns and rural areas are really emptying out. So when doubters are like, "Millennials are moving to the suburbs, see? I knew it would happen!" you have to remind them how quickly the small towns and sticks are losing people. Not all of them move to the city.

As you travel along the West Shoreway, the amount of development visible is remarkable. For many blocks at a time, it's as if there's a whole new city. And the portions that haven't yet been redeveloped, we hear updates on UO of new projects that will redevelop them soon. Now if we could just access them from the transit that plies the Shoreway...

 

I rode the substitute red line bus today, it's pretty crazy how many higher end restaurants etc have gone in on Detroit in just the two or three years since I first really explored the West Side.

Seattle to spend $100 million on new affordable housing:

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/seattle-to-spend-100-million-on-affordable-housing-including-for-9-new-apartment-buildings/

 

The article is a bit vague -- they do not supply the source of the money or renderings of the proposed new buildings.

Jason Segedy, formerly of AMATS, now with the City of Akron, has a new extensive blog post up on his thoughts on gentrification, especially in Rust Belt cities with abundant affordable (sometimes nearly free) land:

 

http://thestile1972.tumblr.com/post/168665095095/the-g-word-what-it-means-in-the-context-of-the/

 

I take no credit for authorship in the slightest, but they sum up my thoughts fairly well.

^Excellent piece. 

Jason Segedy, formerly of AMATS, now with the City of Akron, has a new extensive blog post up on his thoughts on gentrification, especially in Rust Belt cities with abundant affordable (sometimes nearly free) land:

 

http://thestile1972.tumblr.com/post/168665095095/the-g-word-what-it-means-in-the-context-of-the/

 

I take no credit for authorship in the slightest, but they sum up my thoughts fairly well.

 

 

Pepe Is A Skunk • a few seconds ago

I've been saying for some time that Cleveland's alternatives are what some would call "gentrification" and more sprawl. So I largely agree. I used to live in the "borderlands" between metros Cleveland and Akron, and now live in Cleveland proper within sight of the Lake.

 

Make no mistake about one thing though, when and if people with options move into the city and inner ring suburbs, they will, to some degree, form "enclaves" where their values prevail. People may or may not care about the race, religion, or economic status of their neighbors, but they always care about their values and, yes, behavior. Particularly in denser areas.

Columbus plans changes to real-estate tax breaks to boost ‘affordable housing’ in desirable areas

 

Under the proposal, to be eligible for a 100 percent, 15-year property-tax abatement from the city, housing developers in the economically strongest neighborhoods, such as the Short North, will be required to set aside 20 percent of units for affordable housing or make a payment to an affordable-housing fund that will be used to aid other projects. Developers would need to set aside 10 percent of the units for households making up to 80 percent of the median annual income in the Columbus metropolitan statistical area, and 10 percent for households making up to 100 percent of the median.

 

Developers can earn credits toward the affordable-unit requirement by including at least 25,000 square feet of Class A office space or spending at least $1 million on environmental remediation.

 

In lieu of providing these affordable units, developers may choose to make an annual payment of 125 percent of the difference between the rent collected from the 20 percent least-expensive units and what would have been collected from affordable units. The money would go into the Affordable Housing Trust to aid the creation of units elsewhere.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/business/20180129/columbus-plans-changes-to-real-estate-tax-breaks-to-boost-affordable-housing-in-desirable-areas

Jason Segedy, formerly of AMATS, now with the City of Akron, has a new extensive blog post up on his thoughts on gentrification, especially in Rust Belt cities with abundant affordable (sometimes nearly free) land:

 

http://thestile1972.tumblr.com/post/168665095095/the-g-word-what-it-means-in-the-context-of-the/

 

I take no credit for authorship in the slightest, but they sum up my thoughts fairly well.

 

 

Pepe Is A Skunk • a few seconds ago

I've been saying for some time that Cleveland's alternatives are what some would call "gentrification" and more sprawl. So I largely agree. I used to live in the "borderlands" between metros Cleveland and Akron, and now live in Cleveland proper within sight of the Lake.

 

Make no mistake about one thing though, when and if people with options move into the city and inner ring suburbs, they will, to some degree, form "enclaves" where their values prevail. People may or may not care about the race, religion, or economic status of their neighbors, but they always care about their values and, yes, behavior. Particularly in denser areas.

 

 

economic status will always be a divide because it is the one true divide.

 

Columbus plans changes to real-estate tax breaks to boost ‘affordable housing’ in desirable areas

 

Under the proposal, to be eligible for a 100 percent, 15-year property-tax abatement from the city, housing developers in the economically strongest neighborhoods, such as the Short North, will be required to set aside 20 percent of units for affordable housing or make a payment to an affordable-housing fund that will be used to aid other projects. Developers would need to set aside 10 percent of the units for households making up to 80 percent of the median annual income in the Columbus metropolitan statistical area, and 10 percent for households making up to 100 percent of the median.

 

Developers can earn credits toward the affordable-unit requirement by including at least 25,000 square feet of Class A office space or spending at least $1 million on environmental remediation.

 

In lieu of providing these affordable units, developers may choose to make an annual payment of 125 percent of the difference between the rent collected from the 20 percent least-expensive units and what would have been collected from affordable units. The money would go into the Affordable Housing Trust to aid the creation of units elsewhere.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/business/20180129/columbus-plans-changes-to-real-estate-tax-breaks-to-boost-affordable-housing-in-desirable-areas

 

Good to see the city tying this.

Here is the uncool house my brother is now renting in a blasé Nashville suburb for...$1,175/mo.  You could own that same thing in Cincinnati for $600/mo. 

 

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/909-Cayce-Dr-Madison-TN-37115/41064300_zpid/

In fairness, rents are typically higher than mortgages anyways. I've seen houses like that in uncool CLE suburbs with decent schools renting for a grand. Maybe they have 3 BR instead of 2.

Jake, did you just doxx your brother?

I really don't understand the allure of Nashville.

I really don't understand the allure of Nashville.

 

It's a startlingly nondescript, unwalkable place.  Here is the main drag in ultra-hip East Nashville:

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.2013047,-86.739649,3a,60y,24.23h,87.06t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sjqkP1G031stSLLrDZ_a8EQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

 

 

 

 

Jake, did you just doxx your brother?

 

While I'm at it, here is his old place, on the left.  $1,075/mo with no renovations, but on the cusp of ULTRA-HIP EAST NASHVILLE. 

https://www.redfin.com/TN/Nashville/1211-Katie-Ave-37207/home/107993790

 

 

 

 

I really don't understand the allure of Nashville.

 

It's a startlingly nondescript, unwalkable place.  Here is the main drag in ultra-hip East Nashville:

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.2013047,-86.739649,3a,60y,24.23h,87.06t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sjqkP1G031stSLLrDZ_a8EQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

It looks like Route 28 in Milford.

Yeah, the appeal of places like Nashville or even Austin really gets lost on me. But it is an interesting philosophical study in cities' reputations and word-of-mouth. Maybe if we can get enough people talking up the super-luxe hidden speakeasy inside of the White Castle kitchen on Route 28 in Milford, it too can start commanding crazy rents and make Clermont County the center of a new tech hub.

Wow, I've never been to Nashville, but my opinion of the place is pretty low, especially after seeing some of these scenes that Jake shares. One of the things I find odd about Nashville, though, is that it seems to be really popular among totally disparate groups. A friend couple of mine did a cross country roadtrip as they moved from Brooklyn to LA. The girl is from San Francisco, the guy from Seattle. Both are very liberal, somewhat hipsterish. They said Nashville was one of their favorite spots of the road trip, and that they thought it was a pretty cool city with great nightlife. I asked about whether it felt really conservative, which I often find to be the case in the South, and they said not really at all. The guy remarked that the amount of bachelorette parties was a little odd, but that was the only knock either of them could find. Maybe it has a really unique culture, where it functions as the bastion of liberalism in the forest of red around it, similar to an Austin. I just think I must be missing something, because on paper, Nashville does not appeal to me at all. I don't like country music or super conservative places. I find the urban form of Nashville to be pretty lacking from what I've seen online. There just must be something I'm missing...

It's a startlingly nondescript, unwalkable place.  Here is the main drag in ultra-hip East Nashville:

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.2013047,-86.739649,3a,60y,24.23h,87.06t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sjqkP1G031stSLLrDZ_a8EQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

Never been to Nashville, but when I think of it I picture a relatively cool, small, central city area surrounded by an entire metro area which looks like Polaris Parkway, except with even more megachurches. Doesn't appeal to me. But I highly doubt this link is a fair representation. I could find plenty of streets like that in any city. Five minutes of googling east nashville reveal other, more interesting main drags. It does seem, however, that the housing stock is nearly all blah postwar suburban.

I refuse to believe that is a cool part of town. Looks like the descent into the edge of Fairborn on 444.

I just listened to an interview with Carrie Brownstein, one of the co-stars of Portlandia, in which she talked about the final season of that show. One interesting topic that came up was how much American cities have changed since the show first came on the air in 2011. When Portlandia started, the show was making fun of over-the-top hipster stuff that you'd only find in places like Portland (or maybe SF or Brooklyn), but now, most of those things are mainstream. You no longer have to go to Portland to find a gourmet donut shop or a "curated" flea market or a third wave coffee shop with an interior made of reclaimed wood or a dozen microbreweries specializing in obscure styles of beer. Literally every mid-sized American city now has all of those things.

 

Perhaps the biggest reason that so many cities started seeing a resurgence in the past decade is that people were craving authenticity. In particular, people that grew up in the suburbs with bland architecture and chain restaurants discovered that in the nearest big city, there's culture, great historic architecture, cool restaurants/bars/coffee shops, etc. But now that urban revitalization has hit a certain stride, and many of these cities now offer the exact same types of amenities, I think many people are seeking out the next level of "authenticity" by moving to cities that have a very distinctive brand. Nashville of course benefits from their brand as the capitol of country music. Even for people who don't like country music, it has an appeal in a kitchy/ironic sort of way; i.e., they love the fact that Nashville has this country music "authenticity" even though they couldn't care less about country music itself.

Now that "authenticity" is mainstream I wonder what is next. Even most smaller cities have it. Nashville is still cruising on being one of the few cool larger cities in the South. Sure everybody loves Savannah and Asheville but Atlanta still isn't all that cool... really.

^ I also should've added that Nashville and Austin gain points by being moderate-to-liberal islands inside red states. Since the idea that red states are "real America" has been drilled into our heads, cities like Nashville and Austin are automatically more "authentic".

...but Atlanta still isn't all that cool... really.

 

Maybe to white folks, but...

Yeah, yeah, I know.

Perhaps the biggest reason that so many cities started seeing a resurgence in the past decade is that people were craving authenticity.

 

Bingo.

I've been to Nashville 4 times, and recently 2 times as a good friend of mine moved there from work and also because his wife is from there.

 

My fiance and I did a nice long walk around the area which I would consider would be equivalent to Cincinnati's Uptown Area as it was Vanderbilt, their parthenon (sp?), and the commercial strip area which to me was kind of like the campus strip and I think it was called Hillsboro but I may be completely wrong:

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1366721,-86.8009134,3a,75y,124.96h,89.01t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sP2fPD53RItJvPumnPsSypA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

We also had went to a couple other areas from a past visit and later on it that same visit.  Here was the one of the areas we went for hot chicken:

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1276145,-86.7891956,3a,75y,165.11h,88.31t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s_b2hXHvGyqFG_UMra8rwjQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

So my impressions of Nashville are also the downtown Music City Row or whatever they call it which is crazy and nothing like we see in Cincinnati at least with a massive wave of people in all directions.  It's actually quite cool and reminded me a tiny bit of a scene like in LA around the walk of fame with just a massive crush of people.  But I wouldn't want to go there often as it's expensive and just nuts and people completely hammered and country music (which I am not a big fan of contemporary country music, so bad and I don't get it).  I think people who didn't live a country like life or konw anything about it from real life experience love country music because it makes them feel a part of that life, where as people like myself and those I grew up with in Iowa where people are really kind of rough around the edges compared to contemporary Cincinnati people who are, how should I say, a bit out of touch with more rural America.

 

That long diatribe brings me to say that people who you would think listen and love country music actually don't like it at all and listen to more hard rock and enjoy that better, more like real music and real guitar playing.  That doesn't discount Outlaw country people like Waylon and Willie and Cash and those guys, and current people like Stapelton, etc. who are pretty awesome, but I digress.

 

Back to Nashville, my fiance and I, and also my good buddy who lived in Cincinnati for awhile and who happens to be a massive Reds fan from Indy, all say that by far and away Cincinnati is so much prettier and interesting than Nashville.  My good friend by the way tells me all the time Cincinnati is his favorite city he ever lived in and wants to move back, but his wife is from Nashville so guessing he is going to stay there.  He has lived in a ton of places, from Indy, Cincinnati, SLC, Dallas, and now Nashville.

 

Nashville has the vitality Cincinnati doesn't have, but for me I would take Cincinnati 1,000x over Nashville.  A lot of their neighborhoods don't really have sidewalks, it is what you would think a southern town would be.  Reminds me a lot of what a place like Huntsville, AL is, where my mom used to live.  Almost carbon copy in a lot of the neighborhoods.  In the area around Vanderbilt where my buddy lives, they are tearing down a ton of the old apartment brick boxes and building new generic stuff like you see around uptown Cincinnati, but with no real sense of place, kind of mish mash.  Also tearing down a ton of old bland houses like the one Jake posted, and building up 3 story houses, etc.  And boy has it sure exploded since 2006 when I first stayed there for a night, like really exploded.  My buddy and I stayed at a hotel just across the Interstate from downtown row and it was kind of rough and ragged, and now the whole area is like mid-rise towers and a ton of traffic with the roads not able to hold it all.  I actually think that is where they built Skyhouse Nashville, right in that area.

 

It's a cool and happening place with good food in the neighborhood districts, to be sure, but it does not have the sense of place Cincinnati has.  I hope someday Cincinnati can get to 25% or 50% of the vitality Nashville has in it's downtown/OTR.  I think we can, and we have all the ingredients, but we just don't have the leadership right now.  Things talked ad-naseum here like fixing the streetcar issues, zoning code/parking mins in OTR and downtown, road diet on Liberty, would be the three things in my opinion we need to do to get the pulse up a bit more. 

 

I do think the Kroger grocery is really going to help though as well.  Sorry for long post rant :P

A friend couple of mine did a cross country roadtrip as they moved from Brooklyn to LA. The girl is from San Francisco, the guy from Seattle. Both are very liberal, somewhat hipsterish. They said Nashville was one of their favorite spots of the road trip, and that they thought it was a pretty cool city with great nightlife.

 

When we drove through Nashville we had a modest plan: to watch some live music and get late dinner someplace.

 

We drove through downtown past all of the super crowded bridesmaid bars and clubs, past all the nearly complete condo highrises, then past all the hockey fans until found this awesome little spot with live bluegrass called the Station Inn. After a few pitchers of beer and some incredible music we grabbed a few more pitchers and very good pizza at this late late night joint outside the city called Mafiaozas.

 

The next time I drove through Nashville, same exact plan. Same result...a great night.

 

Now I've always hated the idea of Nashville because I hate the country music industry. I know the music scene down there is much more well-rounded now, which makes it less corporate. I don't know, but there's some reason the city managed to steal the Black Keys from Akron and Jack White from Detroit.

 

It's a cool and happening place with good food in the neighborhood districts, to be sure, but it does not have the sense of place Cincinnati has.  I hope someday Cincinnati can get to 25% or 50% of the vitality Nashville has in it's downtown/OTR.  I think we can, and we have all the ingredients, but we just don't have the leadership right now.  Things talked ad-naseum here like fixing the streetcar issues, zoning code/parking mins in OTR and downtown, road diet on Liberty, would be the three things in my opinion we need to do to get the pulse up a bit more. 

 

Southern newer-growth cities just can't compare to the rust belt/legacy cities in terms of the built environment, beautiful building and housing stock, especially Cincinnati which is one of the best. They've just been eating our lunch in economic development in places like the NC, ATL, TX. If Ohio could succeed at attracting industries of the future instead of always looking to industries of the past, we would have that vitality. I don't buy weather excuses. Our state is mismanaged.

^Yes, I don't disagree with you there at all.

 

New innovation clustered in the 3C's where we have an advantage in regards to other areas is the main key IMO.

^Yes, I don't disagree with you there at all.

 

New innovation clustered in the 3C's where we have an advantage in regards to other areas is the main key IMO.

 

I don't want to discount the obvious necessity for drawing new business. But that top-down approach relies on people like Kasich, Cranley in Cincy or Jackson in Cleveland...in other words, there's not much optimism.

 

I'm interested in things that normal people can do on the ground level to create the change.

Yes, sorry, organic growth really is the main key while doing the top down at the same time. 

 

But you are correct that it starts with normal people.  At the sametime though, our local leaders need to have policies which make it attractive for people to move to, which I am not sure about elsewhere but in Cincinnati the breaks were hit on progressive policy 4 years ago and it will be another 4 years at least until we get a chance to get back on track.

 

Cranley did a few good things like figuring out the Pension but that's basically been it.

Yes, sorry, organic growth really is the main key while doing the top down at the same time. 

 

But you are correct that it starts with normal people.  At the sametime though, our local leaders need to have policies which make it attractive for people to move to, which I am not sure about elsewhere but in Cincinnati the breaks were hit on progressive policy 4 years ago and it will be another 4 years at least until we get a chance to get back on track.

 

Cranley did a few good things like figuring out the Pension but that's basically been it.

 

No need to apologize, I mean, I'm interested in hearing what you guys think we can do. I have some things I do, like try and support small bars and restaurants in my immediate hood. I'm intrigued at the idea of starting a mini CDC for the neighborhood, and starting a community newsletter (print!). At the very least it could help build more sense of community.

Yeah that's really cool about the community newsletter.

 

I live in the Columbia Tusculum / Mt Lookout border area and I get a Hyde Park News letter once a month.  It seriously is so pointless for me.

 

I wonder if there is a community newsletter for OTR specifically??  That would be sweet and could show the hipness that deserves to be shown. 

Nashville has the vitality Cincinnati doesn't have, but for me I would take Cincinnati 1,000x over Nashville.  A lot of their neighborhoods don't really have sidewalks

 

My parents have lived there for 22 years.  The street activity and massive levels of tourism (the goddamn bachelorette parties) are all a post-2010 phenomenon.  The last time I went out in DT Nashville on a weekend was probably 2006.  It was pretty low-key. 

 

The two areas you visited -- Hillsborough Village and 12th Ave. South, are just about the ONLY walkable areas of the city outside of the downtown.  Cincinnati has literally 50+ of those sorts of areas.  I mean, Benson St. in Reading blows away either!  Hillborough Village has been pretty much the same thing since the 90s but 12th Ave. South is a more recent phenomenon.  I don't remember anything being down there until about 2005.

 

When I was an Uber driver I picked up a band from Nashville that was hanging out in Newport at the Crazy Fox Saloon and drove them to their gig on Main St at The Drinkery.  They told me they were blown away by all of the old restaurants and bars in NKY and Cincinnati.  I didn't say anything smugly to them or anything (we just talked about their music) but I could tell that they were startled that there is all this stuff in the Cincinnati area that is completely off the national radar. 

 

It really wouldn't be an exaggeration to say Nashville has 1/10th the walkability and architectural interest that Cincinnati has.   

 

 

 

 

If Ohio could succeed at attracting industries of the future instead of always looking to industries of the past, we would have that vitality.

 

Without its massive automotive sector, Nashville is still a bump in the road.

^ I consider Nashville more of a Healthcare town than automotive. Yes there is Nissan and Bridgestone, but they have about a dozen hospital systems based there. It is the home of corporate healthcare.

Nashville has the vitality Cincinnati doesn't have, but for me I would take Cincinnati 1,000x over Nashville.  A lot of their neighborhoods don't really have sidewalks

 

My parents have lived there for 22 years.  The street activity and massive levels of tourism (the goddamn bachelorette parties) are all a post-2010 phenomenon.  The last time I went out in DT Nashville on a weekend was probably 2006.  It was pretty low-key. 

 

The two areas you visited -- Hillsborough Village and 12th Ave. South, are just about the ONLY walkable areas of the city outside of the downtown.  Cincinnati has literally 50+ of those sorts of areas.  I mean, Benson St. in Reading blows away either!  Hillborough Village has been pretty much the same thing since the 90s but 12th Ave. South is a more recent phenomenon.  I don't remember anything being down there until about 2005.

 

When I was an Uber driver I picked up a band from Nashville that was hanging out in Newport at the Crazy Fox Saloon and drove them to their gig on Main St at The Drinkery.  They told me they were blown away by all of the old restaurants and bars in NKY and Cincinnati.  I didn't say anything smugly to them or anything (we just talked about their music) but I could tell that they were startled that there is all this stuff in the Cincinnati area that is completely off the national radar. 

 

It really wouldn't be an exaggeration to say Nashville has 1/10th the walkability and architectural interest that Cincinnati has.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nashville has a buzz factor that creates the hype. It took 20+ years of constant branding and building to accomplish this. The one thing about Cincy and its German heritage is that it was never one to engage in self promotion and that helped it get passed by. I think only recently has Cincy started playing the self promotion game and it has been working

^ I consider Nashville more of a Healthcare town than automotive. Yes there is Nissan and Bridgestone, but they have about a dozen hospital systems based there. It is the home of corporate healthcare.

 

Ford

Nashville has the vitality Cincinnati doesn't have, but for me I would take Cincinnati 1,000x over Nashville.  A lot of their neighborhoods don't really have sidewalks

 

My parents have lived there for 22 years.  The street activity and massive levels of tourism (the goddamn bachelorette parties) are all a post-2010 phenomenon.  The last time I went out in DT Nashville on a weekend was probably 2006.  It was pretty low-key. 

 

The two areas you visited -- Hillsborough Village and 12th Ave. South, are just about the ONLY walkable areas of the city outside of the downtown.  Cincinnati has literally 50+ of those sorts of areas.  I mean, Benson St. in Reading blows away either!  Hillborough Village has been pretty much the same thing since the 90s but 12th Ave. South is a more recent phenomenon.  I don't remember anything being down there until about 2005.

 

When I was an Uber driver I picked up a band from Nashville that was hanging out in Newport at the Crazy Fox Saloon and drove them to their gig on Main St at The Drinkery.  They told me they were blown away by all of the old restaurants and bars in NKY and Cincinnati.  I didn't say anything smugly to them or anything (we just talked about their music) but I could tell that they were startled that there is all this stuff in the Cincinnati area that is completely off the national radar. 

 

It really wouldn't be an exaggeration to say Nashville has 1/10th the walkability and architectural interest that Cincinnati has.   

 

Yeah I agree with you on everything there.  And also Cincinnati has a much more interesting flora and topography as well.  Heck, even the Cumberland River is nothing compared to the Ohio.

 

I agree on what you were saying about post 2010, I went there in 2007 during winter break.  I remember being out there with my buddy and it was a mix of people but most of the people we talked with lived there, and it wasn't the massive crush of people.  I went there I think in October of this past year and it was like a sea of people in downtown, just absolutely nuts, everywhere we went spelled like fresh vomit, it was a pretty big turn off.  And to add to the fact I wasn't in the mood for partying for some reason, and so the last time go out in downtown Nashville was pretty lame.  But the other parts of walking around to Hillsboro and eating there, etc., was pretty cool, but honestly it wasn't anymore fun than what my fiance and I call adventure days in Cincinnati when we act like in-town tourists and walk from Mount Adams down to the Riverfront and stop and get drinks or walk over the bridge to Newport on the Levee, we both agreed that was more fun and much more interesting.

^ I consider Nashville more of a Healthcare town than automotive. Yes there is Nissan and Bridgestone, but they have about a dozen hospital systems based there. It is the home of corporate healthcare.

 

People who aren't paying attention to all of that don't know how much and how quickly consolidation is happening with hospitals and other medical facilities. OhioHealth (Riverside Methodist) is snapping up a lot of Ohio county seat hospitals right now for example.

Ohio Health is nice and all for Central Ohio but it is nothing compared to HCA, Quorum, CHS, Lifepoint, Sutherland Global, RegionalCare and the numerous other hospital systems all based out of Nashville.

Oh I believe it with all the poor health situations in much of the southeast.

not cool.

Ohio Health is nice and all for Central Ohio but it is nothing compared to HCA, Quorum, CHS, Lifepoint, Sutherland Global, RegionalCare and the numerous other hospital systems all based out of Nashville.

 

I imagine OhioHealth is better. Call me naive but I'd much rather go to an academic, non-profit, faith-based, or research hospital than a Wall Street-owned hospital any day, I'm glad we have strong nonprofit health systems in Ohio. As for our rural/community hospitals, better they are gobbled up by the Clinic and OhioHealth than HCA.

^ without a doubt, the patient experience and even clinical experience is going to be better at Ohio Health than a for profit but the concentration of those companies in Nashville is quite impressive. It gives health care administrators and executive many options for talent down there.

 

Ohio has great hospital systems in the non-profit sector. Mercy Health is the largest employer in the state and it essentially mimics the for-profit model but does so in a much better non-profit environment.

Ohio Health is nice and all for Central Ohio but it is nothing compared to HCA, Quorum, CHS, Lifepoint, Sutherland Global, RegionalCare and the numerous other hospital systems all based out of Nashville.

 

I imagine OhioHealth is better. Call me naive but I'd much rather go to an academic, non-profit, faith-based, or research hospital than a Wall Street-owned hospital any day, I'm glad we have strong nonprofit health systems in Ohio. As for our rural/community hospitals, better they are gobbled up by the Clinic and OhioHealth than HCA.

 

I agree, but many of those rural/community hospitals are going to close regardless of who buys them. 

San Francisco Bay Area Experiences Mass Exodus Of Residents

By Len Ramirez

 

The number of people packing up and moving out of the Bay Area just hit its highest level in more than a decade.  Carole Dabak spent 40 years living in San Jose and now she’s part of the mass exodus that is showing no signs of slowing down.

 

The retired engineer’s packing up and calling it quits about to move to the state of Tennessee.

 

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2018/02/08/san-francisco-bay-area-mass-exodus-residents/

 

Nationwide, the cities with the highest inflows, according to Redfin are Phoenix, Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Nashville.

It just strikes me as so bizarre that these Bay Area people keep leaving one of the densest, most vibrant metro areas in the country for the likes of Phoenix and Vegas. Although I guess Phoenix sprawl really isn't that much different from the ugly subdivisions that dominate most of the cities south of SF and Oakland.