Smart, young ... and leaving

Younger folks thriving in Columbus, but more of them are moving on

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Tim Doulin

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Columbus has risen in the ranks of cool cities for young adults, but it’s fighting to hold on to them.  U.S. Census data released today says Columbus’ population is relatively young and well-educated compared with other large cities across the country.  And a recent survey by Forbes magazine says Columbus is the 11th-best city for single people in the United States, up from 28th place in 2003.

 

"There are young, interesting, intelligent people in the community and Columbus still has five to 10 years of growth in front of it," said Derrick Grosso, 25, co-founder of the Columbus Young Professionals Club.  "I would compare it to a popular nightclub. When they see other people going there, they’ll want to go as well.  "Looking at traditional Columbus, people aren’t really expecting a whole lot of action or diversity," he said.  "You expect that from New York or Chicago. But since you don’t expect it, it’s an even greater reward to find that it really is here."

 

Link to census graphic: http://dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/08/15/20060815-A1-04.html

 

Link to How the Top 15 Cities Stack Up: http://dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/08/15/20060815-A4-05.html

 

More at http://dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/08/15/20060815-A1-01.html

Wow. If you ask the majority of my friends that grew up in Cincinnati and decided to go to college in Columbus at OSU they'd tell you the complete opposite. They'll tell you:

 

1. How vibrant the neighborhoods are.

2. How pedestrians fearlessly walk around and enjoy being outside.

3. How clean the city is.

4. How there's so much to do and so many clubs and restaurants to choose from.

5. How great the selection of malls are (Polaris, Tuttle, Easton)

6. How great OSU is socially and academically

7. How ignorance and racism is less of an issue

I could go on forever.

 

Everyone I know thinks this about Columbus. I can't believe the negativity in this article. Columbus is second behind only San Francisco in percentage of 4 year degrees? Booo hoooo! Columbus is awesome. I wonder if these people saying Columbus should be doing better have ever been to other major cities around the U.S. Columbus is the friendliest and most vibrant city in Ohio. End of story. I say this as a fan of Cin. and Cle. but facts are facts.

 

5. How great the selection of malls are (Polaris, Tuttle, Easton)

 

Seriously?  Like shopping malls ever deviate from the pre-packaged homogenized crap you seen anywhere else?  Who moves to a place because of "great shopping malls"? This is UrbanOhio, right? 

 

6. How great OSU is socially and academically

 

I'll buy the "socially" part.    :-P

5. How great the selection of malls are (Polaris, Tuttle, Easton)

 

Seriously?  Like shopping malls ever deviate from the pre-packaged homogenized crap you seen anywhere else?  Who moves to a place because of "great shopping malls"? This is UrbanOhio, right? 

 

6. How great OSU is socially and academically

 

I'll buy the "socially" part.    :-P

 

Columbus has more retail per capita than any other city. Easton is by far the best mall I've ever been to. Columbus is also home to the second largest McDonalds, next to Beijing China. Beijing...Columbus Ohio! I don't think its unreasonable to think some people might move there because there's great shopping. There's certainly a lot of great upscale apartments that sprouted up next to Easton for people that obviously like Easton's atmosphere. It's more like a village than a mall.

 

Graduate programs:

Fisher College of Business: #22

Specialty program in Accounting is #10

Specialty program in Supply Chain/Logistics is #4

 

College of Education: #24

Specialty program in administration/supervision is #6

Specialty program in counseling/personnel services is #8

Specialty program in curriculum/instruction is #6

Specialty program in elementary education is #4

Specialty program in secondary education is #4

Specialty program in vocational education is #3

 

College of Engineering: #26

 

College of Medicine: #32

Primary care is ranked #33

 

Moritz College of Law: #39

Specialty program in dispute resolution is #3

 

Biological Sciences: #51

Chemistry: #24

Mathematics: #29

Physics: #24

 

Ohio State is a great deal for someone wanting a good education at an in-state price.

 

I'm pretty sure the undergrad programs are generally ranked higher but I can't find them on the website.

 

 

yea i agree with david.  the more i live in cbus (go to osu) the more I realize how awesome columbus is.  it really is nice.  it has nice 'hoods and an open mind.  I would love to combine cincys looks with cbus's attitude and bam, you have my perfect Ohio city. 

It's more like a village than a mall.

 

There used to be these things called "neighborhoods" where you lived AND did your shopping.  What a concept.

Yeah, I know..it sucks. You can get your hair cut, do banking, pay your taxes, and get prescription glasses all at your local Walmart and Meijer. Those are the new downtowns :[

Columbus is underrated and continues to be. And you'll always notice that ", OH" often, if not always follows a mention of Columbus. As if there is another Columbus that even compares.

 

Now Easton does have apartments, but you have to cross a very busy and wide street. It's not conducive for walking at all. I don't know why they didn't add on at least a few floors of residential onto some of the buildings there. It's not like it's an iffy place and it's uncertain as to whether or not people like it. Oh well, maybe in the future, cuz I think it'd be a great place to add plenty of people. That would be the kind of suburb I'd much rather see.

easton? groan. columbus having the second biggest mcdonalds after beijing? good an example as any of why young people leave.

 

although i do love cols and think it underated, the fact that there are also other columbus's people think of is still a publicity problem. it's a nice place, but not known for anything special that would immediately come to mind for an outsider. thats not a bad thing in the long run. not at all.

 

 

Columbus has a lot to offer for its size and cost of living. It's not New York and it's not San Francisco but at the same time you don't have to live off of Ramen Noodles :] 

5. How great the selection of malls are (Polaris, Tuttle, Easton)

 

Seriously?  Like shopping malls ever deviate from the pre-packaged homogenized crap you seen anywhere else?  Who moves to a place because of "great shopping malls"? This is UrbanOhio, right? 

 

6. How great OSU is socially and academically

 

gggrrrr.  im sure youre joking and im sure you know its the best public school in the state (take that miami).  And its getting incredibly better every year.  The average ACT score for this incoming class is a 26.4 and on top of that our enrollment has increased.  Thats hard to do, esp. for the largest school in the nation.  woo!  go bucks!

 

I'll buy the "socially" part.    :-P

wft.  damnit, i quoted myself up there when i didnt want to. 

c-dawg, i hope you didnt direct that towards me.  hopefully you saw the mistake i made and how i defended osu's academics.  I accidentally inserted my rant in front of the finished quote so it looks like i simply posted a quote.  SO I will repost what I said just to clarify. 

 

5. How great the selection of malls are (Polaris, Tuttle, Easton)

 

Seriously?  Like shopping malls ever deviate from the pre-packaged homogenized crap you seen anywhere else?  Who moves to a place because of "great shopping malls"? This is UrbanOhio, right? 

 

6. How great OSU is socially and academically

 

I'll buy the "socially" part.    :-P

gggrrrr.  im sure youre joking and im sure you know its the best public school in the state (take that miami).  And its getting incredibly better every year.  The average ACT score for this incoming class is a 26.4 and on top of that our enrollment has increased.  Thats hard to do, esp. for the largest school in the nation.  woo!  go bucks!

In a way it would be nice to see Ohio State turn into a UC-Berkeley or a U of M academically (I'm gonna get attacked for that second reference, I know it lol) but i'm sure that in cities with public ivys such as those they do a decent job of retaining the best and the brightest that go there via local/regional recruiters.

 

On second thought that might be flawed logic. Berkeley has a huge in-state population to draw from and there's not many universities in Michigan with high standards. Making OSU more competative would probably just force other Ohio Universities to lower their standards. I don't know.

 

C-Dawg,

I was mainly referring to the core, certainly not Dominion homes (they're the absolute worst  :whip:) although on the west side they've created a neat little village with garages behind the houses, complete with little alleys. Still doesn't compare to a real neighborhood though, unfortunately :[

By fearlessly walking the streets I meant crime-wise, not car-friendly infrastructure.

When you attract transient people to your city, you have to expect them to remain transient minded and pick up and leave eventually.  What you have to keep doing in that situation is attracting people each year after graduation. 

^ exactly what i was thinking. osu tends to rope in the big city and farmer ohioian students and i'd bet a remarkable amount remain in columbus after graduation as compared to other ohio college towns. i am sure osu leads the way in ohio's version of urban migration. however, i am not sure how many out-of-staters stick around. prob not many. is that stat is available somewhere?, i bet it is.

Anyway, I have something to say for someone doubting OSU's academic clout these days. OSU is the highest ranked public university in Ohio (even higher than snooty-ass Miami) by U.S. News & World Report. Their rankings can make or break a school, and OSU does awesome there. OSU used to be typical "Rhodes era, open-admission crap" like pretty much every public school in Ohio, but a LOT has changed in recent years. OSU is climbing the ranks fast and it is becoming one of the toughest admissions in the state. From my experience, only Miami is tougher to get into as general admission. For a school its size, OSU has become one hell of a tough admission. If anything, OSU's academic clout now overshadows its social scene, which isn't anywhere near what it was in the 80's or 90's from what I gather. OSU gets more and more of the "smart kids" and that's helping it move away from the "party school" curse.

 

I was teasing, of course--my parchment says "Michigan" on it.  :-P

 

And I happen to know that Lloyd Carr is a heck of a nice guy.   

This article came as a bit of a surprise to me. Compared to the college towns in Michigan, I'd think Columbus would be an incredibly "sticky" town for the recent graduate, certainly moreso than Ann Arbor (expensive, small) East Lansing (Leningrad with cows), etc. Columbus would seem to have it all: Familiar environs. Young population. Affordable housing. Hopping social scene. Decent job market. I guess the challenge is keeping them stuck in a world where the coasts sustain the engines of brain drain.

This "admission for everyone" policy wasn't a James Rhodes idea.  It was the reason why land grant institutions (i.e. (insert state name) State University) were established back in the late 19th century nationally.

It's only been in the last 20-25 years that schools like OSU have had to toughen their standards and stop accepting the masses because their funding from various governmental entities has been getting cut. 

 

But to each their own concerning school. Be it the desire to be among the elite, or among the masses (who need education to get a job, but are being shut out of that market)

^ less than twenty years. if i am not mistaken, osu was the last major ohio school to have open admission. quite an upturn for osu these days with those act scores.

 

osu is truly a monster magnet. columbus needs to become less suburban to be more sticky for grads. good news is they are certainly working on it.

if i am not mistaken, osu was the last major ohio school to have open admission.

 

Didn't UC and Toledo both have open enrollment up until recently?

Wow, this Rebecca Ryan (not mentioned by name in the article) sure has a nice little racket going.  From the 10/3/06 Dispatch:

 

$85,000 question: Can Columbus lure, retain young professionals?

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Jodi Andes and Mark Ferenchik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Call it an investment to stop the flow of young adults who flock to central Ohio universities, only to leave after graduation.  Last night, the City Council approved an $85,000 contract with the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce to hire a consulting firm from Madison, Wis., to help the city attract and retain young professionals.  Columbus has a great ability to attract talented young adults to area universities but needs to keep more of them here to help improve the local economy, Councilwoman Mary Jo Hudson said.

 

Mayor Michael B. Coleman said central Ohio is home to more than 100,000 college students.  But many of the 20,000 who graduate each year leave the state to find jobs and never return, he said.  The median age in Columbus is 32.1, U.S. Census data released in August showed.  That’s lower than the national figure of 36.4 and third-lowest among the 15 largest U.S. cities.  But the data also showed the number of 25- to 34-year-olds in Columbus declined by about 4.8 percent between 2000 and 2005.

 

More at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/10/03/20061003-D3-01.html

 

$85K is a small price to pay to retain yuppie puppies. Or is it astronomically high. I'm at a loss.

I have a hard time referring to it as brain drain. Its one thing if your high school kids go off to college and never return. Its another thing if students come in from another region, graduate and leave Columbus. The former is a better indicator of brain drain than the latter.

This "admission for everyone" policy wasn't a James Rhodes idea.  It was the reason why land grant institutions (i.e. (insert state name) State University) were established back in the late 19th century nationally.

It's only been in the last 20-25 years that schools like OSU have had to toughen their standards and stop accepting the masses because their funding from various governmental entities has been getting cut. 

 

But to each their own concerning school. Be it the desire to be among the elite, or among the masses (who need education to get a job, but are being shut out of that market)

 

I couldn't have said the last paragraph better myself. As lower middle-class kid from Parma....Harvard wasn't an option even with good test scores. So I ended up going to OSU. Some of you guys are Grade A snobs. It's a 'joke' school if you have general admissions? What should be the cutoff for family income for kids to go to 'real' college? $100k? $200K? Instead of going from college straight to a white collar job (*cough, DaninDC*), some of you folks needed to get a ramp job at an airline or deliver pizzas just to get a little perspective on how foolish your statements sound. Too late now I guess. There are millions (yes, millions) of kids that would be happy to go to a Cleveland State or UT type school but can't afford it for many different reasons. But why go if their school is now 4th-tier? Shit, just go to the Connecticut School of Broadcasting. I worry how many idiotic employers use these school standards to brush off better qualified people in order to have retards from 1st-tier schools. I bet there are plenty. Proof: Look at the employment record of the guy living on 1600 Pa. Ave., NW. :)

Just because they let all students in, it doesn't mean its a bad school. Students with low scores at UC go to the center for access and transition... Some colleges within the university are really competative whereas others aren't. Then you have honors programs, so it's really not too relevant. That's like judging someone for working at McDonalds then finding out their job title is cheif financial officer; it doesn't really matter that they work at McDonalds then, does it?

^^ Globalization cuts both ways. Hire idiots from 1st-tier schools, then get squashed by the employer that has competent 4th-tier school grads. Example: Bloggers from 4th-tier schools get scoops on stories over 1st-tier grads working at major newspapers. Publishers at these newspapers can't figure out why, they just keep hiring 1st-tier grads in hopes it will fix itself. Throw in blogs from other countries, and the US newspaper industry is doing an excellent job of driving themselves out of business, all because most of the publishers can't see past the 'college list'.

 

BTW, when you said you worked with 'uneducated' people....WTF does that mean? Please don't tell me you mean people that have a HS diploma. There's alot of education that goes into that document alone.

>They're bragging rights, and a high ranking can mean more applicants and more money. Schools don't usually care about the overall ranking though. The ratings for individual colleges within a university are far more important. For example, OU would only be a 3rd-tier school (like BG and UC) if it weren't for Tcom, Viscom, Film, and Journalism. OU's real prominence is in partying and alcohol/drug use, not academics.

 

The rankings matter, but the connections matter more.  If you go to a school near NYC, you are more likely to get a job there right out of school and just by having worked in New York in your field your resume will look much better when going after higher level jobs in the same industry in the midwest.  Speaking for myself, out of my top nerd friends, guys who got SAT scores in the high 1500's and one who got a perfect ACT, all went to college outside Ohio and only one is back.  But part of that reason is the careers of their wives and girlfriends, and obviously if you are in NYC there are tons of jobs in every field so both of you can get a job.  This is a big reason why schools in the boondocks like OU have trouble attracting faculty -- spouses just plain can't get a job there because there aren't any.  So either the husband or the wife has to sacrafice their career for the other, unless they want to do the ridiculous 70 mile Columbus-Athens commute.  This goes for married grad students too, and partly explains why OU attracts gaggles of poorly behaved grad students who think they're still 19.     

 

Anyway, so the reason why job growth and diversification of the state's economy is so important is so that transplanted couples can both sustain careers in Ohio's cities.  My one friend from high school who has returned to Ohio will soon be teaching at OSU and his wife got a teaching gig at Dennison.  They met in grad school, they both are in the same field, so they lucked the hell out in both getting teaching jobs in the same field within commuting distance.  This is what I'm talking about. 

 

 

>What should be the cutoff for family income for kids to go to 'real' college? $100k? $200K? Instead of going from college straight to a white collar job (*cough, DaninDC*), some of you folks needed to get a ramp job at an airline or deliver pizzas just to get a little perspective on how foolish your statements sound.

 

It's a major problem, the costs of tuition have typically doubled in just 10 years.  Luckily I went to grad school for free and went to a super-cheap undergrad, but I'm still in a lot of debt just from paying living expenses.  I would love to move back to Cincinnati, start a business and start rehabbing and renting old buildings on the side, but it's just plain impossible with $500/mo in student loan payments.  This is the core problem with higher ed today -- yes middle class kids like myself qualify automatically for loans, but rich kids just plain don't have that giant monthly bill staring at them when they get out and so have a lot more freedom in where they can move and having cash to buy a house or start a business.  Also, if you are rich, you can afford to play around in NYC for a year until the dream first job appears, you get the interview, and you get hired.  I'm like a lot of people in that I had too much debt to wait around and be selective, I had to take the first job I could get, no matter where it was.     

 

 

I couldn't have said the last paragraph better myself. As lower middle-class kid from Parma....Harvard wasn't an option even with good test scores. So I ended up going to OSU. Some of you guys are Grade A snobs. It's a 'joke' school if you have general admissions? What should be the cutoff for family income for kids to go to 'real' college? $100k? $200K? Instead of going from college straight to a white collar job (*cough, DaninDC*), some of you folks needed to get a ramp job at an airline or deliver pizzas just to get a little perspective on how foolish your statements sound. Too late now I guess.

 

I'm really tired of this juvenile bullshit.  I've been working my ass off since I was ten years old, delivering newspapers.  Since then, I've bussed tables, washed dishes, worked at McDonald's, cooked in a few restaurants, and even waited tables for three years part-time AFTER I had a college-degree and a full-time job.  Not bad for a guy from Maple Heights who put himself through Michigan, huh? 

 

Why do you insist on the personal attacks, Amrap?  I am where I am because I took risks and worked my ass off.  All you want is for others to feel sorry for you because you're from Parma, while attacking anyone who did anything beyond what was expected for their caste.  Well, you can just kiss my ass, because I'm actually a pretty decent person.  But it's so much easier to put labels on people because of WHAT they are instead of WHO they are, isn't it?

Uhh... I have a few friends that go to Northwestern, McGill, and MIT and they are definitely extremely smart. They didn't get in because of luck or family wealth, they got in because they dedicated tons of time to studying. They know how to set limits and eliminate distractions. They're extremely focused, and smart. My friend that goes to Northwestern is from Price Hill and his family's income is pretty low, so that's a pretty lame excuse. To some extent those schools are elitist, particularly like MIT or Wharton at UPenn but if you're smart and dedicated you have a decent chance.

I couldn't have said the last paragraph better myself. As lower middle-class kid from Parma....Harvard wasn't an option even with good test scores. So I ended up going to OSU. Some of you guys are Grade A snobs. It's a 'joke' school if you have general admissions? What should be the cutoff for family income for kids to go to 'real' college? $100k? $200K? Instead of going from college straight to a white collar job (*cough, DaninDC*), some of you folks needed to get a ramp job at an airline or deliver pizzas just to get a little perspective on how foolish your statements sound. Too late now I guess.

 

I'm really tired of this juvenile bullshit.  I've been working my ass off since I was ten years old, delivering newspapers.  Since then, I've bussed tables, washed dishes, worked at McDonald's, cooked in a few restaurants, and even waited tables for three years part-time AFTER I had a college-degree and a full-time job.  Not bad for a guy from Maple Heights who put himself through Michigan, huh? 

 

Why do you insist on the personal attacks, Amrap?  I am where I am because I took risks and worked my ass off.  All you want is for others to feel sorry for you because you're from Parma, while attacking anyone who did anything beyond what was expected for their caste.  Well, you can just kiss my ass, because I'm actually a pretty decent person.  But it's so much easier to put labels on people because of WHAT they are instead of WHO they are, isn't it?

 

Then please, please, please Dan stop firing off salvos and not expect someone to respond. I'll take the crap I said on the DC neighborhood threads, I started that. But you came on here and attacked the academic crediblilty of my alma mater. Don't expect me to sit around and watch you shoot your mouth off whenever it feels appropriate. You definitely think your opinions are the correct ones. Forgive me for stating them as possibly false. And for a guy who's worked at McD's, I'm amazed at the some of the attitudes you hold. I accept the fact I'm from Parma...and don't expect any f'n pity. I'm not ashamed from being there...but I am ashamed at some of the attitudes people hold from that place. You on the other hand, act like Crapitol Hill and DC's shit dosen't stink...when actually Maple Hts. and Parma for that matter are better places to live in many respects. But they do have fewer Starbucks per square mile. ;) 

Uhh... I have a few friends that go to Northwestern, McGill, and MIT and they are definitely extremely smart. They didn't get in because of luck or family wealth, they got in because they dedicated tons of time to studying. They know how to set limits and eliminate distractions. They're extremely focused, and smart. My friend that goes to Northwestern is from Price Hill and his family's income is pretty low, so that's a pretty lame excuse. To some extent those schools are elitist, particularly like MIT or Wharton at UPenn but if you're smart and dedicated you have a decent chance.

 

I never said that there weren't undeserving people that went to these institutions. But you've gotta admit there are also plenty of undeserving people that went there due to the fact that more deserving people couldn't pony up the cash to these institutions. There are only so many scholarships available at any institution. GWB went to Harvard Business School and he has trouble with verbal subject-verb agreement. Maybe he has a speaking disorder, but the guy just seems a bit slow to have gone there. But his dad was loaded. Awfully coincidental.

From the 12/9/06 Dispatch:

 

Columbus looking for ways to keep young professionals

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Sherri Williams

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Tamira M. Moon is young, educated and ambitious.  A scholarship to Ohio State University drew her to Columbus. Pursuing a graduate degree and launching her career kept her here.  But Moon, a program specialist at the Ohio Commission on Minority Health, is looking to leave for Charlotte, N.C., or Atlanta because Columbus lacks cultural, social and entertainment offerings that appeal to her.

 

"It’s a town for college people," said Moon, 27, of Clintonville. "Then it jumps to a family town, especially for African-Americans. In between there is nothing for us."  Moon is among people between ages 25 and 34 who are leaving Columbus or other major cities, an exodus driven by a search for better social and professional prospects.  Columbus has hired Next Generation Consulting Inc. to gauge the city’s "cool factor" and appeal among the age group, which demographers and business leaders say will be crucial to a city’s vitality in the next decade as baby boomers retire.

 

Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/12/09/20061209-A1-04.html

 

Transit and walkability are really key, and Columbus sucks at both. People in this age range don't want to deal with racking up 3 DUIs just to be able to go to the bar and meet people. There are still many people 25-34 in Columbus, it's just that they spread out and trapped in various suburban apartment complexes where nobody meets their neighbors.

^Well said.

 

Though, I'll say youth is wasted on any 20-something who chooses a suburban apartment complex.

"The median age in Columbus is 32.1, compared with 36.4 nationally. But between 2000 and 2005, the city lost 4.8 percent of its 25- to 34-year-old population, or 6,631 people, according to the U.S. Census.

 

The city is spending $85,000 for the study to find out why and how to reverse the trend, Brown said.

 

People in that age group, often referred to as the "young and talented," need more than just a good job with benefits to satisfy them, said Rebecca Ryan, founder of Next Generation Consulting."

 

There is a major assumption here.  We know that these people are young, but not necessarily that they are talented.  They may be hacks.

Baah, it's demographer talk.

Should we spend another $85k to survey thier employers and find out if they are, in fact, talented?  :)

Isn't there a "Talented?" checkbox on the census longform? 

 

But seriously, I assume they mean educated.  I haven't seen statistical documentation that we are losing the young and educated.  We may in fact be losing the young and uneducated who may be moving to the new factory, service, and construction jobs in the south.  Just an alternate hypothesis.

I wonder if the $85,000 will reveal the revolutionary discovery that not everyone wants to live in urban sprawl after they graduate from college, that quite a few people actually like living in cities & urbane neighborhoods.

I wonder if the $85,000 will reveal the revolutionary discovery that not everyone wants to live in urban sprawl after they graduate from college, that quite a few people actually like living in cities & urbane neighborhoods.

 

Everyone knows there are no hot chicks in the sprawl.   

There are tons of women in newer suburban apartment complexes...especially the cities where this is more or less the primary option.  Dads invariably pay for their princess's rent and they aren't going to put them up in some soggy rental by the tracks.

 

Look, the only place where walking home from bars works is from bars within walking distance of your house.  If you live in Mt. Adams you have to get a cab if you're at a downtown bar or vice verse.  The subways don't run late in the cities that have them except New York and even there the overnight service is so infrequent people take cabs anyway.  If you're out late enough you can ride the subway when it fires back up at 5:30.  Some cities have night owl bus service but unless it's damn obvious how the service works when you've been drinking you aren't going to be able to figure it out. 

 

>"Columbus is a hard place to meet people if you didn’t go to high school in this area or if you didn’t go to OSU," the Downtown dweller said.

 

That's EVERYWHERE.  I've lived all over, that's every mid-size city and smaller.  And to a large extent transplants hang out with transplants everywhere.  Happy people hang out with other happy people.  People who like to complain hang out with other complainers.  Honest people hang out with honest people.  Fakes hang out with fakes.  That's how it goes. 

Well, unfortunately Cbus is filled with sprawl and suburban apartment complexes.

 

Face it, besides OSU, Cbus sucks the big one. Well, at least for those of us who dont drive pickup trucks everywhere we go.

 

 

Not always, and "public Ivy" can be a joke anyway. Miami is "public Ivy" because of the wealth/Greek tradition there- not its academic tradition.

 

Not always, and "public Ivy" can be a joke anyway. Miami is "public Ivy" because of the wealth/Greek tradition there- not its academic tradition. The Miami Triad was once the epicenter of the American fraternal movement. Miami today ranks as one of the Greekest schools in the country. Miami also has something like 60% of their student body coming from households above 100K a year (that's 2-3 times higher than any other public school in the state). :x Much of Miami's Greek life has ties to the East Coast too. After graduation, I bet more Miamians leave Ohio than any other school in the state.

 

Miami has no more of an academic tradition than OSU or OU, but it was the first school in Ohio to throw out the Rhodes idealogy of low admission standards- the "college for everyone" idealogy. It basically had a head start on OSU and OU, but I'd say OSU has overshadowed Miami in academic quality.

 

there's not many universities in Michigan with high standards.

 

This is true. Michigan is the only public school in the state that's tough to get into.

 

Wrong #1 -- Miami has an academic tradition stretching back to the early 1800s when it attracted top students to study w/ prestigious faculty like William McGuffey of McGuffey Readers fame.  It was called the "Yale of the West" and graduated famous alums, like Pres. Ben Harrison.

 

Wrong #2 -- both Michigan State and Michigan Tech, both state supported, have competitive admissions -- not as competitive of U-M, of course, but as much or more competitive than OSU's.

Not trying to diss OU, it's a fine school, but when did it become even the slightest bit hard to get into? Some of the dumbest kids in my grade are applying there as a "definite in safety school" and their stretches are places like Indiana and UK (again, not bad schools but just not overly competitive).

Well, unfortunately Cbus is filled with sprawl and suburban apartment complexes.

 

Face it, besides OSU, Cbus sucks the big one. Well, at least for those of us who dont drive pickup trucks everywhere we go.

 

Trolling already, I see. Although your point is taken what with Cincinnati's excellent light-rail...err, subway...um, streetcar....oh wait, they're just doing a study on one and the other two are no where to be seen. Just like Columbus, except we finished our study. Take THAT Cincinnati.

This article isn't saying that Columbus is having some major brain-drain, the city is just picky and will not be happy until they keep all the young graduates (which is impossible.)

 

Columbus still has a high young professional population.

 

I live in Columbus, in the innercity area just north of the Short North, and my friends and i have many nightlife options, walk, take cabs, and do not live in suburban apartment complexes.

 

That columbus , the suburban side, is just one part of the city, Columbus' innercity offers young professionals an increasing number of living options in very gentrified neighborhoods.

 

Columbus has a great young professional scene in downtown, the short north, Victorian Village, Italian Village, OSU Gateway district, the brewery district, Grandview corridor, the arena district.

 

These areas are urban and are growing with dense apartment and condo developments daily.  There is a reason why so many young professionals are staying, the city is just trying to find ways to keep it this way and to increase the options.

 

Columbus has a great and growing high end young professional nightlife scene, growing job market, great dining scene, etc.

 

I am 22 have a great job here and will be moving in a loft.  I do not need to to hear how Columbus is not for young professionals, from someone in a different city, who is most likely almost over the hill anyhow.

Wrong #2 -- both Michigan State and Michigan Tech, both state supported, have competitive admissions -- not as competitive of U-M, of course, but as much or more competitive than OSU's.

 

Wrong Wrong #2 -- This year's freshman class at OSU contained more students who graduated in the top 10% of their high school class than Miami, and also had nearly identical ACT scores.  Pretty impressive for a school who accepts more than twice the number of applicants.  It's also overtaking Miami in many of the rankings.

 

I couldn't find the dispatch article with all of the pretty graphs, but this lantern article summarizes it...

 

http://www.thelantern.com/media/storage/paper333/news/2006/09/18/Opinion/Freshmen.Push.Osu.Academics.To.Higher.Level-2282594.shtml?norewrite200701110941&sourcedomain=www.thelantern.com

Well, unfortunately Cbus is filled with sprawl and suburban apartment complexes.

 

Face it, besides OSU, Cbus sucks the big one. Well, at least for those of us who dont drive pickup trucks everywhere we go.

 

Trolling already, I see. Although your point is taken what with Cincinnati's excellent light-rail...err, subway...um, streetcar....oh wait, they're just doing a study on one and the other two are no where to be seen. Just like Columbus, except we finished our study. Take THAT Cincinnati.

 

Gee if the only thing Columbus can do better than Cincy is finish a study, then no wonder why it is a shi!!y town. We may not be perfect in Cincy but at least we have other valuable assets to be proud of besides the fact that we were able to complete a study.

^ Why don't you go somewhere else you idiot.