22 hours ago, jmecklenborg said:

I'd like to see a detailed analysis of the 2000-2015 Rt. 33 upgrades.  The Athens-Pomeroy "Super 2" was the first, then the Lancaster Bypass, then the Nelsonville Bypass.  These upgrades shortened the drive from Athens to Columbus by at least 20 minutes at least 40 minutes from Pomeroy to Columbus.  These road improvements enabled couples living in Athens to have one side of the couple commute to Columbus.  People were doing it before but this work made it a lot more feasible since the old roads had flooding issues. 

 

What's pretty crazy is comparing the drives to Miami versus OU from either Cincinnati or Columbus.  The drive to Miami remains a primitive sortie.  But for whatever reason the state has conspicuously favored road improvements to Athens, both from Cincinnati and Columbus.  It's almost a fully grade-separated interstate-grade drive to Athens from both major cities.  Meanwhile basically nothing has been done for Oxford. 

 

I guess ODOT could widen US 27 through Butler County, for Cincy traffic. Not sure what could be done to improve the drive from Oxford to Columbus, beyond moving one town, or the other, to the same side of Dayton.

52 minutes ago, jmecklenborg said:

 

Yeah actually 32 was funded in large part by the special federal Appalachian road fund...but nothing appreciable has happened in SE Ohio as compared to the Indiana border counties like Butler.  You can say all you want about Appalachia being cut off from the rest of the country, but the fact is there has been big-time road (and airport and other modes) infrastructure improvements in the 13~ Appalachian states yet the area keeps wallowing in irrelevance.  Completion of I-73 and I-74 through West Virginia won't accomplish jack squat, if the last 50 years are any indication. 

 

You hear about people wanting to move there (or actually moving there) in order to fully take in the Bluegrass music and culture, then when you live there you find out you can see just as much Bluegrass in Columbus or Cincinnati and that the shows down there are dominated by Bobaflex and other nu-metal bands. And that people are nuts about Clutch.

12 hours ago, Magyar said:

 

I guess ODOT could widen US 27 through Butler County, for Cincy traffic. Not sure what could be done to improve the drive from Oxford to Columbus, beyond moving one town, or the other, to the same side of Dayton.

 

There was a proposal for several decades to extend SR 63 across the Great Miami River, which would serve the Miller Coors facility outside Trenton and link up to SR 73 to provide a better connection to Oxford from I-75, but I believe that is off the table. 

 

Miami and/or Oxford do not seem to be suffering from present roadway connections. Besides making incremental improvements to US 27, there probably is not much justification for any major new highway project.

 

 

NOACA is continuing discussions on merging the Cleveland, Akron and Canton areas into a single MSA with a population over 3 million residents.

 

They site that a major reason would raise the region's profile and give it more access to funding. 

 

Mayor of Akron is against it. 

 

 

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2020/04/noaca-launches-regional-discussion-on-merging-metropolitan-statistical-areas-to-boost-neo-in-national-rankings.html

1 hour ago, Mov2Ohio said:

NOACA is continuing discussions on merging the Cleveland, Akron and Canton areas into a single MSA with a population over 3 million residents.

 

They site that a major reason would raise the region's profile and give it more access to funding. 

 

Mayor of Akron is against it. 

 

 

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2020/04/noaca-launches-regional-discussion-on-merging-metropolitan-statistical-areas-to-boost-neo-in-national-rankings.html

If this were to happen, I wonder from a regional view if it would ultimately hurt Columbus. Cleveland MSA would vault back to No 1 in Ohio, Cincinnati would be 2 (especially if they merge with Dayton) and Columbus would fall behind at 3.  Does that limit Columbus strength some when the peer cities in Ohio become top 20 metros through such a merger

2 minutes ago, Brutus_buckeye said:

If this were to happen, I wonder from a regional view if it would ultimately hurt Columbus. Cleveland MSA would vault back to No 1 in Ohio, Cincinnati would be 2 (especially if they merge with Dayton) and Columbus would fall behind at 3.  Does that limit Columbus strength some when the peer cities in Ohio become top 20 metros through such a merger

 

I don't think so. I'd say that Cleveland and Cincinnati have a larger national profile already and to your point "strength" in that regard, just because historically they always have.

 

Cleveland jumping that much higher won't have any effects on the fundamentals of the Columbus economy and what's been going on there over time, especially the last two decades.

 

Honestly, other than the ranking number amongst MSAs and the above mentioned access to funding, nothing will really change.

 

Not sure how close Cincy and DYT are to a merger.

I doubt it. At the end of the day Cleveland and Cincinnati will still have the same legacy issues they've had with attracting businesses, regardless of whether their MSA numbers get inflated by 1,000,000 or so. Austin is the fastest growing city in the country despite being the smallest MSA in the Texas Triangle, and I wouldn't anticipate Columbus suddenly slowing down because of a purely paper-based population change.

3 minutes ago, Mov2Ohio said:

Not sure how close Cincy and DYT are to a merger.

 

 

https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/national-govt--politics/officials-cincinnati-dayton-metroplex-not-close-happening/3KlKVmqFmOn5DRe5KWENjO/

I doubt it. Cities/metro regions aren't prospering or struggling due to inconsistent population measuring metrics but rather a whole slew of other reasons of which we're all aware.

 

I doubt educated investors would pump more money into a region simply because it artificially expanded its boundaries. Same with new residents. They're not moving to "city" because it's now named "metro". The challenges still remain unchanged.

Edited April 26, 20205 yr by TBideon

24 minutes ago, Brutus_buckeye said:

If this were to happen, I wonder from a regional view if it would ultimately hurt Columbus. Cleveland MSA would vault back to No 1 in Ohio, Cincinnati would be 2 (especially if they merge with Dayton) and Columbus would fall behind at 3.  Does that limit Columbus strength some when the peer cities in Ohio become top 20 metros through such a merger

People aren't moving to Columbus because they go online, compare the metro size of Cleveland, Cinci, and Columbus and then make their decision.

21 minutes ago, TH3BUDDHA said:

People aren't moving to Columbus because they go online, compare the metro size of Cleveland, Cinci, and Columbus and then make their decision.

It would not affect those decisions. It would be interesting to see how it would play with institutional investors when studying a market. Some funds just take top 20 metro and stop there. Everything else is cut out. That is where it could have an effect.

2 hours ago, Brutus_buckeye said:

It would not affect those decisions. It would be interesting to see how it would play with institutional investors when studying a market. Some funds just take top 20 metro and stop there. Everything else is cut out. That is where it could have an effect.

I don't have the expertise to say for sure, but I would imagine growth is also an important factor for an investor.  While, adding Akron would make the number bigger, it wouldn't increase growth percentages in NE Ohio.

3 hours ago, Brutus_buckeye said:

It would not affect those decisions. It would be interesting to see how it would play with institutional investors when studying a market. Some funds just take top 20 metro and stop there. Everything else is cut out. That is where it could have an effect.

Also, your original question was "will this hurt Columbus?"  That is what I was addressing.  Columbus is growing because jobs are growing here and young people are flocking here because of those jobs and because of Ohio State.  While adding Akron to the Cleveland metro may help get some investment to Cleveland, I don't see how it would hurt that growth in Columbus.  Ohio State isn't going to stop growing and attracting young people because Akron is now a part of Cleveland's metro.

Edited April 26, 20205 yr by TH3BUDDHA

4 hours ago, Brutus_buckeye said:

It would not affect those decisions. It would be interesting to see how it would play with institutional investors when studying a market. Some funds just take top 20 metro and stop there. Everything else is cut out. That is where it could have an effect.

Well I guess if they take just top 20 metros then they would be ignoring Austin, Nashville, Charlotte, etc. -I doubt that is the case. I think it has to do with not only national recognition, but what kind of national recognition-is it good, bad, in the middle, etc. If a metro is top 20 but has a bad rep(like Detroit had for a long time), that is not going to help it. St. Louis is in the top 20(barely)but it does not have the same rep as Austin, Nashville, etc. as a booming city.

 

I also think that areas should just let the government agency responsible for metro area boundaries to it's thing. When the criteria is met, the change will happen- it does not need to be boosted, pushed, etc. by any agencies attached to any particular city. When the guidelines are met, it will happen. 

 

*Also, if Cbus somehow was able to jump into the top 20 I don't think it would help the city much either-just like Cbus having more people than San Francisco by city limits-people do not care about that-they are not fooled. That is just something for Cbus residents to boast about(while laughing about it at the same time)-it does not really have any "result" for the city IMO.

Edited April 26, 20205 yr by Toddguy

From that article:

 

But Akron doesn’t want any part of it, because it would erode “the national stature, prominence, and identity of our city and its neighboring suburbs,” Akron Mayor Daniel Horrigan wrote to Gallucci in an April 6 letter.

 

In general, he's right.  Look at Tacoma, Fort Worth, Fort Lauderdale, St. Petersburg, & Newark for reference of diminished national reputation.  That's why I'm against any Cincinnati-Dayton CSA talk (I used to be for it, FYI) but Dayton, unlike Akron, has its own media market.  It would hurt Akron even worse as their perceived reliance on Cleveland would diminish their own stature.  Hell, in another thread, there was a discussion if Hudson was an Akron or Cleveland suburb.  That would basically go away if Akron was joined by the hip to Cleveland's MSA.

I don't know much about how this stuff works, so can somebody explain why it's a debate?  Aren't there strict definitions that demographers use to define these things?  Isn't there a set of criteria to either say "yes, Akron is part of the Cleveland metro" or "no, it is not."  I don't get the, "eh, maybe we should just through it in there because it would look good."

48 minutes ago, ColDayMan said:

From that article:

 

But Akron doesn’t want any part of it, because it would erode “the national stature, prominence, and identity of our city and its neighboring suburbs,” Akron Mayor Daniel Horrigan wrote to Gallucci in an April 6 letter.

 

In general, he's right.  Look at Tacoma, Fort Worth, Fort Lauderdale, St. Petersburg, & Newark for reference of diminished national reputation.  That's why I'm against any Cincinnati-Dayton CSA talk (I used to be for it, FYI) but Dayton, unlike Akron, has its own media market.  It would hurt Akron even worse as their perceived reliance on Cleveland would diminish their own stature.  Hell, in another thread, there was a discussion if Hudson was an Akron or Cleveland suburb.  That would basically go away if Akron was joined by the hip to Cleveland's MSA.

True, but I'm having this debate with one of my friends from Akron. He argues it would be a net loss for Akron for the reasons you state, so NOACA needs to placate Akron by maybe having a board with more members from Akron-Canton than Cleveland or something.

 

Another part of me argues what is Akron's national reputation? I'd argue that if the new MSA is branded Cleveland-Akron, Akron would get more of a national spotlight than it does now. Not sure of how to incorporate Canton as much. 

 

I just think about other benefits like a cohesive plan to expand the existing rail network, how to market the Universities there properly, as well as marketing to new businesses and retaining those that are there.

8 hours ago, Brutus_buckeye said:

If this were to happen, I wonder from a regional view if it would ultimately hurt Columbus. Cleveland MSA would vault back to No 1 in Ohio, Cincinnati would be 2 (especially if they merge with Dayton) and Columbus would fall behind at 3.  Does that limit Columbus strength some when the peer cities in Ohio become top 20 metros through such a merger

 

Everybody already knows Columbus is the third most important city in Ohio anyway! ?

 

*ducks*

1 hour ago, ColDayMan said:

From that article:

 

But Akron doesn’t want any part of it, because it would erode “the national stature, prominence, and identity of our city and its neighboring suburbs,” Akron Mayor Daniel Horrigan wrote to Gallucci in an April 6 letter.

 

In general, he's right.  Look at Tacoma, Fort Worth, Fort Lauderdale, St. Petersburg, & Newark for reference of diminished national reputation.  That's why I'm against any Cincinnati-Dayton CSA talk (I used to be for it, FYI) but Dayton, unlike Akron, has its own media market.  It would hurt Akron even worse as their perceived reliance on Cleveland would diminish their own stature.  Hell, in another thread, there was a discussion if Hudson was an Akron or Cleveland suburb.  That would basically go away if Akron was joined by the hip to Cleveland's MSA.

 

Did Akron and/or Canton have their own local TV news at one point? Friends tell me Youngstown used to have TV news then lost it. Though I also remember short periods of time when Chillicothe (early '90s) and Portsmouth (2006-ish) had their own as well.

43 minutes ago, GCrites80s said:

 

Did Akron and/or Canton have their own local TV news at one point? Friends tell me Youngstown used to have TV news then lost it. Though I also remember short periods of time when Chillicothe (early '90s) and Portsmouth (2006-ish) had their own as well.

Youngstown is a different Media market than Cleveland-Akron-Canton. It's also not part of the Cleveland-Akron-Canton CSA or conversations to be merged into one MSA. I believe they still have their own news.

2 hours ago, GCrites80s said:

 

Did Akron and/or Canton have their own local TV news at one point? Friends tell me Youngstown used to have TV news then lost it. Though I also remember short periods of time when Chillicothe (early '90s) and Portsmouth (2006-ish) had their own as well.

Channel 23 used to be an Akron ABC affiliate.  I think they had local news.

2 hours ago, Mov2Ohio said:

True, but I'm having this debate with one of my friends from Akron. He argues it would be a net loss for Akron for the reasons you state, so NOACA needs to placate Akron by maybe having a board with more members from Akron-Canton than Cleveland or something.

 

Another part of me argues what is Akron's national reputation? I'd argue that if the new MSA is branded Cleveland-Akron, Akron would get more of a national spotlight than it does now. Not sure of how to incorporate Canton as much. 

 

I just think about other benefits like a cohesive plan to expand the existing rail network, how to market the Universities there properly, as well as marketing to new businesses and retaining those that are there.

 

Absolutely right, but why let reality get in the way of civic pride?

2 hours ago, GCrites80s said:

 

Did Akron and/or Canton have their own local TV news at one point? Friends tell me Youngstown used to have TV news then lost it. Though I also remember short periods of time when Chillicothe (early '90s) and Portsmouth (2006-ish) had their own as well.

I always thought Youngstown had an NBC, ABC and CBS affiliate (not Fox). It has been a while since I have been there though. Did their stations fold?

 

I’m not sure the total benefit to Akron/Summit county in this arrangement.   Amats would be folded into Noaca. So the pie is bigger. Decisions will be made based on the nice east side vs west side rift of how to spend the additional money. Will the focus on infrastructure be Northern Summit county to make sure the lanes getting to Cuyahoga are plentiful vs spending money on Summit county Infrastructure in general?  AMATs philosophy for the past 12-15 years has been to fix first or even shrink infrastructure we have instead of expand. Would that change at Noaca?  How much increased money by the feds or state would there be in doing this?  0% 3% 5% 10%?  If its closer to 8-10% it probably be worth doing. Realistically it will probably be a negligible increase. 
  I don’t that there is a benefit to giving up  better local control for having Cleveland look swoll in a top 20 chart. 
   
  
   

(do not take this commentary seriously)

 

"Columbus (proper) is only growing because they annexed a bunch of land!"

 

"Cleveland Metro should add Akron to its MSA to increase its national ranking/standing!"

 

I wonder what the Venn diagram of these two look like.  Lol.

10 hours ago, Brutus_buckeye said:

I always thought Youngstown had an NBC, ABC and CBS affiliate (not Fox). It has been a while since I have been there though. Did their stations fold?

 

 

I think I got them confused.

7 hours ago, audidave said:

I’m not sure the total benefit to Akron/Summit county in this arrangement.   Amats would be folded into Noaca. So the pie is bigger.

 

FYI, that's not a given. When Wilmington, Delaware became a part of the Philly metro they kept their own MPO. So DVRPC covers the PA and NJ parts of the metro and WILMAPCO covers the DE and MD parts.

14 hours ago, TH3BUDDHA said:

I don't know much about how this stuff works, so can somebody explain why it's a debate?  Aren't there strict definitions that demographers use to define these things?  Isn't there a set of criteria to either say "yes, Akron is part of the Cleveland metro" or "no, it is not."  I don't get the, "eh, maybe we should just through it in there because it would look good."

 

You're right. There are definitions and Akron and Cleveland don't meet the definition of a single metro. But NOACA would be lobbying for an exception to the rule. 

On 4/19/2020 at 10:55 PM, GCrites80s said:

 

You hear about people wanting to move there (or actually moving there) in order to fully take in the Bluegrass music and culture, then when you live there you find out you can see just as much Bluegrass in Columbus or Cincinnati and that the shows down there are dominated by Bobaflex and other nu-metal bands. And that people are nuts about Clutch.

 

I think this is just your own personal experience. I went to OU and still spend a lot of time in Southeast Ohio and I can tell you that the Bluegrass scene is very big. I've never heard of Bobaflex or Clutch.

45 minutes ago, GCrites80s said:

 

I think I got them confused.

 

Yes, Youngstown is their own media market with all stations.

 

Oh, and Wilmington, DE is another example of a city "overlooked" due to a MSA combination.  It certainly is an independent city with its own suburbs.  Just swallowed up in Philadelphia's MSA, unlike Reading or Atlantic City.

16 minutes ago, DEPACincy said:

 

I think this is just your own personal experience. I went to OU and still spend a lot of time in Southeast Ohio and I can tell you that the Bluegrass scene is very big. I've never heard of Bobaflex or Clutch.

 

Oh, Athens wasn't ever really like that with the nu-metal as compared to say Huntington or Charleston.

9 minutes ago, GCrites80s said:

 

Oh, Athens wasn't ever really like that with the nu-metal as compared to say Huntington or Charleston.

 

Oh, gotcha. Morgantown is another spot with amazing Bluegrass. Maybe there's a college town connection. Although Huntington is a college town too, so who knows. 

The irony of NOACA trying to incorporate Akron/Canton into Clevelands MSA is that Akron/Canton govt and business officials are lobbying the census  bureau in 2020 to become a single Metro area. With nearly 40 percent commute between the two Metros of Akron and Canton and a population combined of over 1.1 million it would be called the Akron/Canton Metroplex. Could it be that NOACA is launching a Hail Mary to pre-empt it from happening as it seems these two metros want no part of being combined with Cleveland..we shall see..

18 minutes ago, ColDayMan said:

Oh, and Wilmington, DE is another example of a city "overlooked" due to a MSA combination.  It certainly is an independent city with its own suburbs.  Just swallowed up in Philadelphia's MSA, unlike Reading or Atlantic City.

 

I think the inertia generated by the MSA combination and other factors has moved northern Delaware more into the Philly burbs culturally. I've lived in both Philly and northern Delaware. My experience is that people identify more and more as Philadelphians in DE. They're in the same MSA now. They are in the Philly media market (though you can get Baltimore channels too). There's a strong interstate highway and rail connection to Center City Philly. More and more folks from Philly have infiltrated Wilmington suburbs like Claymont and the 202 corridor. And most importantly maybe, northern Delawareans vote like Southeastern PA residents and have zero in common politically with folks in Lower Slower Delaware. Maybe that's a sign of what Akron's fate would be if they got swallowed into the Cleveland MSA.

6 minutes ago, DEPACincy said:

 

I think the inertia generated by the MSA combination and other factors has moved northern Delaware more into the Philly burbs culturally. I've lived in both Philly and northern Delaware. My experience is that people identify more and more as Philadelphians in DE. They're in the same MSA now. They are in the Philly media market (though you can get Baltimore channels too). There's a strong interstate highway and rail connection to Center City Philly. More and more folks from Philly have infiltrated Wilmington suburbs like Claymont and the 202 corridor. And most importantly maybe, northern Delawareans vote like Southeastern PA residents and have zero in common politically with folks in Lower Slower Delaware. Maybe that's a sign of what Akron's fate would be if they got swallowed into the Cleveland MSA.

 

Which illustrates my point of why Akron would get "swallowed" in Cleveland's orbit, much like the previous Hudson debate.  It's without question that suburbs like Elsmere and the Christiana Mall are Wilmington, not Philadelphia, but due to Philly's orbit swallowing northern DE, they "may as well be."

1 minute ago, ColDayMan said:

 

Which illustrates my point of why Akron would get "swallowed" in Cleveland's orbit, much like the previous Hudson debate.  It's without question that suburbs like Elsmere and the Christiana Mall are Wilmington, not Philadelphia, but due to Philly's orbit swallowing northern DE, they "may as well be."

 

As an aside, I commuted from western New Castle County to Center City for awhile. That was hellish. Traffic around the Christiana Mall is heavy 24/7. And that was when they were rebuilding the Route 1 interchange. A complete and total nightmare. No way for anyone to live. I started taking the train, even though it took longer. A much more relaxing experience.

41 minutes ago, ColDayMan said:

 

Which illustrates my point of why Akron would get "swallowed" in Cleveland's orbit, much like the previous Hudson debate.  It's without question that suburbs like Elsmere and the Christiana Mall are Wilmington, not Philadelphia, but due to Philly's orbit swallowing northern DE, they "may as well be."

 

If Akron were to be included into Cleveland's MSA nothing would change, literally.

 

Sure, the area's populace might benefit from regionalism and additional federal dollars, but we shouldn't do it because someone's feelings might get hurt. Got it. 

I didn't realize Akron would "benefit" from the additional federal dollars.  I'll ask Gary and Bridgeport how that's going.

8 minutes ago, ColDayMan said:

I didn't realize Akron would "benefit" from the additional federal dollars.  I'll ask Gary and Bridgeport how that's going.

 

Wow. So, Gary and Bridgeport were booming right before they merged into new MSA's? Who knew?!?

Edited April 27, 20205 yr by Clefan98

1 hour ago, DEPACincy said:

 

As an aside, I commuted from western New Castle County to Center City for awhile. That was hellish. Traffic around the Christiana Mall is heavy 24/7. And that was when they were rebuilding the Route 1 interchange. A complete and total nightmare. No way for anyone to live. I started taking the train, even though it took longer. A much more relaxing experience.

 

Just quickly 'cause I don't want to change the subject but once you get past the Deleware Tpke. part of I-95 traffic lightens up quite a bit with all the NJ/NY traffic going towards the 295 Memorial Bridge Spur along with the 95/495 split just before Wilmington. I-95 gets bad around 376 in Chester and the Center City but traffic isn't horrific IMHO even from far off places like Newark.

 

Maybe I'm just jaded from sitting in so much DC Beltway traffic though.

 

As for Cleveland-Akron. Does it really matter? I think it's safe to say Cleveland-Akron-Canton and Cincinnati-Dayton should be considered one area even if they're officially not. Suburbs connect, lots of people live/work in different CSAs., etc. The idea of one "swallowing" the other is just an exercise in the abstract for now.

Edited April 27, 20205 yr by AmrapinVA

1 hour ago, Clefan98 said:

 

Sure, the area's populace might benefit from regionalism and additional federal dollars, but we shouldn't do it because someone's feelings might get hurt. Got it. 

 

I'm not sure Akron would get more federal dollars. Most programs are allocated on a per capita basis. Say the Akron MSA gets $1 million from a certain program and the Cleveland MSA gets $3 million. The new combined MSA would get $4 million from that program. The total amount of money is the same. I can't think of any federal programs that scale up with metro size. I could be wrong though.

56 minutes ago, AmrapinVA said:

 

Just quickly 'cause I don't want to change the subject but once you get past the Deleware Tpke. part of I-95 traffic lightens up quite a bit with all the NJ/NY traffic going towards the 295 Memorial Bridge Spur along with the 95/495 split just before Wilmington. I-95 gets bad around 376 in Chester and the Center City but traffic isn't horrific IMHO even from far off places like Newark.

 

Maybe I'm just jaded from sitting in so much DC Beltway traffic though.

 

The Delaware Turnpike section has gotten a lot better since the reconstruction of the Route 1 interchange but it still sucks. I-495 in DE isn't too bad since so many folks split off like you said. I-95 gets bad before Chester, usually right before the DE/PA state line, then opens back up from I-476 to the airport. Then it is brake lights from the airport to Center City. The Newark to Center City drive is about 45 minutes in free flow traffic (which never happens) but 1.5 hours was common.

Edited April 27, 20205 yr by DEPACincy

1 hour ago, Clefan98 said:

 

Wow. So, Gary and Bridgeport were booming right before they merged into new MSA's? Who knew?!?

 

Uhhh, you're the one who implied that Akron getting "additional federal dollars" would be an added benefit.  The point (which you kinda made) is that Gary would still be Gary, thus no additional benefit.

So if Akron did the metroplex combination with Canton it would move the Summit/Stark area to 50th behind Buffalo in the MSA.  Not such a bad outcome.  

Yeah, Akron would certainly benefit from merging with Canton to form a MSA but, to be fair, what benefit would it be for Canton?  Much like Akron aligning with Cleveland, I don't see much benefit with Canton being included with Akron's MSA.  Though it does make more sense as Akron and Canton do share an airport, unlike Hopkins.

Well apparently they technically meet the requirements of the 25% commute?  There certainly is a lot of traffic that goes between the two cities throughout the day on I-77.  

Oh, totally.  Akron-Canton makes sense, in theory, and certainly raises Akron's profile to a higher level, much like when Greenville (SC) merged with its satellite cities.

6 hours ago, DarkandStormy said:

(do not take this commentary seriously)

 

"Columbus (proper) is only growing because they annexed a bunch of land!"

 

"Cleveland Metro should add Akron to its MSA to increase its national ranking/standing!"

 

I wonder what the Venn diagram of these two look like.  Lol.

It would be a single circle

I'll be honest , this situation has always confused me becuase as I understand it Summit & Cuyahoga already meets the MSA commuting threshold, as do Stark & Summit.  Is this true?  I know that where I live in West Akron I have neighbors who work in both Cuyahoga and Stark County.  While I understand the Mayor of Akron's apprehension to this proposed meger, if done wisely regionalism is the way to go IMHO. 

2 hours ago, ColDayMan said:

 

Uhhh, you're the one who implied that Akron getting "additional federal dollars" would be an added benefit.  The point (which you kinda made) is that Gary would still be Gary, thus no additional benefit.

 

Yeah, so why not regionalize and potentially have access to a greater pool of money and resources?

 

Gary and Akron aren't alike in any way, so no use comparing them. It's silly and pointless.