A recent CBR email contained links to a couple of interesting articles that I’ll pass along.
One link was to Wall Street Journal’s Market Watch article on the Top Ten metro areas for doing business. Columbus made it to the Top Ten this year. The article noted that Columbus has avoided the “Rust Belt” troubles of other Ohio cities, like Cleveland, but this has been the case for years thanks to Columbus’ more diverse economy. The article goes on to note that OSU is a primary reason, however, since the person making the claim is a dean at OSU, perhaps he’s not quite as objective as he should be. Being the State Capital with all the State government offices is pretty important and there are also a number of corporate headquarters located here as well. The quote from this dean, Steve Mangum, that many citizens would agree with is the personality of the city …
Locals like the intimate nature of the city. “It has a small-town feel to it, but it’s the [30th] largest city in the country,” Mangum said. “There’s something about the spirit of this place.”
The second link was to an article on the National Association of Home Builders’ web site regarding a survey conducted in conjunction with the AARP to determine Baby Boomer’s moving plans.
- 26% expects to move in the future, with the majority looking for a single-level home. (Did they need to do a survey to learn this? It’s our creaky knees, folks!)
- Boomer men are more likely than boomer women to believe they’ll move into a newer home (61% vs 42%).
- Boomer women are more likely to think they will move into a smaller home (54% vs 41%). (Maybe this has to do with housecleaning!)
At one point the article says that boomers will “reflect the patterns of earlier generations and mostly age in place”. I think that’s what I’ll be doing … aging in place … and I’m sure my daughters hope that as well rather than moving in with them! 
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