Monthly Archives: April 2011

Our new governor, John Kasich, wants to make Ohio “cool” again. During the last administration, Ohio lost jobs and thus, lost people. Kasich is adamant about bringing the jobs back to Ohio. People on Twitter have been weighing in with suggestions on why Ohio is “cool”. Some of the comments are sarcastic, like comments about our weather (lack of sun) … our geography (we need mountains) … or our conservative Midwest people. Some comments are funny like the one that suggested “we’re NOT Michigan”.

I’ve lived within a 2-hr drive of Columbus all my life except for the 18-months I lived in Tucson before coming back “home”. During the 17 years I worked in a corporate job, I was fortunate to travel quite a bit having been to 37 states over the years. I’m missing ND, SD, NB, IA, ID, AK, LA, AL, MS and I’m OK with that. I haven’t been to ME, VT or NH and I would like to visit there. I’m sure HI is spectacular but it’s not in the cards.

I’ve heard that people are either mountain people or water people. If that’s true, then I’m a mountain person. Jaws pretty well fixed me on not being a water person. I loved hiking or driving in the mountains around Tucson but I didn’t like the crime there.

Washington, Oregon and California have mountains but there’s a reason … they have volcanoes and earthquakes! Have you ever flown over Mt St Helens when landing in Seattle? (I like to live where the ground stays put.) Denver and Colorado Springs were pretty, if you don’t mind not being able to breathe at their altitude. Since I don’t do COLD, anything north of Columbus is out of consideration. Texas is – well – TEXAS … plus, cowboys, hundreds of miles of nothingness and Houston in July in a navy business suit wasn’t fun at all. The entire East Coast from Boston down to DC makes me claustrophobic, plus the cost-of-living is so high.

Here in central Ohio, we may be taking some of our features for granted as we make fun of our blandness. On a flight home one time, I remember hearing some people comment about “all the trees” as we were circling to land at Port Columbus. Another time, an arriving passenger commented about our big green lawns and our big homes. I’ve heard relocated executives talk about how friendly we are and what a great place it is to raise a family because they feel safe.

We’ve all visited places and then said, “it’s a great place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there“. Perhaps what makes our area the most-cool is that while central Ohio may not be a destination place to visit, living here is great!

• We have a diverse economy that is not dominated by any one industry.
• We have two world-wide manufacturers with Honda and Scotts-MiracleGro.
• We have other large employers with JP Morgan-Chase and Nationwide Insurance probably being the largest.
• OSU is larger than many cities, but we have other colleges as well.
• With Columbus being the state capital, we have all the jobs that go with that.
• We have LOTS of golf courses for entertainment.
• We have a nationally recognized Zoo, thanks mostly to Jungle Jack.
• We have great hospitals with OSU, The James Cancer, Riverside and Ohio Health.
• We have several great suburb communities that surround Columbus.
• Commuting is a easy compared to other cities in the nation. Yes, we complain, but it is really easy here.
• We also complain a lot about our weather, but it’s really temperate without the extremes. Just plan on taking extra Vitamin D pills.
• Our cost-of-living is moderate.
• Our homes didn’t have the high increase in prices like other states, and while we’ve declined in recent years, it hasn’t been the extreme declines experienced by those states that had the high run-ups.
• If you’re an entrepreneur, it’s a good place to start a business.
• We have a great bunch of friendly people that the Midwest is known for.

Maybe what makes central Ohio “cool” is that we are so “uncool”.

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