Category Archives: Central Ohio

God Bless Our Soldiers …

Posted on 05/27/2012 | Comments Off


… who fight all year-long so we are free to speak against our governing leaders; free to worship as we choose; free to vote for people we choose to be our leaders; free to be entrepreneurs to improve our lives. No other country is like America. People in some countries break laws to escape. In America, people break laws to come here. Let’s keep it that way.

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Posted in Central Ohio, Commentary

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The Parade of Homes is coming soon

Posted on 05/23/2012 | Leave a comment

The 2012 BIA Parade of Homes begins June 16. I drove by over the weekend to see how the building was coming along. As usual, much was in disarray as workers are scrambling to get everything finished in time. Some of the homes have SOLD signs on them already.

2012 Parade of Homes Lewis Center Ohio 

This is the 60th Anniversary of the Parade, so they are celebrating with a theme of “mid-century design” by using some design elements from the 1950′s. Hopefully they won’t use some of that awful striped flowered wallpaper that was popular then. (Yes, my Mom used it along with a fuschia-colored frieze sofa.) Probably won’t see the teeny-tiny TV screens either.

The Parade runs from June 16 thru July 1. It costs $2 per vehicle to park and $12 to enter (kids under 12 are free). The hours are: Mon-Sat 12pm-9pm; Sun 12pm-6pm. There are 12 builders this year: 3Pillar Homes, Compass Homes, Dominion Homes, Fischer Homes, Maronda Homes, M/I Homes, Miller Troyer Custom Homes, Rockford Homes, Silvestri Homes, Trinity Homes, Truberry Custom Homes, and Weaver Custom Homes. The location is off of Lewis Center Rd, just west of Old State Rd in Delaware County.

Go into your attic to get your poodle skirt, angora sweater, penny loafers and bobby socks. Guys … you can wear your Fonzy leather jacket and slick your hair back in a “DA” … assuming you still HAVE hair. :-)

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Posted in Buyers, Central Ohio, Delaware County, Homes, Homes for sale, Lewis Center Ohio, New home builders

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Ohio unemployment drops for the 5th straight month

Posted on 05/21/2012 | Leave a comment

Ohio continues to improve for 5th straight month! Unemployment rate dropped again for April, going from 7.5% in March to 7.4% in April. That compares quite favorably to the 9.5% rate in December 2010 before the new governor, John Kasich, took office.

In December 2010, 560,000 people were unemployed. In March 2012, 438,000 were unemployed, and it further dropped to 431,000 in April 2012. That’s an additional 129,000 people with paychecks since Kasich’s tenure began.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of employees by industry for Ohio in April 2012 vs April 2011 is:

Employees by Ohio Industry
Industry Apr 2011 Apr 2012 % Chg
Trade, Transportation, Utility 957.1 973.7 +1.7%
Education/Health 849.3 865.8 +1.9%
Government 770.1 767.0 -0.4%
Prof/Bus Services 647.7 655.0 +1.1%
Manufacturing 635.6 652.2 +2.6%
Leisure/Hospitality 481.3 473.1 -1.7%
Financial 279.2 276.4 -1.0%
Construction 172.9 173.9 +0.5%

The National unemployment rate continues to be above 8%, at 8.1%, but there’s much debate on the accuracy of that number because it does not include people who have dropped out of the market or are underemployed.

Let’s hope the Governor continues his successes to bring or keep businesses here in Ohio which will certainly help our housing market. As you can see from the chart, two industries connected with real estate are at the bottom of the chart growth. Plus, since Realtors® are self-employed (don’t qualify for unemployment) we’re not even included in the unemployment numbers even though a substantial number of agents have had to exit the business.

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Posted in Central Ohio, Surveys

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Living the Old-Fashioned Way

Posted on 05/16/2012 | Leave a comment

wind turbine in Dublin OHThere’s much ado about the use … and investment … into the wind turbine business. We have a few of them here in central Ohio. The one in the photo is at Glacier Park in Dublin and it provides electricity for the park lights.

Some states with persistent strong winds have acres of them. The first time I saw one of the big wind farms was perhaps 20 years ago on a business trip to California. East of Los Angeles there was a huge farm which I suppose took advantage of the Santa Ana winds. I saw another such farm when driving between Amarillo and Albuquerque where the winds rush down off the Rocky Mts.

Now that the big behemoths are in the news, we’re learning that millions of birds are killed as they try to fly through the farm and that the ground temperature is increased, so they’re not as “green energy” as once thought.

old-fashioned windmill

When I was young, growing up in the rural part of Knox County, it was fairly common to see windmills on farms. There was one at my uncle’s house that I believe pumped up well water. Not sure how it did that as I was too young to understand how it worked. I mainly remember that it squeaked when the blades went round and round. It was a soothing, rhythmic squeak  … comforting like an old squeaky rocking chair or porch swing. I doubt that any birds died as a result of its use.

This old photo of my uncle’s home was probably taken around 1908-10 when my grandparents owned it. I cropped out the family that was in the lower part of the pic because they look like a family that should be in the “Deliverance” movie. :-) That’s the front of the house. Imagine having one of the new turbines next to your front door.

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Posted in Central Ohio, Technology

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Central Ohio High Schools Highly Rated

Posted on 05/10/2012 | Leave a comment

The American Institutes for Research worked with U.S. News & World Report to rank schools relative to how those students performed based on the state’s average, how the schools are preparing students for college, and how minority/low-income students perform vs similar students in the state. They did this for 20,000 high schools around the nation.

Five of the central Ohio schools were ranked within the Top 10 in the State. Nine were ranked in the Top 25 of the State. Here are their rankings:

American Institutes for Research School Rankings
School Ohio Rank National Rank
Bexley 2 120
Dublin Jerome 5 156
Olentangy Liberty 7 216
Upper Arlington 9 244
Olentangy 10 256
Olentangy Orange 16 393
Dublin Coffman 17 410
Dublin Scioto 22 583
New Albany 25 659

Bexley, Upper Arlington, Dublin Coffman, Dublin Scioto and New Albany are located in Franklin County. The remaining schools are in southern Delaware County.

Read the complete Columbus Business 1st article

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Posted in Central Ohio, Delaware County, Dublin Ohio, Franklin County, Schools, Surveys

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2012 Taste of Powell – A Great Event

Posted on 05/06/2012 | Leave a comment

The Powell Chamber of Commerce sponsored another Taste of Powell where over 20 restaurants featured their favorite dishes for us to test-taste while listening to a band. The annual event is held at the Columbus Zoo at the Water’s Edge pavillion. The weather this year was perfect – a warm pleasant evening.

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Posted in Central Ohio, Delaware County, Powell Ohio, Water fun

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