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Yes, this is a major unsolved problem to my eye. The cost of living in Columbus - while nowhere near the craziness of coastal cities - is steadily rising. Real

Yes, this is a major unsolved problem to my eye. The cost of living in Columbus - while nowhere near the craziness of coastal cities - is steadily rising. Real estate in surrounding cities is also going up, and it's hard for me to imagine how all those working the jobs that will supposedly be created by the fabs will afford to live near them. One development in Ohio has been a proposal for a passenger rail line that would connect Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland. I'm originally from Crestline - a small town which sits right on the rail line between Columbus and Cleveland, and which used to be a big railroad town. It's interesting to think of how my hometown might change if passenger rail were to actually happen (though I'm skeptical, as versions of this plan have been proposed for decades). That said, there are some major problems to overcome if we wanted to start doing "state-scale" transportation like that - Columbus is a very car-centric city, and in the scenario where I would move home and ride the train to Columbus when I needed to go to the office, it's very unclear how I'd get from the station to wherever I'm going. Furthermore, there was just a very public and catastrophic train derailment in Ohio, which can't do much good for public confidence in commuter trains. Either way, the next decade or so in Ohio will certainly be interesting. Columbus has a burgeoning tech community with lots of VC investment, and while I'm not sure where I'd put the odds, it's not impossible that our little flyover state could become the proverbial "heartland tech hub".

qbasic_forever 4y ago
Yeah I lived in Columbus and other parts of Ohio for 15 years or so and it strikes me as bizarre to try to bring industry back. Rubber, steel, automotive, etc. industries were absolutely massive in the 50's, 60's, 70's. But the corporate raiders of the 80s destroyed and sold off all the factories to replace them with cheaper offshore labor. The cost of living in Ohio only continued to go up and most cities in the state are filled with suburbs full of homes now approaching $500k or more. It's just not sustainable or sane to think some new class of factory workers can jump in and live there while being competitive on labor prices.
- jewayne 4y ago
  Yeah, upper middle class people are predictably out of touch with reality. The median household income in Franklin County is only $66k. Yes, stupid zoning made building non-McMansion houses difficult, but that doesn't mean the working class just magically disappeared.
- mywittyname 4y ago
  > most cities in the state are filled with suburbs full of homes now approaching $500k or more. I still get Zillow emails from my time living in the state. $500k is in the rearview mirror. A lot of new developments in the "nicer" suburbs are hitting the $1MM mark. $500k buys you a new home in the far, far suburbs. $250k gets you a 800 sqft 40s-50s ranch in a "crestfallen" neighborhood (and the price history on Zillow will show it as being sold for $60k 10 years ago).
  - qbasic_forever 4y ago
    Yeah I lived there when 60k could get you a home and 100k was, "woah there Mr. Mansion-haver" money. My mind boggles at spending 500k there now and barely getting a couple bedrooms. Nowhere in Ohio should it cost that much to have a home.

qbasic_forever 4y ago

Yeah I lived in Columbus and other parts of Ohio for 15 years or so and it strikes me as bizarre to try to bring industry back. Rubber, steel, automotive, etc. industries were absolutely massive in the 50's, 60's, 70's. But the corporate raiders of the 80s destroyed and sold off all the factories to replace them with cheaper offshore labor. The cost of living in Ohio only continued to go up and most cities in the state are filled with suburbs full of homes now approaching $500k or more. It's just not sustainable or sane to think some new class of factory workers can jump in and live there while being competitive on labor prices.

jewayne 4y ago
Yeah, upper middle class people are predictably out of touch with reality. The median household income in Franklin County is only $66k. Yes, stupid zoning made building non-McMansion houses difficult, but that doesn't mean the working class just magically disappeared.
mywittyname 4y ago
> most cities in the state are filled with suburbs full of homes now approaching $500k or more. I still get Zillow emails from my time living in the state. $500k is in the rearview mirror. A lot of new developments in the "nicer" suburbs are hitting the $1MM mark. $500k buys you a new home in the far, far suburbs. $250k gets you a 800 sqft 40s-50s ranch in a "crestfallen" neighborhood (and the price history on Zillow will show it as being sold for $60k 10 years ago).
- qbasic_forever 4y ago
  Yeah I lived there when 60k could get you a home and 100k was, "woah there Mr. Mansion-haver" money. My mind boggles at spending 500k there now and barely getting a couple bedrooms. Nowhere in Ohio should it cost that much to have a home.