What is the biggest problem affecting your metro area?

Is it pollution? Sprawl? Crime? Expenses? What factors are hindering growth and prosperity in your midwestern city?

An ineffective mass transit system.

Sprawl and polticans from Springfield, for Illinois, and Indianapolis, for Indiana(that dont help NW Indiana).

hudkina

Sprawl and politicians in the General Assembly that hate Indianapolis.

2 things ruining the Toledo metro:

1) State governor and the elected officials in Columbus ruining the state of Ohio

2) The "3 C's" Cleveland, Cincinnati & Columbus will always get the money & attention from the elected officials and ignore the rest of the state.

For Detroit ineffective transit,the state legislature's overall hatred for Detroit ( and their attempt to lift Grand Rapids why trying to cripple Detroit)

For Cincinnati:

1. The city and county refusing to agree with each other on any city improvement issue. For example, the banks project. I don't know if it's because each of them want credit for being behind the project, or because they want two different things... but the delays are really preventing downtown from becoming much better.

2. Just like in any other big city - crime. I think it's a little different in Cincy though. The two big places to party and go to bars at night are Main Street in Cincy or Covington/Newport Ky. I think Main Street is a little too close to OTR and some of the high crime area's of the city for people to feel comfortable. Especially since many of the people go to Northern Ky now. It's one thing to be in a higher crime area with hundreds of people on the street. It's another thing when the bars are pretty much dead on certain nights and there's hardly anybody on the street.

I am seeing a trend here. Many cities feel their states are holding them back. I wonder if there is a relationship of pro-urban states with thriving cities and anti-urban states with struggling cities - I don't know, just wondering. Ohio is an interesting example. It has more big and medium sized cities than most states, but several people claim the state government is holding them back. Is the state of Ohio anti-urban? And if so, why would a state with so many cities be anti-urban? Why wouldn't the state of Ohio be doing everything to keep its many economic engines in top conditions? With so many cities such as Toledo, Cleveland, Dayton, Columbus, Cincinatti, Akron, etc., you would think that Ohio would be one of the most progressive states in the union with pro-urban agendas.

Two things. Cold and snow.

Not enough people ready and willing to challenge the status quo.

For Cleveland the problem isn't the lack of support from the state at all. In response to what expat said, the state along with the city centers themselves are trying desperately to get people to live closer to or within the downtown areas. It is the people living in the suburbs of these cities that are anti-urban. Most of the people I know who live in Cleveland area suburbs think the city is a rotting cesspool of waste, crime and dangerous minorities. People want to live in their cars and have a swimming pool in their backyard. Cleveland gets a bum rap across the board, although I do feel worse for Toledo if everyone heard what was said about the place out here. I don't feel that way but I always heard it referred to as "Toileto" and "The right armpit" of the state. It's that type of mentality that keeps people from exploring the cities and giving them a fighting chance. Most people who live in Cleveland suburbs have also never even been to the city. So, the mindset has to change in order for the cities to once again see growth. The only good news so far is that downtown Cleveland's population has increased 33% in the past 5 years, but that still isn't enough to get overweight and ignorant suburbanites to take a walk through "the big city".

2 things ruining the Toledo metro:

1) State governor and the elected officials in Columbus ruining the state of Ohio

2) The "3 C's" Cleveland, Cincinnati & Columbus will always get the money & attention from the elected officials and ignore the rest of the state.

:) I thought Toledo was in Michigan...

It was but then Michigan traded it to Ohio in exchange for the western half of the Upper Peninsula.

Omaha's problems are all of the fucking suburban people who don't want to associate with the city.

Unlike lots of other cities Omaha can annex pretty much whatever it want's. The latest city we're annexing doesn't want to be Omaha because they like the small town feeling. Excuse me but you can't live next to a city with 410,000 people and expect to be in a small town.

Another suburban issue is Omaha is trying to do away with the rich, white school districts and have what they call "One City, One School District" which I'm totally for but all of these suburban fucks are complaining and even our stupid ass governor is telling us to back off.

The other problem affecting our metro Omaha is perception. Lots of people in the city don't think it's big or happening enough and people on the outside think the same too. Omaha is an actual city with 410,000, a metro of 850,000. Just because we don't have a Pro team doesn't mean we can't compete with the countries other big cities.

Baton Rouge has the same issues.

It was but then Michigan traded it to Ohio in exchange for the western half of the Upper Peninsula.
we got screwed!!!




:eek2:

Cincy....=

1. Sprawl
2. old people
3. Transportation....

Dude, when I first moved to Cincinnati a little over a year ago, I was riding all over and thinking, DAMN everyone here is friggen old as the hills, in some parts of the city. It looked as though half the city could be in the ground any day now.

For Louisville I would say the biggest problem is small thinkers, not many people want to think outside the box, that a reason why it's taking decades to get some damn bridges, Luckily that is changing a bit, but still a problem Also like just about every other city on here, Louisville also tends to get skrewed over by the state.

I'm surprised that no one has brought up their city's education system. Do you really all live in cities with sparkling, efficient, top-notch public schools? I'm guessing no. Milwaukee's biggest problem is MPS, which is in pretty bad shape. Until we can improve the quality of the education our citizens are getting, we can't expect to raise their quality of life.

I think that most inner-city school systems certainly could use some "better this, better that," but I am a firm believer that you can get a great education in any school system. The student just has to be motivated. My opinion is that inner-city schools get a bad rap and most issues are sensationalized by local politicians and media. Of course they are going to have lower test scores, higher drop-out rates, etc. That doesn't mean that you can't learn. I went to an "inner-city" school and did just fine.

I think that Indy's biggest problem is the need to further consolidate services. We have a democrat mayor and council, yet any consolidation must get approval from the State, which is republican. UNtil we can get this done, we have to close parks earlier, lay-offpolice, and cut other services to make-up our 30million deficit.

Also, better public transportation. They are really working on it, but it is going to take time. One encouraging item, though, is the City's planned mass-transit. City leaders have now decided to try and fund it locally and then get federal dollars to repay the construction cost. If we went for the federal money first, it would be 10+ years before a line is running, this way, our planners think they can have a city-wide system up in 5 years!

I went to an "inner-city" school and did just fine.


Well gosh, then everything must be a-okay. The public school system isn't a problem at all, it's just those durned lazy people with their unemployed parents...just a culture of laziness. Let's teach them a durned lesson and shut down the schools and take away welfare. Then they can be as lazy as they want, and we'll see how they durn well like it then!

Well gosh, then everything must be a-okay. The public school system isn't a problem at all, it's just those durned lazy people with their unemployed parents...just a culture of laziness. Let's teach them a durned lesson and shut down the schools and take away welfare. Then they can be as lazy as they want, and we'll see how they durn well like it then!

that was probably the most bias and ignorant comment i have ever heard on a thread.

my point was simply that I didn't go to what would be considered a good school, didn't have much growing up, but I was committed and did alright for myself.

For Louisville I would say the biggest problem is small thinkers, not many people want to think outside the box, that a reason why it's taking decades to get some damn bridges, Luckily that is changing a bit, but still a problem Also like just about every other city on here, Louisville also tends to get skrewed over by the state.

I think the state is kinda sorta starting to catch on that Louisville drives half it's economy, and luckily with the merger, we don't have to fight our county and suburban cities about everything like it used to be. The bridges are getting up, and that will help, yes, but it was out of need, not big thinking.
Our problem is, hmm, well for starters, we just need more money. HAH money makes developmemnt go round, and with the state not exactly a lavish land of mansions, it's tough to get money together for stuff like new bridges. We also need to fix all this murder business that seems to keep happening in the sames parts of town.
Just, generally, nobody's ball is rolling fast enough in the city.

For Tulsa the problem is 50 years of reverse thinking.
Example I just moved to Tulsa 2 months ago from Ft. Lauderdale, my company relocated our corporate headquarters to Tulsa so I came with them.
Upon meeting a lot of my new co-workers they were asking me questions to get to know me. They asked the usual stuff and when it came to where do you want to live I said downtown.

The look on these peoples faces and the reactions and comments we're unreal. They were like Oh my god thers nothing to do downtown, theres a homeless problem, theres nothing to do after 5, no one lives down there, it's dangerous.

There are people living there and there is things to do after 5.

Suburban way of thinking is a disease that infects most cities but here in Tulsa its unreal. I tell these people THEY are the reason downtown is the way it is, it's thier fault for living so far out and supporting strip malls that downtown struggles with an image THEY create by their comments and sticking to their little cul-de-sacs worlds.

Most suburban people who do not supoprt the central city by saying theres nothing to do after 5 are the ones who actually do NOTHING themselves after 5 but drive home and get a fatter ass by watching HGTV and going to bed at 9.

40,000 people work in downtown Tulsa and roughly 3,000 live inside the IDL (inner dispersal loop) so the suburban citizens are Tulsa's plague and biggest problem

I'm surprised that no one has brought up their city's education system. Do you really all live in cities with sparkling, efficient, top-notch public schools? I'm guessing no. Milwaukee's biggest problem is MPS, which is in pretty bad shape. Until we can improve the quality of the education our citizens are getting, we can't expect to raise their quality of life.

a lot of kids in Cincy kids go to Private schools... hell the Catholic Schools even have two leagues dedicated to just their sports teams... plus a lot of good public school districts...