Category Archives: Travel & Leisure::Destinations

Travel & Leisure::Destinations

Columbus Casino Most Successful in State

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After 4 previous tries, Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment to allow casinos to operate in the state’s 4 largest cities. Three years after that 2009 vote, casinos began operations in Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo, with Cincinnati’s casino opening the following year in 2013.
The Columbus casino was originally supposed to be built Downtown in the Arena District. Specifically, it was supposed to be built where the Crew’s new stadium now sits. There was quite a bit of opposition to this plan given that casinos provide little to no external business traffic, and the thinking was that it would’ve caused more problems for the neighborhood than what it was worth.
So, the following year, a second statewide vote allowed for the Columbus casino to change locations to the West Side. The site that was chosen was the former Delphi plant, which had been closed since 2007. A bit of hypocrisy and irony was not lot in the demand to move the site, though. The West Side and Westland area were already in late state decline at that point, and proponents of the move claimed that the casino would help the area improve. This claim was made despite the fact that the move was initiated with the idea that it would’ve hurt the Arena District.
Still, the West Side seemed to be all for the move, as a new business- even a casino- was still better than a closed and deteriorating industrial plant.
Columbus’ Hollywood Casino opened on October 8, 2012 after about 2 years of site clearing and construction. While visions of the West Side raking in the benefits never really materialized in reality, the casino itself has gone on to great success in terms of revenue.

Initially, Cleveland- whose own Jack Casino was located in the heart of its downtown- was the highest earner by revenue in the state, Columbus passed it by 2016 and has been the state’s leader ever since.

Columbus casino Cincinnati vs Columbus

Columbus casino Cleveland vs Columbus

Columbus casino Toledo versus Columbus

All the casinos saw a 2020 drop as they were closed for 2 months and had hour restrictions into early 2021 due to the pandemic. Curiously, though, all of the casinos saw a huge increase in revenue over where they were in 2019. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing.

Columbus to be a Rail Hub

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Columbus to be a rail hub Amtrak train

In the Spring of 2021, I wrote about Amtrak’s proposal to bring passenger rail back to Columbus as part of its ConnectUS plan. That original plan included Columbus in just one route- the long-sought-after Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati route, otherwise known as the 3-C Corridor. In my article, my view was that this plan was far too limiting for Columbus. That its growth and location suited the city for much better local and regional connections. Now, Amtrak is calling for Columbus to be a rail hub, complete with multiple routes and connections that rival those found in Chicago.

Here is the original map from last year:
Columbus to be a rail hub

And here is the updated version, recently released:
Columbus to be a rail hub 2022

In the new plan, the Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati route is maintained, but the following routes would be brand new:
Columbus-Chillicothe
Columbus-Athens
Columbus-Toledo-Detroit
Columbus-Pittsburgh
Columbus-Fort Wayne-Chicago
Louisville-Nashville would be an extension of the Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati route.
So overall, Columbus residents would have direct connections to 12 different cities. Of course, many of those cities would have their own routes, so Columbus residents would have rail access to large parts of the country under the plan.

The timeline for completion is tentatively for 2035. Most of the proposed routes already have existing rail lines, so it would come down to funding any necessary upgrades along with buying the trains, etc. Whether any of these routes are ever actually built and opened remains to be seen, though. Passenger rail, unlike in most of the world, is politically controversial in the US, and public transit remains deeply underfunded and underbuilt in every part of the nation arguably outside of the New York and Northeast Corridor.




Best States for Retirement

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best states for retirement

Perhaps the beaches of Florida aren’t the best place to retire after all?

There are a LOT of rankings out there related to the best states for retirement. And yet none of them produce the same list. Because of different criteria used, websites produce vastly different rankings. Some lists prioritize climate, others tax rates, others still healthcare costs. Some others having a long criteria list. No two are exactly alike. Further complicating the matter is that while there are hundreds of websites that list rankings, the vast majority of them just reprint a half-dozen or so studies from other websites, but with slightly different framing.
What I haven’t seen, however, is an average of all those rankings. That is what I attempted here. I tried to find as many rankings using original criteria and that ranked all 50 states and DC, and then averaged all those rankings into a new number. This helped to smooth out the varying criteria that can offer wildly opposing results into a more consistent ranking.

Average State Ranking Position Across All Studies Reviewed
1. North Dakota: 9.0
2. Delaware: 12.2
3. New Hampshire: 12.8
4. Virginia: 13.0
5. Iowa: 13.8
6. Florida: 14.4
7. Maine: 14.8
8. South Dakota: 15.0
9. Idaho: 15.4
10. Wyoming: 16.4
11. South Carolina: 19.2
12. Montana: 19.6
13. Pennsylvania: 19.8
14. Nebraska: 21.2
15. Alabama: 21.8
16. Colorado: 22.2
17. North Carolina, Ohio: 23.8
18. Vermont: 24.0
19. Missouri: 24.2
20. Georgia, Minnesota: 24.6
21. Wisconsin: 24.8
22. Tennessee, Utah: 26.0
23. Arizona: 26.6
24. Kansas, Michigan: 27.0
25. Mississippi: 28.0
26. Hawaii, Indiana, West Virginia: 28.4
27. Kentucky: 28.6
28. Oregon: 28.8
29. Arkansas: 29.0
30. Nevada: 29.2
31. Connecticut: 30.6
32. Alaska, Rhode Island: 31.2
33. Massachusetts, Oklahoma: 33.2
34. Washington: 34.6
35. Louisiana: 34.8
36. Maryland: 35.0
37. Texas: 35.6
38. New Mexico: 36.2
39. Illinois: 36.4
40. California: 37.6
41. New Jersey: 38.4
42. New York: 38.6
43. Washington, DC: 42.5

I definitely went into this thinking that Florida, Arizona, Texas and other warm-weather states would all come out near or at the very top, but it didn’t quite work out that way. Instead, the top 25 positions were much more mixed, and the Sunbelt region did not have the most states. Instead, the Midwest led the way with 10, followed by the Southeast with 8, the West with 6 and the Northeast with 5.
If going purely by average score, here is the breakdown of states by region with a score of under 25 versus those with an average score over 25, indicating the line between top and bottom-ranking states.
Score Below 25
Midwest: 9
Southeast: 6
Northeast: 5
West: 4
Score Above 25
West: 9
Southeast: 8
Northeast: 7
Midwest: 4

This all suggests that the Midwest is the best overall region to retire. The cold winters may not be everyone’s favorite, but favorable tax rates, quality of life metrics, low healthcare costs, low housing costs and other metrics make it otherwise a very attractive region. Ohio, too, comes in fairly favorable in the overall rankings, though it seems many retirees don’t consider Ohio or the greater Midwest as a retirement destination, and that’s to their detriment. It all comes down to what individuals prefer and prioritize, of course. The US Census does “Reason for Move” estimates of those people who move from one state or region to another, and they support that most people move for family, employment, education or health reasons. Contrary to popular belief, change of climate is way down at the bottom of the list. Cold-weather states, then, are perhaps just not capitalizing on their own net positives to attract more people.



Cool Link: USGS EarthExplorer

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USGS EarthExplorer

This program from the United States Geological Survey website, EarthExplorer, allows users to search information on both geological and manmade features across both the US and rest of the world. Just about every possible feature is available, from zip codes to cemeteries, bridges to waterfalls, military sites and oil fields.

EarthExplorer

New Amtrak Route Plan Underserves Columbus

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Amtrak route underserves Columbus

Columbus is the 2nd largest city in the United States without any form of passenger rail. It hasn’t had passenger rail since the last train pulled out of Union Station in 1977. Some might argue that rail is an outdated form of transit, and therefore unnecessary anyway. Others argue that not having a multi-modal transit system holds the city back economically and developmentally.

However one views rail, Amtrak’s latest national route plan, called Connect US is still arguably mediocre. In fact, one could say that the new Amtrak route plan underserves Columbus completely.

The route plan.

As shown in the above map, Columbus would only have direct connections to Cincinnati and Cleveland. To go anywhere else, passengers from Columbus would first have to travel to those cities and then make transfers. While a direct connection to Cleveland and Cincinnati is important, this plan would present more of a challenge to potential travelers who want direct connections outside of the state.
Columbus is currently the largest city in Ohio and will soon be the largest metro area. It is one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States and has added more people the past 10 years than any other Midwest city. On top of all that, it is the capital of the 7th most-populated state.

Amtrak’s plan attempts to largely use existing rail lines, but in many places the routes would be brand new. Columbus doesn’t have existing passenger rail routes, so it may be more expensive to build them there. However, it seems to be a wasted opportunity to not make Columbus more of the state’s hub by having direct connections to cities like Chicago, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh.
Incidentally, the proposed Hyperloop project would be a Chicago-Columbus-Pittsburgh route that would eventually connect all the way to New York. Most people view Hyperloop as a gimmick more than a real proposal, so more traditional rail is still taken more seriously.

It is in all our best interests to want the best possible infrastructure. Amtrak’s plan treats Columbus as a 2nd or 3rd-rate city. That’s unfortunate, and works against all the momentum the city has had in recent decades. The current Amtrak plan would provide less economic benefit and options to Ohio’s fastest-growing city and capital.
The city deserves so much better than being an afterthought.