Columbus Murders by Zip Code 2008-2012




I have been wanting to do these maps for awhile now, as there have been several searches on the site for them and they weren’t available. The maps look at Columbus murders by zip code 2008-2012, highlighting which zip codes have seen the most murders by year and across the period as a whole.

2008
Columbus murders by zip code
In 2008, almost all murders were contained within the I-270 boundaries. The East and South Sides were the worst areas.

2009

In 2009, there began to be a bit of diffusion on where murder was taking place. While parts of the urban core remained the worst areas, suburban areas also saw the occasional murder.

2010

The diffusion continued in 2010.

2011

And in 2011.

2012

2012 was the most diffuse of all the years, with no heavily concentrated areas, even in the urban core as much. Meanwhile, most of the suburban zip codes within Franklin County saw at least 1 murder.

The question is, what do we make of this? This is only a 5-year data set, but it may be supporting evidence for current urban trends. The first trend being that the urban core is rapidly gentrifying in many areas. The second being that poverty is, through economic and development trends, is spreading further out from the core. Concentrated poverty and crime go hand in hand, so while the suburbs may see a bit of increase in crime, the urban core is starting to see less. Something to watch over time to see if such trends continue.

2008-2012

What strikes me about the 5-year map is that Grandview/Upper Arlington have been entirely murder free while every zip around them have had at least one. Also, Downtown is also relatively murder free, as is Bexley and the Clintonville areas.

Of course, zip codes include large areas. What are the neighborhoods that are actually seeing murders and which ones are not? To find out, we’ll have to go down to the tract level. Over the next few days, I’ll post those maps.

More local crime statistics back to 1985 can be found here: Columbus Crime Statistics
The https://www.columbus.gov/police/ site provides annual reports, crime descriptions and other local department information.



April 2013 Jobs Data



April 2013 jobs data

That latest April 2013 jobs data comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Columbus City
Unemployment Rate: 5.7%
Unemployment Rate Change since April 2012: -0.6
Unemployment Rate Change since January 2013: -1.1
Civilian Labor Force: 425,600
Civilian Labor Force Change since April 2012: +200
Civilian Labor Force Change since January 2013: -800
Employment: 401,400
Employment Change since April 2012: +2,800
Employment Change since January 2013: +4,100
Unemployment: 24,200
Unemployment Change since April 2012: -2,500
Unemployment Change since January 2013: -4,900

Franklin County
Unemployment Rate: 5.7%
Unemployment Rate Change since April 2012: -0.5
Unemployment Rate Change since January 2013: -1.1
Civilian Labor Force: 622,300
Civilian Labor Force Change since April 2012: +600
Civilian Labor Force Change since January 2013: -1,400
Employment: 587,100
Employment Change since April 2012: +4,100
Employment Change since January 2013: +6,100
Unemployment: 35,200
Unemployment Change since April 2012: -3,400
Unemployment Change since January 2013: -7,400

Columbus Metro Area
Unemployment Rate: 5.7%
Unemployment Rate Change since April 2012: -0.4
Unemployment Rate Change since January 2013: -1.3
Civilian Labor Force: 964,400
Civilian Labor Force Change since April 2012: +1,700
Civilian Labor Force Change since January 2013: -3,500
Employment: 909,800
Employment Change since April 2012: +6,300
Employment Change since January 2013: +9,300
Unemployment: 54,600
Unemployment Change since April 2012: -4,600
Unemployment Change since January 2013: -12,800

Ohio Overall
Unemployment Rate: 7.0%
Unemployment Rate Change since April 2012: -0.3
Unemployment Rate Change since January 2013 : +0.0
Civilian Labor Force: 5,741,116
Civilian Labor Force Change since April 2012: -22,664
Civilian Labor Force Change since January 2013: +824
Employment: 5,341,401
Employment Change since April 2012: -1,270
Employment Change since January 2013: +549
Unemployment: 399,715
Unemployment Change since April 2012: -21,394
loyment Change since January 2013: +275

Non-Farm Jobs
Total: 954,100
Change from April 2012: +7,000
Change from January 2013: +9,500

By Industry
Mining/Logging/Construction Total: 28,400
Change from April 2012: -500
Change from January 2013: +1,500

Manufacturing Total: 66,500
Change from April 2012: +700
Change from January 2013: +1,500

Trade/Transportation/Utilities Total: 179,600
Change from April 2012: -900
Change from January 2013: -3,600

Information Total: 16,400
Change from April 2012: -300
Change from January 2013: -100

Financial Activities Total: 71,400
Change from April 2012: +300
Change from January 2013: -300

Professional and Business Services Total: 158,300
Change from April 2012: +1,000
Change from January 2013: +2,700

Education and Health Services Total: 141,000
Change from April 2012: +3,000
Change from January 2013: +1,500

Leisure and Hospitality Total: 95,200
Change from April 2012: +3,800
Change from January 2013: +6,700

Other Services Total: 36,100
Change from April 2012: -100
Change from January 2013: -100

Government Total: 161,200
Change from April 2012: +0
Change from January 2013: +700



Columbus Poverty vs. Ohio Cities



Columbus poverty

Columbus poverty, like poverty everywhere else, is not exactly a positive metric. But how does its own rate compare to that of other Ohio cities? The following numbers are based off the American Community Survey. They are estimates, not physical counts like the population census, so there is a definite fudge factor involved with them as to their overall accuracy. 2011 is the latest year available for the ACS estimates.

2011 % of City Population Living in Poverty, Lowest to Highest
1. Columbus: 23.2%
2. Akron: 28.9%
3. Cincinnati: 29.5%
4. Toledo: 30.1%
5. Youngstown: 33.2%
6. Cleveland: 34.3%
7. Dayton: 35.7%

Change from 2010-2011
Cincinnati: -3.6%
Akron: -1.7%
Cleveland: +0.9%
Columbus: +2.7%
Dayton: +3.5%
Youngstown: +4.4%
Toledo: +16.7%
Change from 2007-2011
Youngstown: +1.8%
Columbus: +10.5%
Cleveland: +16.3%
Dayton: +18.2%
Akron: +22.5%
Cincinnati: +25.5%
Toledo: +33.2%

Change from 2000-2011
1. Cleveland: +30.4%
2. Youngstown: +33.9%
3. Cincinnati: +34.7%
4. Dayton: +55.2%
5. Columbus: +56.8%
6. Akron: +65.1%
7. Toledo: +68.2%

2011 % of Metro Population Living in Poverty, Lowest to Highest
1. Cincinnati: 14.3%
2. Columbus: 15.4%
3. Cleveland: 16.0%
4. Youngstown: 16.1%
5. Akron: 16.6%
6. Dayton: 17.6%
7. Toledo: 20.2%

Change from 2010-2011
1. Youngstown: -5.8%
2. Columbus: -1.9%
3. Cincinnati: +2.1%
4. Cleveland: +6.0%
5. Akron: +7.1%
6. Dayton: +8.0%
7. Toledo: +16.1%

Change from 2007-2011
1. Youngstown: +8.8%
2. Columbus: +14.9%
3. Akron: +23.9%
4. Cleveland: +26.0%
5. Cincinnati: +28.8%
6. Toledo: +36.5%
7. Dayton: +37.5%

Change from 2000-2011
1. Youngstown: +40.0%
2. Cleveland: +48.1%
3. Cincinnati: +50.5%
4. Columbus: +55.5%
5. Toledo: +66.9%
6. Akron: +69.4%
7. Dayton: +76.0%



Columbus Residential Development Booming




Columbus residential development booming

During and just after the recession’s housing crash, single-family home construction in the Columbus area seemed to fall apart, much like it did across the nation. Foreclosure rates soared, prices fell and builders were suddenly left with too many homes they couldn’t get rid of.

Out of the ashes of this market rose a surge in rental demand. It suddenly made more and more sense to rent rather than to own, especially for young professionals and empty nesters who wanted to downsize during tough economic times. Not only did what housing people wanted change, but so did where they wanted it to be located.

Columbus experienced a relative boom in rental housing during the late 1990s into the first few years of the 2000s, but almost all of that rental housing was constructed along and outside of I-270, where the suburbs were exploding with growth. Inside of 270 saw little of this, and the urban core neighborhoods around Downtown were almost completely ignored altogether. Single-family housing became popular again during the early 2000s mild recession, and the housing boom that would help lead to the Great Recession of 2007-2009 really began at that time. However, it was in 2002 that the City and Mayor Coleman came up with a 10-year plan to help bring more residents to Downtown. It began offering tax incentives to developers who would build there, in some cases 100% abatements, in a goal to have 10,000 residential units built in and around Downtown by 2012.

I’ve done a ton of research on the results of this move by the city, and it did have an impact. From what I’ve been able to find (so far), Downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods saw the addition of less than 200 residential units between 2000 and 2002. 2003 saw over 500 alone with the new incentives package in place. Between 2003 and 2006, the area added over 2,000 new residential units, most of them condos. As the Great Recession hit in 2007, the rate of new projects slowed to half of what it was, though still higher than it was prior to 2003.

As the Great Recession eased and more financing became available, construction began to pick up once more. With the new trends in favor of urban living and rentals, the rental market has exploded and overall Columbus residential development is booming across all parts of the city.



Independence Day Climatology



Independence Day climatology Columbus, Ohio

In honor of the 4th, here is the history of Independence Day climatology and extreme weather events.

Normals
High: 85
Low: 65
Mean: 75
Precipitation: 0.15″

# of July 4ths Where the Maximum was…
100 or Above: 3
90 or Above: 34
80 and Above: 104
79 and Below: 31
69 and Below: 2

# of July 4ths Where the Minimum was…
70 or Above: 26
60 or Above: 95
59 or Below: 40
49 or Below: 2

Top 5 Warmest Highs
1. 1911: 104
2. 1897: 102
3. 2012: 100
4. 1919: 97
5. 1900, 1921, 1949, 2002: 96

Top 5 Coldest Highs
1. 1882, 1922: 69
2. 1924, 1967, 1978, 2008: 71
3. 1909, 1927, 1972, 1979: 72
4. 1920: 73
5. 1937, 1989: 74

Top 5 Warmest Lows
1. 1911: 79
2. 1897, 1900, 1999: 75
3. 1879, 1921: 74
4. 1883, 1902, 2012: 73
5. 1899, 1919, 1991, 2004: 72

Top 5 Coldest Lows
1. 1968: 47
2. 1963: 49
3. 1996: 50
4. 1986: 51
5. 1927, 1940: 52

# of July 4ths where Precipitation was…
0: 65
Trace: 18
0.01-0.24: 32
0.25-0.49: 8
0.50-0.74: 8
0.75-0.99: 2
1.00 and Above: 2

Top 10 Wettest
1. 1984: 1.38″
2. 1935: 1.04″
3. 1915: 0.86″
4. 1932: 0.84″
5. 1957: 0.66″
6. 2008: 0.61″
7. 1939: 0.60″
8. 2003: 0.59″
9. 1926: 0.58″
10. 2006: 0.56″

Ohio’s most infamous July 4th weather event, occurred in 1969. Severe thunderstorms developed over southeastern Michigan and moved southeastward into the Ohio lakeshore communities around 7:30PM on July 4th. Every lakeshore community from Toledo to Cleveland was affected, as well as areas further inland. The storms continuously trained over the same areas from Lucas to Wayne counties for several hours, dropping torrential rains, tornadoes, high winds, hail and lightning. Rainfall in a 100-mile stretch from just southeast of Toledo into Wayne County totaled 6″-14″. These rains caused record local flooding. All told, the storms of July 4th-5th, 1969 caused $65 million in damage, damaged or destroyed 10,000 homes, 7,000 cars, 104 businesses, 300 mobile homes and more than 700 boats. 41 people were killed and 559 were injured, mostly from flooding. This was the 3rd most damaging flood in Ohio history, behind January 1959 and March 1913. Columbus was too far south to see any of the storms and received just 0.03″ of rain for the period.