Quote from: AmericanFlyer on December 18, 2010, 03:59:50 PM
And don't forget about the Ohio Turnpike, which connects all of the northern Ohio cities.  I was just funnin' with ya, tbone, about the soup kitchens and homeless shelters, but my underlying point is exactly what you stated............Ohio doesn't NEED a high speed rail system.  The interstate highway system in Ohio is just dandy.  But I do know that the economy is bad in Ohio.  My oldest son and his family live in the Cleveland area, and things are BAD in the Cleveland and Toledo areas.

Yes, Cleveland and Toledo were hit pretty hard because of the high number of blue-collar auto-related jobs in those places. Dayton too, to a lesser extent. But according to the latest report I can find (October 2010) the highest jobless rates are in other places -- by counties, Clinton (Wilmington) is the highest at 15.8%, followed by Highland (Hillsboro) at 14.4%; Pike (Waverly) at 14.3%; Meigs (Pomeroy) at 13.5%; Noble at 13.7%; Jefferson (Steubenville) at 13.2%; and Monroe at 13.0%.

All these counties are located in the southern half of the state, and most of them are in the portion of Ohio normally included in "Appalachia." Of course, most of these were pretty crappy places to try and find a job before the recession -- unless you consider growing unlawful plants or making untaxed intoxicating liquor a job, as many in that part of the world do. (Marijuana is widely thought to be the biggest crop in Ohio south of the glacial moraine.)

Oddly enough, the two counties with the lowest unemployment rates -- Geauga and Holmes, tied at 6.8% -- are both in northeast Ohio.

By comparison, Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) was at 9.0%, Lucas County (Toledo) was at 10.8 and Montgomery County (Dayton) was at 10.9%. The statewide rate was 9.8%.

Wow, that's very surprising, tbone.  I figured Cuyahoga County would be well over 10% unemployment, and I figured Lucas County would be higher than 10.8%. 

But, we all know that the method used to calculate unemployment rates are bogus, so realistically you can use the "times two" rule.   

Quote from: AmericanFlyer on December 18, 2010, 08:54:34 PM
Wow, that's very surprising, tbone.  I figured Cuyahoga County would be well over 10% unemployment, and I figured Lucas County would be higher than 10.8%. 

But, we all know that the method used to calculate unemployment rates are bogus, so realistically you can use the "times two" rule.

In some industries, such as mine -- heavy highway construction -- the factor is closer to "times four." I didn't "retire" because I wanted to. The bottom just fell out. My union local had a third of its guys sitting in July. I was still working -- 30 hours a week, maybe 30 weeks a year. It was slow starvation, and finally it was less than what I could get by taking my pension early.

The biggest increase around here in construction has been in the sign industry. Someone is making a LOT of money going around putting up those lovely green signs that say "Funded Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act."

Geezus Keerighst.

  Im the last one to defend amtrak or what it costs taxpayers .....but you do realize one is a train and the other a small shuttle bus right ? there would be a difference in price...not that huge of course.

Quote from: zip on December 22, 2010, 06:25:28 AM
  Im the last one to defend amtrak or what it costs taxpayers .....but you do realize one is a train and the other a small shuttle bus right ? there would be a difference in price...not that huge of course.

Doesn't look like a bus to me?  ;)

Quote from: zip on December 22, 2010, 06:25:28 AM
  Im the last one to defend amtrak or what it costs taxpayers .....but you do realize one is a train and the other a small shuttle bus right ? there would be a difference in price...not that huge of course.

Under the assumption the comment's directed at the original post, you're wrong. The bus routes are between Boston and New York, New York and Washington D.C. Those aren't small shuttle buses.