Tuesday, December 12 2017

Here’s the sort of house you are getting for $350,000 in this blistering hot Columbus market, from the suburbs to downtown 🏡

December 12, 2017

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Inventory of housing in Columbus is at rock bottom lows, driving prices higher and higher, and this shows no signs of stopping as we head into winter. Fair deals go on the MLS in the morning and are gone by the evening. We're now looking at $300k+ as an entry level price for some of central Ohio's highest ranked school districts, and given that somewhat stunning fact we thought it would be interesting and educational to take a look at what $350k buys you these days.

We found a nice variety, from a horse farm (!) to an artist's loft condo downtown, and lots in between.

Tuesday Weather 🌡Snow (less than one inch forecasted). Very windy. Very cold. Bundle up! High of 29, but falling throughout the day, with winds gusting up to 36mph. ❄️💨

Navigator Originals ✏️Local Band’s Music Used On Showtime’s ‘Shameless”A local band was featured on premium cable, which is a good first step towards Twenty One Pilots levels of Columbus infused stardom. We'll have to keep an eye on this group going forward.15+ New Year’s Eve Parties In Columbus You Won’t Want To Miss, With Ticket Prices Ranging From $8-$500I'll be at the Blue Jackets game early in the evening, and then hopefully sound asleep come midnight (#ParentLife), but here are the best options for those of you who still bring in the New Year the way it deserves.Columbus Is Getting A Brand New, State-Of-The-Art Ice Hockey SchoolThe Chiller will have some competition going forward. Ice time in Columbus is pretty tight and tough to come by from what I hear, so I think there's room for something like this. Looks like it'll be very legit, with a price tag in the $12 million range.

Around Town 🏘A group is mobilizing to put legalized marijuana on the ballot in 2018. This would be a fully legal situation, and not the medical marijuana scenario that is already coming. They will need hundreds of thousands of signatures to make the ballot, but experts seem to think that the group behind this drive will have no trouble (one of the main organizers actually owns a petition company.) [ABC6]"Microtransit" vehicles will be allowed to operate in Columbus following a new code change by Columbus City Council. These are vehicles that are bigger than cars but smaller than buses or trains. A company called Hopper Carts worked with Council to pass the change, and they are hinting at a solution involving these vehicles and congested downtown parking. [WOSU]If you can't get enough of the "how are small town Trump supporters doing a year later" genre, the New York Times has a new entry from East Liverpool, Ohio, where citizens are angry at the EPA for not punishing the owner of a hazardous waste incinerator who is releasing harmful pollutants into the air.Children in East Liverpool have lower IQs due to high levels of manganese coming from a company called S.H. Bell (an entirely different problem than the incinerator discussed above.) People's houses are stained from the heavy metals in the air. The Obama led EPA tried to resolve some of these matters in the final days of the administration, proposing consent decrees that would have been resolved in the first few months of the 2017, but the Trump administration asked a judge in March to delay the case. [New York Times]Forbes has ranked the value of the Blue Jackets at 29th out of 31 NHL teams, but their raw value increased 29% year over year, and is estimated at $315 million. Despite that healthy number, Forbes has the Blue Jackets at an operating deficit of $5.3 million. Hopefully, the team will have a sustained run of success going forward that will help to put it on sound financial footing. [Forbes]

Picture of the Day 🎄Gardens Aglow looks even better with a little snow. The Franklin Park Conservatory display is running through January 3rd, and it's beautiful. (📷: fpconservatory )

Longread 🎓Yesterday, I began running down the best articles I read this year. I'll be doing this through the end of the year. They didn't have to be written in 2017 - I just had to come across them this year.New discoveries about the human mind show the limitations of reason.New Yorker: Why Facts Don't Change Our Minds

Something to say? Hit reply - we read it all.- James