Ohio ad campaign targets Seattle ‘tech bros’ | Hacker News Reader

Ohio ad campaign targets Seattle ‘tech bros’

geekwire.com

There's an Ohio billboard right downtown in Austin, just off the highway, that I think makes fun of you for sitting in traffic and suggests Ohio would be better. It's sort of interesting how this antagonistic approach actually makes me mentally jump to Austin's defense, even though I am interested in moving somewhere less crowded.

I wonder if there's any way they try to measure the success of these campaigns? Maybe with voter registration/DMV/post office data? If they can measure accurately, I imagine they could actually do a pretty good job of attribution compared to most display advertising...

Hilarious considering you can sit in traffic in Ohio too.

I'm leaving Austin as soon as the house sale closes. Not for Ohio but for Appalachia next door. I've seen that billboard & smirked at first. Not anymore.

I was wondering when something like this ad campaign would happen. I moved back to my childhood state of Indiana (from Seattle and the Bay Area) in part because of I could take the equity in my house in Seattle and my savings never have to worry about needing a job. I could survive comfortably while pursuing crazy ideas in a way that isn’t possible in a tech city unless you are already a billionaire.

I mean that’s pretty concerning for Seattle, not because people will leave but because it means that some percentage of the people who are coming to Seattle won’t care about the city since they’re just in town for four years to make half a million from some tech job and then leave for their cheap Midwest hometown again. It means they won’t really vote for or invest in Seattle’s civic health but will prioritize short term goals only.

Moved to Michigan while keeping my remote Job. Was able to afford a house after a couple years of cheaper rent and living with a roommate. Most of my peers still are stuck paying high rent and aren’t any closer to buying a house. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, the roads are bad, and the public transportation is almost non existent. I’m also farther away from friends and family, but the improved lifestyle was worth it for me. Plus the fishing is great, and the Great Lakes are truly a gem of the U.S.

I've always lived pretty close to the coast. No matter how good the culture is and how cheaper the cost of living is, it would feel weird to be land-locked.

Do you feel this is a recent shift? My experience has been different (lots of family all around Ohio) but I haven't been for more than 10 years now, so I'm not up to date. If so, when do you think this change occured?

Oh yeah, Ohio. I've been there. Thats where Kent State happened. Who needs mountains and oceans anyway? The midwest has its charms, and it is warming up so there's that.

> The midwest has its charms, and it is warming up so there's that.

Midwest summers get nearly as hot and humid as the south, but less extreme winters would be welcome.

My hometown is Columbus no cap it’s arguably SF but better. Like I'm not trying to just dunk on SF just because it's a tech hub. The two cities have really similar feels and energies. Columbus is nothing like Chicago, NY, Boston, or LA but it's darn close to SF.

* Similar climate spring through fall. Although winters do exist.

* The city isn’t full of literal garbage, grime, homeless people, tent cities, and addicts shooting up in the street.

* The food scene is amazing — Huge Somali population, absolute fire Indian food, a million local breweries, pizza that punches well well above the city’s weight class. The north markets and short north are have delicious local food. When I first got to Cali people had hyped me up about the food scene so much and it was honestly about the same except twice as expensive.

* Really active farmer’s markets and CSA programs if you want all the fresh produce.

* Bars, nightclubs, EDM/rave scene is pretty darn good if you’re into that.

* Weed is on track for legalization and because of some legal stupidity de facto legalized.

* The Ohio ACLU does gods damn work around here to smack down right wing nut jobs.

* The short north is gay as hell. Pride is an actual “shut down all of downtown” size event. Which is pretty surprising for a red state.

* The music scene is also amazing (compared to SF) so many great small venues, best crowds I’ve ever been in hands down. The people that own a lot of the "medium size" venues, Promowest Live" do an amazing job getting people here and the momentum has only increased.

* Cost of living is insanely cheap. But you probably already knew that. For fun to make my friends mad I’ve sent them housing listings.

* Traffic is a literal dream compared to SF, I wouldn’t have called it good until I lived in Cali.

* Since we are fairly spread out it’s actually possible and cheap to own a car. City planners actually make sure parking exists.

* Columbus Crew, Clippers, Blue Jackets, OSU, are always a good time and I don’t even like sports.

* Midwest kindness is a real thing and noticeable.

* No tourists thank the gods.

* MORPC (the planning commission) does a really good job at parks and trails. Obviously we don’t have the redwood forest or anything but there are still good hiking and biking spots.

* Good tech jobs — not FAANG salaries obviously but you will still be comfortably upper middle class and not give two shits.

* CMH is a really solid international airport which makes travel super easy. Not at all the crowded maze of larger hubs.

* Kinda a weird thing to mention but I'm trying to dispel the "Columbus is a small hick town myth" Ohio Health, Wexner, and OSU collectively make for a great world class hospital system. Cutting edge research in lots of areas and you'll pretty much never need to be flown anywhere to get treatment.

> * Similar climate spring through fall. Although winters do exist.

One of the reasons that prevents me from considering leaving the west coast is the increased humidity east of the Rockies.

Oh see, I hated how dry it was living there. Basically had the humidifier running 24/7.

He also left out the fact that it rains year round there. They don’t have the dry summers that California’s Mediterranean climate gives you.

s/he/she

This is a little exaggerated. It rains a little more than average across the US. However, since in SF it rains a little less than average it's a bigger relative swing.

Oh! Thanks for the correction. I try not to assume, but sometimes it slips past me ;-)

For those that didn't know, Columbus is -the- food test market for places. They get to try new things well before others, as well as things that never make it to market anywhere else. I know this isn't a huge draw, but found it interesting.

And we matter politically for better or worse depending on whether you like being involved in politics.

Having spent time there the only thing that I can recall that this applied was a limited release black bean burger from wendys, and maybe some special sliders from white castle. I don't know what else is tested or where you would gain access to anything, although I heard the rumor plenty but I suspect it just applied for these central ohio based fast food companies more than anything. The kroger carried the same stuff as anywhere else as far as I was aware.

> Since we are fairly spread out it’s actually possible and cheap to own a car. City planners actually make sure parking exists.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard someone write this with a positive spin. One of the benefits of a city is its walkability. What you described is suburbia and all its problems that sound very unappealing to someone seeking city life.

I mean that's pretty fair, car ownership is both cheap and mandatory in Columbus but I'll be damned suddenly not having one didn't feel like a significant quality of life downgrade.

I'll spare the rant that cities seem to conflate walkability with "can go places without car" instead of "can actually walk to places of interest" but it was super annoying to lose so much time waiting around for the bus, paying for delivery, movers, Lyfts to fill the gaps. Unless I missed the secret SF feels really really dependent on cars but good luck owning one. Boston and NY by comparison I never once felt the need to own a car.

> Cost of living is insanely cheap. But you probably already knew that. For fun to make my friends mad I’ve sent them housing listings.

Whatever you do, do _not_ say this within earshot of Columbus natives.

> trying to dispel the "Columbus is a small hick town myth"

Columbus was never a small hick town. It was always the world's largest suburb.

> It was always the world's largest suburb.

You're not wrong but talking to people from other major metros you would think Columbus is like one step up from "rural small town."

I know I'm gassing up Columbus a lot in this thread but for real if you haven't experienced day-to-day here it's actually a kinda novel city design -- 100% was accidental but the city planners are leaning into it and the results are great. Everything is 20 minutes or less by car. So much green space, lots of parks, small businesses aren't crushed by high rents, housing is cheap, connected pockets of local walkable areas with parking garages on the outskits. Unless you actually live in the suburbs it's a far cry from blandly pleasant perfectly manicured lawns and identical all-american homes.

I came from Cincinnati, and I would say almost all of those aren't true of Cincinnati, nor the other parts of Ohio I've lived in.

The weather is the worst I've seen, and I've lived in 4 states. The winter is freezing cold and snowy, and negative temps aren't uncommon. The summer is hot and unbearably humid. It also rains/snows constantly. I refuse to move back home specifically because the weather is horrid.

I would also describe the pay as bad. I saved several times more money living well in SF than I did living okay in Ohio. I don't live in SF anymore, but still, my rent is twice what it would be in Ohio but I earn 3x as much.

Cincinnati also had terrible public transit, but I wouldn't be surprised that Columbus has done better.

The only reasons I would move back are for family, or if I was totally done with the city and wanted somewhere I could buy 50 acres of land on the cheap. Even then, I'd probably still hop over the river to Kentucky. The hills add some character that Ohio's endless soybean and corn fields can't touch.

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