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What's My State Like? My Take On Ohio.

Detailed Map of Ohio
Detailed Map of Ohio

Inspired by every other person on GAG doing this trend, I'm here to do my own version.

I'm a lifelong resident in the city of Hamilton, in the state of Ohio(in the United States of America). Even when I was in college, I lived in Hamilton, and commuted to the Miami University Hamilton(and Oxford) campuses here in Ohio. For those who aren't aware, Hamilton is located in the southwest corner of Ohio, and is part of the Cincinnati Metro Area. So, I'm more than qualified to tell you what Ohio is like. After 28 years, I think I've gained a little seniority around here.

For the record, I never have liked Ohio, and the only reason I live here is because virtually my entire family is here. I would love to live somewhere else sometime. However, it's also my home, and I feel it's my duty to write about it, since I'm here all the time anyway.

Demographics

According to the 2017 end-of-the-year census...

-There are 11,353,140 people living in Ohio. This ranks Ohio 7/50 in population. Contrary to popular belief, Ohio is a very populated, and one of the largest states in the country via population.

-Let's divide age-ranges by five-year intervals. The most popular five-year age-range in Ohio are 35-39 year olds, whom make up 15.9 percent of the population. The least popular five-year age-range are 80-84 year olds, whom only make up about 6 percent of the population(which makes sense, given elderly people naturally die off).

-Excluding illegal immigrants, 85 percent of the population identifies themselves as "white", and/or "caucasian." African-Americans, and/or "blacks" are the largest racial minority groups, with 11.5 percent of the population. Our smallest minority group is the Pacific Islander group; only about 0.001 percent of the population identifies themselves with this group. As someone who lives here, there are actually quite a bit of Latinos/Hispanics, but since most of them are illegal, they aren't documented in the census.

-The average income for a household in Ohio is $52,334, but since our cost of living is lower than a vast majority of states, we are consistently ranked one of the most affordable places to live. As a matter of fact, the U.S. Weekly study had us ranked the most affordable state to live in, for 2017. That's our most positive aspect in my opinion.

-For most rankings, we seem to fall right in the middle of everything it seems. We're the epitome of mediocrity in this country.

Sports

The Chicago Cubs fan in his natural habitat.
The Chicago Cubs fan in his natural habitat.

As many of you know, I'm a die-hard Cincinnati Bengals, and Cincinnati Reds fan. My favorite sport is baseball, but Ohio's favorite sport definitely seems to be football. Here is a list of major, professional teams in Ohio(excluding minor league, and semi-league teams).

Cincinnati Reds(Major League Baseball)-Established in 1881, and is the oldest professional team in North America.

Cincinnati Bengals(National Football League)-Established in 1968, and is one of five NFL teams which has never won any championship titles.

Football Club(FC) Cincinnati-(Major League Soccer)-The newest professional team in Ohio, and it will join MLS in the 2019 season. Even though I'm not a soccer fan at all, I am thrilled that we're getting a new team in the Cincinnati Metro Area.

Columbus Blue Jackets(National Hockey League)-Established in 2000, and it's the only NHL team in Ohio.

Columbus Crew Soccer Club(SC)(Major League Soccer)-Established in 1996, and is the only professional soccer team in Columbus.

Cleveland Browns(National Football League)-Established in 1946; and then re-established in 1999. For some reason, they still have fans who show up to their games. It's one of the greatest mysteries in the world.

Cleveland Indians(Major League Baseball)-Established in 1894, and they currently hold the longest World Series victory drought in MLB.

Cleveland Cavaliers(National Basketball Association)-Established in 1970, and are the only NBA team in Ohio.

Even though my state has eight professional teams, we have a sad history in sports for the most part. The Reds haven't won a postseason series since the 1995 season, the Bengals own the longest postseason victory drought in the NFL, since they haven't won a playoff game since the 1990-1991 season, the Cavaliers played like crap for decades until they finally won in the 2015-2016 season, the Browns are the Browns, the Blue Jackets can't make it out of the first round of the postseason-for the record, FC Cincinnati had the same problem in the minor leagues-and the Indians know how to choke when it counts the most.

I've never been a college sports fan. I follow Miami University sports, but that's only because I went there. Clearly, The Ohio State University Buckeyes steal the thunder in this state, even here in southern Ohio. The University of Cincinnati Bearcats also have a rabid fanbase, as well as the University of Dayton Flyers.

Education

Miami University(Oxford, Ohio):
Miami University(Oxford, Ohio): "The most beautiful campus there ever was"-Robert Frost

As a teacher, I'm interested in the status of our educational system here in Ohio.

-In the Kindergarten-Twelfth Grade Setting, there were 1,633,571 students enrolled for the 2017-2018 schoolyear in Ohio. There are roughly 1.5 million post-secondary students in Ohio.

-We have roughly an equal range of typologies of school districts in the state. We have a good mix of rural, suburban, and urban schools. We also have some of the largest electronic schools, and private school bases in the state. Columbus City School District is the largest school district in the state.

-83 percent of high school seniors from their freshmen year in Ohio graduated from high school. This is about the nationwide average.

-Where things do get interesting, is Ohio ranks 36th for all adults with a Bachelor's Degree or higher; however, is in the top 20 for 25-40 year olds with a Bachelor's Degree(or higher). In other words, the youngest people in Ohio are rapidly becoming more educated.

-For shits, and giggles, let's dissect our famous post-secondary institutes. Ohio University gets the "party school" reputation, Miami University gets the "snobby" reputation, The Ohio State University is ranked number one in the country for school spirit(according to the scholarly Playboy magazine), Kent State University is the liberal hotbed, Xavier University is the conservative hotbed, the University of Dayton is OU's baby brother, Wright State University is the theater geek center, and the University of Cincinnati is a party-sports hybrid culture. In all seriousness, my alma mater(Miami) is one of the top ranked schools for future teachers. The other schools have their solid specialties too(UC is known for engineering, OSU is known for its PhD programs, Xavier is known for its graduate school in general, OU is known for its cannabis experts, and other schools are known for other things).

Weather

What's My State Like? My Take On Ohio.

The joke here in Ohio is as follows: I love all four seasons; I just hate experiencing them all in the same day. To some extent, it's true. I'll never forget one particular day where it snowed in the morning, and then it reached 70 degrees in the afternoon. I've seen countless days where we begin with cold rain, and end with warm sunshine. I've seen us truthfully experience all four seasons(weather wise) in a three-day span before. It's pretty hard to predict, but it might be a midwest aspect in general. I've heard Chicago, Illinois, for instance, is the same way.

-In all seriousness, we are a four-seasons state. In Spring, we get the most rain. In Summer, we get hot weather combined with high dew points, and the least amount of rain. In Autumn, we have the leaves change colors on the trees, and the leaves FALL. In the winter, we get the coldest temperatures, and that's mainly when we get our snow, sleet, and ice. We have been getting rainier summers as of lately-and more rain in general. I noticed are winters lately have been more mild, and more of a rainy/slushy than snowy/icy.

-In general, the southern region of the state where Cincinnati is located has the warmest temperatures and the longest crop growing season. During the summer months, the high temperatures will reach into the upper 80’s and lower 90’s on average. A good majority of the year’s rain is received from May to October, which makes the growing season so long (190 + days).

Columbus (the state’s capital), which is located in the central region of the state has summer high temperatures that reach into the upper 80’s on average. May through August is considered the rainy season in this area, but clouds are common throughout the year.

Throughout the state, fall is the sunniest season of the year. September in particular is quite nice, during which time the weather is mild and the changing leaf colors are beautiful.

The winter months around Lake Erie can be rather cold and produce large amounts of snow, but there are plenty of activities to keep the cold weather enthusiast busy.

-Natural Disasters are rare in the state, but especially where I live. I've still never seen a tornado, and the only two earthquakes I've lived through here in my life were less than a 5 on the scale. We did have Hurricane Ike in 2008-the first hurricane in Ohio in over 100 years. We have no mudslides, avalanches, etc. We're blessed when it comes to this.

You know you're from Ohio when...

1. You experience all four seasons in the same week.

2. When you accidentally walk into someone, you say "ope" sometimes,

3. When you hear the words "Millennium Force", and "Diamondback", you know exactly what people are referring to.

4. You know the differences between the Three Cs: Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland.

5. There are four major sports "seasons" in Ohio: Reds/Indians Baseball, Cavaliers Postseason Basketball, The Ohio State Football, and UC/Xavier Basketball.

6. If you see a pretty girl, she's actually a pretty girl(no fake girls).

7. You have to explain to outsiders why Cincinnati Chili is the best chili in the country.

8. Regarding Number 7, you also have to explain that Cincinnati Chili is technically not a chili.

9. You inform people we also have a beach: The Lake Eerie coastline.

10. And Finally, you know you're from Ohio when you complain about Ohio all the time, but you never ever ever move from there.

What's My State Like? My Take On Ohio.
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