Cincinnati/Southwest Ohio : Featured Stories

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates once said his biggest competitive fear was "someone in a garage who is devising something completely new." Now, across Ohio, collective tinkering is taking place in hackerspaces -- for all practical purposes, modern, uber-garages where trained engineers, tech enthusiasts retirees and casual DIYers, work on what could be the "Next Big Thing."

In January, Gov. Ted Strickland announced that Ohio had received $400 million in federal stimulus money to develop a "3C Corridor" passenger rail system linking Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati. Immediately, questions flew: Will the trains go fast enough? How many stops? Who will ride it? Will the benefits be worth the money?  hiVelocity caught up with James E. Seney, who served as executive director of the Ohio Rail Development Commission under former Gov. Bob Taft. Seney, who oversaw the Taft Administration's original Ohio Hub rail plan to link Ohio to midwestern and east coast lines, says all questions are valid -- but that Ohio has an opportunity that's too good to pass up. 

Ohio neighborhoods are finding a second � or third � life as hip, new attractions for business, families and young professionals. Drawing on a combination of historic preservation and interest an urban lifestyle -- and tapping into corporate investment and state aid -- more than a dozen such neighborhoods have risen from the ashes

For years, Ohio has been a quiet powerhouse in the worlds of industrial design, architecture, communications design and brand marketing. Problem was, few people outside the state noticed. No more. The Buckeye state's reputation, particularly along the I-71 corridor from Cleveland to Cincinnati, is charging to the forefront.

"They used to think you were a hippie if you mentioned green," says Cincinnati realtor Libby Hunter. "Now we're getting clients where it's first on their list of priorities."

Times have changed in the work world. And for young professionals today, especially those with families, it's just as important to love where you live as it is to love where you work.