Movoto says it ranked communities with populations of 10,000 or more and ranked them, from 1 to 173, the most boring.
It considered the following criteria:
- Nightlife per capita (bars, clubs, comedy, etc.)
- Live music venues per capita
- Active life options per capita (parks, outdoor activities, etc.)
- Arts and Entertainment per capita (movie theaters, festivals, galleries, theaters, etc.)
- Fast Food restaurants per capita (the fewer the better)
- Percentage of restaurants that are not fast food (the higher the better)
- Percentage of young residents ages 18 to 34 (the higher the better)
- Population density (the higher the better)
Ten most boring places in Ohio:
1. City of New Franklin
2. City of Green
3. City of Trotwood
4. City of Sharonville
5. City of Springdale
6. City of Macedonia
7. City of Centerville
8. City of Clayton
9. City of Blue Ash
10. City of Oregon
Ten Most Exciting Places In Ohio
1. City of Lakewood
2. City of Oxford
3. City of Cleveland Heights
4. City of Sandusky
5. City of Kent
6. City of Cleveland
7. City of Columbus
8. City of Cincinnati
9. City of Worthington
10. City of Akron
Three Dayton-area communities have landed on Movoto’s list of the top 10 most boring places in Ohio.
Officials in Trotwood (3rd ), Centerville (7th) and Clayton (8th) think “boring” is the new great place to live.
Judging by the criteria used by Movoto.com, a real estate blog, (see box below for criteria used and top ten most boring and exciting places in Ohio) Clayton Mayor Joyce Deitering said being called boring just might be a compliment.
It points to Clayton being a “safe, comfortable place” for families to live, she said.
“That‘s a good boring. We are a nice hometown area that likes to provide (quality) services,” Deitering said. “We are more family-oriented. Right now, there isn’t a lot of nightlife.”
Movoto isn’t exactly diplomatic or nuanced in its assessment.
The blog says:
“Are you surprised? Heck, you’ve probably never heard of any of these before if you don’t live in Ohio, and given their boring status it’s pretty obvious why.
These are all fairly small places, but we swear we’re not small-town biased. This ranking is strictly by the numbers, as dull as that sounds. If you want to know a little more about what we mean, just read on to the next section.”
To put the icing on the hard, flavorless cake, Movoto used the most pathetic picture of each city in a photo gallery to drive home the apparent boring-ness of the situation.
For the #6 City of Macedonia (6th on the list), it shows a picture of a sleeping kitten with the caption: "Macedonia may have an epic name, but the thrills here are far from epic, with poor ratings in music, arts, and young population."
Trotwood follows New Franklin in the No. 1 spot and Green in the second position.
Trotwood City Manager City Manager Michael J. Lucking basically gave the website's study a whatever.
"A lot of times those types of polls are meant to be controversial and meant to cause controversy," he said.
Karen Celik, president of the Trotwood Chamber of Commerce, said Trotwood is a great place to live.
“It is a sleepy place, but I wouldn’t call it boring, ” she said before rattling off a list of that city’s amenities from Taste Creative Cuisine to Sycamore State Park to community festivals.
“It is somewhat of a bedroom community. I don’t think it is boring. We are a small place. We have lots of small businesses. Lots of recreation… We don’t have an amusement park, but there are places to go. “
Centerville City manager Gregory B. Horn says he is fine with “boring.”
“I don’t think boring is necessary bad,” he said. “Maybe boring means our crime rate is a little lower.”
Horn said Centerville has great recreational opportunity and its location is perfect to allow area residents to take advantage of arts in downtown Dayton and sports and amenities in Cincinnati.
He noted that the city’s median age is likely higher due to residents of two large nursing homes in Centerville — St. Leonard and Bethany Village.
Regardless, he doesn’t give the report much credence.
“It certainty doesn’t bother me. I think we have a great community. My family has enjoyed it (for more than 20 years),” he said.
Julia C. Maxton, president of South Metro Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the city's 2004 Create the Vision Plan demonstrated that young people may move away from Centerville, but return to raise families.
Calling Movoto’s study misleading, she said you can’t have the fun of a larger city and the quiet of a small town at the same time.
People decide for themselves if they want “exciting” or “boring.”
“(Centerville ) is a lovely place to live because it is quiet and residential and it’s family oriented. You can’t have both.
You move to Centerville when you want to have a good nice life,” she said. “If you want to live in a loft in downtown and park your car at a meter, have at it.”
Contact this blogger at arobinson@DaytonDailyNews.com or Twitter.com/DDNSmartMouth
Join the Conversation. Share your summer photos with us on Twitter and Instagram using #DaytonSummer.
About the Author
