By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
There’s no reason for brain drain here, according to a survey looking at college towns in the U.S.
Bowling Green has been ranked as one of the 20 best college towns to live in after graduation, according to a study done by rentcollegepad.com. To determine the best towns, the survey looked at the following data:
- The unemployment rate for those between ages 25-29, measuring how likely new college grads were to get a job by looking at unemployment rates among the newest set of college grads.
- The benefit of having a bachelor’s degree compared to those without in the town, looking at the median income for those with a bachelor’s degree and subtracting the median income of those without to figure how valuable a bachelor’s degree is in each town.
- Percentage of 25-34-year-olds also with a bachelor degree. Towns that are full of young, recent college grads are considered great towns for college grads to be in.
To qualify as a “college town” in the study, the town’s population must be less than five times the enrollment of the given colleges.
“We really measured up very well,” Mayor Dick Edwards said at last week’s City Council meeting.
Bowling Green came in second place, with the following statistics:
- Unemployment rate for ages 25-29: 1.5 percent.
- Median salary with a bachelor’s degree: $36,869.
- Percentage of 25-34 year-olds with a bachelor’s degree: 4.94 percent.
The report describes Bowling Green like this: “Bowling Green has a population of 30,028 and is located in the middle of beautiful Wood County. Home to a few popular festivals, like the Black Swamp Arts Festival, it’s located just west of Ohio’s first utility-sized wind farm. Its unemployment rate was the lowest on our entire top-20 list of college towns, so Bowling Green State grads have a lot to look forward to after college. Recent grads can turn to Wood County Hospital or CMC Group Inc., two of the largest employers in the city.”
Other communities in the top five were: West Chester University, West Chester, Pennsylvania; University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa; Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia; and George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia.
Also at Monday’s council meeting, Municipal Administrator Lori Tretter said changes have been made since the last council meeting when a citizen expressed concerns about vehicles parking on grass. Tretter explained that the police division handles incidents of vehicles parked in grass in public areas, while zoning code enforcement handles cases of cars parked in grass on private property.
But since the police are available 24/7 and the code enforcement office is not, police will now respond to all concerns about vehicles parked on grass. If in public areas, the owners will be ticketed. If on private property, the police will take a photo and give it to code enforcement to follow up.
In other business on Monday, City Council:
- Heard from Edwards and Human Rights Commission Chairperson Rev. Mary Jane Saunders about April being Fair Housing Month in the city. The focus is to eliminate discrimination in housing.
- Heard a report from Edwards about letters from U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown and from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission stating that concerns from the city will be considered during the review process for the Nexus Pipeline. A public panel discussion is being planned on the pipeline.
- Reappointed Mike Marsh, Joan Callecod and Gaylyn Finn to the tax board of review.
- Went into executive session on labor negotiations. No action was taken afterward.
- Learned from Parks and Recreation Director Kristin Otley that the summer program guide is available online, and hard copies will be done by next week. Sign up begins May 1 for city residents, and May 15 for non-residents.
- Heard from Otley that the three splash pad creatures for the city pool have arrived, and will be installed by Memorial Day weekend.
- Voted to transfer acreage from the John Quinn Innovative Tech Park to the Bowling Green Community Development Foundation. Apio Inc. is planning to build a warehouse on the site.
- Learned volunteers are needed for the Court Street Connects Festival on April 22. Information on the event can be found at https://www.facebook.com/courtstreetconnects.
