“The Northland area used to be nice enough, homes built in the 60s and 70s, but it got run down because of competition from the suburbs by the 80s and 90s. It went downhill fast once the mall there closed. The Somalis moved in en masse in the mid 1990s and haven’t stopped coming.”
Not surprised at all. I’ve had family live around there since before those subdivisions were built. They got to see schools like Brookhaven at their best and neighborhoods at their safest.
I noticed the decline when chain shops closed left and right. It got plain obvious when tons upon tons of ethnic shops opened on 161, Karl, and Cleveland.
What in their minds made them choose there over anywhere else in Columbus? Unless it was related to decline from the late 1960s, I can’t imagine what attracted them there.
***What in their minds made them choose there over anywhere else in Columbus? Unless it was related to decline from the late 1960s, I can’t imagine what attracted them there.***
It’s a very good question.
I remember being in the Dollar Tree store on Morse Rd sometime after they began settling in the area. My kids were in HS at DeSales. I remember overhearing one woman with a hijab telling another woman with a hijab, “you need these, they help you keep your clothes unwrinkled.” They were talking about clothes hangers. That’s when I realized they were refugees. The women were usually very nice, but the men were not always.
Still, back to your point. What made them decide Columbus Ohio, of all places, was a great place to relocate? Who got that ball rolling? I know it was when Clinton was in office, and then W soon after. Was this Mike Coleman’s idea? I just wonder.