I've responded to the first three now. Yes, they were bad comments. They were nowhere close to being representative of this thread, and they were all downvoted.

Some of the others, like https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30026680, you clearly misinterpreted. That comment isn't dissing Ohio, it's dissing a headline the commenter didn't like. Edit: see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30034705 also - the 'potato' thing was an unrelated joke that had nothing to do with Ohio.

I apologize for being so direct, but you seem really sensitive about this topic. The tweet you linked to in your edit was actually questioning Intel's faltering business model, not Ohio. Of the comments you linked, most are banal or negative about a specific area. Columbus, for instance, really doesn't seem like a particularly compelling place to most people who don't already live in Columbus. That doesn't seem particularly contentious. I see absolutely nothing about (the) Ohio State, or how it compares to Stanford.

And a smattering of negative comments is hardly unique. Anti-valley rhetoric is nonstop on HN (as an aside, I suspect >85% of HN contributors are not in or near the valley). The theft gangs, homeless people, drug overdoes, etc.

But none of it is really relevant at all for an automated facility. Like a data center, it really doesn't make a big impact in an area outside of the initial construction . The real beneficiary will be ASML in all probability. Regardless, it's good to have more advanced fabs distributed around the globe.

I am in Bay Area and frankly we need to criticize this place more. If you want to read about it, San Fransicko is a great book: https://www.amazon.com/San-Fransicko-Progressives-Ruin-Citie...

I feel like doubling down on the criticism of the place I live (Oakland) just so that we don't set an example of how to manage cities.

I empathize with OP. I live in the Bay Area and most people here are convinced that every other place is a slum, particularly the “flyover states”. The negativity drives people to become sensitive to the topic.

Out of 430 comments, there are bound to be some negative comments. Some of them may be valid ( Not a place they want to live is not against Ohio, but an opinion ) , some of them are not. But that is still less than 10 comments.

>unwarranted cynicism

The vast majority are questioning Ohio not because of negativity or cynicism but curiosity. Why Ohio, why not other state? Are there important strategic reasons? Some of them are calling out Tax Break, that is a fair point, but aren't there Tax Break elsewhere? I did a quick glance in the first 300 comments on this page, barely any negativity.

No offence but your comments seems to be the most negative in this thread. But then I am not American. So may be I am not as sensitive.