I learned to drive on a 05 aveo stick shift and my first/current car is an 08 aveo automatic. At the time of purchase it never really bothered me what trans it had as long as it went from point A to B :P

But from my experience I would lean towards an automatic just because having a manual is somewhat of a chore it's one extra thing to pay attention to but maybe it's a generational thing. Would make sense to me to have one if I was hauling a load or lived in a mountainous state but ohio is pretty flat like a pancake.