Columbus Ohio?

Does anyone know anything about Columbus Ohio?

I am being recruited for a company which is going to open a global operations center out there, and know nothing about the place I would have to relocate too.

Any info would be helpful.
Is it scummy?
Nice place to visit, would not want to live there?
Great place for kids, lot’s of wilderness?

Thanks,
Chris

My dad lives in Dayton, about an hour away, and after college, I lived with him and worked in Columbus for about 9 months. I thought it was a nice enough place that I wouldn’t mind living there. Granville, about 20 minutes off the northeast side of Columbus really struck me as a nice place to live with small town charm with easy access to the amenities of metro Columbus. I remember reading somewhere that Dayton has more metro areas within a day’s drive than any other metro area, not sure how true that really is, but Columbus wouldn’t be far off that mark, so it’s not like you’d be in no-man’s land. The real downside I would imagine is that it’s far north enough to get a strong winter.

It kinda depends on where you’re coming from too. If you love year-round great weather in LA, it might not be very attractive, but coming from Iowa as I did, I liked it a lot. There are certainly worse places to be recruited to.

My brother and my wife’s family live in Columbus Ohio. I’ve been there a few times. I like it a lot, there are definitely nice places in and around Columbus. Plenty of restaurants but not a million other things to do. Easy to get around in, pretty cheap to live there. Some really nice suburbs as well. Gets hot and humid in the summer.

Thanks,

Ideally I always wanted to head to South Carolina, the people down there are some of the best. I never met people so polite to others I was shocked that they still acted like that.

I’m originally from Escanaba, Michigan (Upper Pen)., Peshtigo, Wisc., Milwaukee, Wisc. and lived in Chicago for the majority visiting my grandparents in Gainseville Florida.

Work has had me in LA, SanFran, Troy Mich, and Toronto; so this is a new unexplored place for me.

I live in the country outside Dayton. I like the area: lots of restaurants, malls, theaters, etc.

They have the Bluejackets, for your hockey fix.

worthington is a really nice suburb, not to hard to get into columbus from there. kind of new englandy, the worthington inn is a great place to get a really nice meal.

I’ve never been to Columbus, but lots of good rock bands have come from there (e.g., New Bomb Turks, Gaunt), and I’ve always heard there was a big live music scene.

Things I’ve learned…

  • They were the place to have the first dental school
  • They had the first baseball league
  • They have more people with degree’s on average to Chicago
  • They have a tonload of less people, but a higher crime rate
  • They conied the term, “Rock and Roll.”
  • The cost of living is lower
  • They invented the hot dog bun, by wrapping a frankfuter in bread!
  • They have the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. :)

Good food, good music. The Govt. is pumping money into the state to revitalize the areas of blight. Thanks for all the feedback so far :)

I believe the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is in Cleveland which is about 2-3 hours NE of Columbus.

Columbus isn’t bad, Ohio State University is there and there are a variety of small restaurants in the university area. There are also some very nice suburbs. If you get tired of Columbus, you can go north to Cleveland, SW to Cincinnati, W to Dayton, or E to Pittsburgh.

As far as Dayton being the closest to the largest number of metro areas, I can believe it. You have Chicago about 6 hours, Detroit about 4, Columbus 45 minutes, Indianapolis 2 hours, Cincinnati about 30 min, NYC about 9 hours, not to mention all the cities in KY, Pittsburgh, Philly (maybe a day’s drive I’m not sure). If you’re willing to drive for a day you can go a lot of places from here (I’m in Dayton).

Another one in Dayton.

Columbus is probably the least “ethnic” city of it’s size in the US. It’s not
scummy industrial place. Think Wonder Bread and you’ll have Columbus down pat.There a good bit of cool technical work done in columbus.

Columbus will be a whole lot cheaper to live in than LA or SanFran. Good music abounds.

Not so great a place to visit. Great place for kids. In many communities you can sent your kids to public schools and not have to apologize for it. Great place to live. Years ago my mother worked with a bunch of translplanted New Yorkers who just griped and griped about having to come out to Dayton. Later when the company told them all they would be transplanted someplace else, almost all of them decided to stay in this area instead of moving again. They grew to love it here.

The “wilds of ohio” are…well there isn’t much like that here. You’re a couple hours accross a state line from Appalachia and whitewater or such in West Virginia. If you’re a lake person, you can find something closer, but they get pretty crowded when it’s warm. Beaches…well, you probably don’t want to see your average Ohio person on a beach. It doesn’t get UP cold here, but there is a very real winter.

Ask away.

My parents have lived in Granville (about 30 minutes east) for the last 25 years or so, including my last three years of high school. Columbus is generally a pretty nice city. Lots to do there if you’re raising a family with COSI, the Columbus Zoo, and such. If you’re a 20-something single person, having OSU there means there’s a lot of stuff going on near campus. The cost of living is reasonable, and it has four distinct seasons so neither winters nor summers are unbearably long.

Been visiting Columbus my whole life. Grandparents, Aunt and Uncle, cousins. I love it. It is very … normal. It is also a perfect size. Large enough for good concerts, exhibitions, etc., but not so big you cannot find your way around. My wife has been there twice with me and felt the same.

I am sure there are better cities, but I cannot imagine you being dissapointed unless you are looking for a sprawling metropolis.

I live in Columbus right now. The most apt comparison I can make is that it’s a smaller Houston.

It’s a college town, so it’s obviously got a good live music scene. For kids, it’s got COSI, which is a great children’s science museum.

They absolutely do not know how to handle winter weather around here, though. I’m originally from Cleveland, and up there when it snows there are plow and salt trucks taking care of shit that night. Here they rely on passing cars to melt the snow.

If you have any specific questions, ask away.

Yeesh! I didn’t know Ben lived there. Nevermind.

I live in Columbus and have nearly my entire life. I’m 33 years old and a grad of Ohio State.

What’s the company and where about in Columbus is it? Columbus isn’t as big as some other cities but it’s big enough that “in Columbus” won’t get you much detail. The demographic swing wildly depending on the part of town. Downtown? East, west? Lots of people just say Columbus when they really mean a suburb. There is lots of big business in the suburbs. Give me some details and I’ll give you some.

Your Welcome,
I’m Chris too.

How long until the first Ohio Qt3 Cookout? :D

Well now you know exactly where “The C-O” is located. :)

Hey Chris!
I’ve been meeting a ton of folks named Chris this week :)
It’s a swtich from Mike’s and Johns. This must be our year to rebel!

We have not gotten into specfic’s as of yet, as I still need to go out there, due to the size of them opening a new global center, I am under the impression that they will be located in an industrial park outside of Columbus.

I’d be looking for a house most likely in a suburb as opposed to living within the city proper. My daughter is going to be starting High School this year so it would be an ideal time for a major relocation.

As to the other details you asked, I do not have the answers at this time :)

Thanks to everyone who has offered insight into the area(s). It really is helpful, and if I do the move, I’ll gladly host the first Qt3 Ohio Cookout (in summer).

Div

When you find out some more details shoot me an email or PM or post here and I’ll fill you in with some facts and my opinion.

I have four small children, the oldest being 7. So I think it’s a great place for a family. I live in a Columbus zip code but my children attend Worthington (suburb) city schools. So I get the best of both worlds. I’m rahter partial to the Northwest side of Columbus suburbs, though if you asked someone from the east side I’m sure they’d give you and entirely different answer. The best school districts in Columbus (I use Columbus to include suburbs but when I speak specifically about a suburb I’ll use it’s proper name) are Dublin, Worthington, Upper Arlington, Olentangy and Hilliard. All, coincidently, are in the northwest. :)

About what Ben, said COSI is great for kids of all ages and adults as well. (He’s right about the winter weather too.) We have a family season pass to COSI and we were just there on Friday. Also, the Columbus Zoo is one of the best in the nation rivaling San Diego and Washington DC. Most of the time you see som e Zoo Guy on Dave Letterman it’s Jack Hanna, Director of the Columbus Zoo. We have a family season pass there too.

Traffic is not bad compared to the bigger cities. Even if you work on the east side and live on the west you can get across town in about 30 minutes.

I liked Columbus better about twenty years ago when it was more of a cow town. Slower pace of life. Growth has come to Columbus rapidly and houses have gone up at an alarming rate. However, although I liked my cow town suburbs of ages past better it’s still a good place to live. Instead of ‘small town USA’ it’s kinda of like ‘small city USA’.