Is Columbus a good place to live based upon this criteria? (Cleveland: credit card, transfer)

[logongst]

Originally Posted by jbcmh81

This all seems very out of date to me, like it was written about the city in 1990.

agreed.

[Port Pitt Ash]

Originally Posted by Sruckus

Curious what you think makes Pittsburgh or Minneapolis extra special?

Why don't you take a trip and find out for yourself?

Originally Posted by jbcmh81

This all seems very out of date to me, like it was written about the city in 1990.

Out of date? Possibly a little. I haven't been there in 5 years, but I have a large number of friends still living there and get updates all the time. Some things have come and others have gone, but more or less it seems to be the way I remember it.

I grew up in the area so out of everywhere I've been in the US I'd say that's probably the city I'm most familiar with. Also lived a few places in the city.

On the food front there are plenty of options they just aren't great. I swear every city anyone talks about on CD gets called a "foodie" city.

Originally Posted by LowTune

But seriously, do you enjoy living in Columbus?

I don't know if you ever took your trip to Minneapolis or not, but to me that city felt as close to the Midwest perfected as any place in the Midwest not named Chicago.

Chicago's only good if you like the giant cities and can afford to live in an area that's not bad. Have a friend who moved to Chicago a few years ago and is now in the process of moving back to Columbus FWTW.

Minneapolis is even slightly better than Pittsburgh and you know how much love that city gets on here.

It was the first place I took a trip to when I was looking for a new place to move. But being in a modern style, like Columbus, it wasn't my style. I like more traditionally built cities (brick, stone, and what have you) like Pittsburgh.

In the end I passed because I didn't think I could handle the winters.

So why would you pick Columbus over Minneapolis?

1. COL
2. The people are a more normal for lack of a better term.
3. Milder weather (although only relative to the Twin Cities).

Also correct me if I'm wrong, but you were the same guy asking about cities that are good for black men, yeah?

If that's the case Columbus is an area that's good for professional black men and okay for blue collar workers, but if you don't have much in the way of funds or education the people will quickly cut you out of the dialog and you may find yourself in undesirable areas to live.

For the Midwest it also has a large gay community, not sure if that matters to you or not, but certainly not something you'd expect out of that area of the country.

In most respects the city is just a good place that's not overly religious or political. Although for as educated as the city is supposed to be as a whole there is an aggressive undercurrent that runs through the city (Many people can attest to the random frat type guy driving by and screaming out the window "Only f*gs read." Interestingly the only city where I know of this being a thing.). Some here have viewed it as rude, but it's more of a style of terse, get to the point and move on communication. Generally if you require assistance, directions, or whatever a person will help if asked, but not necessarily volunteer to help. It's not southern hospitality nor is it NE direct.

When you get a chance to visit the areas in the core to checkout are the German Village, Short North, Arena District, Campus area, and the Victorian Village. Those are the must see areas. Everything is pretty much off of High Street so that makes it easy.

[Port Pitt Ash]

Originally Posted by joesmile29

The economic opportunity here is incredible.

And western pa is where I lived before moving here. Pittsburgh is a pretty city with a lot of good press. It doesn't have the jobs, money, good modern housing or economic drive that is here in columbus.

Ironically it is only a 3 hour drive down the road and living there we never heard about Columbus in the local news.

True. As far as Ohio cities Cleveland is more in line with Pittsburgh.

Realistically you'll probably either like (or at least prefer) Columbus or Pittsburgh, but not both.

Originally Posted by joesmile29

Crime is low as well.

Crime is a bit on the high side actually, just isolated to the bad areas for the most part. Unless you're talking about sex crimes... 71.7 per 100k according to CD (and that's an improvement over years past!)

Originally Posted by joesmile29

Columbus and its metro is literally keeping the entire state of ohio afloat economically.

Pretty much. People have always moved to Columbus regionally, but in the last few years it seems like people from all corners of Ohio were coming there.

Originally Posted by joesmile29

Somebody mentioned minneapolis and pittsburgh on here. I have not been to minneapolis, but I know somebody that moved back to the baltimore area because they did not like minneapolis.

Baltimore is a traditional style city like Pittsburgh or Cleveland. Minneapolis is a modern style like Columbus or say Seattle. Quickest tell is whether there's lots of steel and glass or whether you're talking stone and brick. Most probably prefer one over the other.

[db108108]

Originally Posted by joesmile29

i will say that Columbus is a great city. The economic opportunity here is incredible. Crime is low as well. I moved here from out of state at the beginning of the year. Columbus and its metro is literally keeping the entire state of ohio afloat economically. I cannot think of one city within a reasonable day drive with a better economy or opportunity.

Somebody mentioned minneapolis and pittsburgh on here. I have not been to minneapolis, but I know somebody that moved back to the baltimore area because they did not like minneapolis. And western pa is where I lived before moving here. Pittsburgh is a pretty city with a lot of good press. It doesn't have the jobs, money, good modern housing or economic drive that is here in columbus. Ironically it is only a 3 hour drive down the road and living there we never heard about Columbus in the local news. Local news always compared Pitt to cleveland, detroit, toledo, cinncinati and buffalo. All places similar to pittsburgh.

Columbus is more often compared to Austin or Charlotte - fast growing/sprawly cities with dynamic economies, rather than its peers in the midwest. Columbus, of course, is not as sprawly or as fast growing as either of those cities, but compared to most of the midwest, it's doing great.

I'm a big supporter of Columbus on here, but after coming back from a vacation to Toronto (I've been there several times), I'm left slightly depressed. Columbus is obviously not Toronto and will never be, but even for its own level it does lack a certain energy. It's hard to describe. Life is really easy here, but not particularly exciting.

[LowTune]

One of the most important criteria I have is having at least decent public transit. Is it feasible or logical to live in Columbus without a car?

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by LowTune

One of the most important criteria I have is having at least decent public transit. Is it feasible or logical to live in Columbus without a car?

Nope. You can get from some spots to downtown relatively simply, but taking twice as long as it should. Any transfers- forget it.

But I did live in Columbus for four years without a car. Mostly biked around.

[Port Pitt Ash]

Originally Posted by LowTune

One of the most important criteria I have is having at least decent public transit. Is it feasible or logical to live in Columbus without a car?

Not really. I had a car the whole time I lived there. Even lived in one of the more connected and walker friendly areas at one point (German Village).

I got around a good bit by walking, but we're talking 6 miles one way (and most people think you're nuts if you walk much in Columbus anyway).

Might be able to make it so long as you post up around the Short North or Victorian Village. At least from a day to day standpoint. Most of the decent jobs aren't right there though.

It is an example of a city that's pretty good for drivers especially for its population.

Again if you're talking Midwest Chicago and Minneapolis are your go to cities. After that it's kind of a wash. St. Louis, Milwaukee, Cleveland maybe?

The south is lacking in public transit as well. Washington DC, Baltimore, and Atlanta are the ones that come to mind that have it though. Crime is high, but at least two of them are affordable.

Charlotte as a train, but it didn't cover enough when I was there. It has since been updated so maybe it might just work there, probably not though. Check with someone else on that one.

Outside of that affordable places with decent public transit would be Denver and Salt Lake City (on the higher end), Philly, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and after that it's probably fairly even.

Or you could do like I'm doing by trying to find someplace that's highly walkable and just forgetting about transit all together. I will achieve my dream of going car free by choice one day!

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by db108108

Columbus is more often compared to Austin or Charlotte - fast growing/sprawly cities with dynamic economies, rather than its peers in the midwest. Columbus, of course, is not as sprawly or as fast growing as either of those cities, but compared to most of the midwest, it's doing great.

I'm a big supporter of Columbus on here, but after coming back from a vacation to Toronto (I've been there several times), I'm left slightly depressed. Columbus is obviously not Toronto and will never be, but even for its own level it does lack a certain energy. It's hard to describe. Life is really easy here, but not particularly exciting.

Columbus is on par with its peers in almost every metric, so it's hard to get the point here. If you're trying to compare it directly with much larger cities, you're going to be disappointed. I live in a city with 4x the population of Toronto and I'm still able to enjoy Columbus when I come back because I don't have expectations that it should be at that level. Interestingly enough, I think the city is changing pretty rapidly. Every time I come back to visit, the feel has changed. The last time I visited in May, I was in the Houston airport boarding the plane and I would say at least half the flight was Asian. There was a group of women in front of me who even commented on it and one mentioned how diverse Columbus was becoming. I'd never experienced that previously. There are still things Columbus could do better, not least of which is transit, but it's not the same city it was even 5 years ago.

And keep in mind that when people travel, everyone always thinks the places they visit are super exciting, if for no other reason than they experience them for very short periods of time and are basically tourists. Actually living somewhere is different.

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by LowTune

One of the most important criteria I have is having at least decent public transit. Is it feasible or logical to live in Columbus without a car?

It's possible in some neighborhoods, yes. If you're near Downtown or some of the inner-ring suburbs, you could because there is ample bus service, bike-share and car-share. The further out you get, the less feasible that's going to be. And unfortunately, the city has no rail service, but is planning BRT.

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

Nope. You can get from some spots to downtown relatively simply, but taking twice as long as it should. Any transfers- forget it.

But I did live in Columbus for four years without a car. Mostly biked around.

So you did it but he can't?