Columbus VS Cleveland VS Cinci (living, best, cost, state)

[StampedeCity]

I drove past Columbus last night (never been there before) and was shocked to see that their city is actually a great size... looked bigger than Cleveland, actually.

What city do you prefer?

Living?
Sports?
Downtown scene?
Crime?
Tourism?

[JohnDBaumgardner]

Columbus IS quite a bit larger in both population and in square miles ... it's the largest city in Ohio, but Cleveland MSA is still the largest and most populated metro region in the state. Cincinnati is the 3rd largest city in the state, and yet holds the 2nd largest MSA in Ohio.
Interesting that Columbus is the largest city ( proper ) in Ohio, but it retains the smallest MSA of the
"3 C's"

Columbus is quite impressive, I know because I was a resident there. It's an amazing and vibrant
city that certainly is "one to watch in the future" of our country.

Overall, I prefer Cleveland over both Columbus and Cincinnati

[japster28]

When I toured Ohio, I seemed to like Cincinnati alot more than the other two. But I never spent more than a week in any of these cities so I'm not really one to talk.
But if I was to live in one of them, Cinci is my fave

[costello_musicman]

Ohio City Populations:

Columbus: 780,000
Cleveland: 475,000
Cincinnati: 333,000

MSA's:
Cincinnati: 2.2 million
Cleveland: 2.1 million
Columbus: 1.8 million

CSA's:
Cleveland-Akron-Elyria OH: 2.9 million
Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington, OH-KY-IN: 2.2 million
Columbus-Marion-Chillicothe, OH: 2.0 million

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/57/Ohio%20population%20map.png/250px-Ohio%20population%20map.png (broken link)

[costello_musicman]

I feel a a little biased here, but out of these categories:

Living?

Cost of Living...Cleveland
Quality of Life...probably Columbus

Sports?
Cleveland 3 major sports (Cavs, Browns, Indians,) plus Cleveland State basketball and Lake Erie Monsters AHL Hockey
Cincinnati 2 major sports (Reds and Bengals) plus Univ. of Cincinnati and Xavier U. and the best high school football in the state
Columbus 1 major sports (Blue Jackets) plus Thee Ohio State University

My Pick: Cleveland

Downtown scene?

My order:
1) Cleveland
2) Columbus (especially when school is in session)
3) Cincinnati

Crime?

Most safe:
1) Columbus
2) Cincinnati
3) Cleveland

HOWEVER, it's interesting to note Columbus is leading Ohio in murders right now...but it also has the highest population

Tourism?
1) Cleveland (RRHOF, Browns, Cavs, Indians, Playhouse Square, Cleveland Clinic visitors sadly)
2) Columbus (OSU! state events
3) Cincinnati

[MikeandIke27]

Ill Take Columbus all day..

[streetcreed]

All I have to Say is;

Hello Columbus

The old, renovated neighborhoods are fantastic. But I love this mini-condo buildings popping up.



Downtown



http://b700441e9603e56472e76fceed3901483f5d7759.gripeleme nts.com/img/city/north-bank-condos_700.jpg (broken link)

But on those details (since skyline isn't one)
Living?

1)Columbus hands down. City is livable it looks more like a Canadian city in how intact and functioning even its most urban neighborhoods are.
2) Cincinnati (actual city limits there are a lot of intact neighborhoods)
3) Cleveland

Sports?
1) Cleveland
2) Columbus
3) Cincinnati
This is a hard one. I am a huge soccer guy (football) and Columbus has the team, and college sports/football. And for NFL I'm a Pittsburgh guy. I do think Cleveland is a great sports city though. Can't go wrong with NFL and NBA combo.

Downtown Scene
In terms of actual downtown boundaries Cincinnati's still has a decent amount of retail, restaurants. Cleveland's downtown is the most "city" feeling. Columbus' actual downtown proper has its highlights, but the neighborhoods surrounding downtown are the highlight of Columbus and beat the neighborhoods just surrounding Cincinnati or Cleveland.

I'll break it down:
Downtown Daytime Environment and architecture:
Cleveland
Downtown Nightlife, hipness:
Columbus (if the Arena District and surrounding neighborhoods count).
Downtown Retail:
Cincinnati

Crime?

Most dangerous: between Cincinnati and Cleveland

Tourism?
None of the 3 are perfect for tourism.
1)Cleveland. Cleveland has the national spotlight in terms of getting the word out and being Ohio's most known city. It also has attractions centrally located for visitors. Cleveland has lots of attractions in its inner-ring suburbs that many visitors may miss.

TIE Cincinnati
Cincinnati has attractions spread all around. For families there is an accessible zoo, one of the largest theme parks (kings island), etc.

Columbus has many great neighborhoods, local retail, restaurants clustered in accessible neighborhoods. In general, Columbus is most attractive to a young hipster couple, gay tourist, or college aged person. But that's not your average vistior. Also, it's most traditional friendly tourist destinations (the great zoo, Easton crazy mega lifestyle center) are spread all around and not very friendly for visitors.

[JohnDBaumgardner]

Originally Posted by streetcreed

All I have to Say is;

Hello Columbus

The old, renovated neighborhoods are fantastic. But I love this mini-condo buildings popping up.



Downtown

You know, I still LOVE Columbus ... seeing these pics has me "missing" the great times, I had while living there. I still say that Columbus is one
of America's most under-appreciated or overlooked metropolises.

I do prefer Cleveland, but a part of my heart will always remain with a great city like Columbus ...

[Ohiogirl81]

I like Cleveland and Cincinnati best, but Cleveland has a lake.

[Iconographer]

Columbus is a gem. the others, mmm, not so much...