Possibly moving from Philly, PA to Columbus, OH (Upper Arlington, Dublin: apartments, renting)

[stationplay]

Columbus definitely has a suburban feeling. BUT like most people have stated your best bet would be German Village. The people here love the city, love the quality of life and there are tons of things to do. While I myself am not a fan of the suburban feel, if your relocating for a job, you will find settling down here very easy. People are mostly friendly and open.

I would say the urban areas have more of a "yuppie" feel to them. Im not familiar with Philly a whole lot but Park Slope in NYC comes to mind in comparison. albeit watered down a bit. Not like in density or income levels but the over all vibe.

im not sure if i can post this but visit columbusunderground.com. You will get a pretty good feeling of how the locals operate and socialize here. It's a great place to live.

[Columbusneon]

Originally Posted by cooks50

I dont understand why some posters come on this forum to just simply bash the city in which I believe is out of jealousy. No legitiment explanation is given just jabs. To the original poster unfortunately coming on the Columbus forum is not the best place to gather information simply because many columbus residents do not post....only those from other cities such as Cincy or Cleveland. I would recommend columbusunderground.com. To answer your original question I know of quite a few people who relocated from Philly to Columbus and enjoy the city. Now columbus is not going to offer the urban experience that Philly offers however this is due to the age of the city. Columbus just recently (10 -15 years ago) began to develop and the city is picking up full steam and is changing for the good rather quickly.

I am originally from Boston and have lived in Columbus about 20 years now. I won't unnecessarily bash it, and I won't unnecessarily praise it. I will be honest with people who want an honest answer. I can give the same description of Columbus to a person from Philadelphia, and to a person from Cedar Rapids. My same description will get 2 very different reactions. Look, Columbus has grown a ton, both in city population, MSA population, lifestyle and entertainment options, business dealings, etc. But it still has a more suburban feel within most of the metro area than Philadelphia. There's just no getting around that. It's not bashing Columbus.

[Columbusneon]

For what it's worth, most of LA probably feels more suburban than Columbus. LA has been described as one large overhyped suburb as well.

[TomJones123]

Originally Posted by Columbusneon

For what it's worth, most of LA probably feels more suburban than Columbus. LA has been described as one large overhyped suburb as well.

I used to live in LA as well and am of the same opinion. LA is like a never ending smaller city looking for downtown. Although, I understand their downtown is really doing well these days and they have all but cleaned up skid row.

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by TomJones123

We agree then!

Cincinnati proper is not sprawled or suburban "feeling" in nature. It's a dense city built amongst hills and valleys. As such, it can have a dense urban feel and have that bordered by a swath of green hillside. Obviously, as you move out away from the city the sprawl starts and continues north smack into Dayton's sprawl on the south side of town.

I was more referring to the overall metro area than just the city. Given Cincinnati/Cleveland's much smaller boundaries and when they grew/developed, they are always going to have a different vibe than Columbus, even in its urban core. Ironically, though, the newer feel has benefitted Columbus, I think, to some degree the last 50 years in retaining/attracting residents to the area, but it also means that Columbus has further to go to develop its urban identity. Trends are in the right direction, I think, with where most of the development is going on within the city limits and the annexation rate has been slowing down each decade since the 1950s. It happened 12x faster in the 10 years from 1950-1960 than in the 20 years from 1990-2010.

[CG266]

Thank you all for the feedback! It has been very helpful!

I do have another question. I read on a couple other websites that there is a lot of racial tension in Columbus. Is this true? My fiancé and I are somewhat of a mixed couple so it is very important that we live in a place where there is diversity.

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by CG266

Thank you all for the feedback! It has been very helpful!

I do have another question. I read on a couple other websites that there is a lot of racial tension in Columbus. Is this true? My fiancé and I are somewhat of a mixed couple so it is very important that we live in a place where there is diversity.

This would be news to me. Are you sure you're not confusing Columbus with Cincinnati? Cincinnati's the only Ohio city I can think of that has had racial tension problems in the last decade or so, and most of that was at the beginning of the 2000s. You're going to have the occasional racist or bigot, I think that's unavoidable in pretty much any city, but I have not found racial problems to be a cultural problem in Columbus.

[cooks50]

Originally Posted by CG266

Thank you all for the feedback! It has been very helpful!

I do have another question. I read on a couple other websites that there is a lot of racial tension in Columbus. Is this true? My fiancé and I are somewhat of a mixed couple so it is very important that we live in a place where there is diversity.

What sites are you referring to? Because I never heard of much of any racial tension in Columbus. Columbus is a fairly diverse metro and many publications ranks it high for African Americans

[Columbusneon]

Originally Posted by CG266

Thank you all for the feedback! It has been very helpful!

I do have another question. I read on a couple other websites that there is a lot of racial tension in Columbus. Is this true? My fiancé and I are somewhat of a mixed couple so it is very important that we live in a place where there is diversity.

Well, it's not an ingrained deep seeded racism like you might find in the south. For the most part, cultures and various ethnicities get along fairly well in Columbus. There are few if any racial or ethnic pockets that you find in larger cities, particularly on the east coast. I have mixed feelings about that, because I think neighborhoods created by and developed by one or a few dominant ethnic groups can be beneficial for communities, but that type of 'self segregation" can also lead to tension. In Columbus, various races and ethnic groups are pretty well integrated. There are areas that are predominantly black, and some that are predominantly white, but even in those areas, you will find people living amongst the majority in relative harmony. The tension that exists, mainly is a class tension moreso than racial. The gap between rich and poor that has become an issue nationwide, has been in Columbus for some time. And because in a lot of areas of Columbus, rich and poor coexist in neighborhoods much like racial and ethnic groups do, there is bound to be more tension. In a city like Philly, the wealthy have few if any reasons to physically be in a poor area. Not so for most of Columbus. Also, Columbus exists at a crossroads between rural and urban culture. Mostly white, conservative, rural/farmer types and mostly racial minority, liberal, city types tend to "clash" here. But it's not as if there is a race war or anything here. Also, there has been a large influx of Somalian immigrants to Columbus over the last 10 or so years to the point that Columbus has the 2nd largest Somalian community in the USA behind Minneapolis. That has caused some tension with the local African American community, especially in some north side neighborhoods. Then of course the large number of latinos who have come here since the late 90s, and the whole immigration debate is played here now, just as it is in most of the USA.

[Columbusneon]

BTW, you mentioned you were a mixed couple. While it is not New York or London, I can think of worse places for a racially mixed couple to exist and live. Columbus is a more tolerant city, for Ohio at least, especially compared to the southern half of the state. This city seems to have a fairly large number of interracial couples and have not seen any hostility. I am a caucasian male and have dated African American women, and never had an issue in Columbus.