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Old 07-03-2014, 08:57 PM
 
2 posts, read 3,912 times
Reputation: 10

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Hi! I'm am a student that will be attending OSU this fall and I'm currently looking for an apartment. I've been reading some reviews about the COTA and their services, it seems most of them were either really bad or inbetween... Is COTA really as bad as everyone says it is? Should I look for apartments within walking distance of the campus vs. an apartment downtown and relying on the bus to go to school? Any personal experiences with COTA would really be helpful for me! Thanks!
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Old 07-04-2014, 12:08 AM
 
1,692 posts, read 1,960,091 times
Reputation: 1190
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jocha View Post
Hi! I'm am a student that will be attending OSU this fall and I'm currently looking for an apartment. I've been reading some reviews about the COTA and their services, it seems most of them were either really bad or inbetween... Is COTA really as bad as everyone says it is? Should I look for apartments within walking distance of the campus vs. an apartment downtown and relying on the bus to go to school? Any personal experiences with COTA would really be helpful for me! Thanks!
COTA is ok if you live near the number 2 route, which goes by campus. Go to Google transit and map out apartments - COTA doesn't always run in ways that you would expect it to/are convenient, so be careful. For instance, I live on High St. in German Village, but there is no way I could get to OSU, also on High St, without transfering buses.

ETA: Yes, there are buses like the 7, but it would be nice if COTA had a high frequency like the 2 running up and down High.
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Old 07-04-2014, 01:41 PM
 
96 posts, read 124,974 times
Reputation: 75
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jocha View Post
Hi! I'm am a student that will be attending OSU this fall and I'm currently looking for an apartment. I've been reading some reviews about the COTA and their services, it seems most of them were either really bad or inbetween... Is COTA really as bad as everyone says it is? Should I look for apartments within walking distance of the campus vs. an apartment downtown and relying on the bus to go to school? Any personal experiences with COTA would really be helpful for me! Thanks!
As long as you live within walking distance of High Street, you are fine. So anywhere between Worthington (excl.) to Downtown would be fine. I commute for over 20min everyday on #2. It runs every ten min or so during rush hours. People complain about them because the buses are late frequently but then if you take #2, your wait time won't be that long anyhow.
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Old 07-05-2014, 04:01 PM
 
2 posts, read 3,912 times
Reputation: 10
Thanks for the information! Apartments within walking distance of the campus seems to be filling up fast, so this was really helpful and assuring
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Old 07-12-2014, 09:36 AM
 
Location: MPLS
1,068 posts, read 1,429,324 times
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It seems to have improved a bit, but that isn't saying much. Overall, it still sucks and I could never go back to living in a city with poor mass transit. Even with the 2 if you're Downtown after 7PM you'll have a 20 minute wait if you missed it: that's not high frequency, especially in winter weather when that wait can easily double. Better than when I had an hour wait minimum if I missed the 8PM one, since that was when wait times dropped to hourly on evenings in the mid-late 00s. I spent a decent amount of time (and money) in Tip Top as a result. Depends what you're willing to deal with, really. I preferred biking the Olentangy Trail between OSU and Downtown: almost no stop lights, no cars to deal with, faster than COTA, and you don't have to wait for it to show up. I usually only rode COTA when it was way too hot, too rainy, or too snowy/icy.
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Old 07-29-2014, 03:43 PM
 
140 posts, read 278,394 times
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It's all relative. I catch the #18 every weekday (to campus) and often weekends as well. It's almost never been late, except for one time last winter when it got stuck in heavy snow. Considering that where I grew up the buses ran hourly off-peak and ceased completely after 6pm, a 20-min wait hardly seems an ordeal.
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Old 07-30-2014, 06:18 AM
 
Location: Shaker Heights, OH
5,295 posts, read 5,241,918 times
Reputation: 4369
Downtown apartment will probably be unaffordable to a college student unless you have roommates...not sure you can touch anything for under $1000 a month...campus would be more affordable but like you said is probably filling up....as long as you are near High Street though, the #2 will get you to and from w/ pretty good service...remember a lot of times it may be running late because cars don't know that they need to stay out of its way, so traffic can slow it down some.
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Old 08-05-2014, 08:43 PM
 
96 posts, read 191,868 times
Reputation: 113
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jocha View Post
Thanks for the information! Apartments within walking distance of the campus seems to be filling up fast, so this was really helpful and assuring
People ALWAYS back out at the last minute and landlords are ALWAYS scrambling at the last minute to find tenants.

The closer you can get to campus = the easier your academic life will be.
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