what do you hate about columbus (Cleveland, Cincinnati: for sale, condominium, chapel)

[xnyer]

Originally Posted by jajosh07

then leave

Working on it, should be out by the end of June.

[Weedydidi]

Originally Posted by CrissCT

Housing costs in Columbus are one of the most affordable in the US. That is actually something great about Columbus.

Property taxes are prohibitive.

[CrissCT]

Originally Posted by Weedydidi

Property taxes are prohibitive.

Everyone in every city thinks they have outrageous property taxes (unless they are really cheap and then there are really bad schools). I've seen people complain about it in NY forums, CT forums, and CA forums. Try living anywhere in CA where housing costs are still more than triple that of Columbus (and thus taxes higher too) and then tell me that property taxes are prohibitive.

Here's an example: When we were house shopping in San Diego we almost made an offer on a home identical to our house we owned in Hilliard. Hilliard price - $179,000, San Diego price $775,000 with a much smaller yard. I think our property taxes in Hilliard were about $4000 year. The taxes on this home would have been $7750 plus a monthly HOA and luckily this home didn't have what is called "mello roos" which would have added another $4000 a year to the taxes. Many homes in CA have that too (including the one we did end up buying).

[Spac3d]

I grew up in Columbus and the property taxes are very reasonable. Taxes here in Chicago suburbs are 3.0%+. A $300k house is about $10k/yr in taxes. It certainly puts houses outside of people's ranges.

South Florida, by far, has the worst drivers I have ever seen. People in Columbus pretty much just drive slowly, in South Florida, people do not obey any driving laws.

I probably hate the lack of jobs in Columbus and the fact the local economy is weak, at best.

[CMJC_OH]

Originally Posted by Noggin7717

What I don't like is there seems to be a dislike for anything old in Columbus. Yes, there are a few "old" things, but if there's an option to tear down old and replace with new, that is the first thing done.

I'm not a huge city person, but what a waste of space is the city center mall? Again, I'm a country boy, and don't understand the whole "shopping experience" but when city center was booming, it had a BigCity feel to it with up-scale shopping, eating and entertainment downtown. Do they try to revitalize? Nope, they move the "action" over to the "Arena District" with all of it's new and shiny things.

/waves goodbye to downtown Lazarus and Lynn's jewelers (where my dad bought my mom's ring, grandad bought grandma's ring and I bought my wife ring.)

-Noggin

gotta agree with you on this one. 100%. We have vacant commercial space all over the city, and yet we are constantly building new. Commercial construction is at a peak and going strong- but why? We can't fill the space we have. How about the mess on Morse road. I spent almost every weekend down there when I was younger. I bought my wifes ring there- now its a ghost street. Bam- Polaris and Easton pop up, But with very little new- just the same stores that were in Northland only at a new location.
I'm sure this goes on in other cities, but it still doesn't make sense. I understand progress is going to happen, but I have to agree that renovating should take presidence over building new.

[Dorian]

Originally Posted by Traveler87

LOL its like Pittsburgh and the Steelers.

Being from Pittsburgh and a die hard steeler fan, we are not as bad as osu fans. Pittsburgh has steeler fans, penguin fans, penn state fans, west virgina fans, pitt fans(football and basketball), duquesne fans, Duke fans(which I am too.),osu fans, florida state fans, miami fans, pirate fans(eventough they are terrible.), and etc. Unlike Columbus where all you here about is the buckeyes all the time. I don't really understand all the hoop la over osu football it is ridiculous and probably the only thing I didn't like about c'bus. As for traffic it is not even that bad in columbus, I didn't feel like there was much traffic at all. I could tell that the people that complained about traffic probably are rarely ever out of the cols area. Come see how traffic is here in Pittsburgh during rush hour, or anywhere in the New York area

[west5548]

Originally Posted by xnyer

Columbus?, you've got to be kidding! I moved here in 1998 when the job market was robust, and I am still doing okay, BUT I had to move 30+ miles west to Springfield to find an affordable house not in a ghetto. The fast growing suburbs of Cbus can be summed up as overpriced waferboard mcmansions on postage stamp lots with traffic choked streets all leading to lookalike shopping malls that overweight soccer moms spend too much time in. The city lacks character or personality and is a boring, flat midwestern cowtown. Traffic is horrendous, I-270 is more often a parking lot than a usuable beltway, and as a distribution hub, the area is nothing more than an overgrown, overcrowded truckstop. Having a 4 season climate, winter is cold, gray and depressing, spring offers little hope, summer is far too hot and fall lacks color. The area offers no world class attractions for a city this size, what is available culturally is no more than what one could find in any area one-tenth this size. Public discourse is limited to endless chatter about the Buckeyes (are there any PhD's on faculty, or only coaches?). BORING!!

Couldn't have put it better myself. Columbus claims to be affordable, however the affordable is in the ghetto with lousy schools. I paid $820 a month for a 2 bedroom in Westerville. I was paying $700 for 2 bedrooms in a nice suburban area near a lake in Charlotte and everyone says Charlotte is expensive. Traffic here isn't that bad, Charlotte is worse, but it's growing rapidly. Columbus drivers just don't know how to drive, which is why it's bad.

Your right about winter and spring. Cold, snowy, cloudy sums it up. Spring means nothing in Ohio until Mid-May. Shopping here is medium excitement, none of the major high-end stores are as big as other metro areas and Columbus couldn't even keep Global Living open, which I actually liked. I talked to someone who runs a high-end modern furniture store here who wants to move to a more vibrant city because as he stated, "This is Columbus". I'm also tired of this city revolving around OSU and the Buckeyes, for god sakes there is more to life than that stupid college and their sports.

[ExCMHer]

Man, as someone who grew up in Columbus, you guys would have really hated Columbus back in the '70s and '80s. You all have no idea of how much better Columbus is now than it was back then.

There was no Polaris, no Easton, no Arena District, no Blue Jackets, no Crew, and really nothing besides Ohio State. So, if you can't stand the Dispatch's obsession with the Buckeyes now, you can't even imagine it back then. There was nothing else to write about, except for state government, since Columbus is the state capital, after all.

The Short North wasn't nearly what it is now, and the only intown neighborhood where people actually wanted to live was German Village. It was either live in German Village or live in the suburbs back then. Yes, there were a few "free spirits" living in Clintonville and Victorian Village, but there weren't nearly as many people living there by choice back then.

I also have to chuckle about the Evangelical comment. While there are mostly Republicans out in the suburbs, they tend to keep their Protestant beliefs to themselves. I don't think I ever ran into a single person who attempted to discuss their faith with me (much less try to convert me to their brand of Christianity) even one time. Perhaps someone doesn't know what it means to be an "Evangelical?"

As someone who has lived in Atlanta and now lives in DC, you guys know nothing about "sprawl" (like that's a bad thing) or bad traffic. You guys don't have the first clue.

Additionally, Columbus is probably the only part of Ohio where the economy could be described as reasonably good. If you think the economy in Columbus is bad, you clearly have not been anywhere else in Ohio. I went to college in Cleveland, and I can show you a bad economy with a quick 2-2.5 hour drive up I-71 for anyone who wants to see that.

[stationplay]

Originally Posted by alliswell

I have lived in various cities in the Columbus area my whole life. I have no clue what he means by the evil evangelicals. You only see "Laura Engles" hair if you drive out to the Der Dutchman for the insane (in a good way) Amish buffet.

We do have an affinity for all that is new and shiny. Guess it would be different if our old and ugly would have been interesting to begin with, but I don't think that was the case in most instances of tearing down the old and putting up the new. I am currently looking to relocate to New York. Plenty of culture and plenty of old to go with it, but make no mistake, there is plenty of ugly there too. They leave their "old & ugly" alone when they probably should not. Old does not = culture or better in some twisted sense. Not by a long shot. Long Island in particular could use that hurricane they keep takling about just to clean the place up some. {{{{shudder}}}

As far as suburban sprawl, at least they put in sewers, sidewalks and street lamps to illuminate all those bad tract homes around here. May be cookie-cutter, but it's functional and overall nice-looking. Perhaps not stellar stop in your tracks awe inspiring architecture, but it works well.

Traffic? Oh please. Columbus does not have a traffic problem and the people here have not one clue what real, big city traffic is. Which is a good thing because I do agree Columbus is not bursting at the seams with good drivers. I think Bobby Rahal might have been the only person in Ohio that knew how to drive - ever.

Does anyone know anybody who spends more than 30 minutes in their car getting to work - downtown or around town? I don't and I personally never have had to spend more than 20 minutes or so getting to work. Most people drive 15 - 20 minutes max. I think a commute over 30 minutes is quite rare.

One more thing, GO BUCKS! :-)

YEEEEESSSS! love this post! love it love it love it!

the thing that i hate about columbus is PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SUCKS! we need light rail fast and quick!

I also hate how people in columbus tend to look at the city as a town instead of the great city it is.

[LASam]

I hate City Center. Tear it down, and use that prime real estate for something exciting to get people downtown again!