Moving to Columbus, tell me the differences between South, East, West, Suburbs?

[sammichsammich]

Originally Posted by schmave

Being a lifelong East Sider, I disagree with the bolded sentence. The Brice Road area completely deserves whatever rap it gets. Its decline in the past 10 years is staggering, and unfortunately that decline has reached quite a bit of the way down Tussing toward 256. Only when you cross into Fairfield County do the neighborhoods start to improve. Meijer's departure started the corridor's downhill spiral.
All that said, there are plenty of nice areas south of 70. Grove City is a nice suburb and not at all "far out." It's twice as close to downtown as Dublin, Worthington and Westerville and much closer than the Olentangy area. I go there for work on occasion and have never noticed the smell from the dump. You don't get that until you're right at the dump.
I would recommend Pickerington and Canal Winchester to anyone as well. The commute can be rough from those areas, but don't let that be the absolute final determination.

I've been looking at areas 30-60 min outside of Columbus. When I googled Brice Road it was pegged between 270 and Reynoldsburg - is this the location you're referring to? Is it really that bad that close to Reynoldsburg? I've always avoided the east side, but didn't think the ghetto-ness would extend that far away from the city center. What about Blacklick Woods and Pickerington Ponds Metro parks? Bad areas?

[Buckeye614]

Originally Posted by sammichsammich

I've been looking at areas 30-60 min outside of Columbus. When I googled Brice Road it was pegged between 270 and Reynoldsburg - is this the location you're referring to? Is it really that bad that close to Reynoldsburg? I've always avoided the east side, but didn't think the ghetto-ness would extend that far away from the city center. What about Blacklick Woods and Pickerington Ponds Metro parks? Bad areas?

While not the worst place Reynoldsburg itself seems pretty meh for surburban Columbus. Doesn't take a genius to see that the town is headed in the same exact path as Whitehall.

Murders in Reynoldsburg hit an all-time high in 2016 | WBNS-10TV Columbus, Ohio | Columbus News, Weather & Sports

[schmave]

Originally Posted by sammichsammich

I've been looking at areas 30-60 min outside of Columbus. When I googled Brice Road it was pegged between 270 and Reynoldsburg - is this the location you're referring to? Is it really that bad that close to Reynoldsburg? I've always avoided the east side, but didn't think the ghetto-ness would extend that far away from the city center. What about Blacklick Woods and Pickerington Ponds Metro parks? Bad areas?

Shockingly (I do not mean this to sound sarcastic), you don't have to get all that far east of Brice Road to get into some really nice areas. Brice Road itself improves quite a bit once you get south of the little speedtrap of Brice. The two metro parks you mentioned are both in nice areas. I can walk to Blacklick from where I live and feel completely safe doing so.
Brice Road between the old Meijer and Main Street is the area that has declined rapidly in the past decade.

[304eer]

Moving to Columbus in the next couple of weeks. Pretty familiar with the city but this thread has been really useful. My job will be right off of I-70 a couple miles west of downtown. My wife and I are looking to rent at first. We're late-20s, looking for typical, nice suburbia. Rental budget is probably between $1,000-1,400. Any recommendations? I think Hilliard is my first choice.

[wrightflyer]

Hilliard does come to mind. Or perhaps if you cannot find what you want, portions of NW Columbus north or east of Upper Arlington. Much of the Centennial High School district for Columbus Public Schools has nice suburban style with homes and townhomes. Some apartment complexes as well. Of course, the closer to OSU you are, the more likely you will find students, but I would believe a majority living that far out would be grad students getting Masters, MDs or PhDs.

The homes will be older, but cheaper on the rent scale than similarly aged home in Upper Arlington or even Hilliard's school zone. Older areas near UA will be along Kenny Road west of OH-315. North of Henderson Road, along the Bethel corridor, you'll find plenty of homes, apartments and townhomes that attend Columbus Schools (Centennial HS) but are newer than south of Henderson. As a note, the east side of the OH-315 expressway is Clintonville, and may be an option as well, though it may get you less rental space and will be older. While some may consider it urban, I would say it is more street-car suburb than urban neighborhood (a la Victorian Village or German Village).

I would concentrate on these three areas and for being west of downtown, try staying north of I-70. It can be hit or miss until you get outside the beltway into Grove City proper.

[kevinbelt]

Originally Posted by 304eer

Moving to Columbus in the next couple of weeks. Pretty familiar with the city but this thread has been really useful. My job will be right off of I-70 a couple miles west of downtown. My wife and I are looking to rent at first. We're late-20s, looking for typical, nice suburbia. Rental budget is probably between $1,000-1,400. Any recommendations? I think Hilliard is my first choice.

Hilliard should be your first choice. It's cheap, fairly nice, and very near your job. It's a little distant from the city, so if you're hoping to get into the city and hang out in the Short North, that probably won't happen very often. And if you don't like chain fast food restaurants, you might find it a bit limiting. But "typical, nice suburbia" is a good description.

Grove City is probably your second-best bet. It has a bad reputation; that's primarily because of the school district. There are some very nice neighborhoods, it's cheap, and the downtown area is cute. If you have children, GC is out of the question, but if it's just you and your wife, it's fine.

You might also look at Galloway. It's not as nice as Hilliard, but it's right off 70, and there are a ton of apartment complexes.

[304eer]

Originally Posted by kevinbelt

Hilliard should be your first choice. It's cheap, fairly nice, and very near your job. It's a little distant from the city, so if you're hoping to get into the city and hang out in the Short North, that probably won't happen very often. And if you don't like chain fast food restaurants, you might find it a bit limiting. But "typical, nice suburbia" is a good description.

Grove City is probably your second-best bet. It has a bad reputation; that's primarily because of the school district. There are some very nice neighborhoods, it's cheap, and the downtown area is cute. If you have children, GC is out of the question, but if it's just you and your wife, it's fine.

You might also look at Galloway. It's not as nice as Hilliard, but it's right off 70, and there are a ton of apartment complexes.

Awesome. So I have another question.....

Looking at house prices, it's not that bad to buy a house in Columbus. But when it comes to rentals, the prices are absolutely absurd for what you get. And the selection is really lacking. I know middle of March, early-April isn't ideal moving time but for a city of 2 million, I really expected more of a selection and lower prices in most places

[Rosebush1]

Originally Posted by 304eer

Awesome. So I have another question.....

Looking at house prices, it's not that bad to buy a house in Columbus. But when it comes to rentals, the prices are absolutely absurd for what you get. And the selection is really lacking. I know middle of March, early-April isn't ideal moving time but for a city of 2 million, I really expected more of a selection and lower prices in most places

There are scores of new apartment buildings under construction, I see them all over the city. Developers have determined Columbus is underbuilt, apartment wise.
There is data out there that millennials are less interested in home ownership, especially when they are moving place to place in the early years.

[DonCorsonRE614]

Originally Posted by 304eer

Looking at house prices, it's not that bad to buy a house in Columbus. But when it comes to rentals, the prices are absolutely absurd for what you get. And the selection is really lacking. I know middle of March, early-April isn't ideal moving time but for a city of 2 million, I really expected more of a selection and lower prices in most places

If you are talking about 2 bedroom apartment rentals, in suburban-like areas, the rents are high, but not too terrible, considering. If you are looking at single family homes, or townhomes with private areas and parking, yes, you are correct. It's all a matter of supply and demand. Demand is extremely strong for decent single family homes in above-average to great school districts. Even though the recession is past, there are still quite a few prospective owners that are a few years out from being buyers again.

The major issue that exists in most suburban areas for the past year or so is lack of good homes for sale. There are multiple offers on just about every decent house, often going over list price. And in very "hot" areas, like Grandview, Upper Arlington, Hilliard, or Dublin, there are often 4-8 offers in the first day.

But, if you look at what your mortgage payment would be vs. the market rent for a similar house, monthly outlay is generally much lower on a purchase vs. rental.