Is Columbus Ghetto (Cleveland, Hilliard, Franklin: real estate, renting, townhomes)

[streetcreed]

I'm looking at a google map of columbus though, isn't basically the entire city inside 270?

Ya, that's the problem with the vast generalization that you need to live outside of 270, what lancasternative is speaking of is a very complex matter.

Columbus, and other areas/suburbs, inside 270 are very nice, others are mixed with middle class and rich, others have poverty and middle class, others are urban, some are suburban. You cannot sum up (inside 270) as bad, some parts other are very nice and affluent, and others aren't. Also many areas around downtown Columbus (Short North, German Village, Merion Village, Grandview) have only continued to get nicer over the last decade, and are seeing even a greater influx of development now.

What he is assuming to is that some parts of columbus inside 270 (mostly 60's and 70's areas like Northland and far Eastside and the Hilltop) have seen a lot of immigration into apartments that were once more "white." Some people have issues with the diversification of middle class sections of only some areas of Columbus.

[FarewellLA]

I live in L.A. but was born and raised in Columbus, left the area in '84 and am now contemplating a move back next year. I visit regularly and find Columbus to look decayed in some areas but I don't find it "ghetto". I think there are areas that are poor, and some pockets that are even dangerous, but the city as a whole feels safe to me. Perhaps I see it through rose colored glasses or compare it to inner city L.A. which does feel intensely dangerous to me. I'll put it this way, when I visit Columbus I feel totally comfortable shopping for my Mom late at night at Meijer's or other all night stores; I would never feel safe doing this in Los Angeles proper...so in my view, Columbus is not ghetto.

[CTownNative]

Originally Posted by MABCle

The third district includes Downtown, Central, Goodrich-Kirtland Park, North Broadway and South Broadway. Shaker Square is in the 5th district and is nowhere near Downtown. The worst part of the third is the central area bordering S. Hough and Fairfax like I mentioned before.Also Shaker square isn't surrounded by one of the worst areas. Larchmere/Buckeye just north is doing good with retail in its store fronts and new condos getting built. Also Shaker Heights to East is not bad especially since its the "good" part of Shaker. Also along the Rapid line leading to the square has tons of nice apartments and condos and is not near as bad as Central.

As far as nice neighborhoods in Cleveland,
how 'bout:

Shaker Square

West Park

Little Italy

Downtown (Warehouse district, Gateway, Flats not to mention all the new projects that will add 10,000 new residents down there, while creating new neighborhoods)

Ohio City

Tremont.

Rockefeller Park (east of the Park those nice huge old homes)

There are others that may not be as nice, but are not crime ridden hell holes either. They have problems, but not what you are making them out to be.

Kinsman looks bad until you get to MLK JR Dr. after that it has some vacant lots and abandonments, but you do realized its undergoing a revitalization project (east of MLK) that has put in new sidewalks in some areas and is helping restore the store fronts there.

185th isn't bad that bad, not sure where you're getting that. St clair between 105th and 152nd isn't much to look at now with some abondoments and some vacant lots. But that area and all of Glenville is about to see huge gentrification with many condo projects includeing one by Lebron getting built or nearing the construction phase. Also not sure if you are aware Euclid Avenue is undergoing a $200 million dollar project that will install a new transit line down the middle of it. Not to mention even more hotels, condos, apartments and restoration of those nice huge old homes in Glenville.

All said there are $2.5 Billion in projects under construction right now, with another $2.5 Billion more planned. I understand that some ares of Cleveland look crappy as hell now, but in the grander scheme of things that won't last for that much longer, especially when you consider some places have been in decline for 50 years.

About me. I lived in the Lee-Harvard, Mt Pleasant and Glenville neighborhoods in Cleveland as well as Cleveland Heights and even Richmond Heights for a while. When I graduated HS I went ot the University of Cincinnati for 1.5 years, hated it and transferred to Ohio State in Columbus where I have been in school for about a year. I plan to go back to Cleveland full time when I graduate in about a year and a half. So I've lived in all of Ohio's three Cs.

I was getting Shaker Square mixed up with University Circle.University Circles the one with the bad areas surrounding it,at least they looked bad to me.Yeah Cleveland does have some nice neighborhoods,but unfortunatly the bad ones where most of the crime and poverty is makes the stats up to be very bad.And it sucks because then people see the high crime and poverty rates and they think Cleveland is the worst place on earth,but what they don't realize is most of the suburbs have really low crime rates.I had never really been to the westside til I took trips back to Cleveland this year,and yeah I did see good neighborhoods you were talking about.So no Cleveland's not as bad as I was making it out to be.See I grew up in Euclid,and didn't spend to much time on the westside or Southside,Im more familiar with the Northeast part of Cleveland,the 6th district and the crime is pretty high there.I love the area but there is crime and poverty there.Im moving back to Cleveland next year,so I'll have to check out the nicer parts of Cleveland that I missed when I was living in the area.Despite the crime and poverty problems Cleveland has right now though,I still love the city,I just hope the city can decrease the poverty and crime and put Cleveland back on the map so people will want to move there again.I hope to be a part of the solution,and help to rebuild some of the neighborhoods that are struggling right now.But yeah none of the good neighborhoods you listed were ones I spent time in when I was living in Cleveland,I've heard of them,just never spent time in them.So I'll have to check them out when I move back there.

[CTownNative]

Originally Posted by FarewellLA

I live in L.A. but was born and raised in Columbus, left the area in '84 and am now contemplating a move back next year. I visit regularly and find Columbus to look decayed in some areas but I don't find it "ghetto". I think there are areas that are poor, and some pockets that are even dangerous, but the city as a whole feels safe to me. Perhaps I see it through rose colored glasses or compare it to inner city L.A. which does feel intensely dangerous to me. I'll put it this way, when I visit Columbus I feel totally comfortable shopping for my Mom late at night at Meijer's or other all night stores; I would never feel safe doing this in Los Angeles proper...so in my view, Columbus is not ghetto.

No I wouldn't think Columbus would be comparable to L.A.I phrased my question wrong,I meant to put down is there ghetto or bad areas of Columbus,not just simply is Columbus Ghetto.

[FarewellLA]

No worries, CTownNative, your question was phrased just fine...Columbus certainly has room for improvement, but as others posters have stated, compared to other cities its size, Columbus is doing fairly well overall.

[mzladybrown]

I will be moving to columbus very soon. My dad is giving me one of his houses,however I took a trip to the city just to check the neighborhood out and it didn't seem to be the best of neighborhoods. The street is located on southohio ave. near livingston can someone advise me of this area. Oh by the way I'm moving from cleveland

[derekgreer17]

I would not live anywhere near S. Ohio Ave. It is one of the worst areas of Columbus. I think you would be better off in a different location.

[streetcreed]

Ya, the area of S. Ohio Ave. is slightly rough. The area called "olde town east" located just a few blocks up Ohio Ave (north) is a tad nicer (poor and rich) and has many renovated large "old" mansions, however, once you cross a few blocks south (toward Livingston) things get a little more rough (mostly just poor, and working class, and the occasional fixed up property). Some apartments and youth in the area have been observed to be carrying out gang activity as well in the livingston/ohio area.

If your closer to livingston and parsons, or any part of Livingston along downtown or German villager (further west from you) it is a much nicer, and a safer area.

I would say that if you want to set up shop on Ohio and Livingston, consider yourself an urban pioneer, it is doable, there are nice areas nearby (Bexley, German Village, Downtown), but the immediate area outside of your window has seen better days, but does have hope as there are slow renovations taking place. If present trends continue; the property may be worth a lot more in say 20 years, so it could be worth hanging on to.

There are people who had property in urban areas just north of downtown columbus that paid 20,000 dollars (mid 80's), now that same house (with little or no renovations) is worth 390,000. So realize areas do change, and if any "rough" area close to downtown has potential for change it would be the SE or E side. Nearby south and north sides are already in full renovation. And the nearby west side has many more issues than the east side (flood plain, totally destroyed houses, little or no new money, and the highest poverty rates in the city.) The nearby east side has already seen a large influx of renovations and a decent influx of artistic or white collar (middle/upper class) residents.

[yamaharacerguy04]

NO dont do it.stay away from livingston,parsons,alum creek in that area,and also most definitly lockbourne.dont go near childrens kelton or miller i grew up there and i always got messed with i was the only white kid there.we had 6 break ins in 2 years. so dont move there if you dont have to.if you dont have any place else to go then its ok but stay away from places i stated eirler and carry guns.

[yamaharacerguy04]

Originally Posted by streetcreed

Ya, the area of S. Ohio Ave. is slightly rough. The area called "olde town east" located just a few blocks up Ohio Ave (north) is a tad nicer (poor and rich) and has many renovated large "old" mansions, however, once you cross a few blocks south (toward Livingston) things get a little more rough (mostly just poor, and working class, and the occasional fixed up property). Some apartments and youth in the area have been observed to be carrying out gang activity as well in the livingston/ohio area.

If your closer to livingston and parsons, or any part of Livingston along downtown or German villager (further west from you) it is a much nicer, and a safer area.

I would say that if you want to set up shop on Ohio and Livingston, consider yourself an urban pioneer, it is doable, there are nice areas nearby (Bexley, German Village, Downtown), but the immediate area outside of your window has seen better days, but does have hope as there are slow renovations taking place. If present trends continue; the property may be worth a lot more in say 20 years, so it could be worth hanging on to.

There are people who had property in urban areas just north of downtown columbus that paid 20,000 dollars (mid 80's), now that same house (with little or no renovations) is worth 390,000. So realize areas do change, and if any "rough" area close to downtown has potential for change it would be the SE or E side. Nearby south and north sides are already in full renovation. And the nearby west side has many more issues than the east side (flood plain, totally destroyed houses, little or no new money, and the highest poverty rates in the city.) The nearby east side has already seen a large influx of renovations and a decent influx of artistic or white collar (middle/upper class) residents.

bexly is nice but is right in the middle of the worst of the worst so all the junkies come there and rob all the hard working inocent families