crime in columbus (Westerville, Upper Arlington, Gahanna: low crime, custom home, dorms)

[MattDen]

I lived in Columbus in 2003 and Columbus seemed to be about on par with the crime compared to alot of cities its size. Columbus, Ohio seems to in about the same league as the Denver, Colorado area. Both areas seem to have similar amounts of violence (Columbus is bigger then Denver) but both cities seem to not be so concentrated and its fairly spread out.

During the day I think nearly all neighborhoods in Columbus are fairly safe to walk around in but once the sun goes down it seems to be very scary.

I know when I lived in Columbus 4 years ago I was taking the bus from Downtown to Reynoldsburg and it was after dark and this guy started kicking me but the police responded very fast. I usually took the bus down Broad which doesnt seem to have as many problems as Main or Livingston but that night I went down Livingston (guess that was a mistake).

Anyway, has North 4th improved since that new devolopment was built just a few blocks away?

It seems like Columbus had alot of bad neighborhoods but not one in particular like Over-the-Rhine in Cincinnati or the Hill District in Pittsburgh.

Columbus just seems to be much more spread out and not as intense in one or two particular neighborhoods on crime. The bizzare thing about Columbus is even alot of the dangerous areas are relatively clean and well-kept unlike alot of cities.

I guess at least Columbus isnt in the same league as Indianapolis on this issue.

[ulsterscot]

The suburbs of Columbus are great. However, inside of 270 you are taking your chances. Obviously the folks on here who don't think Columbus has any "all poor" neighborhoods, or neighborhoods that are "safe in the daytime" haven't been to the southside.

Don't believe me? Try this..Get on Cleveland Ave, Go south until you hit Freebis. If you miss the street sign, just look for boarded up buildings, gang graffiti, and lots of grown men standing around in the middle of the day. I guarantee you won't see any "mansions" in the area. And if you are a yuppie or college kid, you will probably get yanked out of your car and robbed if you are foolish enough to park.

[streetcreed]

WHO goes to the southside???
Ulterscot, welcome to columbus, let me be your tour guide. The area you speak of is not a hot area, but your are not even mentioning the dozens of safe and nice areas of columbus.

Hip, fun columbus begins just a mile south of downtown, columbus isn't a city that is centered around downtown, columbus basically starts at merion/german villages (very nice areas) just south of downtown.

I live in the short north a very nice area, has to be one of the safest urban neigborhoods i have ever seen next to a downtown in large city.

My bestfriend lives in Beecwhold (well inside 270) in a beautiful neigborhood and safe with good columbus city schools.

Your calims are unjustified and slanted.

[ulsterscot]

Thanks, I don't need a tour. I have been living here off and on my whole life. How about you? It doesn't sound like you have gotten out much at all. If you walk a block and half over from German Village you are in a ghetto area.

The entire OSU campus is surrounded by incredibly bad neighborhoods. Why do you think the Police just issued warnings for students not to walk alone? Why do you think OSU students go missing almost every year? Not to mention the thousands of burglaries, assualts, and cars that are stolen or broken into around campus.

I'm not trying to knock Columbus. Other cities have just as much or worse crime. But you are either totally oblivious to your surroundings, you are a realtor or you are on some sort of nieghborhood development board. You are doing a disservice to others by trying to steer them into bad areas.

Yes, there are pockets of nice areas ( Bexley, UA etc ) but they are few and far between. If you live in the central part of town, you are either living in a bad area, or not too far from one. For newcomers, it is much safer to move to one of the many wonderful suburbs that surround Columbus.

[streetcreed]

To assume that most newcomers want to live in a surburb is too general, some do and some don't.

I know all of columbus inside and out, you tend to generalize. I have lived here my entire life and right now live in between the short north and campus. You obviously have a suburban take on the central city and that's fine. But i have the right to stand up and state my opinion and that of many other's in columbus as well. To describe downtown as a place where you get stabbed is insane. Downtown is a very safe downtown, almost too clean if anything. Hmm? take the word of someone who actually lives in columbus and the innercity, or someone who doesn't? I think i would know my own neigborhood.
In a city people with different incomes and ethnicity live with each other. Columbus is diverse, this isn't a small or medium sized city. Section's of columbus are not suddenly "bad" because it is a middle class neighborhood with some apartments with poor. That's how a city often functions. American's need to realize that living or seeing poverty is not anti-american, ignoring it is.
I am done with this conversation.

Columbus just seems to be much more spread out and not as intense in one or two particular neighborhoods on crime. The bizzare thing about Columbus is even alot of the dangerous areas are relatively clean and well-kept unlike alot of cities.

This above quote is totally correct, Mattden seems to know a lot about sociological urban studies (my present job)

[JasmineRose]

My husband and I moved to Columbus about 3 years ago, worst decision we ever made. The 1st night we were there we were robbed of almost everything we owned. I even lost a couple boxes of my clothes and my shoes in the robbery. We have had one of our vans stolen and our car damaged form thieves breaking into the car and stealing a car cd system and we have also had our car windows broken in several times because thieves would break in just to get car seats out. Columbus is an awful place to live.

[LancasterNative]

Originally Posted by JasmineRose

My husband and I moved to Columbus about 3 years ago, worst decision we ever made. The 1st night we were there we were robbed of almost everything we owned. I even lost a couple boxes of my clothes and my shoes in the robbery. We have had one of our vans stolen and our car damaged form thieves breaking into the car and stealing a car cd system and we have also had our car windows broken in several times because thieves would break in just to get car seats out. Columbus is an awful place to live.

Wow, I'm sorry to hear about your horrendous experience.

I can relate actually; in all my years growing up in a small town, the worst crime that ever happened to us was maybe having our tires slashed. But then after moving to Columbus, within the first two years we had a car stolen and our house was burglarized.

There is hardly any experience more infuriating than being the victim of crime. And from not long after the dawn of time, big cities have always seen the vast bulk of crime.

Are you still in Columbus, or have y'all found a place that's more safe and sane?

[JasmineRose]

Originally Posted by LancasterNative

Wow, I'm sorry to hear about your horrendous experience.

I can relate actually; in all my years growing up in a small town, the worst crime that ever happened to us was maybe having our tires slashed. But then after moving to Columbus, within the first two years we had a car stolen and our house was burglarized.

There is hardly any experience more infuriating than being the victim of crime. And from not long after the dawn of time, big cities have always seen the vast bulk of crime.

Are you still in Columbus, or have y'all found a place that's more safe and sane?

It is not like our hometown Hanover Indiana where we never locke our doors even if we went out of town over-night but we did find us a place in Sidney that we can actualy call home and feel relatively safe, of course we dont let our guard down because we read in the paper all the time of break-ins and such in the paper. I developed recurring nightmares and a panic disorder when we lived in Columbus but we have been here for app. 2 years now and both nightmares and the panic disorder seem to have recently disappeared, and I hope that you have found a safer place than Columbus yourself because no one should ever have to go thru the robberies, and the fear of even going out to your vehicle at night or staying alone.
We have become street smart now... something we never had any of.

[proud buckeye]

unbelievable, not that columbus has the worst crime rate in the country, we just put up with it, we just wait for it to happen, there are certain areas that have a zero tolorence level for crime, the cops go to work and look for crime, kinda of like taking you job seriously, how many people honestly follow the manual and job descriptions to a tee in their line of work, if people would follow the program and the mgmt would follow up do you think things would run better, the same apply's for crime, give someone an inch and they take a mile, columbus, ohio has more resources then 97 percent of this country and we just sit and wait for things to happen, where is the motivation to make things work.

[LancasterNative]

Sidney sounds great! It's a solid little town, and probably a much better fit for y'all. I've been thru Shelby Co. before, and that part of the state is much safer, more laid-back and...just more normal than any of the larger cities

Not to mention, the scenery is so much prettier...