crime in columbus (Canton, Westerville, Dublin: rentals, condos, homes)

[streetcreed]

To the poster who responded about her horrible break in, what area of columbus did you move? Some more average middle class areas like Northland and Linden do have higher crime rates. While many other Columbus neighborhoods have average to low crime rates. I can assure those not from columbus that the whole is not bad in crime.

Also, to those that are moving to columbus and looking for a more "white" upper middle class family oriented neighborhoods there are different choices. With less mixed incomes etc.. There are still some neighborhoods in the city limits that are very family friendly and safer than some suburbs.


The area called NW columbus
This columbus neighborhood is located right in between Dublin, Worthington, and Upper Arlington and near Riverside Hospital. There's well-to-do suburbs all around and the NW neighborhood of columbus has lots of custom homes, nice apartments, and a great retail stretch along Bethel Rd and Henderson Rd. The Area has sidewalks, trees, and city columbus parks, also some homes over look the Olentangy river, and is a suburban layout yet nice. The city schools in this area are also better, and some attend suburban schools in this area. NW columbus also has a decent sized asian population (as does the NW suburbs Dublin etc...)

The Clintonville and Beechwold neighborhoods are family friendly, though not as suburban as NW columbus the neigborhood has great older and remodeled homes. Clintonville is the older of the two is just north of OSU and runs along the great High St. corridor. Beechwold has lots of cape cod homes and a very large variety of other home styles. Both are great neighborhoods for families too.

Columbus and the suburbs offers neighborhoods that can appeal to any taste and want. It is not true that there are not sections of columbus that are still not "white" or strickly middle class that families can live in. I highly recommend both of the above areas for those who are looking for something suburban yet in columbus.

That's why columbus is so great. You have urban neighborhoods, rich mansions, working class neighborhoods, student villages, family neighborhoods, and artsy neighborhoods. I can go on, but you get the point, if your not from here don't worry if you hear a bad story. Your going to hear a lot of good and bad because the city is diverse.

Also, inside 270 Grandview Heights is a great older suburb. As are Worthington, Westerville, Upper Arlington. There are lots of great places to live inside and outside of columbus.

[woodlandparker]

Not all areas of Columbus are filled with bums,vomit, and high. There are many beautiful neighborhoods surrounding the downtown area. Clintonville, Old Beechwold, the areas around Grandview, and of course my area of Woodland Park and other neighborhoods east of downtown surrounding Bexley are quiet, low density communities- as compared with other central city neighborhoods.

I am sorry to hear about the break in Jasminerose experienced. One always has to remember that Columbus is a city, not a small town, and as such precautions need to be taken. As in any city with a population over 200,000 precautions will make your life in the city much better . I don't know the details as to what happened, but too often I hear about people coming form small town Ohio, and thinking they can live like they did back home. This is the main reason for the crime in the campus area. I lived in the campus area for 13 years and never experienced a problem. My car was never broken into (I never left anything visible inside it and parked under street lights) and my apartment was never broken into (I set timers on lights and a radios when gone as I did not have a security sytem). I know many people who were victims that did not take these precautions.

Today in America we do have a broken system of that tends to dump society's unwanted on our larger cities. Housing for poor, mentally ill, and social services(for those most at need) are typically concentrated in central cities and downtown neighborhoods throughout America. The Not-In-My-Backyard mentality of the suburbs keeps these programs out and pushes them into our inner cities. Look at the recent law passed in Upper Arlington (I think that is where it was) Sexual preditors can no longer even work near a school. Great for Arlington kids, butwhat about kids in Columbus? If the preditor is not good enough for their streets why is he/she good enough for Columbus? Do our children not matter to Upper Arlington residents? I hear in Dublin there are lot sixe restrictions (they must be no smaller than a certain size) which increases the cost of construction, effectively limiting the income level of those who can afford to live there.

Does this make all of Columbus a bad place to live? No not at all, but we must work on these issues. Clumping social services and poor in enclaves has been proven not to work. People need to learn from those around them, children need to see there is hope and that it is possible to achieve a better life.

[cakew]

My son will be beginning his grad work at Ohio State in Sept. and this is all really scaring his Mom from Texas!!! Are the apartments within a 5 mile radius around the campus really so crime ridden? Should he reconsider?? Please advise!!!!

[streetcreed]

That is too vague, columbus is a big city, you cannot just ask if an apartment within a 5miles radius of OSU are all nice or bad, honestly, within 5 miles of OSU you have EVERY (literally) type of neighborhood that you can imagine.

Some of the most expensive areas of columbus lie just south of OSU, while others are student neighborhoods, others are more crime ridden.

You have to check out the individual areas for yourself,
I would be glad to help you though, what is the street address or, roughly, what intersection is he moving into?
That will tell me in a second what area it is.

[DonnaTate]

I live in New Albany and I've never felt safer. I always leave my doors unlocked, sometimes my garage door is open when I'm not home. I've NEVER had a problem. I think it just depends on how well the community polices itself.

[trocco21]

this response if for Cakew. I've lived in Columbus for a large chunk of my life but I've also lived in Downtown Chicago. I'll echo some of what was said above, you have to remember that Columbus is a big city (now the 14th or 15th largest in the US). Crime exists, but it is mostly in pockets like in most big cities. In general, Columbus is a very safe city to live in. The OSU campus area does have a higher crime rate related mostly to the fact that students are easier targets (they are out late, the walk, rather than drive, to a lot of places, and, not to be mean, but are generally more naive when it comes to their own safety). As such, the campus area does have a higher crime rate. That being said, I lived there for 6 years and never had a problem. I used common sense and tried to make sure I was not in the wrong place at the wrong time (ie.- walking home late at night alone). Also, it should be noted that living in the dorms tends to be safe (the actual campus area is well patrolled) and it is the off campus areas where a lot of students live that has the problem. If it is giving his mother heartburn, there are plenty of wonderful areas close to campus with lower crime rates. I'd suggest the Grandview area, Worthington or Clintonville. Only problem is that he will likely have to drive and pay for parking. Columbus' mass transit is little used and most people need a car to get around. I think the best suggestion is to have an adult come with him to find an apartment and let them judge for themselves the area.

[Buckeye 89]

This years crime rate is down from last so far...

[Buckeye 89]

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A man sitting inside his car at a traffic light was gunned down on Tuesday afternoon.

According to police, the victim was sitting inside his car when someone pulled up in another vehicle and opened fire with a shotgun, Moore reported.

"I heard a loud boom," Lawrence Smith, who lives nearby, said. "I thought it was a tire. I ran down and his face was totally gone and he had a cell phone in his lap. He must have been trying to call for help."

So i say the violent crime is down from last year, And then this happens 4 blocks from me

[CObound]

Buckeye 89, where did that happen?? I didn't hear about that! Was it targeted or random? That is so scary!!

To Cakew...I am starting my 3rd year of graduate studies and I can give you some information. You really need to specify which side of campus within 5 miles your son will be living because each way is different. 5 miles west of campus gets into Grandview and is relatively safe. 5 miles east of campus can be a pretty rough area. 5 miles south of campus can be rough or can be getting more into the downtown area and not so rough. 5 miles north of campus gets into Clintonville and is relatively safe. My first year I lived about 10 minutes north of campus and felt pretty safe, although I'm pretty sure there were some drug dealers living in the apartment across the street. This year I lived in the suburb of New Albany and couldn't have felt safer! Other safe neighborhoods include Gahanna, Westerville, Worthington, Powell, Hilliard, Upper Arlington, and a few others. However, these are further from campus and you have to drive and get a parking pass to park on campus. The dorms are all pretty safe with lots of campus security. This coming school year I am moving to an area just south of campus where many medical and other professional students live, but there is also a wide variety of other residents (not a ton of undergrads). I am a little nervous about living there considering a guy was stabbed at taco bell just near a popular campus hangout called Gateway last year and a few other high profile crimes occurred in the area. However, I have two large dogs with even bigger barks so I do feel a little safer living there. You really just have to live here for a year or so to get the feel of the different areas. It's definitely not a campus like many other smaller schools where you always feel pretty safe (I went to Indiana University for undergrad, and while it is a relatively large school, the atmosphere is TOTALLY different than Ohio State). Just have your son talk to some people that have been here for a bit to let him know what to expect! Good luck!

[Buckeye 89]

Mooberry Street and Kelton Avenue.

Not too far from downtown...At the intersection, Right next to the highway