Help! Sudden Move To Columbus Ohio (Dayton, Hamilton: apartments, renting, insurance)

[streetcreed]

Have you looked at the North by Northwest neighborhood? It's in between Grandview Heights and Upper Arlington. Surrounded by two great areas, but without the cost of living in GH or UA. There are a lot of apartment complexes and duplexes in the area and it is relatively close to the Grandview Commercial Strip.

Very good advice. All of the recommended places, so far, have been very suburban or far out from the central city/osu/downtown.

If someone wants to be closer in grandview/clintonville are great suggestions. Also, there's a lot of middle class diversity in some of the neighborhoods of Sharon Woods/Northland. Also, in Gahanna.

[mustmove78]

Originally Posted by bellasarah

Craigslist is a great place to look, as is metro-rentals.com. It breaks down different rentals by neighborhood. I agree with previous posters; stay out of Hilltop. The near east side can be pretty dodgy as well. I live in a 2br/ 1.5ba Townhouse in the Kenny & Henderson Rd area that only runs me $560.

The cost of living in Columbus is one of the best of metropolitan areas in the country, so you can certainly find safe, affordable housing if you take the time to look.

Thanks for the advice, I've been learning that Columbus does have more to offer than I realized.

[mustmove78]

Originally Posted by hlatimer

I have lived on the Hilltop near Mound and Columbian for over a year. I moved here from Clintonville. I love this area. I have wonderful neighbors and a nice little very affordable house. I have had no problems at all since I moved here. It is a mixed neighborhood - African-American, Latino and White which makes it a place that reflects our society. There is even a Turkish couple not far from me! The Hilltop does have some "iffy" areas but you can avoid them. Check out Simply Living and organization you can become part of immediately that provides a caring interesting community of people of all ages - Simply Living Good luck to you!

Thanks so much and good luck to you as well. Mustmove78.

[mustmove78]

Thanks Christysullivan27! I hope Columbus grows on me in a positive way. As I mentioned it's a sudden move but I'm looking forward to it.

[mustmove78]

Originally Posted by AnneD

I have several African-American friends who live in Reynoldsburg! As for Wilson Road, there are some very decent apartments off Wilson Road, north of Interstate 70. (I have friends from India who live in apartments in a large complex on Wilson Road, and it's very modest, but you can tell from the cars parked everywhere that it's not a "low rent" group of people, even if the rent is low!) Also, I'd give consideration to Reynoldsburg and Pickerington/Pataskala. These neighborhoods are reasonably inexpensive, safe, and diverse. Also, there are nice pockets in/near Berwick (east/central neighborhood, which is near Whitehall but nicer and safer in my opinion).

Thanks for the suggestions, I've got decisions to make and not much time to make them. I did think the apartment on Wilson Rd. looked pretty decent but I changed my mind. The apartment in Whitehall appears even better. From the posts I've read Whitehall and Greater Hilltop aren't too popular but I can also tell from the post that I have a few more options than I realized. Thanks again.

[mustmove78]

Originally Posted by ZX2guy19

I work in Whitehall, live in Pickerington, and just moved out here from Hilliard, and lived in Galloway before that. To me, Whitehall is ghetto. I work at a video store on E. Main St and I get a lot of really cracked out people. Pickerington is beautiful, but very expensive. Hilliard is great in my opinion, but like Galloway, it is quickly getting overrun with Mexicans, which may or may not be a bad thing to you. It isn't a big deal to me. I prefer living in Hilliard, because the people in Pickerington do not know how to drive to save their life.

Good luck with the move!

Thanks and good luck to you as well.

[marsha1c]

Hello mustmove78, I am seeing this a little late but wanted to give you my two cents as well. I am an 18 year resident of Reynoldsburg and lived in Bexley prior to that. Definetly would avoid Whitehall and Reynoldsburg closest to Whitehall. The city is creeping out and not in a positive, safe way. If you are in "North Reynoldsburg", you will be fine for now and can find affordable housing in this area. My opinion only but I think Rey is one of the most diverse burbs in the Columbus area and have had no problems during the 18 years I have lived here. Pickerington is by far the best neighborhood on the east side of the city (well, they are actually Fairfield County and not in the city)and one of the safest is central Ohio. What most people living in Columbus don't realize or maybe don't want to admit is no matter where you are in Columbus, you are 15 minutes from a "bad area." We have pockets of good and bad everywhere so you do have to watch that. Gahanna, Hilliard, Dublin, Worhtington, Grove City, Westerville are all nice areas. The north end, near Polaris Parkway is a nice area but very generic and expensive. Virtually no culture on that end of town.

[Tiana3216]

hey Missing Indiana, im looking to move in April, andthe apt. that you were talking about sound like it would be a prefect fit for me and my family. what is the name of your apt. if you dont mine me asking? You were also saying look at suburbs either in or out side of I-270. Can you give me more details?? Please! thx

[Seafood Guy]

WTF no culture on Polaris?

Who cares about culture, I'd like to stay away from crime. The majority of the Polaris area are upper-middle to upper class White people in suburbia.

If you want culture, move to the Hilltop, Whitehall, Galloway, or even Sawmill Road by Target. Then you can dodge bullets and thievery everyday.

[spotch]

Originally Posted by Seafood Guy

WTF no culture on Polaris?

Who cares about culture, I'd like to stay away from crime. The majority of the Polaris area are upper-middle to upper class White people in suburbia.

If you want culture, move to the Hilltop, Whitehall, Galloway, or even Sawmill Road by Target. Then you can dodge bullets and thievery everyday.

The Sawmill road target? Have you ever even been there? It's nothing but upper-middle-class white people! 1/2 of the parking lot is newish SUVs, and the rest of the cars are a mix of newish hondas/toyotas/bmws and a few trucks thrown into the mix. Since when is THAT a dangerous part of town?


People's problem with Polaris is that places like Polaris and Easton is that these places are the reason that Columbus Ohio isn't even a real city any more. Polaris is just a cookie-cutter suburban area that's identical to every other cookie-cutter suburban area around the country. And like those other areas, it will be trashed one day too, when black people start shopping there and the whites you mentioned (who haven't seen a black person in years) suddenly feel threatened again, start worrying about 'dodging bullets' that don't exist, and flee even further away from the city. I'm not saying a person has to live in a dangerous neighborhood to experience culture (or whatever), there are plenty of nice parts of town that have some semblance of what a city is actually supposed to be like as long as you don't mind seeing someone with darker skin than yours once a week or so.

I wish more people realized that throwing up a Best Buy and a cheesecake factory doesn't suddenly create a 'neighborhood' that's desirable to live in. Frankly speaking, if all you care about are big box stores there are dozens of other big-box-suburban-sprawl-centers across the country where you can find nicer people to interact with. Heck, since they're all interchangeable, why not move to a big-box-center outside a city that's near the ocean, or near the mountains?

EDIT: I seriously can't even believe you think you have to move to Polaris to stay away from crime. I live in Clintonville, as do dozens of my friends, and crime is nonexistent for all of us. It's a total non-issue, as it is in Worthington and dozens of other parts of the city. People have always used 'crime' to justify racially-inspired white flight. "Oh! Black family moved in down the block, I feel the crime rate rising already... time to move!"

IN FACT, come to think of it, a friend of mine is a waiter at one of the new more-expensive restaurants at Polaris and someone he works with got robbed at gunpoint in the Polaris Mall parking lot a few weeks ago. That's actually the first personal experience I've had with crime in the 2.5 years I've lived here. I guess you can dodge bullets where rich white people shop too