Good neighborhoods? (Columbus, Upper Arlington, Hilliard: apartment, to rent, houses)

[tmm78]

I am planning to move to Columbus this summer for a postdoc position at OSU. I am wondering if people might tell me about some neighborhoods that might work.. I am a 31 year old woman, single, very liberal, and enjoy good food, good drinks, and good coffee. I would ideally like to find a place within walking distance of these kinds of things, but also with a yard for my dog. Any suggestions?

[wrightflyer]

Victorian Village next to the Short North would probably be a good fit. The only downside is the yard aspect, but there is a great park in Goodale Park right in the middle of the village. Also, I'd check out parts of Grandview Heights and Clintonville. These two aren't as dense as Victorian Village, but are close to what you require and could give you that yard you are seeking.

Just a note on transportation, however, as Columbus is pretty sad when it comes to public transit. If you don't have a car, it can be hard to get certain places in town but getting from Victorian Village or Clintonville to OSU isn't too bad. Grandview Heights might be a bit harder, but parts are walkable to campus in good weather. Bus routes you would use would be the #84, #7, #18, and #2. The #2 is especially good because it runs frequently (5-8 mins during day) and runs along the main drag of N. High St from Short North, past campus, towards Clintonville.

Either way, congrats on landing a postdoc and welcome to OSU and Columbus!

[NewToCA]

If you are looking to purchase or rent a home it would seem like Clintonville or Grandview Heights might be a couple of good choices.

Clintonville is a few miles north of Ohio State, on the east side of High St, while Grandview Heights is a couple miles to the west.

[dlb8685]

I lived in Columbus for awhile. I agree with what people are saying above. I'll just kind of work in a circle around Ohio State, including both neighborhoods to move to AND neighborhoods to avoid.

If you're looking to do a lot of walking to class/things to do, probably the best bet is Short North south of campus. Goodale Park is a very nice park actually. There is a bus that runs straight up and down High Street which is really one of the only good bus routes in the city, and High Street is packed with stuff to do (although as you go further north it's much more of an undergrad, hard drinking street).

Grandview has a lot as well. This is across the Olantangy west/southwest of campus. I used to drive in from Hilliard to see indie films at the Drexel there. There are coffee shops and restaurants up Grandview Avenue, and it is sometimes walkable to campus depending on the weather. What I'm not sure about is the bus routes from Grandview to campus. This is something that never came up for me.

North of Grandview is Upper Arlington, also across the Olentangy from Ohio State. This is one of the premier neighborhoods in Columbus as far as socio-economic class and is pretty quiet. My only real memories of UA were people being pulled over for trivial traffic offenses. Doubt there's any place reasonable to rent there as it is the closest thing Columbus has to a utopia, but if you can find something reasonable AND are more of a quiet, enjoy your own space kind of person, it's not a place I would completely rule out.

Directly north of campus is Clintonville. It's a nice neighborhood, also has a good park though I forget the name, is by the river, has a big GLBT community and I think is pretty liberal. I never hung out there once though I did go to a house gathering a couple times at a good friend's house. It looked like a quieter neighborhood as far as stuff-to-do is concerned, but also very pleasant.

East of campus is probably the worst option. You can do alright up to 6-7 blocks east of campus, but there are a lot of older houses packed with 19-21 year olds, drinking heavily, partying, and smoking various things. Beyond that range, you start getting into some really sketchy neighborhoods (as of 2005 when I was last there). The upside is that you will have likely a very easy walk to campus from this point.

[14thandYou]

Originally Posted by dlb8685

East of campus is probably the worst option. You can do alright up to 6-7 blocks east of campus, but there are a lot of older houses packed with 19-21 year olds, drinking heavily, partying, and smoking various things.

I'd say more like 3-4 blocks. East of High it turns to crap pretty quickly. People have differing levels of tolerance, of course, but as you note east of High is probably the worst option you could take.

Also, avoid the "dead zone" between south campus and the Short North--it's OK to walk through, but not an area you want to live. Typically, you want to stay south of King and west of High.

[dlb8685]

I had a good friend who lived in the "dead zone" the last summer I was in Columbus in 2005 (8th avenue I think?). He was staying with his brother and brother's Buckeye roommates for the summer.

Here was a typical evening when I would go there:

Their walls were made of concrete cinderblocks. The stairs were just wooden slats. The lights were in bizarre places and never worked correctly. There were 4-5 people living there, not counting various random people I saw (I went there 20 times in 3 months probably, and saw 10-15 different people when all those visits are put together). No carpet or nothing (suspect other units were like this as well).

My friend would sit on the couch, always watching TV or a movie. I got stoned all 20 times I went there, with no exceptions. We smoked out of a bong, a vaporizer, blunts, spliffs, pieces, anything you can think of. We also smoked cigarettes non-stop and drank quite a bit.

It was really fun for me, but this is the kind of stuff you might be living next door to if you live too close to campus. Just saying...


p.s. I only say this because I've kind of cleaned up my act over the last 5 years, but those are honestly the kind of memories I have of OSU area.

[cchamberland]

I would recommend Victorian Village or Grandview Heights. I am more familiar with Grandview and it definitely has what you're looking for. It's got a great little downtown area that's within walking distance that has restaurants, coffee, some nice little shops as well as a few nice bars.

[buckeyegirl78]

I lived in Victorian Village for a few years and I loved it there. It is very close to downtown, and is within walking distance to the Short North where you will find many little shops, bars, restaurants etc. Rent is pretty high, but it's a great neighborhood and in my opinion, worth the money. However as someone else said, you won't find much of a yard there. But right around the corner is Goodale Park and people have their dogs there all the time.

Grandview is okay, but you have to look really closely when apartment hunting because many of the buildings are old and rundown, so make sure you do your homework.

Good luck, and welcome!!

[PhillytoCincy]

I am a big fan of Clintonville and Victorian Village.

[tmm78]

Thanks everyone... this is very helpful!