Looking for a college town for retirement (Columbus, Cleveland: home, employment)

[JRR]

My wife and I are getting toward retirement age and will be leaving the Orlando Florida area when the time comes. She is originally from Ohio and while we are considering other areas, Ohio would definitely be on our list.

We are interested in a city or town with a college/university, so we could have to the opportunity to attend a football game, maybe take a class, hear some music, etc. Nothing on the scale of Ohio State or Ohio U, but a smaller institution. Maybe in a town with a population of no more than 15,000. Not necessarily a high growth area because employment won't be an issue, but not some rundown area either. Weather isn't a major factor either because when it is bad, we'll just stay home.

Not in search of Mayberry, because no area is perfect. Just looking for a nice town to spend our Golden Years.

Any firsthand information on towns that might interest us would be appreciated. We are going to be in Ohio visiting family in October and plan to start to take a look at some areas.

[paintballer1708]

I would check out Oberlin, Ohio. Its a great small college town of about 8,000. The people are very friendly and the town has a great historical district. Its not far from where i live in Westlake. And Cleveland is about 45 minutes away, but you are still far out in the country to get away from that hectic lifestyle. My wife is originally from West Palm Beach and a lot of her family is getting out. My brother-in-law is moving to Columbus for a better school system for his kids. Florida is ranked 49th for best schooling. Anyway, Oberlin, Ohio would be a great choice i think. If you need anymore info i would be glad to help. I know there are plenty of other smaller college towns in Ohio, but Oberlin first pops up for me.

[jimdc58]

I completely concur with paintballer1708. If it weren't so far to drive to work, I'd already live in Oberlin. It has a wonderful culture with the liberal arts Oberlin College campus, great bookstores, a couple of unique restaurants, and even an old fashioned theater. And Wal-Mart and the rest have yet to come in and ruin it.

[happycow]

Wilmington, in Clinton County, is a lovely college town. Beautiful town, parks and close to several State Parks. Population approximately 10,000. 50 miles from Cincinnati, 62 miles from Columbus, 35 miles from Dayton. Country living but close enough to major cities

[mccchr]

Even though I completely agree about Oberlin being a wonderful place and school, here are a few more places to checkout:
Gambier has Kenyon College (I'm a bit biased since I went there...),
Granville has Denison University
Yellow Springs has Antioch College
Wooster has The College of Wooster
Delaware has Ohio Weslyan University
Miami has Miami University.

All of them, including Oberlin have very nice towns (though Gambier is pretty much Kenyon and vice versa since Gambier is so small). As a side note, Kenyon, Oberlin, Denison, Ohio Weslyan, Wooster, and Antioch are all members of the Great Lakes College Association http://www.glca.org/main.cfm?location=117 (broken link) which may have some more info on the towns.

Although I'm sure the other schools have good enough music and theatre departments, Oberlin is a standout, particularly for it's music. If politics factor in to the decision of where to move, Oberlin and Antioch schools are certainly the more liberal (not that the others are necessarily conservative).

Hope this helps and if you have any questions, drop me a note

[edorman92]

When I was in college I went to Bluffton College, now Bluffton University. It is located in between Lima and Findlay, Ohio (western part of the state). Bluffton is a village. It has a vibrant downtown community with all the necessities (banks, pharmacies, grocery, rec center, very nice coffee shop, a movie theater, etc). Bluffton is about 45 minutes S of Bowling Green University. It is a beautiful village, clearly a college town, but not dominated by campus.

We recently moved from Mount Vernon, OH and Mount Vernon is a nice sized town with Mount Vernon Nazarene University and Kenyon College nearby. Very much has a college town downtown feel and both campus communities add to the diversity of town. Hope this helps.

[paintballer1708]

^I really like Mount Vernon.

[wesley45133]

Personally, I think Hillsboro is a good place to move to. It's not to big (abt 7,000 people). Hillsboro is close to Columbus, and Cincinnati, right on US 50 and 62 and in between St RT 32 and I 71. Hillsboro is home to Southern State Community College. Hillsboro has a new bowling alley that just came to town about a year ago, and it has already held one of the National Professional Bowlers Association Tournaments. We also have the Hydroplane races on Rocky Fork Lake. The course at the lake is the worlds fastest race course. That should give you an idea of the Hillsboro area.

[paintballer1708]

Hillsboro is a very nice little town. Drove through that way a couple months ago when we made the move from Cleveland to Cincinnati.

[rrtechno]

You might want to check out the northwest corner of the state. There are many small towns in the area and several colleges. Bryan is currently in negotiations with several colleges including Defiance, Northwest State, and Tri-State to open a branch in Bryan. In addition there are many theater and musical theater groups that provide excellent cultural opportunities. Bowling Green, Toledo, and Fort Wayne are within an hour drive, Detroit is about 2 hours away. Chicago is about 3. It's worth consideration.