Marrietta Ohio (Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati: real estate, vacation, jobs)

[Fossilrock]

Moving from Sarasota Florida to Marrietta Ohio begining November. Actually picked the area over the internet. Would love to hear about the area from someone who,s near there. Thanks.......any Info helpfull.

[paintballer1708]

I love Marietta. Its right on the West Virginia border, but the town is booming. Its weird cause i soon as you cross over the border over this huge bridge you see this bustling, booming town. There is this nice bridge that has a sign on the one end that says Welcome to West Virginia than on the other end it says welcome to Ohio. Marietta is very nice. Its got a lot of older areas and newer areas that are getting built. And around it are some amazing country side. Like Wayne Nat'l Forest.

[angellewis]

We went there once, drove through this town, if you like old historical buildings, there ya go. I loved it. We were meeting my friend there. Georgous town. You picked a nice place.

[Cosmic]

I think you will like Marietta. Lot will depend on what you are used too and / or looking for.

Marietta is about an hour from my house. It serves as a bit of a hub for a rather large region of 3 or 4 very rural Ohio counties. It and its sister town of Parkersburg, W.VA which is a bit further down the road.

Folks use those two for shopping and all the services not available in the much smaller towns to the north in Ohio and a corresponding large rural area in W.VA. Everybody around here seems related in some way. Lot of old blood in the area, so rural folks also tend to have town cousins in places like Marietta.

You get a mix of a lot of things. Fairly good weather by a national standard, reasonable real estate prices, fairly low cost of living. Good access to a way in / out via good freeway / roads. By most standards a low crime rate. Reasonable shopping and services available within easy reach. Ohio has the far better living conditions when viewed as the amount of hassles you get from Government, business, etc. W.VA can be like many of the bigger Police States in many regards.

It is a bit like Wheeling, W.VA in a number of ways. Both of them are about an hour from my house and usually I choose to go to Wheeling for shopping instead of the other way toward Marietta / Parkersburg. The way the sales tax works in most areas of Ohio, I prefer to do larger purchases in W.VA. That is also where the better stores tend to be in this general area.

One big advantage is you are not part of some massive urban sprawl complex. You can be in the boonies in a short time. The entire SE Ohio region is a sort of vacation land for folks from the congested larger Ohio cities. Many try to buy land, campsites, cabins etc throughout the region. Some retire to this general area, the place to get away from it all. The Wayne National Forest covers many counties in this region. It is not one huge single block but a number of blocks with lots of living space / small towns / roads, etc intertwined into those blocks. Marietta has several smaller blocks to the north of it. Land can be very cheap. Is one explanation how the National Forest got the land. There was a standard offer of $600 an acre way back when and many people sold out and those purchases got lumped into blocks.

Marietta does have some problems. A bit more congested than I like, has some of the big city issues like parking. May be getting a bit more of a drug problem. All the towns of this size in the region are getting import drug dealers from other larger cities fleeing the increased competition in their old turf.

It does have its own newspaper. How I know many of the things, that newspaper is sold in my town and in the library. Is a place I will probably spend more time in the future.

One thing about the entire region. It pays to look around a lot and get some experience before making big decisions. Lots of ways to get fooled. They love to snooker folks from outside the region with very jacked up selling prices. It can seem so very cheap compared to many other regions. The real estate industry depends on it. Marietta is in Washington County and the various counties will differ a lot on the rules and regulations and how they are applied. The locals don't always give you the straight story either. Two houses located right next to each other selling for the same price can vary widely in quality / value. The entire area is buyer beware.

Marietta is a bit like the rest of Ohio. Ungoing some belt tightening. The general region has lost population but that appears to be stabilizing now. Sort of caused by the last loss of the industrial type jobs to wherever.

Good hunting and fishing throughout this entire area. You can even get deer by just driving your car too fast on many roads. If it can be road kill, you will probably see it. I just about bagged my share, too include a couple of badgers one night. They look like walking blankets in your headlamps. Lucky so far.

[anicob9]

I don't know a lot about Marietta, but my mother grew up there, and her and my father lived there for many years after they were married.
My mom always talkes about how she loves Marietta, but she mentioned how bored she was most of the time.
But that was in the 1970s, so I bet things have changed since then.

[paintballer1708]

Marietta is a fast growing town. Its really nice. The scenery around the area is awesome. Although it is far from major metro areas. Columbus is about 2-3 hours. Cincinnati about 5, and Cleveland about 4 hours. But Marietta has a lot of chain stores, and a strip mall too.

[gaffney09]

I grew up and still live in Williamstown, WV which is right across the bridge from Marietta, OH. So in a sense, I grew up in Marietta too. Marietta has a very gorgeous historical side, with beautiful old houses and brick streets. There is a very good hospital in the town, as well as several good restaurants and many shopping places. The other side of town is more country with many beautiful farms and some nice curvy roads. Drive out Caywood Rd. for a beautiful view of the Broughtons Dairy farm (where a good deal of the local milk products come from) (and where my parents live).
As soon as you come across the bridge from Williamstown in to Marietta, you get a nice view of Marietta College. The campus is very beautiful and adds a great deal to the town, without being a huge college party town.
There are many things to do in the area- many golf ranges, miniature golf, bowling, movie theatres, drive in theatres, good hunting, fishing, a lot of opportunities to see good high school sporting events (namely Williamstown football), several antique shops, tours of the famous Fenton Art glass in Williamstown, opportunities to go boating since it's right along the Ohio River, a YMCA, some nice hiking trails...
The crime rates in the area are very low. No gangs, violent crimes are virtually non existant. All around, very friendly people.
Probably one of the biggest changes from FL to OH is going to be the weather! OH has 4 seasons, all of which are beautiful. Just the right amount of each. We do get some snow storms, usually only 1-2 big storms a year. The fall colors in the area are so vibrant and beautiful. Summers usually are around 80-90 degree highs. Spring is very beautiful too, with very pleasant temperatures.
If you have kids, the schools in the area are good. I'm not sure about Marietta High School, but I know Williamstown High School is one of the best, and their usually ranked one of the highest in the state in academic as well as sports. There are also dozens of good elementary schools around the area.
Marietta and Williamstown also has many, many churches to choose from. Practically a church for every denomination. If you do come here to live, love to have to come visit my church in Williamstown- Faith Bible Church.
The Marietta/ Williamstown area is one of the best. You picked a great place to want to live! If you need any more info about the area, just let me know!

[stan]

And don't forget the Sternwheeler Regatta each year, with about 10- 20 sternwheelers being in the race.

[gaffney09]

Oh yes, the Sternwheel Festival each year is one of my favorite events in the area every year. There are fun booths, food, entertainment, music groups on both sides of the river in Williamstown and in Marietta. On Sat. night, the biggest event of the whole festival is the fireworks. I even heard that these fireworks have been rated one of the best in the nation. Even if you don't come to live in Marietta or Williamstown, you must come down for the Sternwheel Festival usually in Sept.

[paintballer1708]

That sounds very interesting and fun. I really like SE Ohio. I go there all the time to check out the scenery and the little towns. I really like New Lexington, Ohio a lot. This would be a cool event to check out when im headed out that way.