Liberal, Affordable Places to Rent in Ohio (Columbus, Cleveland: 2014, rental)

[DizzeeBean]

Hello everyone This is my first time posting, so take it easy on me haha I may be asking for the impossible, but if anyone has any input that might get me as close as possible to what I'm looking for, I'd really appreciate your insight!

My boyfriend and I are moving to Ohio. He's originally from California and moved out to Delaware to live with me for the last few years and now we're setting out to forge our own path in a place that's new to both of us. For a few personal reasons, we've landed on Ohio and now need to narrow down where to start seriously looking. We're both very liberal, vegetarian, don't follow mainstream religions, no kids, etc and if at all possible, it would be great to find an area with some like-minded people to make friends. We like the outdoors and prefer colder weather and snowy winters. We would ideally love to live somewhere that's a bit more spaced out with larger plots of land, but a concern of mine is proximity to animal farms. It may sound silly to some, but I know that I get a pit in my stomach when I pass a slaughter truck here in Delaware and I know that the Midwest means lots of farms so I'd likely encounter even more of that there. We visited a few places in Ohio and one place we really loved was Vermilion. The town had more of a waterfront/nautical feel versus farm which was really cool


We've gone back and forth about whether we'd like to buy or rent and we're leaning toward renting first since we aren't familiar with the area yet. We would like to find a single family home, maybe a townhouse/rowhome with a yard, for less than $1300/month. We have one small dog, so it would have to be dog-friendly. It seems like most rental houses are in cities, and with that our biggest concern would be the crime rate. Neither of us is familiar with which areas of any particular city to check out vs avoid. We aren't really city people anyway, but from what I've read it sounds like cities in the Midwest aren't quite as claustrophobic as the cities on the coasts, so it may be okay


One last question of mine is about tornadoes. I've done a lot of reading about statistics and I'd like to encounter the fewest amount as anyone could hope for, obviously, but I know that a certain amount of tornadoes just come with the territory. Honestly they look really cool when they're over the water, I just don't want to constantly worry that my house is in a perpetual state of danger lol Is it a necessity to have a basement? Which areas would you say have more/less tornadoes?


I know we may be asking for way too much, but any advice you guys might have would be fantastic. Hopefully you can point me in the right direction! Thanks in advance for your help

[Natural510]

There's actually not a lot of tornados in Ohio, though Xenia and Greene County seem to be a hotspot for unusual weather. In Greene County is also Yellow Springs, the most liberal town in Ohio. It's also one of the most expensive, unfortunately, due to high demand to live there. Oberlin and Athens are liberal college towns too. Athens has a reputation as a cool place to live and visit, though you would be out in Appalachia with a bit of a drive to Columbus or other bigger city. It's near Hocking Hills, which most people agree is the most beautiful part of the state.

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by DizzeeBean

Hello everyone This is my first time posting, so take it easy on me haha I may be asking for the impossible, but if anyone has any input that might get me as close as possible to what I'm looking for, I'd really appreciate your insight!

My boyfriend and I are moving to Ohio. He's originally from California and moved out to Delaware to live with me for the last few years and now we're setting out to forge our own path in a place that's new to both of us. For a few personal reasons, we've landed on Ohio and now need to narrow down where to start seriously looking. We're both very liberal, vegetarian, don't follow mainstream religions, no kids, etc and if at all possible, it would be great to find an area with some like-minded people to make friends. We like the outdoors and prefer colder weather and snowy winters. We would ideally love to live somewhere that's a bit more spaced out with larger plots of land, but a concern of mine is proximity to animal farms. It may sound silly to some, but I know that I get a pit in my stomach when I pass a slaughter truck here in Delaware and I know that the Midwest means lots of farms so I'd likely encounter even more of that there. We visited a few places in Ohio and one place we really loved was Vermilion. The town had more of a waterfront/nautical feel versus farm which was really cool


We've gone back and forth about whether we'd like to buy or rent and we're leaning toward renting first since we aren't familiar with the area yet. We would like to find a single family home, maybe a townhouse/rowhome with a yard, for less than $1300/month. We have one small dog, so it would have to be dog-friendly. It seems like most rental houses are in cities, and with that our biggest concern would be the crime rate. Neither of us is familiar with which areas of any particular city to check out vs avoid. We aren't really city people anyway, but from what I've read it sounds like cities in the Midwest aren't quite as claustrophobic as the cities on the coasts, so it may be okay


One last question of mine is about tornadoes. I've done a lot of reading about statistics and I'd like to encounter the fewest amount as anyone could hope for, obviously, but I know that a certain amount of tornadoes just come with the territory. Honestly they look really cool when they're over the water, I just don't want to constantly worry that my house is in a perpetual state of danger lol Is it a necessity to have a basement? Which areas would you say have more/less tornadoes?


I know we may be asking for way too much, but any advice you guys might have would be fantastic. Hopefully you can point me in the right direction! Thanks in advance for your help

You've pretty much described the eastern Greater Cleveland region. $1,300/month for a single family home may limit your options. Perhaps check out Painesville, Fairport Harbor, or other relatively lower cost communities. Oberlin may an option; it's certainly tops for "liberal."

Read through this thread, starting with post 3.

https://www.city-data.com/forum/clev...cleveland.html

https://www.city-data.com/forum/clev...cleveland.html

https://www.city-data.com/forum/clev...cleveland.html

https://www.city-data.com/forum/ohio...ille-area.html

https://www.city-data.com/forum/clev...y-suburbs.html

https://www.city-data.com/forum/clev...some-land.html

https://www.city-data.com/forum/clev...xperience.html

Snowfalls in Greater Cleveland:

https://www.city-data.com/forum/clev...ion-but-2.html

https://www.cleveland19.com/story/33...-belt-in-ohio/

Vermilion isn't a liberal community IMO. Perhaps check out nearby Oberlin, perhaps the most liberal community in Ohio.

Vermilion:

https://www.city-data.com/forum/clev...good-city.html

Oberlin:

https://www.city-data.com/forum/ohio...-compared.html

See post 3:

https://www.city-data.com/forum/clev...rt-family.html

https://www.city-data.com/forum/clev...-question.html

Kent, Ohio, home of Kent State University, may be another option.

Ohio threads:

https://www.city-data.com/forum/gene...ng-within.html

https://www.city-data.com/forum/ohio...s-live-oh.html

https://www.city-data.com/forum/ohio...n-squares.html

https://www.city-data.com/forum/ohio...j-oh-need.html

https://www.city-data.com/forum/ohio...ggestions.html

https://www.city-data.com/forum/ohio...ohio-city.html

You can check Board of Election websites for any county to see voting patterns for any city, village, township, etc.

You can check home values for individual locations at Zillow.com. Here are the links for Painesville and Fairport Harbor. The Painesville map includes much more than the City of Painesville, where values are lower than in Greater Painesville.

https://www.zillow.com/painesville-oh/home-values/

https://www.zillow.com/fairport-harbor-oh/home-values/

Personally, I wouldn't wait long to buy given currently low interest rates and the possibility of climate change migration into the Midwest.

If you like four seasons and some snow, northeast of Cleveland is in the Lake Erie lake effect snow belt. Tornadoes are less common in northeast Ohio than western Ohio. I've never heard of a tornado northeast of Cleveland, but there have been some west and south of Cleveland, especially in Lorain County. See post 45 and subsequent posts in this thread.

https://www.city-data.com/forum/clev...eveland-5.html

See Ohio areas here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornad...ce_of_May_2019

Good luck!!!

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by Natural510

It's near Hocking Hills, which most people agree is the most beautiful part of the state.

The Hocking Hills are beautiful, but I and many others don't agree that this is the most beautiful part of the state.

Some of my most exhilarating memories resulted from visits to 1) the Mohican region east of Mansfield; 2) driving around the highlands surrounding Bellefontaine with beautiful farming valleys below; 3) the warbler migration at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area with its famous boardwalk and magnificient wild beach; 4) Holden Arboretum in Kirtland; 5) Holmes County, and 6) The Wilds near Zanesville.

http://ianadamsphotography.com/news/...bruary-2-2019/

https://ohiodnr.gov/wps/portal/gov/o...-wildlife-area

Check out Ohio's National Natural Landmarks.

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nnlandm...e.htm?State=OH

Check out the many Ohio photographs in the galleries of Ian Adams, perhaps Ohio's greatest landscape photographer.

https://ianadamsphotography.com/news/galleries/

And there's much of natural Ohio that I haven't visited. E.g., I've never visited the Glen Helen Nature Preserve in your region.

https://www.glenhelen.org/about

https://trekohio.com/2013/04/30/glen...ture-preserve/

[WRnative]

I guess I was wrong about there being no tornadoes northeast of Cleveland.

Checking this website, I found this listing for Painesville. Unfortunately no details for the storms are provided.

https://www.geostat.org/data/painesville-oh/tornados

I only remember the 1969 tornado, and, at the time, I don't remember anybody confirming that it was a tornado. Near Lake Erie, microbursts with tornado-like winds, are possible. One comment in this thread says a couple houses were flattened. I don't remember that outcome. I do remember some persons were stuck on a Ferris Wheel at the Fairport Mardi Gras and the wind overpowered the braking system and the wheel spun uncontrollably for a while; talk about a thrill ride. If you visit Painesville, go to Morley Library and read the microfilm editions of the Painesville Telegraph (now defunct) for July 5, 1969, and several days afterward. Note this was the worst wind storm to strike the Painesville area in a half century, but severe blizzards used to be common. The last severe blizzard likely was in the 1990s. We had a 10-inch plus snow storm, the worst in ten years, earlier this snow season. The storm was easily and rapidly handled by the area's robust snow-handling capabilities and most of the snow thawed within several days; it was movie-like beautiful here for a couple days.

https://www.facebook.com/lakecountyh...7271277379932/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujita_scale

The 1969 storm mostly knocked down trees, as I remember it. It took place at night, so I'm not certain anybody ever saw a funnel. Those were the days before Doppler radar. Whenever Doppler radar shows the possibility of a tornado, Greater Cleveland TV stations are very good at interrupting programming to warn people and very specifically track the prospective path of the storm down to specific neighborhoods.

A Google search didn't produce anything about 6-22-85 tornadoes in Lake County, but I did find this article. Ashtabula and Trumbull counties are not part of Greater Cleveland.

https://www.news5cleveland.com/weath...ng-may-31-1985

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_U...rnado_outbreak

Even this article makes no mention of any tornado in 2011 northeast of Cleveland.

https://www.weather.gov/cle/event_2004-2013

[WRnative]

Photogenic locations in Ohio.

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/ohio...radise-places/

https://loadedlandscapes.com/oh-photography-locations/

I can't believe Holden Arboretum ever is omitted from such lists.

[Kerby W-R]

Oberlin was rated the most liberal place in Ohio. Whether you are able
to find what you need on your budget is a different story.

[Kerby W-R]

Athens is a great town and liberal. You should not have to worry about tornadoes with
the hilly topography there.

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by Kerby W-R

Athens is a great town and liberal. You should not have to worry about tornadoes with
the hilly topography there.

Hilly topography reportedly does not preclude or reduce the chance of tornado activity based on current scientific evidence, although some research suggests that location on a slope (leeward or not) may reduce damage.

See tornado myth number 5 here.

<<Other areas like that of the Southeast United States, the terrain contains many hills and small mountain ranges. This portion of the country is known as Dixie Alley and many record-breaking Tornado Outbreaks have occurred there. Such as the Super Outbreak of April 1974 and the more recent April 2011 Super Outbreak. As long as the conditions are favorable tornadoes can develop.>>

https://www.tornadicexpeditions.com/...yths-debunked#

https://www.insidescience.org/news/a...rnadoes-valley

Athens County is the site of disposal wells for fracking industry hazardous waste. The waste is injected at very high pressures.

<<“Ohio says they have the strictest laws in the United States of America,” Groff said. But many measures, she claimed, such as air-quality monitoring, ground monitoring, seismic monitoring, testing for groundwater migration, or testing for radioactive materials in the waste, are not required by the state....

“The toxic water that is being injected (underground) will compete for space… which means it will move upward,” Debatin said, noting that the further underground water is pushed, the more pressure there will be to push it back up.

“It’s not a question of if groundwater will become contaminated; it’s a matter of when,” he said, adding that “we have absolutely no knowledge about how water travels underground,” so it may not stay within the property limits of the well site.>>

https://www.athensnews.com/news/loca...9b5d6e643.html

http://www.acfan.org/wp-content/uplo...h-inj-well.pdf

<<Except for some unincorporated areas, Athens County runs on city or rural water district water. The water feeding Athens comes from an aquifer beneath the city's west side. The water is pulled from three main areas stretching from the fields beside O'Bleness Memorial Hospital to the north side of the city's bikeway; there are 17 individual wells. The only evidence of the 30-to-50 foot deep holes leading to the aquifer are the wellheads: large cylindrical structures with motors on top.>>

Ohio University Water Project | Consumption

Hazardous fracking wastes are shipped into Ohio for disposal from other states, mainly Pennsylvania.

https://energynews.us/2014/07/18/mid...20Pennsylvania.

Existing Pennsylvania injection wells have much lower injection capacity than Ohio wells, either due to geology or differing regulatory standards.

https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylv...sposal%20wells.

https://www.propublica.org/article/i...son-beneath-us

[Tobias C]

I agree with the poster earlier that said Vermilion isnt liberal. Its a quaint coastal town, but its going to be more conservative like most Ohio communities. If youre attracted to that particular area, Sandusky has a little bit more of a liberal population, being a larger city. Living there for awhile, I noticed a particularly sizeable LGBTQ community, Cedar Point being a large employer of lgbtq folks. On the downside, Sandusky has a noteworthy crime rate...something to be cognizant of.

As far as smaller town living, with a liberal culture, I would agree with everyone else when it comes to Yellow Springs, Oberlin, and Athens. If the social/political culture is important to you, and you dont choose from those towns...I would probably look to the cities. As you said, our cities arent quite as dense as some east coast cities. Any of the larger cities in Ohio are going to have a large liberal community (Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo, Dayton, Akron, etc.) even if its not the majority of the people.