moving north and advice needed please! (Columbus, Cleveland: 2010, for rent, how much)

[hevelynndustin]

We are moving north from NC and looking for a place that is affordable (low cost of living), easy to find a job in, good neighborhood and such... any info helps such as how much you pay for rent, a good neighborhood, anything really. The good and the bad. I would rather have raw info from someone who actually lives there than some website that says everything is wonderful.

Looking to move June next yr...

thank you so much for any help

[Daytonnatian]

Ohio's a big state. Can you get more specific?

[chance2jump]

You're most likely to find a job in one of the bigger cities: Columbus, Cincy, Cleveland. Cleveland has taken a worse hit than the others because of auto manufacturing, but the health industry is strong. However, the state as a whole is upside down on employment, so finding a decent job is difficult. From my experience, Cleveland metro will be priced similar to what you find in Charlotte, and I hear Columbus is also very affordable. It is very difficult to provide more info without knowing what you need.

[hevelynndustin]

we just need anywhere that we would have a job and be able to afford it, and a Hobby Lobby haha. I will look into Columbus and see how it appeals to us. Thank you =)

[Daytonnatian]

Well, Hobby Lobby just invaded Dayton, which might be a good pick due to its close proximity to Cincy and Columbus, as well. However, both Cincy and Columbus are traditionally known for having more stable job markets.

Cities with close proximity to Hobby Lobby and are fairly "nice" for the $150,000-$450,000 range and are in the Cincy/Dayton metro are:



Dayton/Springfield Metro

Huber Heights (North of 70, or new developments east of 201 or west of 202)
Vandalia
Miami Twp/Miamisburg
Centerville/Washington Twp
Northridge (Springfield, not sure of twp. name)
____________________________________________
Cincinnati Metro

West Chester Twp
Mason
Loveland
Maineville
Colerain Twp
Anderson Twp
Milford
__________________________
Columbus

Pickerington
Reynoldsburg
Hilliard
Dublin (generally expensive)
Worthington
Powell
Patskalia

[hevelynndustin]

thank you so much for the details! we really appreciate it as we set our minds more and more to moving!

[ryeager9]

Originally Posted by hevelynndustin

thank you so much for the details! we really appreciate it as we set our minds more and more to moving!

Just like you, I too am planning on moving out of NC when I graduate (degree #2) in Jun 2010 and am looking in the same general area as you guys. I will be traveling up to the midwest for work & play at the end of Sept: Cleveland (to visit family), then Indianapolis, then Columbus, then Cincinnati. If I can leave early enough, I might also try to stay a couple days in Pittsburgh and/or somewhere in Michigan. When I get back, I will definitely let you know what each area "felt" like and the opinions of the people I talk to. I really wanted to visit Illinois as well, but I just won't have time with only 2 weeks. I'm originally from Ohio, but haven't lived up there in over 15 yrs. Curious to see how things have changed.

[Buckeye in SC]

Originally Posted by ryeager9

I'm originally from Ohio, but haven't lived up there in over 15 yrs. Curious to see how things have changed.

Unfortunately, things in most of NE & NW Ohio have either stayed the same or gotten worse the past 15 years; of course you'll find some areas/neighborhoods that are nicer, but the majority haven't.

Columbus and SW Ohio really probably haven't changed for the worse nearly as much. Of course CBus has added Nationwide Arena & Huntington Ballpark downtown, and the Schottenstein Center next to the Horseshoe all in the past decade. Plus, having OSU as well as being the state capitol gives it pretty solid stability.

As for Cincinnati, the suburbs have continually sprawled w/lots of mcmansions, but the inner rings of the Nati haven't been treated so kindly. The Nati also built 2 new stadiums the past decade for their pro teams which from the outside (never been to a game in either one), Great American Ballpark & Paul Brown Tiger Stadium seem to be nice. Plus Xavier opened the Cintas Center back around 2000 as well.

[hevelynndustin]

that would be great to hear from someone who knows kind of about the area I am leaving from! Please do tell!

[Daytonnatian]

^Yeah, Buckeye in SC forgot to mention the ridiculous amount of downtown construction going on in the 'Nati, with a new 50+ story tower going in downtown and the awesome Banks project. Still, the market here is kinda flat, and Daytonnnati is definitely feeling the recession, the Dayton part especially so .

Also think that's somewhat of an over-exaggeration of the economic state of Cleveland/NE Ohio, since it still hosts a very broad range of industry that is holding through the recession well, and is still really a beautiful city/region which is, like, totally done with river fires!!!!

The only sections of Ohio that are not quite as economically stable right now are SE Ohio, which has been this way since the beginning of time, anything bordering WV, Toledo primarily due to Detroit being in the gutter right now, and Lima, but all of those are still decent areas to move to with jobs available and good quality of living despite their problems (but they may lack Hobby Lobbies )