Visiting to consider a move - what should we see? (Columbus: real estate, new home) - Ohio (OH) - City-Data Forum

katelainmc · 01-31-2018, 10:26 AM

Hi Folks!

My family (myself - 37 year old female, my partner - 44 year old female, and my son - 10 year old male) is planning to leave Los Angeles in summer of this year. We've narrowed down our list of potential new homes and Columbus is a strong contender.

Whole list if you're curious:
Columbus
Austin
Pittsburgh
Salt Lake City
Boise

We are not looking for a Los Angeles experience on the cheap. We're bored of the weather (honestly) and are up for the adventure of living somewhere life is different. We find the massive expanse of the city and all that it offers in terms of arts and culture to be overwhelming to the point of near paralysis. We'd like to live somewhere with a close-knit community vibe where we can know our neighbors and look out for each other.

We will be traveling to visit some time in the spring and would love some local recommendations about what to do/see/visit. We are into nature (parks, hiking, animals, conservation), arts (theater, dance, music), shopping/eating at small - locally owned restaurants and shops. We are looking to live in a place where we can afford a 3+ bedroom home (1600+ sq ft) for less than 500K (ideal range is $350-400 or lower) in a walkable neighborhood with a city center feel. It doesn't have to be "downtown" but we don't want suburbs.

Jobs are not an issue. I work remotely from a company that will allow me to relocate. My partner is a meditation teacher and does a lot of remote work although it's also important that we live someplace that is easy for folks to access because she does facilitate meditations and classes from our home. School is not a big issue, because if we don't find one that works for our son we'll just homeschool or do some other alternative. It would be great to have other families/kids his age (middle school) nearby.

That's our whole story! We'd love your suggestions about what we should experience as a family to get a feel for what it would be like to live in Columbus.

Thanks for your input!

Warmly,
Kate

carlek · 01-31-2018, 03:00 PM

I'll let others chime in on things to see and do when you visit, but in terms of where to live, your post screams Clintonville! Within your price range, older charming homes, very walkable in most portions, very, very left-leaning and LGBTQ-friendly, lots of locally-owned shops and restaurants, the beautiful Park of Roses, true community vibe--people choose to live there for the lifestyle/vibe/ideology and tend to really identify with the area in a way you don't find in suburban areas. It's close to the OSU campus (how close depends on how far north or south you are) and has very easy access to downtown Columbus (maybe 8-10 minutes via the highway?). It is Columbus City Schools, which has issues as a district, but the schools within Clintonville tend to be better than the rest of the district and there has been a big push for local families to stay and keep their kids in the district rather than flying off to the suburbs when they reach middle school age. There's a wonderful k-8 public school called Indianola Informal within the area. It's lottery-based, but if you get in I hear great things about it. There is also a pretty significant homeschooling culture in the area as well.

Your partner would find lots of clients in the area for her business. It's definitely that type of place. Good luck!

carlek · 01-31-2018, 03:07 PM

Forgot to add: if you want to peek at real estate listings in the area for fun, the zip codes to search are 43202 (south Clintonville) and 43214 (central/north/Beechwold). Don't search "Clintonville" because it probably won't yield much, as it's not its own city as are many suburbs/neighborhoods of Columbus.

katelainmc · 01-31-2018, 03:09 PM

Brilliant, thank you! We had not heard of Clintonville and will definitely do more research/explore when we come to town. Thank you for this rave review and the extra zip code help too!

Quote:

Originally Posted by carlek

I'll let others chime in on things to see and do when you visit, but in terms of where to live, your post screams Clintonville! Within your price range, older charming homes, very walkable in most portions, very, very left-leaning and LGBTQ-friendly, lots of locally-owned shops and restaurants, the beautiful Park of Roses, true community vibe--people choose to live there for the lifestyle/vibe/ideology and tend to really identify with the area in a way you don't find in suburban areas. It's close to the OSU campus (how close depends on how far north or south you are) and has very easy access to downtown Columbus (maybe 8-10 minutes via the highway?). It is Columbus City Schools, which has issues as a district, but the schools within Clintonville tend to be better than the rest of the district and there has been a big push for local families to stay and keep their kids in the district rather than flying off to the suburbs when they reach middle school age. There's a wonderful k-8 public school called Indianola Informal within the area. It's lottery-based, but if you get in I hear great things about it. There is also a pretty significant homeschooling culture in the area as well.

Your partner would find lots of clients in the area for her business. It's definitely that type of place. Good luck!

Jbeechuk · 01-31-2018, 09:23 PM

Have you ever lived anywhere besides L.A.? Winters here are pretty crappy. Consider the weather when you decide where to move to. 4 months of cold and grey skies gets old pretty quick. You say you are bored of the sun and nice temps of CA?

katelainmc · 01-31-2018, 10:29 PM

I have lived in southern California all my life (my partner is from new england,
though) and I know it's hard to believe... but I really WANT to experience real weather/seasons.
Perhaps I'll hate it. I'm sure I have romantic ideas of what it is... but I'll deal with it.
Just like y'all do. I don't experience LA/SoCal to be any kind of paradise. I'm over it and I want to experience something else.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jbeechuk

Have you ever lived anywhere besides L.A.? Winters here are pretty crappy. Consider the weather when you decide where to move to. 4 months of cold and grey skies gets old pretty quick. You say you are bored of the sun and nice temps of CA?

carlek · 02-01-2018, 06:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by katelainmc

I have lived in southern California all my life (my partner is from new england,
though) and I know it's hard to believe... but I really WANT to experience real weather/seasons.
Perhaps I'll hate it. I'm sure I have romantic ideas of what it is... but I'll deal with it.
Just like y'all do. I don't experience LA/SoCal to be any kind of paradise. I'm over it and I want to experience something else.

I wouldn't be too scared. Columbus winters are nothing like they are further north (Cleveland, Minnesota, etc.). Last winter I only had to shovel the driveway once. This winter has been a bit worse, but January is really the only month that hardcore sucks. And not necessarily every year. We even had some 50 degree days this January.

And I totally get where you're coming from. I'm from San Antonio, TX originally, and I've really enjoyed finally getting to live somewhere with seasons over the last decade. You forget how monotonous the heat and sunshine can get if you're not living like that day after day. There's something really wonderful about getting to experience the seasons as they're "supposed to be."

PsychDoc · 02-01-2018, 06:43 AM

I agree with the previous poster about Clintonville. I would bet money that you would love it.

I would also check out German Village. It is one of the prettiest neighborhoods in the entire country.

The weather here isn't bad at all. I am originally from Oklahoma and used to love hot weather. After being here for 4+ years I actually prefer central Ohio's climate to weather in the south. You can make a strong argument that we have 9.5 months of good weather here. We have four distinct seasons and each is beautiful in its own way. Spring is awesome when the weather starts to warm up in mid-April, summers here are very mild (in Oklahoma you cannot go outside during July-September due to the heat), fall is downright beautiful and the winter weather here is generally very mild until mid-January. After New Year's until mid-march I start to get tired of the cold and gray days but otherwise the rest of the year is great. When we get snow it doesn't snow more than 3-4 inches which is beautiful but does not really affect traffic.

Overall Columbus is a great city. Very underrated in my opinion and I would put Columbus against any other city in terms of settling down.

katelainmc · 02-01-2018, 08:29 AM

This is what we hear (about the weather not being too intense). Grateful for the assurance!

Eaglealum · 02-01-2018, 06:38 PM

The weather really isn’t that bad. However we have a lot of grey skies. My wife is from San Diego and we also lived in Phoenix. I’ve never really been bothered by snow and I’m never too cold unless it’s below 20 which isn’t all that common. But I do wish for more sunlight at times.

Columbus is a newer city. Lots of new suburban developments and strip centers. I like new, but I understand when people complain about the lack of character.

People are very friendly.

There are great restaurants.

Columbus is a nationally underrated city. But of the cities you mentioned, i think Boise and SLC offer more than the others.