Columbus Police (Westerville, Upper Arlington, Gahanna: section 8, top neighborhood, apartments)

[Victory_In_Adversity]

I am currently in the hiring process for the Columbus police, and am wondering if anyone here knows a Columbus officer (if so, are they satisfied with their job) and if there is, in general, a mutual respect between the police and community. I'm also a Registered Nurse and am considering moving to Dublin to meet the residency requirement for the police. What is the reputation of the Ohio Health hospital network (Doctors Hospital, Riverside Methodist, Grant Medical Center, etc)? What are some other nice neighborhoods that I could consider besides Dublin. I recently read that the Short North and West side are bad for assault and murder respectively, is this accurate?

[streetcreed]

The Short North is a very nice area with rapidly increasing property values. However, there are many various neighborhoods in central Columbus which have very different incomes and violence rates.

In central columbus, a police officers jurisdiction might include the very expensive areas of the short north (victorian village/italian village) but then also include neighborhoods nearby with a lot of section 8 (weinland park.)

There for, it is the city. In more urban parts of Columbus you will have to put up with the unexpected. If you cannot deal with this I wouldn't advise taking this job.

[streetcreed]

Also, The southern short north is a very safe neighborhood for being right next to a downtown located in one of the larger cities in america.

It sounds to me that this person is unfamiliar with the area or is getting their data from a news broadcast.

I would suggest checking out the various columbus neighborhoods yourself.

Harrison West is a great neighborhood just west of high st.' short north section. Victorian Village and Harrison West are about as safe as you can get around downtown Columbus and have a very quite and quaint feeling. There is also a lot of development in these areas but a house or condo can be quite pricey.

Nice places in the central city of Columbus are more expensive than the bargains you can find in the city limits further out.


I would check that out as well as the neighborhoods a little further west of high st. called Grandview Heights. There are many great apartments and houses in the sections of Columbus very close to Grandview Heights.

I live in between the Short North and the campus myself, an area that is nice but has some lower income residents quite as nice but I still feel safe in and have never had a problem. The short north, victorian village, german village, and italian village, are all nice neighborhoods near downtown and are much safer than many neighborhoods a little further from downtown where most of Columbus' crime actually occurs.

The westside, which you asked about, is a mixed bag. The far west side has some nice areas, some of which attend suburban school districts if you care about that. The hilltop neighborhood on the westside has a nice neighborhood called Westgate park, but the hilltop in general is more working class and has some issues with crime.


Also, I do not work for the police, but I have a few friends that do and they seem to enjoy it.

I might be able to ask them some questions for you when I run into them again and I will post their responses here for you.

Columbus has a great healthcare system and you really can't go wrong with any of the different options.
Some are better than others for certain fields (such as OSU which has an entire hospital dedicated to cancer treatment and research)

[Victory_In_Adversity]

I appreciate the info that you've shared with me. I don't mind being assigned to work in a rough area of the city, though I don't want to settle in a place where my family are subject to greater potential for crime on a daily basis. So I'll be looking for a safer neighborhood to live in. I'll be coming up for some testing in early '07 and plan on checking the city out some on a more detailed basis. I've been there a few times before and I really like the city overall, but I'm far from familiar with the different neighborhoods. Thanks again for your posts.

[bgfalcons86]

The Short North is fine if you are single or married without kids. It's an entertaining place to live. My wife and I lived there for a brief time when we were first married. However, IMHO, it is not a place to raise a family. Neither is Victorian Village, German Village or Harrison West. Clintonville is OK, if you send your kids to private schools.

If you prefer being closer into the city, check out Upper Arlington, Worthington or Grandview Heights. Dublin, Hilliard, Westerville, Gahanna and Pickerington all have good schools, but are further away from central Columbus. We live in Hilliard and are very happy with both the community and the schools.

Just FYI - most of the suburban districts listed above (except UA and Grandview) also include a portion that lies inside the City of Columbus itself. Some people prefer the option to move into the Dublin, Worthington or Hilliard school district and live inside the city limits of Columbus to save some on the municipal portion of their property taxes.

[streetcreed]

Yes that is great advice
You can be in a suburban school district and be in the city limits of Columbus.

And the columbus school district does have some schools that perform better than others, the Clintonville and Beechwold neighborhoods have city schools that perform better, and Columbus has open enrollment where students can select which school they would like to attend in the district, so if you dont mind having your student attend a school outside of the neighborhood, you can consider a school in the city school district.

[itsmadelene]

I live about 7-9 miles south of Franklin County and live right across the street from a Columbus Police Officer. It's not a bad commute into columbus in the wee early morning hours...rush starts about 7am on S.R.23 north bound. It is a lovely neighborhood, and if you have children, the school system is Teays Valley School District, which is a highly recommended school system. You have the convience of the city and only takes you apx. 10-15 mins. to get into Columbus.

I find it worth it to live easier and drive a little longer. Honestly, the north side of Central Ohio is nice, but the traffic if horrific. Go south, and I'm sure you would love it. You still have the country with the convience of close city and less headache with traffic. Also a great bonus is that living is cheaper. Have a great day!!

[paintballer1708]

I know of a Teays Valley. It is a town in West Virginia outside of Charelston. Never heard of the one outside of Columbus. Is it a nice area?

[bgfalcons86]

If you're looking for a smaller community, I'd opt for Plain City (Jonathan Alder Local), which is just west of Dublin & Hilliard. The schools are very good.

[TexasBuckeye]

I worked at the Columbus Police Dept as a civilian for 25 years before retiring on disability a few years ago. I saw alot of changes in those years and not all for the better, just watch your back if you work there. As the years moved on and the younger people came in, it seems there was alot more backstabbing than when I first went to work there in the 70s. There are lots of fine people there and it can be a good place to work. You must live in Franklin County or one of the adjoining counties if you want to work for the City of Columbus ~ unless that has changed since I left in 2000 but I don't believe it has.

As far as where to live, the best thing would be to contact the Community Relations Bureau of some of the police departments where you might want to live and see if you can get their annual report to show areas of crime, types of crime, etc. If you have a specific area or areas you are interested in, they can also print out a report for that area for you (or they did a few years ago).

One thing that confuses so many people is they find a place they want to live and go by the mailing address when they call the police, ie: Dublin, OH, or Grove City, OH, etc, only to find out it is actually in the Columbus police jurisdiction. That also works in reverse. Research before buying so you have everything at your fingertips and don't end up confused and/or angry when you have to call numerous places to find what you want. You can't go by the school districts, the mailing address or the phone numbers anymore when it comes to the jurisdiction you live in when you really need help from the police or fire departments or some other department.

If it is a life and death situation, 9-1-1 still works the best but that doesn't work when someone has broken your car window, stolen your car radio or steals something off your porch/house or some minor offense. One advantage in Columbus is they do have a Telephone Reporting Unit (I worked there for a while) where you can call some minor offense in rather than have the police come to your door. You would have to call them to get more details on what they can and cannot take over the phone. That has changed some since I left in the early 90s.

As far as hospitals, Columbus has some of the best and if you are interested in working there, you shouldn't have a problem finding a good place to work. I have moved to TX but miss the hospitals and doctors up there where everything is more convenient than here in the DFW area I have post polio syndrome and have had to have several surgeries since 1985, all done by doctors there (good ones, too), and so far I haven't called anyone here to follow through with two more surgeries I need to have (according to my doctors back home). I may get up the nerve one day... maybe

Hope this has helped some. Good luck in your search for a good job and a safe place to live. Grove City is one of the lowest small towns when it comes to violent crimes and is a wonderful but fast growing community. I always said I'd like to live there but moved farther south to TX instead ~ lol Forgot to apply the brakes, I guess