Columbus, OH review from an upstate New Yorker who is moving back to NY (Dublin: college, living in)

[Cleveland_Collector]

I'm wondering where in upstate NY. Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany areas...? None of these places are anything to write home about. I'd say, as a frequent visitor to all of these areas, Columbus is better than any of them. Columbus, like any city, has its drawbacks and its benefits. Yeah, it's a plain, cookie-cutter, college town on steroids (because it's the capitol). So what? Some people like that.

Side note: Like many places in this country, Central and Southern Ohio didn't even know what Italian food was 15 years ago outside of the local Pizza Hut. Give 'em a break. I used to have to send Parmigiano-Reggiano down to my aunt from Cleveland when she moved there to teach in the early 90's. They've come a long way.

[naturalsoul54]

Originally Posted by monkey8522

Columbus, OH review from a fed-up upstate New Yorker who is moving back to NY

Pros (1):

* Lots of chains stores and restaurants (f you are into that)

Cons (12):

* Surprisingly bad crime: including serial rapist on the loose, murders, theft, and break-ins.
* Surprisingly bad traffic between the morning rush and the evening rush from 4-6 on all the major highways
* Central Ohioans tend to be slow and incompetent drivers, often slowing down traffic due to their slow driving tendencies. It often takes a while to get anywhere in this town.
* The areas infested with parking meters have parking meter fairy hawks that often give you a citation within minutes of time being expired. And our lovely city mayor wants to INCREASE the rates.
* Cops love to pull people over for barely going over the speed limit and really for any reason at all, and they love to slam you with as many citations as possible, and construction traffic drivers BEWARE.
* Lack of cultural diversity
* Lack of intrinsic culture and uniqueness (except for save, Ohio State Football Season)
* Which brings me to: Ohio State Football season, if you are not an Ohioan you will come to loathe the term “Buckeye.”
* Bad pizza (truly Ohio Pizza is nasty, and NY pizza is unavailable here)
* Everyone around you is obese as Columbus is the 7th fattest city in the country.
* Lastly don’t let the pictures and nice internet web pages fool you about Columbus, Columbus is the worst, Nashville TN tops Columbus, and we’re talking about Naaashville, TN

*** As a final note people say Columbus is "typical" by that they mean boring and bland, so if you want boring and bland come to Columbus.

I'm confused. Are Ithaca or Syracuse more diverse than Columbus? I've been to Buffalo, and I would say not in their case. Sorry you didn't enjoy your time here. I agree with Columbus drivers. Especially with inclement weather.

[buckeyegal78]

Monkey-boy (or whatever your screen name is..8522) it's a good thing you are planning to leave Columbus soon. It is people like you who make the city unbearable. People like you who think you are so far above everyone else that it is sickening. People like you who don't understand the benefits of living in a smaller city. People like you who are so insecure that you have to rattle off negatives about what someone else might consider positives. It's called BEING CONSIDERATE..which is something that I have NEVER...EVER...EVER heard anyone from NY being able to do...so please keep your rude, obnoxious, uneducated biased opinions to yourself if you have nothing positive to say. You are not welcome here. Period.

[hillside]

Everything monkey8522 said was true sans the pizza issues and the diversity. There's a plethora of good pizza in Ohio, and the people aren't as homogeneous as portrayed. Not at all.

[1watertiger]

i sure would like to know a good pizza joint next time we are there ! a pizza thats cut in slices, does not have sweet sauce and is not crispy like a cracker except for the crust...

[NewToCA]

Originally Posted by buckeyegal78

Monkey-boy (or whatever your screen name is..8522) it's a good thing you are planning to leave Columbus soon. It is people like you who make the city unbearable. People like you who think you are so far above everyone else that it is sickening. People like you who don't understand the benefits of living in a smaller city. People like you who are so insecure that you have to rattle off negatives about what someone else might consider positives. It's called BEING CONSIDERATE..which is something that I have NEVER...EVER...EVER heard anyone from NY being able to do...so please keep your rude, obnoxious, uneducated biased opinions to yourself if you have nothing positive to say. You are not welcome here. Period.

Hang on a minute now, we invite negative opinions too, as long as folks are polite when posting them. We need to provide all legitimate points of view, even if one disagrees with it.

Let's not let the discussions get personal.

[jimhowie2000]

Originally Posted by monkey8522

Columbus, OH review from a fed-up upstate New Yorker who is moving back to NY

Pros (1):

* Lots of chains stores and restaurants (f you are into that)

Cons (12):

* Surprisingly bad crime: including serial rapist on the loose, murders, theft, and break-ins.
* Surprisingly bad traffic between the morning rush and the evening rush from 4-6 on all the major highways
* Central Ohioans tend to be slow and incompetent drivers, often slowing down traffic due to their slow driving tendencies. It often takes a while to get anywhere in this town.
* The areas infested with parking meters have parking meter fairy hawks that often give you a citation within minutes of time being expired. And our lovely city mayor wants to INCREASE the rates.
* Cops love to pull people over for barely going over the speed limit and really for any reason at all, and they love to slam you with as many citations as possible, and construction traffic drivers BEWARE.
* Lack of cultural diversity
* Lack of intrinsic culture and uniqueness (except for save, Ohio State Football Season)
* Which brings me to: Ohio State Football season, if you are not an Ohioan you will come to loathe the term “Buckeye.”
* Bad pizza (truly Ohio Pizza is nasty, and NY pizza is unavailable here)
* Everyone around you is obese as Columbus is the 7th fattest city in the country.
* Lastly don’t let the pictures and nice internet web pages fool you about Columbus, Columbus is the worst, Nashville TN tops Columbus, and we’re talking about Naaashville, TN

*** As a final note people say Columbus is "typical" by that they mean boring and bland, so if you want boring and bland come to Columbus.

I moved to Cincinnati in 1990, then to just north of Columbus in 1995. I used to live in New York also,but on Long Island. Actually, of the two cities in Ohio I have lived in, I would rate Cincinnati higher than Columbus. When moving from NY, my biggest reason was that I was tired of the typical NY attitude most people had. Cincinnati was a refreshing change from that and also offered me a decent wage and the ability to buy my first house. The Columbus area really doesn't offer anything Cincy doesn't (unless you are a confirmed OSU football fan, in which case in Columbus, you never stop hearing about OSU, which for a non-football fan, is quite annoying, and seems to be the city's only claim to fame) other than worse weather. I find that now, after living in this area since '95, thepeople in Columbus have the typical NY attitude I sought to get away from. I blame this on a few things, 1) the long gray dreary, snowy, cold winters, which begin in October and last through May. 2) the lack of jobs or jobs that actually pay well, 3) The fact that it is virtually impossible to get anything done in a timely manner, or done correctly the first time, anywhere for anything, be it medical care, home repair, or car care!!

And to add to the driving situation here, it is the land of the Kamakazi lane change where people get on the highway and immediately cross three lanes to get in the left lane only to cross three lanes again at the next exit to get off...all the while never looking around them and never using a signal.

If you happen to be a car fanatic, you never get decent weather to be able to drive a nice car, and now, there is a "new" thing they do.....as soon as they hear snow is coming, they treat the roads with "brine" a salt/water mixture days ahead of the snow...so now, they can rust out your car even when there is no snow....

My biggest complaint is the lousy weather, the long gray days and cold nights, daily 1/2" snows which are just enough to foul up traffic, and in general, I think it contributes immensely to everyone's bad demeanor. It most certainly is not a friendly city.

[Lisa928]

I just moved here from Boston and while I definitely like Columbus, I have to say I laughed when I read the original post because I agree completely with him on 2 points:

1) sloooooooooow and incompetent drivers!! Don't expect to ever go over 70-75 in the fast lane. And do expect to be cut off by people driving 20 mph slower than you... a lot. And JimHowie is right... it's like they're driving around with their eyes shut!!

2) baaaaaaaaaad pizza!! I laughed when I read this one because it is SO true and my boyfriend (who is from here) doesn't understand what I mean when I say I'm dying for a REAL pizza!

My only other complaint not mentioned is the radio morning shows. They could not be any more boring and they're not in the least bit funny. No offense to them, it might just be that I was spoiled by Matty in the morning in Boston!

Of course these are all minor complaints in the scheme of things... obviously every city has its pros and cons. Overall I love the city and am really enjoying living here

[Kereczr]

Originally Posted by guyL

Quote : ) Columbus has a bigger central city Gay and Lesbian popluation than one would expect in the middle of Ohio.
That and too fat people would be enough for me

Sweetie with that mindset we could do without you anyway. ;

[Alaskapat528]

Originally Posted by Lisa928

I just moved here from Boston and while I definitely like Columbus, I have to say I laughed when I read the original post because I agree completely with him on 2 points:

1) sloooooooooow and incompetent drivers!! Don't expect to ever go over 70-75 in the fast lane. And do expect to be cut off by people driving 20 mph slower than you... a lot. And JimHowie is right... it's like they're driving around with their eyes shut!! 2) baaaaaaaaaad pizza!! I laughed when I read this one because it is SO true and my boyfriend (who is from here) doesn't understand what I mean when I say I'm dying for a REAL pizza!

My only other complaint not mentioned is the radio morning shows. They could not be any more boring and they're not in the least bit funny. No offense to them, it might just be that I was spoiled by Matty in the morning in Boston!

Of course these are all minor complaints in the scheme of things... obviously every city has its pros and cons. Overall I love the city and am really enjoying living here

You're point #1: You actually expect to go over 70-75 mph in the fast lane? How many tickets do you get in one year? What is it you want to do, 80-90 mph? We were in Long Island last year and as far as pizza goes in NY I couldn't stand it. It was made by an Italian pizza shop. And with the traffic that Boston has I doubt you were doing over 75 mph on their highways. Just my 2 cents.