Columbus neighborhoods and columbus vs omaha (Westerville, Gahanna: houses, to buy, good schools)

[bluechris]

Please forgive the back story, in my first posts on here, i'll get to the point.

My wife and I are at a big potential crossroads and trying to sort some things out. This all comes about because my company who will remain nameless announced job last October, just as we were about to buy a house here in Omaha, Nebraska. After listening to the advice of local job agencies for my field i began a search for a new job in other cities. My company finally did the job cuts in february by which time i was in serious talks with an agency in columbus,OH which have developed into a very serious chance of me being offered a job (i have now had 3 interviews with the company and they are doing some background checking). At the same time, my job here could be looking up now. So this has spawned my first few threads here.

We are a couple looking to start a family and wanting to live somewhere affordable (<125K), flat and with character, more of a neighborhood feel and fairly safe. We like shops, both chain and independent/mom & pop and want to be near some useful stuff like grocery stores, pharmacy or a friendly restaurant or bar, but we hate strip-malls (especially when the anchor store moves out and the rest of the shops struggle on or die quickly). We like the look of columbus cost of living, what we read about the German village, and as a (british)football fan, it would be nice to be in an MLS city. No offence intended but we will do our best to ignore Ohio State sports (just like here with the cornhuskers) and not sure about descriptions of soulless cookie cuter suburbs and a ugly downtown (not saying these things are so different in Omaha either).

Which areas of the city would you recommend for people like us? (I'm guessing German Village, Bexley and Short North based off other threads)

Which areas should we avoid?

Also, have any of you visited or lived in Omaha, NE in recent years. Is there any specific reason, or something thing columbus has that omaha doesn't, why we should move to columbus, or vice versa?

[cchamberland]

I don't really know any thing about Omaha so I can't give you advice there - but the area's you have picked out sound like they would fit your lifestyle.

You could also check out Grandview, it's similar to Bexley, but not as high end. I think you would have a really hard time finding a property in your price range in Bexley. I'm not too sure about the Short North as far as being "family friendly" if that is a direction you're eventually wanting to go. Maybe someone else here has some experience with that area.

[jfrank43035]

I've never been to Omaha but I would think it's much like other mid-sized cities in the Midwest. I would highly recommend the southern portions of Delaware County that are close to anywhere in Columbus that you might have to travel.

[mossberg14]

First of all you will never ignore a buckeye fan in central Ohio, its a way of life to them..

[14thandYou]

If you're used to ignoring Cornhusker fans, you should be able to safely ignore Buckeye fans as well. Just be aware that between the months of September and November, the entire city appears to be wrapped in scarlet and gray.

As far as the neighborhoods you have selected, you are correct that those are among the best that would fit your lifestyle; however, those are also among the most expensive in the city. You will be hard-pressed to find a single family home in any of those areas for your $125k price range. As someone else mentioned, check out Grandview. Others that may work for you include Clintonville/Beechwold, or if you're willing to head a bit out of the city, Westerville or Worthington.

[SKandM]

Looking at your situation from the perspective of a family shopping for around 125K I would suggest: Gahanna, Hilliard or Westerville. None of them are right near downtown like the areas you selected in your original posting but all have good schools and lots of options for family sized homes in your price range.

[City Boy Columbus]

I am not gonna lie to you I know nothing of Omaha but know too much of Columbus. Columbus can be quite arousing or confusing for a new comer , if you dont nowhere a street picks up at and or ends and pick back up you could be dead lost. Columbus also has a very small and big geographic diversity so much, it is ridiculous. What I mean by this is it has very small streets like back wood streets in its suburban areas and then they expand into some monster state route or busy intersection near by. Any body ever driving around Columbus east side would know what i mean like small widing roads near huge main streets. Unorthodox city planning in some areas of it souther suburb, Obetz to be exact. So it could be quite crazy for a new comer but we natives or those who of us who have been here 10years or more are use to it.

[Matthew Hall]

I lived in Omaha for three years after growing up in Kentucky and living in Virginia. You won't find anything like the upper midwest devotion to order, predictability, and strict observance of rules that Omahans live for in columbus, but you should be fine. If you were considering cincy, philly or other places south and east, I'd warn you to reconsider given my experience with omahans. I can't imagine how many of the people I knew in omaha could survive outside the upper midwest. Their obsession with parking alone would prevent them from driving at all. Columbus itself is so quiet and easy that you may hardly notice the differences, but if you have any disagreements you will be quickly reminded that you aren't in Omaha anymore. The winters will be easier at least.

[Molerst]

If you like German Village, check out Merion Village. It borders the area directly to the south. Since German village has gone up in price, Merion Village has absorbed much of the overflow. It's on the upswing, and fixer uppers can be found cheaply alongside recent renovations that have doubled in value. You could get a fixed up single family with a fenced in yard, a few mins from downtown at $125K. you could also find one for half and build some equity!
As for safety, it shares some of the same problems with German Village. Mainly, bad neighborhoods to the east and garage break ins.
Weighland (sp) park is an up & coming area to the east of Short North that is similar, and can have good value. Victorian Village is to the west of Short North, and is more established

[snissen]

sorry man... hope you read my reply. my wife and i came to columbus area to make money... and we did.... the only problem is that every close suburb to columbus is now becoming a bad area. i can literally buy a 2200 sq ft house for under 60,000 and get my car stolen out of my driveway the same day. thank obama for the bonus on your taxes when you buy a house that you cant afford!... now at least 20 or more of these houses in a neighborhood are being rented out to people that have 20 people or more in a house or bail after 3 months... or they have a used car lot in their front yard.... what use to be a nice area is now the hood! WTF?