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If different political views hurt your feelings, please leave thread immediately.
After changing political parties sometime in 2015 and watching the social and economic downfall of California - like other major cities and blue states across the US - my wife and I have decided it's time to pack our bags and leave.
We have eyed Colorado for the longest time, but after some research and some feedback from threads on this forum, we can see Colorado is going full California 2.0 and thus, we are changing our preferred state to live, which we believe might be Ohio.
I was hoping some of you Ohio residents can confirm if we would be a good fit based off of our criteria:
1. Fiscal conservatives
2. Slightly socially conservative
- We disagree with gay marriage as we believe marriage is between a man and a woman, but have no issues with gay people receiving partnership benefits of that of a married couple and I think they should be respected and left alone.
- We are not particularly religious, but believe in religious freedom.
- Very heavily oppose abortion.
- Family values; Two parents, man and woman, necessary in the well being of raising children.
3. Job opportunity for an Accountant (Will get CPA license in Ohio) and for an RN.
4. The ability to go on hiking trails for intermediate hikers.
5. Snowboarding available for intermediate snowboarders.
6. NEED four seasons! Preferably more cooler days than hot.
Do you think there might be anything else I should know about Ohio and continue researching? Thanks!
If different political views hurt your feelings, please leave thread immediately.
After changing political parties sometime in 2015 and watching the social and economic downfall of California - like other major cities and blue states across the US - my wife and I have decided it's time to pack our bags and leave.
We have eyed Colorado for the longest time, but after some research and some feedback from threads on this forum, we can see Colorado is going full California 2.0 and thus, we are changing our preferred state to live, which we believe might be Ohio.
I was hoping some of you Ohio residents can confirm if we would be a good fit based off of our criteria:
1. Fiscal conservatives
2. Slightly socially conservative
- We disagree with gay marriage as we believe marriage is between a man and a woman, but have no issues with gay people receiving partnership benefits of that of a married couple and I think they should be respected and left alone.
- We are not particularly religious, but believe in religious freedom.
- Very heavily oppose abortion.
- Family values; Two parents, man and woman, necessary in the well being of raising children.
3. Job opportunity for an Accountant (Will get CPA license in Ohio) and for an RN.
4. The ability to go on hiking trails for intermediate hikers.
5. Snowboarding available for intermediate snowboarders.
6. NEED four seasons! Preferably more cooler days than hot.
Do you think there might be anything else I should know about Ohio and continue researching? Thanks!
Perhaps check out Vermont, Utah, or West Virginia.
Snowboarding isn't great in central Ohio. Greater Pittsburgh likely would be your best option.
Columbus politics may be too liberal for you, but you would fit in well with rural Ohio Republicans. However, Ohio could flip blue in the blink of an eye with the right politicians. It's a major swing state. Trump's victory in Ohio may have had more to do with Hillary Clinton than with Trump.
Much of the conservative bent in the Ohio legislature has been the result of significant Republican gerrymandering, which has been significantly restricted in recent years and will be reflected in legislative races in 2020 and forward.
I'm kind of unsure why the political beliefs matter. Every state/place is going to have liberals and conservatives, and you could find like-minded anywhere. I think quality of life stuff is more important when choosing a place to live.
Ohio is definitely more purple than red or blue. It went Clinton twice, Bush II twice, Obama twice, then Trump. The rural areas are heavily conservative, the cities are all solidly blue, much like most places. So yes, less liberal than California, but it's not Alabama, either.
For the record, Dublin is not especially conservative. Like most major suburbs in and around Columbus, it went Clinton in 2016, although only slightly. This might be in part because it has a healthy population of South Asians and is otherwise one of the more racially diverse suburbs, I don't know.
Powell would be more conservative overall.
The Columbus area overall is pretty gay friendly if that's an issue.
I'm kind of unsure why the political beliefs matter. Every state/place is going to have liberals and conservatives, and you could find like-minded anywhere. I think quality of life stuff is more important when choosing a place to live.
Ohio is definitely more purple than red or blue. It went Clinton twice, Bush II twice, Obama twice, then Trump. The rural areas are heavily conservative, the cities are all solidly blue, much like most places. So yes, less liberal than California, but it's not Alabama, either.
For the record, Dublin is not especially conservative. Like most major suburbs in and around Columbus, it went Clinton in 2016, although only slightly. This might be in part because it has a healthy population of South Asians and is otherwise one of the more racially diverse suburbs, I don't know.
Powell would be more conservative overall.
The Columbus area overall is pretty gay friendly if that's an issue.
Politics are important to me because that's what determines our laws usually. But yes, quality of life is also very important.
I would prefer to live in a state where I can find difference of opinion rather than one hard stuck mindset. So this is a plus for me. I just don't want it falling into a deep blue state.
I don't have an issue with Gays, as I have stated. Gays are people too! Even though I'm not religious, I just disagree with the term marriage used to describe the partnership between a man and man per se, but I have plenty of gay friends here in California. I just want to live next to some decent human beings. California really lacks in accepting opinions that aren't their own. Hell, even facts... if it doesn't fit their criteria, they don't want to hear it. I just want to live next to some decent and respectful people!
Politics are important to me because that's what determines our laws usually. But yes, quality of life is also very important.
I would prefer to live in a state where I can find difference of opinion rather than one hard stuck mindset. So this is a plus for me. I just don't want it falling into a deep blue state.
I don't have an issue with Gays, as I have stated. Gays are people too! Even though I'm not religious, I just disagree with the term marriage used to describe the partnership between a man and man per se, but I have plenty of gay friends here in California. I just want to live next to some decent human beings. California really lacks in accepting opinions that aren't their own. Hell, even facts... if it doesn't fit their criteria, they don't want to hear it. I just want to live next to some decent and respectful people!
Thanks for your reply!
I am not sure you are going to find what you are looking for in the Columbus area, maybe you need to look into more rural areas or go south. Columbus is very accepting has a huge, beloved gay community. Columbus Pride has over 1 million attendees and is supported by pretty much every major employer and company in the area.
And you can "not believe in" the law of the land, which is that any two people who choose to can marry each other, but I wouldn't go around advertising it. It will likely hurt your ability to get hired and to make friends, especially here.
This thread should interest you, especially given your interest in hiking. Unlike in some states, Ohio urban counties have preserved large swaths of land as part of county park systems typically called Metroparks.
Cleveland actually has a couple small, downhill ski/snowboarding slopes (Alpine Valley, Brandywine). Greater Cleveland has a lake effect snow belt to the north and east that gets much more snow than any other place in Ohio as its downwind of Lake Erie and elevations rise sharply from Lake Erie.
The Cleveland snow belt is about 90 minutes, or less, from Peek 'n Peak in western NY.
Lake Erie acts a giant heater in the autumn, providing beautiful fall seasons in northeast Ohio. See Holmes County here (Ohio Amish Country, with the largest Amish population in the world, stretches east and south of Cleveland, but is centered in Holmes County). Cleveland is about 1/2 hour closer to eastern Holmes County than Columbus.
See posts 7 and 9 here for a discussion of Metroparks history in northeast Ohio, with several links to threads discussing places to live and Ohio activities.
Politics are important to me because that's what determines our laws usually. But yes, quality of life is also very important.
I would prefer to live in a state where I can find difference of opinion rather than one hard stuck mindset. So this is a plus for me. I just don't want it falling into a deep blue state.
I don't have an issue with Gays, as I have stated. Gays are people too! Even though I'm not religious, I just disagree with the term marriage used to describe the partnership between a man and man per se, but I have plenty of gay friends here in California. I just want to live next to some decent human beings. California really lacks in accepting opinions that aren't their own. Hell, even facts... if it doesn't fit their criteria, they don't want to hear it. I just want to live next to some decent and respectful people!
Thanks for your reply!
People not accepting facts different from what they believe is a national American problem these days, not just in California, and definitely not with just liberals. Critical thinking skills are dying in general, IMO.
In any case, the most conservative suburbs around Columbus would include mostly the southern ones... Grove City, Groveport, Canal Winchester, Obetz and Pickerington. Not sure why the south is so conservative- perhaps because it's where so many of the transplants from states like West Virginia and Kentucky end up moving. Most of these actually moved further to the right during the last election. Moderate suburbs, neither heavily conservative nor liberal would include New Albany, Dublin, Westerville, Gahanna, Hilliard and Reynoldsburg. The ones that are solidly liberal would be Grandview Heights, Bexley, Worthington and, perhaps surprising to many, Upper Arlington. Pretty much all the moderate and liberal suburbs moved further to the left during the last election. Within the Columbus city limits itself, there are virtually no Republican/conservative areas, even on the fringe suburban areas.
The outer counties would all be solidly red, though those with the largest populations, like Delaware and Licking, have moved more to the left over the years while the rest have not moved much either way.
Your politics certainly fit in with those in many rural and even suburban areas of the state, but if politics is so core to your identity and well being that you are currently planning to move because of it, then I don't think Ohio is a great fit. There's a whole lot of blue in Ohio, if you don't want the "risk" of some laws and policies you disagree with, then a much redder state would fit you.
To somewhat contradict myself, rural Pennsylvania might be very good fit. PA is a swing state, but only because Philly, and to a lesser degree, Pittsburgh, lean so heavily Blue. Whereas Ohio's blue-ness is spread across almost the entire state in many cities and college towns. Rural PA is solidly conservative and gives you cold weather with Appalachian mountains/foothills for snow boarding.
Michigan is another one that might be worth considering. There's a surprising number of snowboarding spots there, and its swing-state status is almost entirely because of Detroit.
If state-level politics matter to you, West Virginia is probably the best bet. It's arguably the only state with cold weather, hills, and widespread socially conservative values.
I actually lived in Columbus most of my life and retired in Southern California. Seriously the social and economic downfall of California? The state has one of the largest economies in the world. Pardon me but I haven’t seen society here crumbling around me.
I live in San Diego which is one of the most conservative cities in the state. Columbus is not exactly a bastion of conservatism and is somewhat liberal especially in regard to gay rights. I’m just guessing that you’re young and had some personal economic difficulty here and It’s all California’s fault.
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