Trying to escape Commifornia to freedom and space. Ohio? And where? (Columbus: appointed, rent)

[jobaba]

Originally Posted by FloonieMcFloonieNue

My husband was born and raised in San Diego. He’s 41. He could tell you every back road anywhere in SD. It’s home. However the political climate here has really gone the way of lunacy. The taxes and regulations have driven out so many businesses and citizens. We can’t stand it any more and are looking for a much more conservative state with a low cost of living and space to live in. It’s so crowded here. The lowest rent you can find for a studio apartment in the most ghetto areas is over $1000. The electricity bills are so high it make me want to cry and our water bill is $95 before we even use any water because of fees. We have the highest taxes in the nation aside from NY. Literally every part of living here is expensive. And for what? Sunny weather? Meh! I am originally from upstate NY and I can handle weather.
We are a conservative family. We own fire arms responsibly, we like shooting off fireworks on July 4 and we go to church. We want land and horses and peace and quiet.
We also have a 12 year old son that we hope can have a good place to grow up and have good schools to attend.

Now that you know what we’re looking for,
Is Ohio a place we could be happy?
What cities would you recommend? (We like snow and aren’t afraid of it, like I said I’m from Upstate NY)

Oh god.

I agree there's no reason for you to live in San Diego at all...

Just for the record, $1000 for a studio sounds reasonable to me, but I'm from NJ, also high cost. Check out Canton. I was there for work one year. Not bad for what it is.

[gobucks86]

Originally Posted by FloonieMcFloonieNue

My husband was born and raised in San Diego. He’s 41. He could tell you every back road anywhere in SD. It’s home. However the political climate here has really gone the way of lunacy. The taxes and regulations have driven out so many businesses and citizens. We can’t stand it any more and are looking for a much more conservative state with a low cost of living and space to live in. It’s so crowded here. The lowest rent you can find for a studio apartment in the most ghetto areas is over $1000. The electricity bills are so high it make me want to cry and our water bill is $95 before we even use any water because of fees. We have the highest taxes in the nation aside from NY. Literally every part of living here is expensive. And for what? Sunny weather? Meh! I am originally from upstate NY and I can handle weather.
We are a conservative family. We own fire arms responsibly, we like shooting off fireworks on July 4 and we go to church. We want land and horses and peace and quiet.
We also have a 12 year old son that we hope can have a good place to grow up and have good schools to attend.

Now that you know what we’re looking for,
Is Ohio a place we could be happy?
What cities would you recommend? (We like snow and aren’t afraid of it, like I said I’m from Upstate NY)

Land, horses, and peace and quiet? I'd recommend Western Ohio, places like Ada and Bluffton and surrounding communities. If I had it my way with my fiancée we'd be in one of those areas now. My friend owns a farm in Bluffton and loves it. They are small communities with open land. Toledo isn't too far away, and other "bigger" cities like Lima and Findlay are pretty close by.

Perhaps the cities I suggested may not what you're looking for, but I wanted to recommend them to at least look into.

Good luck and keep us posted! I'm biased since I'm from here, but I LOVE living in Ohio!!!

[216facts]

I 2nd Geauga County, Lake County, and eastern Cuyahoga County. Lots of horse farms in the Chagrin Valley. The amenities that a major city (Cleveland) bring to the table cannot be beat- particularly if you have kids. Jobs opportunities, culture, etc. Good luck

[october2007]

Originally Posted by GardenWanderer

I would do the same, but are you looking for just anywhere in Ohio, or do you have an idea of what part of the state you want to start in? The housing crisis is very real in Ohio, and any of the decent areas are being bid for, heavily. I've seen stuff going for above asking sight unseen. If you have 250+k then you have a decent chance in most areas, but otherwise the competition is fierce. Same for land. Without sounding presumptuous, what is your financial situation like?



You will also want to be careful about renting, because Ohio's cities are bedbug capitols outside of New York. Columbus for example has the most in the nation. If you drive southeast of Columbus, you'll see loads of billboards for bedbug treatments, heat treatments, etc. So keep that in mind if you're looking to rent. However, rent is going to be much lower than what you talked about in Cali, and Ohio has a much friendlier gun culture.



With that being said, buying land is more possible than a decent home right now IMO, but any land that is flat in these areas of Ohio are going to be floodplain. I've been all around the state in my life, and have lived the lifestyles similar to what you're looking for.


Random question, but have you thought about Idaho? I've looking into that state, too. Ohio is a great choice as well, but the current flight from the cities is making it difficult to be competitive for good rural land outside of the Appalachian areas for 120-140k range, which is where we're at right now with our budget.

Funny....I was going to suggest Idaho too. Worth looking into.

[Natalijaasbj]

Originally Posted by GardenWanderer

I would do the same, but are you looking for just anywhere in Ohio, or do you have an idea of what part of the state you want to start in? The housing crisis is very real in Ohio, and any of the decent areas are being bid for, heavily. I've seen stuff going for above asking sight unseen. If you have 250+k then you have a decent chance in most areas, but otherwise the competition is fierce. Same for land. Without sounding presumptuous, what is your financial situation like?



You will also want to be careful about renting, because Ohio's cities are bedbug capitols outside of New York. Columbus for example has the most in the nation. If you drive southeast of Columbus, you'll see loads of billboards for bedbug treatments, heat treatments, etc. So keep that in mind if you're looking to rent. However, rent is going to be much lower than what you talked about in Cali, and Ohio has a much friendlier gun culture.



With that being said, buying land is more possible than a decent home right now IMO, but any land that is flat in these areas of Ohio are going to be floodplain. I've been all around the state in my life, and have lived the lifestyles similar to what you're looking for.


Random question, but have you thought about Idaho? I've looking into that state, too. Ohio is a great choice as well, but the current flight from the cities is making it difficult to be competitive for good rural land outside of the Appalachian areas for 120-140k range, which is where we're at right now with our budget.

Idaho is way more expensive than Ohio. I live in Idaho. The prices have been climbing up in the decent areas close to major cities....we have lots of Californians taking over. The climate in Southern Idaho is similar to California - mild winters, dry climate, hot in summers. Nice spring and fall. Lots of mountains around and lots to do for outdoors.

[1watertiger]

Like other posters mentioned. Northeast Ohio is a nice Fourseason area here’s an area attached you might like it’s near chagrin Falls. Caution lots of snow sometimes LOL but you’re only about a half hour away from Cleveland and Lake Erie.
https://www.google.com/search?client...78000014225148

[5Lakes]

If you like snow and want to be fairly close to water I would recommend Geauga County to the East of Cleveland. Specifically around the town of Chardon. Geauga County leans politically conservative and you can easily find land there. The western parts of the county are more developed than the east. If you're looking for an even more rural and quaint area you could also look around the town of Burton, but it's further from the Lake. Burton actually has an Amish community nearby.

The area is hilly and forested and is a short distance to Lake Erie and job centers around Cleveland. There are a lot of companies located off I-271 in Cleveland's eastern suburbs. Also a lot of horse farms around there with some potential wealthy clientele coming from Cleveland's suburbs just to the west of Geauga County.

[GardenWanderer]

Geaugua County might have something in the range of $400k, but there is no reason to live close to Cuyahoga County unless you want to be that close to Cleveland and its suburban culture. There isn't much work in Cleveland compared to Columbus though, and Cuyahoga is the hardest-hit area in Ohio for Corona by far.

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by WRnative

If you want to live near Lake Erie (which has great fishing), and you enjoy horses, Kirtland in Lake County, very convenient to Cleveland, comes to mind. Check out zillow.com for houses for sale in Kirtland, Kirtland Hills, Willoughby Hills and perhaps Concord Township. All of nearby Geauga County (e.g., Chesterland and Chester Township) is a possibility. Western Geauga County is very rural, actually still with a good Amish presence, but not as convenient for Cleveland.

Correction to first paragraph of post 9. Should be:

Eastern Geauga County is very rural, actually still with a good Amish presence, but not as convenient for Cleveland.

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by GardenWanderer

Geaugua County might have something in the range of $400k, but there is no reason to live close to Cuyahoga County unless you want to be that close to Cleveland and its suburban culture. There isn't much work in Cleveland compared to Columbus though, and Cuyahoga is the hardest-hit area in Ohio for Corona by far.

This paragraph may be totally inaccurate given the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic. Columbus in Franklin County, an economy dominated by government employment as the Ohio state capital and by the retail industry (as the home of the Les Wexner empire and its spin-offs). Governor DeWine has announced pay cuts for non-union employees.

https://www.cleveland.com/open/2020/...get-hole.html#

Northeast Ohio is a center of corporate headquarters employment, including IT, and medical. The Cleveland Clinic is one of the top medical institutions in the world and Cleveland's University Hospitals is the second ranked hospital system in Ohio.

https://www.crainscleveland.com/arti...weight-hq-jobs