[colug-432] Looking for info on Columbus

[Travis Hines]

Hey, Chris,

I've been in Columbus for about 10 years now, and have lived in 3 of the 4
corners of the outer belt; my favorite has been the south west where I
currently reside.  The traffic is easier to deal with and the amenities are
as good as any other area of town, but I am also a bit of a home body and
don't get out for the Columbus night life.  If you are were thinking of
buying a house straight off, keep in mind that a casino is being built in
the south west corner of the city; that will effect Hilliard, Grove City and
SW Columbus.

As for the other areas that I have lived in... I didn't like the northern
end of the city because of the huge amount of traffic.  Even trying to visit
friends up there is difficult as the interstates turn into parking lots
during rush hour.  The east side gets hit a little harder from the summer
storms as I recall.

I heard that a large insurance company based out of downtown was looking for
Linux Sysadmins, so if you would like further details you can email me (
mthines at gmail.com).  Once we have an official posting I can put that up on
the jobs ML too.

Thanks,

Travis Hines

On Sat, Feb 26, 2011 at 11:32 AM, Chris Snyder <pub at 3wa.org> wrote:

> Hiya,
>
> My name is Chris, I'm currently located on the outskirts of D.C. and am
> looking to move to Columbus or the surrounding area in the next few
> months due to family reasons. I'm a linux SysAdmin by trade, over 15
> years in the industry with some dabbling in Solaris and other  OS's.
> I'm also a tools developer primarily focusing on Perl. I was hoping you
> folks might be able to pass on some general info on the city and
> surrounding areas and maybe some job leads. (Already found the
> colug-jobs ML, btw.) I doo know there's a nice tech industry in
> Columbus, so I'm hoping that somebody can use yet another linux grunt on
> their front lines.
>
> I had a long history (11+ years) with AOL and had the fortune of
> visiting the CompuServe campus a few times (I remember there was an
> awesome BBQ joint out behind it. Hopefully it's still there).  So I've
> seen some of the area, but only very little.  I grew up in Louisville,
> KY, and from what I've seen in person and from what I've read the
> lifestyle in Columbus appears very similar to that of Louisville and
> Cincinnati.  Other than I've read up the city in Wikipedia. But I'm
> hoping that you might be able to share some more 'geek-centric' type
> data my way.
>
> So here's what info I don't have at the moment:
>
> - Does anybody have any clue what the difference in salary ranges might
> be for Columbus vs the D.C. area?  From what fuzzy data I've been able
> to gather so far, it looks like I should be able to expect about a 30%
> less in general cost of living and salary maybe $10K-20K less than what
> I'm pulling now. I'm hoping asking for $80K-$95K wouldn't be too out of
> line for a 15 yr vet of the command line?
>
> - Is it possible to ask what a ball-park price for a 4-bedroom house
> might go for in the suburbs?  $300K-$400K? More? Less? (Yeah, I know,
> there's A LOT of variables that effect this.)
>
> - What's the scoop on local ISPs and DSL, FIOS, etc.?
>
> - What are the 'good' vs 'bad' areas of Columbus to live?  Does any
> place in particular warrant special attention one way vs the other or is
> it all one big happy community? Are there any areas overly susceptible
> to tornadoes, flooding, asteroid hits, flying monkeys, etc.? (Of course
> there will always specific needs based upon commute and assorted
> amenities but I don't have all my requirements for those are just yet.)
>
> - What are the current local hot-button political issues right now?
> (I've found that sometimes these are good indicators for what possible
> issues might be lying down the road in a few years and could influence
> where or where not to buy a house.)
>
> - Any other recommended sources for learning more about Columbus in
> general or it's tech industry?
>
> - Anything else you feel I should really know about the area?
>
> I appreciate your help.
>
> Thanks,
> Chris.
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