[colug-432] Looking for info on Columbus

[Steven Lefevre]

Yeesh. Do we need to resurrect colug-politics? :P

On Tue, Mar 1, 2011 at 6:39 PM, Richard Hornsby
<richardjhornsby at gmail.com> wrote:
> -[snip]-
>> - 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.)
>
>
> Most places to live in Columbus are suburbs.  The city and surrounding areas has a fairly low population density for the area (sqmi).  After living in Columbus for 15 years, here are my opinions, impressions, and generalizations (nothing personal to anyone who lives in these areas).  When I use the term "expensive" it is  relative to other areas in/around Columbus.  Going around I-270 (which encircles Columbus - no kidding somewhere around 50 miles if you drove all the way around) clockwise:
>
> (for reference http://rhornsby.org/columbus-crudelylabeled.png)
>
> Galloway (Southwest): lower to lower-middle income. Local economy is pretty rough. Westland Mall is all but abandoned.  Hard to say if casino on site of old Delphi plant (Georgesville/Broad) will help by boosting economy or hurt by drawing crime.  Avoid the Wilson/Sullivant area.  I got so tired of the shootings and other BS I started referring to it as our own little Compton.  The Holt/Alkire area has newer homes, but they overbuilt and didn't upgrade the roads to deal with it, so traffic at the intersection can be a total cluster even at weird times.  Given that, there are some fairly "rural" (ie farms/fields) areas to live off the Southwest/West side if you're into that.
>
> Hilliard (West): Somewhat expensive (taxes are much higher than say Galloway area), but great schools and decent people.  Much, much better experience dealing with emergency services (ie PD) in Hilliard than Columbus.  The CPD dispatchers can be a real pain, and actually getting an officer to respond is hit or miss. Just one example, about 11:30 at night IIRC - "Guy is banging on my female neighbor's door yelling, swearing, and threatening to kick it in, could you please send someone?" - 25 minutes later someone shows up.  This is not unusual for CPD.  Cops surprised and annoyed (not w/ me) when told I placed the call nearly 30 minutes earlier.
>
> Dublin (Northwest) : Expensive and traffic (I-270/SR-33 curve) can be a pain. The "expensive" part unfortunately means it is a little snobby in some places.  Concrete corn? Really?
>
> Upper Arlington (Northwest/Central): Houses much more expensive in last 15 years. Not as much money as Dublin, but too many people I met in UA try to act like it.  Located just north/northwest of OSU main campus, but far enough you probably won't notice except maybe on football Saturdays.
>
> Grandview (West/Central): Lots of investment (new commercial, new residential (ie condo)) building going on within the last couple of years(?) or so.  Tends to be a place young college grads (20s, 30s) live.  If I was still in the Columbus area, I'd be interested to see how all the new construction pans out.
>
> Worthington (North/Central): Seems like a decent place, income levels likely a little lower than Dublin.  Lots of complaints from a small group of people about Don Scott (the OSU airport).  The airport authority has tried really hard to work with the residents, almost all of whom have planted themselves in the vicinity of the field - knowing it was there long before they were.
>
> Westerville (Northeast): older homes, decent area, moderately priced IIRC.  Farther from campus/downtown than it looks, especially in traffic.
>
> New Albany (East/North): Expensive, lots of newer homes and road construction last several years.  Easy access to Easton Town Center shopping.
>
> Gahanna (East): Nice little downtown area & fairly close to Port Columbus.  To be fair though, Port Columbus was only about 20-25 minutes from my house in Galloway - a straight shot across on I-670.
>
> Whitehall/Reynoldsburg (East-Southeast): Never really explored those areas.  Have a friend who lives in Reynoldsburg and seems happy even though she works in Grandview.  Another friend teaches in Whitehall schools, they're not real great.
>
> Bexley (East/Central): expensive, and old money. Also, quite literally cross the railroad tracks and you're into urban/ghetto Columbus. I use that term having friends who live on the "ghetto" side of the tracks off Main Street.
>
> Obetz/Groveport (Southeast): Somewhat industrial area, if Columbus had one of those.  Generally considered blue collar, lower to middle income area.  Didn't get over that way very often. Not far from Rickenbacker which is both a major cargo hub and Air National Guard base.
>
> Grove City (South/Southwest):  Seems to be growing right now, new shopping, new homes etc.  Might be shedding the "Grovetucky" moniker for generally being a lower income/"redneck" area.
>
> == tour ends ==
>
> Again, not personal, but one area I would definitely avoid is the section bounded by I-71 on the west, I-670 on the south, and I-270 on the north and east. (general vicinity of Karl / Morse / Cleveland Rds) - highlighted in red.  Too much nonsense, too much crime, too much BS in the schools.
>
> Most major places in Ohio (Toledo, Cincinnati, Dayton, Akron/Cleveland) you can get to within a couple of hours or so from Columbus.
>
> You asked about local politics - I'm probably going to get flamed but here goes:
>
> If I had it to do over again, I would make absolutely certain I didn't buy a home or live in an area subject to Columbus city taxes (Watch out, because a not-Columbus mailing address isn't enough).  Mayor Coleman is an idiot, but somehow keeps getting re-elected.  For years he was in a fairly public, what seemed to be never-ending row with Columbus chief of police, which caused no end to the back-and-forth and threats of budget cuts, etc.  A couple of years ago, a new chief of police came in, and he and Coleman came out screaming at us about how city taxes *had* to be raised in order to keep emergency services running.  About a year or so after the tax passed once people kind of forgot, Coleman started touting his "capital improvement projects" - using money from the taxes he convinced the citizens to vote for with his "the sky is falling" bull.  Coleman was one of the mayors who pulled a stupid to make a political statement. He canceled a trip to a conference for one of the!
>  city's lead IT guys - because the conference was in Arizona and the whole SB1070/immigration thing was going on. Of course, Coleman denied that was the reason, but after he and the city made their little condemnation of Arizona for being racist, it doesn't take stupid to figure it out.  No end to the face->palm value with this guy.
>
> All of this comes several years after the city council granted huge tax breaks to build malls around the outerbelt (Tuttle Crossing, Polaris, Easton) - basically sealing the fate of the City Center downtown mall, and taking with it much of what (little?) life downtown had.  For years, Coleman's big plan to save downtown from the damage the city had inflicted was some crazy "trolly" idea that no one wants.  Really the only significant things left downtown now outside of business hours is Short North (Gallery Hop?) and the arena district.  I moved out of the state this past November, but the last I knew the wheels were starting to wobble a little even on the arena district because the hockey team just isn't pulling in the revenue/ticket sales they need to be sustainable.
>
> On a totally different note, if you're at all into aviation or thinking about getting your pilot's license, Bolton (KTZR) is a great field to work out of.  The FBO leaves a little bit to be desired in terms of how their "whatever" attitude comes across, especially to students, but the tower is a great resource and there is rarely a crazy amount of traffic.  The local controllers (Bolton, Columbus, Rick, and to a lesser extent OSU) are almost always very accommodating when you tell them you're a student pilot.  (For Ohio, Columbus has an unusually high # of towered airports (4), three of which have radar and a bunch more non-towered fields fairly close by.)
>
>
> All of that said, the Columbus metro area is not a bad place to live or work.  Just have to know what to watch out for.
>
>
> HTH,
> -rj
>
>
>> - 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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>
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