I'll throw this out there as another thought to all the discussion about living in Columbus... depending on how you feel about commuting, it might be worth your while to looking at living out of Columbus, in one of the communities close by. In the Southeast, for example, is Pickerington, Canal Winchester, Lithopolis (a really tiny village), and Groveport. If you don't mind a half hour or so commute, depending on where you land your next job, your housing buck will probably go farther, there'll be less traffic, the community a tad safer, and like my area, you could find yourself within a 10-15 minute ride of three excellent parks.<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Feb 26, 2011 at 11:32 AM, Chris Snyder <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:pub@3wa.org">pub@3wa.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
Hiya,<br>
<br>
My name is Chris, I'm currently located on the outskirts of D.C. and am<br>
looking to move to Columbus or the surrounding area in the next few<br>
months due to family reasons. I'm a linux SysAdmin by trade, over 15<br>
years in the industry with some dabbling in Solaris and other OS's.<br>
I'm also a tools developer primarily focusing on Perl. I was hoping you<br>
folks might be able to pass on some general info on the city and<br>
surrounding areas and maybe some job leads. (Already found the<br>
colug-jobs ML, btw.) I doo know there's a nice tech industry in<br>
Columbus, so I'm hoping that somebody can use yet another linux grunt on<br>
their front lines.<br>
<br>
I had a long history (11+ years) with AOL and had the fortune of<br>
visiting the CompuServe campus a few times (I remember there was an<br>
awesome BBQ joint out behind it. Hopefully it's still there). So I've<br>
seen some of the area, but only very little. I grew up in Louisville,<br>
KY, and from what I've seen in person and from what I've read the<br>
lifestyle in Columbus appears very similar to that of Louisville and<br>
Cincinnati. Other than I've read up the city in Wikipedia. But I'm<br>
hoping that you might be able to share some more 'geek-centric' type<br>
data my way.<br>
<br>
So here's what info I don't have at the moment:<br>
<br>
- Does anybody have any clue what the difference in salary ranges might<br>
be for Columbus vs the D.C. area? From what fuzzy data I've been able<br>
to gather so far, it looks like I should be able to expect about a 30%<br>
less in general cost of living and salary maybe $10K-20K less than what<br>
I'm pulling now. I'm hoping asking for $80K-$95K wouldn't be too out of<br>
line for a 15 yr vet of the command line?<br>
<br>
- Is it possible to ask what a ball-park price for a 4-bedroom house<br>
might go for in the suburbs? $300K-$400K? More? Less? (Yeah, I know,<br>
there's A LOT of variables that effect this.)<br>
<br>
- What's the scoop on local ISPs and DSL, FIOS, etc.?<br>
<br>
- What are the 'good' vs 'bad' areas of Columbus to live? Does any<br>
place in particular warrant special attention one way vs the other or is<br>
it all one big happy community? Are there any areas overly susceptible<br>
to tornadoes, flooding, asteroid hits, flying monkeys, etc.? (Of course<br>
there will always specific needs based upon commute and assorted<br>
amenities but I don't have all my requirements for those are just yet.)<br>
<br>
- What are the current local hot-button political issues right now?<br>
(I've found that sometimes these are good indicators for what possible<br>
issues might be lying down the road in a few years and could influence<br>
where or where not to buy a house.)<br>
<br>
- Any other recommended sources for learning more about Columbus in<br>
general or it's tech industry?<br>
<br>
- Anything else you feel I should really know about the area?<br>
<br>
I appreciate your help.<br>
<br>
Thanks,<br>
Chris.<br>
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</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Jeff Stebelton, GCFW GCIA GCIH CEH ESSE<br><br>