Columbus, Ohio

Life in Columbus, Ohio, explained by people who’ve lived in Columbus:

*Click here to share your experience living in Columbus*

*Response format = Answer (Your name, How long you’ve lived in Columbus)

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Columbus Favorites

What’s your favorite thing about living in Columbus?

Diverse culture. (Breanna, 6 months)
The passion about The Ohio State and rivalry with Michigan. (Hannah, 8 months)
How family friendly the city is. (Anonymous, 9 months)
The people. (Jocelyn, 2 years)
Schools. (Debbie, 2.5 years)
The vast amount of family-friendly activities. (Beth, 3 years)
The metro parks. (Jill, 3 years)
Convenient clean. (Jen, 7 years)
There are always events/activities, things to do and the variety of people. (Erin, 12 years)
Small town feel, big city advantages. (Heather, 12 years)
Safety. (Rury, 12 years)
Diversities, great schools, people. (Maria, 14 years)
How convenient everything is. (Ann, 15 years)
People. (Anonymous, 16 years)
Lots of stuff to do, close to other big cities. (Jon, 20 years)
It is a great family community. (Jean, 22 years)
Small town feel. (Rebecca, 48 years)

Columbus Least Favorites

What’s your least favorite thing about living in Columbus?

Cold. (Breanna, 6 months)
Their snow removal is terrible. Believe it or not, it’s worse than Rexburg. And the style of driving here is very dangerous. They follow too close. Ohio drivers do NOT stop for red lights. They also do not turn into the inner most lane. (Hannah, 8 months)
No mountains. (Anonymous, 9 months)
Bugs. (Jocelyn, 2 years)
Cloudy/rainy. (Debbie, 2.5 years)
Humidity and it isn’t near an ocean. Lol! (Beth, 3 years)
High taxes. (Jill, 3 years)
Drug problems. (Jen, 7 years)
Traffic and crime. (Erin, 12 years)
Not close to family. (Heather, 12 years)
Weather. (Rury, 12 years)
No direct flight out to Utah nor Japan. (Maria, 14 years)
Winter. (Ann, 15 years)
The weather. (Jon, 20 years)
Not many non-stop flights anymore. (Jean, 22 years)
Road construction. (Rebecca, 48 years)

Columbus Things To Do

What are fun things to do in Columbus?

The zoo and aquarium, German village, COSI. (Breanna, 6 months)
Blue Jackets games (Professional Hockey), Crew games (Professional Soccer) Ohio State Football games, there’s an art walk on some Saturdays along the Short North, the Zoo is fantastic, and about an hour south is Hocking Hills (which has some neat hiking trails). There are tons of great restaurants. There’s a nice orchestra. (Hannah, 8 months)
There are a lot of free and fun things to do. We love the Zoo, COSI, games downtown. (Anonymous, 9 months)
The zoo, cosi, apple picking. (Jocelyn, 2 years)
COSI, Zoo, restaurants. (Debbie, 2.5 years)
Zoo, COSI, various events and parades, hiking, and all their parks. (Beth, 3 years)
Metro parks (great outdoor parkland spaces), walk downtown along the Scioto river, children’s science museum, Columbus Zoo, Franklin Park conservatory, great library system. (Jill, 3 years)
Zoo, parks, museum. (Jen, 3 years)
Zoo, random events, cosi, malls and parks. (Erin, 12 years)
Eat, shows, theater, games, concerts, art around town, walk, museums, classes, service, rec centers, parks, shop, ballet, escape rooms. (Heather, 12 years)
Columbus Zoo – Cosi – LDS historical places. (Heather, 12 years)
Bike trails, fruits picking in summer and fall, visit different parks. (Maria, 14 years)
Columbus Zoo, Dublin Art in Public Places. (Ann, 15 years)
Metro Parks, Zoo, King’s Island. (Anonymous, 16 years)
Ohio State games, COSI, The Columbus Zoo. (Jon, 20 years)
OSU Football, Columbus Zoo, Franklin Arts Conservatory. (Jean, 22 years)
Zoo. (Rebecca, 48 years)

Columbus Reputation

What’s Columbus known for?

It’s an up and coming city. (Breanna, 6 months)
Ohio State. (Hannah, 8 months)
OSU. (Jocelyn, 2 years)
Buckeyes. (Debbie, 2.5 years)
No idea. Perhaps, being the capitol of Ohio? Not from here and honestly didn’t know anything before I came. (Beth, 3 years)
Jeni’s ice cream, good arts scene, great communities, excellent schools.(Jill, 3 years)
Food and zoo. Buckeyes. (Erin, 12 years)
New test restaurants. (Ann, 15 years)
Ohio State. (Jon, 20 years)
Home of the Ohio State Buckeyes, friendly. (Jean, 22 years)
Zoo. (Rebecca, 48 years)

Columbus Crime

What’s the crime like in Columbus? (hot spot areas, etc.)

I know it’s pretty huge, especially downtown Columbus. (Breanna, 6 months)
Try not to live by campus, and southeast of campus is a bad area. (Hannah, 8 months)
There are a few not so great ares, but not nearly has bad as other big cities. (Anonymous, 9 months)
It seems to be dependent on where you are located, we are in NW Columbus and feel safe. (Jocelyn, 2 years)
Not bad at all where I am. (Debbie, 2.5 years)
It’s lower than where I came from. It seems like the closer you get to the actual “city” there is a little more crime. However, it isn’t immune to outlying areas. For instance, two policemen were recently shot in an unlikely suburb. (Beth, 3 years)
There are definitely areas with higher crime, correlating with lower income areas. I don’t live there or often interact in those areas. (Jill, 3 years)
Pretty bad, but not as bad as Baltimore (Jen, 7 years)
There are pockets of neighborhoods high in petty theft in good areas like NW Columbus as well as areas you completely steer clear of like down my children’s hospital. (Erin, 12 years)
Downtown. (Rury, 12 years)
Pretty safe. (Maria, 14 years)
Low crime rates in our area. (Anonymous, 16 years)
There are a few areas on the east side that have higher crime rates, but for the most part it’s a very safe city. (Jon, 20 years)
There are parts of Columbus that have high crime, but the suburbs are pretty safe. (Jean, 22 years)
East Side. (Rebecca, 48 years)

Columbus Advice

Any advice for people moving to Columbus?

Be prepared for cold weather in the winters and engage in all the activities that the city puts on. (Breanna, 6 months)
Move to Dublin, Henderson, Upper Arlington or Grandview. Dublin and Grandview have good schools. I was surprised by all the stone walls surrounding homes in Dublin, especially along the 33. These stones came from a quarry in the Grandview area. Also, the Scioto River splits the city in multiple areas. It’s pronounced “sy-OH-ta”. (Hannah, 8 months)
Get to know the free ways. It’s a very easy city to get around, so you don’t necessarily have to live where you work. (Anonymous, 9 months)
Check out whole neighborhoods, we found a nice complex we were going to move to, but the surrounding neighborhood was rough. Where we are now is much better. (Jocelyn, 2 years)
Live in Dublin or Powell. (Debbie, 2.5 years)
Great place to raise a family and large variety of cuisine. However, I’ve been told that if you don’t have kids, it can be a little boring. (Beth, 3 years)
Call ahead to schools, find the local groups on Facebook and get advice. Google map everything and land yourself close to things you enjoy doing. (Jill, 3 years)
Find a good neighborhood. (Jen, 7 years)
Pick your neighborhood wisely. Maybe join some local groups to learn the area better. (Erin, 12 years)
Look for good schools. (Heather, 12 years)
The weather is not what is seems. (Rury, 12 years)
Be careful when you wear college shirt other than OSU… people won’t like that. (Maria, 14 years)
If you have kids, school district lines don’t follow city lines, so be careful when picking houses. (Ann, 15 years)
Be prepared for all the seasons. (Anonymous, 16 years)
Find a place to live with good schools. (Jon, 20 years)
There are places for everyone in the Columbus Area, for Singles, families, and Retiree’s, Great Schools, Fantastic Medical Care, good cost of living. (Jean, 22 years)
Check schools before you decide on area. (Rebecca, 48 years)

Columbus Stories

Share an experience you’ve had in Columbus (fun, crazy, dangerous, etc.).

Just to illustrate how bad driving is here, I was driving home the other day, a truck turned left on a red arrow while the other lane of traffic was already moving through the intersection. The truck was almost hit by a car and who did a police officer pull over? The car. It’s amazing. (Hannah, 8 months)
Columbus Zoologhts and Zoombeezi Bay. (Debbie, 2.5 years)
First 4th of July in Columbus, we actually went to participate in Red, White, and Boom. It was great! Many events to join, yummy food trucks, and the fireworks at the end did not disappoint. It has become a family tradition. (Beth, 3 years)
Playing in the rivers and along the waterfalls. (Jill, 3 years)
Watching an ambulance come for an overdose victim…(Jen, 7 years)
Never ride COTA on 4th of July. One time a fight broke out after fireworks on the bus and everyone was physically fighting. Driver had to stop the bus and stop the fight then as soon as he went again everyone fought again. (Erin, 12 years)
Driving in the ice road. (Rury, 12 years)
When we first moved to Ohio, we didn’t have GPS. We couldn’t tell directions because of no mountains out here. We memorized two big streets so we could redirect our way and find the way home! (Maria, 14 years)
Ohio State v Michigan football game in 2006. The game of the century. (Jon, 20 years)
Great 4th of July Celebrations, as well as other holiday parades, ect. in lots of suburban towns. (Jean, 22 years)
Cosi is wonderful. (Rebecca, 48 years)

Columbus Future

How do you think Columbus will change over the next 10 years?

I think it will grow because L brands (Bath and Body, Victoria Secret etc.) and other retailers are headquartered here. Honda is here which provides several internships for students. And Ohio State is constantly expanding campus. (Hannah, 8 months)
It’s growing and expanding. Lot of new job opportunities. (Anonymous, 9 months)
It is growing like crazy, the surrounding suburbs are booming. If you want to live close to downtown/OSU housing prices will probably rise dramatically. (Jocelyn, 2 years)
Growth, traffic. (Debbie, 2.5 years)
I think our population will continue to grow exponentially. Already, I see major growth in the schools and construction for homes. I am hoping that it will also help economically, and allow for a more cultural and diverse stimulation. Columbus already has some great small businesses, but I am hoping that over the next 10 years, those businesses will maintain and allow for growth. (Beth, 3 years)
More shopping fixing up a lot of run down places. Expand grow larger. (Jen, 7 years)
Columbus will grow! I think jobs will explode. Housing seems to be leaning more towards apartments. (Erin, 12 years)
Schools safety. (Rury, 12 years)
More high tech? (Maria, 14 years)
Continue growth. (Ann, 15 years)
The suburbs will continue to grow. More corporate jobs. (Jon, 20 years)
I think it will continue to get better and attracting more businesses. (Jean, 22 years)
Larger and better planned downtown spaces. (Rebecca, 48 years)

Columbus Facts

Any other interesting facts about Columbus?

Top rated school districts in a Dublin and Olentangy. (Debbie, 2.5 years)
I know this isn’t a fact, but in my opinion, I think Columbus is a hidden gem. It has so much to offer, yet few seem to know about it. (Beth, 3 years)
There are always hidden little things to do. Tours, events, zoo lights, etc. it’s not hard to find fun things to do. (Erin, 12 years)
Historical LDS sites. (Rury, 12 years)
Lots of corporate headquarters are located in Columbus! (Maria, 14 years)
Some of the best public schools in the country in suburban Columbus. (Jon, 20 years)