Well, there is an old thread on this, but decided to start a new one. There is a possible move in our family to the Columbus Ohio area. At least, that is the airport we will fly into. Town is half hour to an hour southwest of Ohio. We’ll be staying in Grove City for work, but would like to start looking at possible apartments if this becomes a longer term project. Would like to avoid the college/football area, but would like to be in an area accessible to interstate, shopping, movies, restaurants. Some place with good snow clearance would be nice! Glad we bought that Subaru!
My D lives in Columbus and is sitting in the same room as me. Her thoughts: HIllard: suburb, lots of big box stores, cute Metroparks. Lower Upper Arlington (off of 33): beautiful neighborhood - you can find a blend of large homes, duplexes, apartments - not as much “big box” apartments. More local type restaurants, people out and about running, walking.
Also, I have to say we are in northern Ohio and D is in Columbus. She seems to get MUCH less snow than we do. You’ll use the Subaru but it can be more mild than you might think of Ohio (depending where you are coming from!)
Well, we are from New Orleans, and son currently lives in Minneapolis, so we both got Subarus, him for going to work every day and us for possible relocation. One thing son has found with the winter is the lack of exercise he’s getting since graduating. Now only walks from the car to the office, and it’s not that far a walk. Because of the snow, he’s happy to not have that long a walk, but his wardrobe is screaming at him. I swim for exercise, so will want to be near an indoor pool, but any kind of fitness center would be a plus.
Dublin Ohio - another suburb, a bit more northwest of the city, but with good access to 270- the loop around the city - and other expressways has an amazing fitness center - D1 lived in Dublin in an apt and leaving this fitness center was her only hesitation about leaving that area - stores and restaurants of every sort in Dublin as well:
http://dublinohiousa.gov/recreation-services/
Wow, that Dublin area looks awesome! As swimmers, that would be a great place!
Work area is going to be more southwest of Columbus, between Columbus and Dayton. Don’t want to be near Dayton, as flying in to Columbus and will probably lean more toward that area, but hoping to get some input on areas that are more southwest of Columbus than the northern areas you’re describing. We’re from the South, and even though we’ve got a little bit of Minnesota under our belt, trying to limit the commute as much as possible. Thanks so much!
I like Westerville. Nice downtown, close to Otterbein College. Although if you are south you may want areas closer to work.
Have you looked at flying into Dayton instead of Columbus? With the airport on north side of town, it might be more convenient than Columbus given that theirs’ is on the east side of town. Both would probably require connections, although Columbus does have more flights in general. Just a thought…
The company is flying us in for the initial visit, so they chose a flight into Columbus. We would like to live closer to Columbus, but not locate north of Columbus, but more southwest of it. They are putting us up in Grove City, which seems to be between the airport and the jobsite, so we’re looking more toward that direction from the airport than the northern suggestions. Of course, proximity to the interstate is key for us, as we are not used to snow driving!
Columbus airport has always been a breeze flying in and out of for my D. Because it’s the capitol there are lots of flights as you mention yet the site itself is super manageable - D can leave her house in the southwest Columbus area and be sitting in her terminal in 30ish minutes - a win!
270 in Columbus allows you to pretty much say you can (outside of rush hours) get anywhere in the Columbus area in 20-25 minutes.
Guy in the room with me says Hilliard is the place to go if you don’t want the Dublin area.
I live in the Columbus area and would recommend Hillard for easy access to Grove City. Snow isn’t a huge concern in Columbus. It usually doesn’t stick around for very long.
So, even if you work in an area 30 minutes southwest of Columbus, living in Hilliard or Dublin are doable?
Guy here says Hilliard is large, so you have options of what part of Hilliard you want to be in. You will want the easy access to the 70 and 270, and definitely be below the 33. Apparently, this is particularly important.
Dublin also stretches a bit, and you can find yourself at the upper portion of it, in which case you’ve placed yourself beyond a range of travel which makes you comfortable for ease and time.
Overall, he feels, the only time you would find yourself in the midst of, or interfered with, by those going to the football games would be on the weekend. Outside of that, their presence is not an issue.
If you’re going to look to purchase, Dublin is far and away more expensive. (I can tell you that the schools there are fabulous, but your son is grown? So, that does not seem to be your concern.)
So, yes, both are doable, but you want to position yourself at the optimal place to get on the road and get about your business.
Dublin is spread out and is definitely more northern and will likely add time to your commute if you are south of the city. I just mentioned Dublin because I knew of the awesome community fitness facility/pools.
Hillard is south enough that you are not in the direct mix of stadium traffic.
@Montegut Yes - it is doable, but it really depends on where your job site is located and the maximum commute time you are willing to consider. You said between Columbus and Dayton, so I assume you would need easy access to interstate 70 or 71. Hilliard and Dublin are nice areas with plenty of rentals and many stores and restaurants. Hilliard is farther south, so you may want to start your search there. Columbus has it’s share of traffic issues, so I would make easy access to the interstate a priority.
“I just mentioned Dublin because I knew of the awesome community fitness facility/pools.”
I really liked Dublin. If we moved to that area, I would really want to live there, even with just one kid left in the house after this year.
Dublin is really spread out (did I already say that?) There is Sawmill Rd. Dublin, off of 33 Dublin, Memorial Golf Course (Jack Nicholas) Dublin, downtown Dublin.
I think it depends what else you are looking for BESIDES close access to freeways, a good indoor pool and south-ish to Grove City. Do you like new development subdivisions? A quaint downtown with lots of local restaurants and shops? Old homes vs. new? Dublin “quaint downtown” is quite small. Doesn’t compare to Westerville or Bexley or Grandview, German Villiage, etc. “quaint downtown”. But maybe that doesn’t matter to OP.
My aunt and her H had to relocate to the Columbus area from Florida for a 2 year period for his job with Nationwide Insurance. They stayed in a condo development in the Dublin/Tuttle Mall area that was pretty nice.
I would live closer to the job site. When my H relocated we moved near his job. He goes to work everyday, we don’t drive to the airport that often.
Also my H travels quite a bit, the way his reimbursement is set up they subtract the mileage from his home to his office. So the farther away from work we live the less he can turn in for mileage. One of the people in his office lives an hour from the office, it negates much of the driving he does for work.
Montegut, is transportation to the airport and job site your number one concern? I have not lived in Columbus for many years but lived in German Village, Powell and Dublin. It will not add a great deal of time to your commute living in the NW quadrant if you have quick access to 270. I would not recommend the Sawmill Road area as giving quick access - it becomes very congested very quickly. I’d look carefully at the quality of living in the SW part of the city - at the time we lived there, it was not the most desirable of areas. Of course, a lot may have changed.
Columbus is a great city with lots to do and explore. Hope you find something that works well for you.