My daughter is a freshman at OSU and was only 17 when she moved to campus last fall.
So safety was quite important to me. We looked at a number of colleges prior to selecting OSU,
and felt OSU was safer than other universities we looked at in Cincinnati, Dayton and Cleveland.
But yes OSU is in the city (actually north of the downtown area), and there are some homeless there.
I am on campus about twice a month, doing a lot of the OSU parent activities, etc. I have only seen a couple of homeless folks off campus.
We discussed the safety issue a lot, and my daughter knows the safety procedures.
My daughter did not want to go to a more rural campus, she really loved the city vibe and
did not want to be out in the boondocks!
I admit that I walk by myself at night and early morning on the OSU campus,
I always feel safe, enough people out and about for me to feel fine about it.
I have never felt concerned on campus. But everyone on any college campus should be prudent of course.