As a possible retirement location, what does Columbus have to offer? The business magazines call Columbus one of the most livable cities in the U.S.A. I didn’t realize the metro area has 2.3 million people. What do you like about it and what about it could be better? Does OSU dominate everything culturally? Traffic jams? Festivals? Weather?
Nice trails for running and biking. Four seasons. Cultural opportunities, including two art museums. OSU football is important in the fall, but in a unifying way. Haven’t been there in while to talk about traffic, but the drivers used to be polite.
FOOD. Seriously, a vibrant food scene. From food trucks to festivals to fine dining. Brunch is a hot ticket in Columbus!
GREAT NEIGHBORHOODS. Suburbia like Dublin or Westerville (both in top 5 lists all the time of places to live in the state, midwest, etc.) Or Cbus zipcodes/near the city like but areas like Grandview, Grandview Heights, Upper Arlington, etc.
COLLEGE INFLUENCE. There’s the big one of course. But Columbus boasts a few smaller privates just outside the city, a great art/design school, etc.
Excellent metropark system. I-270 which loops around the city can get you just about anywhere in 20 mins or less (unless it’s rush hour!)
I have two living in Cbus right now - D1 who graduated college in 2011 and D2 who is a freshman at a small private in the area. I could go visit every weekend - so much going on.
Compared to other parts of Ohio, Columbus is not suffering with the economy. Lots of good jobs available.
I live in NW Ohio. Typically, Cbus can be just enough warmer that it ticks me off. 
Not always, but many times.
It will snow. But seems to be less than up here. Summer is warm of course. Fall/spring beautiful. LOTS of festivals.
OSU Wexner Medical Center is among the best in the Midwest.
Third largest city in the midwest, but traffic is reasonable compared to similar-sized metro areas. Pretty much everything is 25 minutes or less away, no matter where you are starting from. Great close-in neighborhoods like German Village and Clintonville.
Professional ice hockey, and minor league baseball. No pro football team, but OSU football is the functional equivalent.
As @abasket noted, a fantastic restaurant scene both downtown and in the suburbs. Nice, generally polite Midwestern people. When the Rolling Stones came through they ate at our favorite, unassuming restaurant in Bexley. They later said it was the most relaxed meal they’ve had anywhere in a year.
Great park system. World’s largest prehistoric earthworks complex is located just thirty miles to the east. Funky Yellow Springs is 40 miles west. Mohican SP to the north has great canoeing.
Many OSU events are open to the public. I’ve heard Laurie Anderson, a former Norwegian Prime Minister, and have seen a newly restored print of Buster Keaton’s “The General” (with live music) all on campus in the past year.
Biggest disappointment: No lightrail/subway system like Cleveland & Pittsburgh have. You pretty much have to drive or take a bus. There is a free bus around downtown.
Here’s a “few” festivals that happened in Columbus this summer/fall:
http://www.columbusunderground.com/the-2015-columbus-festival-season
@MidwestDad3, I’m curious - what restaurant in Bexley’s was that? Bexley is a great little neighborhood - a little more urban than the likes of Westerville - which is a great place to raise a family!
It was Giuseppe’s on East Main, right across from Capital University.
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2015/06/01/rolling-stones-restaurant.html
BTW, we went to their concert at Ohio Stadium, and it was amazing. They did the “O-H” … “I-O” and sang “Hang On Sloopy,” though “Gimme Shelter” was the best IMHO.
Lol, I was thinking food also. Anyplace that has a Graetors and Jeni’s ice cream is a great place! ;).
Ah, yes. I haven’t dined there but know of it. Super cool!
We have friends who live there (one is a professor at OSU) and has been very happy with the Jewish community and educational options for their three kids. Boysx3 lived there and has had nothing but good things to say about it.
We visited Columbus when shopping for schools for our younger kid, and fell in love with it. We are foodies, and the restaurants were amazing. We also liked the Midwestern feel to the area. Everyone was super friendly.
My husband has done some research on prime areas to retire, and he noticed many of the cities listed were college towns. It makes sense.
Pennsylvania doesn’t tax pensions, if that is a consideration.
Columbus is a nice city. Ohio has many festivals to choose from, a low cost of living, and very cheap auto insurance. My only complaint with Ohio is the lack of sun. You get a LOT of grey skies from October to March, which quite frankly can be depressing.
Columbus is wonderful. H and I met and married there - lived in German Village as newlyweds, which was terrific! We left the area but returned with children for several years - quite frequently I wish we’d never left a second time!
Sports, parks, great arts community, numerous retirement communities (should the need arise) - if you don’t need Florida sunshine, Columbus would be high on my list.
An incredible zoo.
My DD, was born in a small town in the South and spends a lot of time in Atlanta and DC. She had an internship in Columbus this summer and really liked it. She was pleasantly surprised by the diversity, loved the shopping and events and enjoyed all the ethnic food options. She did complain about the cloudiness and the rain. She was told that this summer was unusual.
The North Market is a great place to go for a foodie- lots of incredible food vendors selling prepared foods as well as tons of produce, meats, fish to take home with you. If you like to shop - there’s a mall in almost every direction as well as lots of little shops in the Short North, German Village, Grandview areas. Very active philanthropies, lots of opportunities to volunteer for a variety of worthy causes.
Usclimate.com says Columbus is rainy. Especially from March to August with 10 rainy days on average per month! That’s more rain than Seattle during the summer!
^^^I really think that’s misleading. Or they are counting a late afternoon shower that comes through on a hot humid day - rains then done! No more rainy than any other spot in the midwest. Depending where you are from, we have lots of grass here in Ohio so you do need SOME rain so you have pretty green grass!
Just had to share this. Heard from my two girls who live in the Columbus area - they are having a sister date today. Since one is a college freshman the two of them have a deal to visit as many of the bakeries as possible in the four years she will be there.
They texted me the name of the bakery they will be going to today. This bakery has a “milk and cookie happy hour” daily from 3-5. Free glass of milk with every (or every 2) cookie!!!
WHY WOULD YOU NOT MOVE TO COLUMBUS???