It looks like we (the wife and I) are making a semi-permanent move to Columbus. I know a little about the town, but would love whatever guidance we can get on where to look for places to live.

 

Situation: The wife will be working in Westerville (at the college there).

 

Ideal place: a walkable neighborhood, integrated if possible, relatively attractive housing stock, and somewhat close to Trader Joe's, being on the busline to Westerville would be a definite plus.

 

We are looking to rent a house for less than a grand as well.

 

Thoughts?

The older parts of Westerville itself, right near the Otterbein campus, are very walkable and nice. There's a tidy and fairly bustling downtown, known locally as Uptown, and good neighborhoods with older houses. But get a bit south, east and especially north and you're in bad sprawl-land.

 

"Trader Joe's" and "walkable" are mutually exclusive terms in central Ohio.

 

The only non-express bus line to Westerville is the long, slow No. 1 through some decrepit-but-slowly-revitalizing stretches and some ugly stretches of suburban-township strip-sprawl. There are express buses, but I think they are only inbound from Westerville in the morning and outbound at night -- no reverse commutes on express buses for those living in the city and working in the 'burbs.

 

That said, Columbus is rich in walkable neighborhoods with older housing stock -- just south, east and north of downtown (German Village, Old Town East and Victorian Village, respectively). Further north, beyond OSU, is Clintonville. Bexley and Grandview are walkable, vibrant inner-ring suburbs with bus access.

I'll extend my search a bit. The kind of neighborhood I'm thinking of would include Old Orchard/Toledo Hospital/Westmoreland in Toledo and Pleasant Ridge/Oakley in Cincinnati.

Clintonville is Columbus' answer to Oakley/Pleasant Ridge, as it has a natural foods store along High along with other streetcar-suburban amenities.  It's walkable, great housing, along the #2 bus line, blah blah, very comfortable neighborhood.

dmerkow did you check out Westerville? The older portion by the university is actually really nice. It might be out of your price range though for a house, I'm not sure.

Ditto on old Westerville: nothing if not walkable, and downright perfect if Otterbein is the cornerstone of your plan.

 

There is a great distinction, however, between old Westerville and the other kind. Westerville proper encompasses America's Greatest Misses of 20th-Century Suburbiana including, but not limited to, The Soul-Crushing Procession of Developer-Driven Atrocities at Polaris.

 

Bear in mind that Westerville is in every way separate and distinct from the Columbus-proper culture, as it were. Definitely make a visit. Columbus has a number of sweet little neighborhoods, and those areas have their better spots. There are a few of us here who would happily take you around town.

 

If you take the bus requirement out of the mix, the Indianola side of Clintonville may be just your cup of tea. And yes, be prepared to drive to Trader Joe's. At this point, Columbus' two TJ's are located in two areas you DEFINITELY don't want to live, though, Westerville can't be too far from the Easton location.

 

Happy hunting, and don't be afraid to PM me for more insight.

I'm okay with driving to Trader Joe's. I think the hope is to get into old Westerville. We haven't seen many rentals online, so hopefully we'll have better luck driving around next week.

^You'll also want to sound out your wife's soon-to-be colleagues at the college; they'll surely know of some below-the-radar rentals out there. All in all, a fine situation for you. Old Westerville (okay: Uptown) is pretty swell. And if you're into antiques, your ship has really come in. 

Well, we came, we saw, we wish Otterbein was in the SW instead of the NE of the region.

 

(As a scholar of urban and suburban history) Long term, Westerville is basically screwed. It is well on its way to becoming a much poorer neighborhood than it has been over the last half century. Uptown Westerville is decent. It is more small town Ohio than cute college town and a bit smaller than we expected. There is a bit too much college housing. The business district is quite nice. The housing stock in Westerville is dominated by post-war crap.

 

Grandview Heights looks fantastic, but it is just too far from Otterbein. Clintonville is pretty nice, but it isn't all that affordable closer to Otterbein.

 

Columbus is a very low city. Lots of low density housing. There is too much Toledo and not enough Cincy and Cleveland. Beechwold/Clintonville seems workable but there wasn't much available yet.

 

There are lots of apartment complexes that are getting old quickly and not prettily.

 

I'm still not sure who thinks that the side-by-side ranch-style two-family is anything but one of the ugliest housing styles ever. The 'burbs need more brick construction.

Welcome to the neighborhood...

I live in Clintonville and the previous posters are right about there being a lot to offer.... two good COTA routes #2 (High Street) and #4 (Indianola) and even a some cross-town bus routes on East North Broadway and Morse Road (although not on a great frequency of service.... I'm less than a block from a co-op/ nat foods store and a Cup O' Joe's coffee shop (Caribou and Starbucks nearby.... close to the Olentangy Bike Trail and most of C-ville is walkable/bikeable (though you have to be careful on High Street and Indianola)..... some decent restaurants starting to crop up like the North Star Cafe....

 

I like old-town Westerville as well.... very "small town Ohio... but all above are right about it being sprawl city when you leave the old town area.... housing stock for rent in either area would probably be within your range.

We liked Clintonville and if we were buying it would be fantastic, but the rental market is less than ideal. I think gas prices will force Westerville over Clintonville.

 

In a couple years, if we stick around,  Clintonville will likely be at the top of the list to buy. The area near the Catholic Church on High had a lot of nice stuff slightly to the south of it (and walkable to Chipotle) but little for rent under 1k.

Geography of Clintonville . . . anyone want to give a quick outline of the geography of Clintonville . . . places to avoid and the like . . . any comments on landlords and the like would be great . . .

Noozer?

 

Personally, as a non-Clintonville resident, I like the stretch of Clintonville along Indianola near Hudson. It can be a little rough around the edges, but that's the way I like it.

> I like the stretch of Clintonville along Indianola near Hudson.

 

Right around that Dairy Queen?  That's seriously my favorite part of Columbus.  Dave I picture you between Hudson and Morse.  I was more of a Chittenden kind of guy. 

My sister lived on 13th between Indianola and High. We moved her on the day of the Texas-OSU game. Crazy shit.

You only really have to deal with that stuff during football season, and the further east you get, the better it gets. If you want a serious move-in hassle, move into Italian Village during Comfest like I did.

Clintonville -- Arcadia north to Worthington, Olentangy River to the tracks. High Street and Indianola spines. A street grid, of sorts, broken up by occasional streams/ravines (Glen Echo, Walhalla, Overbrook, others). The seven Census tracts south of Morse (the 1950 Columbus boundary) lost 27 percent of their population between 1960 and 2000 (roughly 1,000 residents per tract), while the tracts north of Morse gained slightly, probably because of new apartment complexes (see Broadmeadows "Blvd.") Counting all tracts north and south of Morse, Clintonville lost 18 percent of its population in that period. That loss is probably entirely attributable to the national trend toward smaller households, but has broad implications that have hit cities everywhere: How can we have revitalization of those commercial spines if we have fewer people to go to those stores (even if those people have more money than Clintonville households used to have)? Clintonville's once-charming shopping districts will continue to struggle unless the area becomes more dense, which can be achieved with higher-rise mixed-use along High Street particularly, and parts of Indianola. (High Street needs a "mixed-use overlay" -- zoning should forbid single-story commercial, which is a colossal underuse and misuse of valuable land.)

 

Clintonville also needs restaurants with beer/wine licenses, which are banned under local option in many precincts. Those kinds of businesses have the potential to attract more restuarants and other retail. But Clintonville, despite many assets (Studio 35, Beechwold Hardware, interesting antique shops, India-Oak tavern, Cup o' Joe, the aforementioned DQ, Whetstone Park and others), has a calcified conservative streak that resolutely opposes any change, even as many things slowly change for the worse. Too many people don't want beer or wine (they drive elsewhere to get it), don't want traffic-calming (though they want slower cars and more walkability), resist any planning/zoning changes that might bring any traffic or parked cars to their sidestreets, don't want any density (because they don't understand what "density" means), etc., etc., etc.

 

Don't get me wrong. I love Clintonville. I've lived here the last 13 years, and 15 of the last 20. Raising my kids in public schools in Clintonville, where my wife teaches. Served on the boards of community non-profits. But some things drive me crazy. On the other hand, many of the newer residents investing their lives here are more progressive and, I hope, will soon overrule the calcified elements. Please join them. Us.

Addendum: Mostly a nice mix of single-family and rental -- south of N. Broadway, anyway. One local developer who appreciates older, more-traditional neighborhoods, says the many side-by-side duplexes in south Clintonville are the "farm system" for future Clintonville homeowners. I'm one example. I can name several others from the duplexes across the street and two doors down.

Weisheimer/Dominion and High seemed to be the perfect intersection for us. . . Chipotle, Panera, and a Catholic Church. We keep looking. Thanks!

Ooh. Beechwoldy.

Yeah, I know . . .  but with my wife heading north to Otterbein 5+ days a week. Getting closer to Beechwold could shave off as much as 3 miles from her commute. Since our other option at the moment is an apartment at the Meijer end of Polaris Parkway, I've been trying to garner evidence for a more serious look in Clintonville.

The search has ended. We found a pretty nice 1920s farmhouse in Uptown Westerville. It is very near the park and St. Paul's Church. Most importantly, we are still in walking distance to Graeter's.

Congrats! Dan Burden (http://www.walkable.org/) ranks your Westerville one of the most walkable cities in the US. As a native son (by way of Hilltop) he ought to know.

Cool! You and I will be neighbors (I live in the condos close to the intersection of Cleveland Ave. and Main St)!

Final update: we are currently moving into our place in Westerville (I'm writing from the Comfort Inn - Polaris, waiting for our truck with beds). We're looking forward to getting settled in and making C-bus home.

Drop me a line and I'll swing by the new place on one of my lunch hour bike rides--I work at Cleveland and Polaris.

Settled in yet? Impressions?

I'll do a long post on this tomorrow perhaps. Impressions I have.