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Columbus, OH is a vibrant city that offers an array of activities for locals and visitors alike. Local attractions include the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, COSI Science Center, Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, and the National Veterans Memorial and Museum. The city is also known for its vibrant downtown scene with thriving art galleries, breweries, restaurants, shops, and music venues. Visitors to the city can also enjoy outdoor activities like biking or kayaking along the Scioto River or enjoying one of the city’s many parks.
Reviews of Columbus are overwhelmingly positive. Many visitors remark on how clean and friendly it is while others appreciate all the things to do in such a small area. People appreciate the variety of cultural activities available throughout the year including festivals like Comfest as well as theater, music performances, comedy shows, art exhibitions, sports events, and concerts at Nationwide Arena or other popular venues. Additionally people love how easy it is to get around in Columbus with public transportation options including bus service from COTA or car-sharing services like Uber or Lyft. Overall people find that there's something for everyone in Columbus!
based on 156 ReviewsGet to know Columbus with the latest comments and reviews from people who live in or have visited Columbus
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Overcrowded, overpriced and high pollution. - 2/14/2023
We lived in Columbus from 2014-2022, originally from Denver work has taken us to Charlotte, NC, Austin and Atlanta for perspective. One of our biggest reasons for leaving Columbus was high crime, and sprawl. One of the first things you will notice about Columbus and Ohio in general are: preserving the environment are dead last. A lot of cities have "green belts", or areas of parks that circle the city to help with sound pollution and keep wildlife. If you've never been to Atlanta's greenbelt it is amazing and they continue to expand it (highly recommended). Even Charlotte and Austin (a million people) have protected their environments. Columbus has focused on building roads, and has run out of room for more roads, causing commute times to be unbearable. Compared to other cities of similar size, the quality of life here is not good, pollution, crime and sprawl are huge issues. For the cost of homes and rental rates in Columbus, you can live in many other cities that offer far more
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Hot humid summer hell! - 8/28/2022
The city has nice areas and old/ugly areas that look like the remains of a civil war. The nice areas are pretty. Traffic isn't bad compared to Cali but the summer weather is absolutely nothing less than awful to me. Never lived in humid weather before and i can't get used to it. Speaking as a Californian who is used to 110° summers and 40° winters i prefer columbus's freezing snowy winters over their 80° humid summers. Feels worse than california's bakersfield / death valley in my honest
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Love this city... - 7/20/2022
I've lived in every region of the US. Columbus, Ohio is the cleanest major city I've ever been. When I say cleanest, I mean homeless population/panhandlers, roadway trash, graffiti, pollution and green space maintenance, etc. By and large a lot of opportunity for someone to better themselves and succeed in the Columbus metro area, with a moderate to low cost of living. You have rough, seedy areas just like any major city and like any other, they are to be avoided. Diversity and inclusion are a major focus of this city and there are many different cultures and lifestyles to experience. I'm not retirement age, but I have heard from family members who are, that Columbus may not be the best city in which to retire. Visit and decide for yourself.
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Not family friendly - 12/25/2021
I moved my children and I to Columbus for my work a few years ago. The average age of folks living in Columbus is around 30, and most of them do not have children. There just isn't a lot of families within the city and its surrounding neighborhoods. The nearby suburbs are where the families tend to go, but thats mostly a sea of upper class white faces with bad mid-western lawn art. There isn't much of an investment for family living within Columbus itself. The public schools are not a priority. Anywhere outside the short north area (downtown art area for single 30 somethings and tourists) just doesn't seem like its much priority for existing families that live there, and any revitalization to neighborhoods seems to be scummy flippers gentrifying the area. Not much trees or green spaces within the neighborhoods themselves, outside of some city
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Sprawl, no charm, boring boring - 6/23/2021
I was temporarily relocated to Columbus in early 2019 by my employer for a short term assignment. No offense to Ohio, there are a lot of pretty areas there but Columbus is not one of them. This place has major sprawl issues, and lots of urban blight which they seem to not really care about. Cleveland and Cincy are by far better cities in my opinion. There is at least some charm there, and actual neighborhoods. Traffic is insane, drivers are suicidal and tailgating seems to be a sport. What do people do here besides drink and watch sports? Downtown was deserted most nights spare the panhandlers and homeless people that pushed carts past my hotel. If you’re considering OH as a potential move, I would skip Columbus and look at Cincinnati or
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Counting down the days until I move. - 6/15/2021
I chose OSU to attend graduate school for both M.S. and PhD programs. I can say without hesitation that attending OSU and moving to Columbus was a mistake. I will begin by mirroring what I notice other reviewers have noted: Columbus is a very dangerous city. To be fair, my experience was limited to campus area, downtown, and occasional trips to metro parks. I have personally be affected by crime in all of these areas. Recently in April of 2021, a large "party" ensued (known as Chitt fest) for the street it occurs on, resulted in dozens of vehicles being destroyed along with other property damage. The campus area in general is very unsafe, with multiple shootings and frequent muggings/stabbings occuring near campus. Each year I have resided here, the homicide rate has increased and has expanded outward into the suburbs. Topping crime is an incredibly dense urban jungle, with neighborhoods being built literally on top of another. Weather is bi-polar most of the year, and only adds to
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Horrible Horrible - 5/5/2021
My family and I moved from Houston Texas to Columbus OH. The main reason was that it is kind of hard for low income people to get a job compared to Ohio where there are so much job opportunities. Moving in Columbus for someone who used to live in a big city like Houston TX sounded OK cuz Columbus is the capital city and it's was is considered the best city in Ohio. I've been here for only one year and saying that I miss Houston is an understatement. If it was not for my parents I wouldn't have moved at all. And I actually can't wait to go back to Texas, I don't like Columbus at all. My family is here just to make some income and then we'll definitely go back. People in Columbus are soooo rude and mean, drivers are crazy, Cops all over the places due to crimes that occur every single day like bruh ?? let's talk about whether: in one week you can experiment all four seasons. Spring on Monday, Winter on Tuesday, Summer on Wednesday, Fall on Thursday and so on....I have been getting sick
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Columbus is O.K. - 3/14/2021
It is just O.K. It is an "average" place. Some very bad things and some very good. Overall, average to just a little above average thanks to the zoo,
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Ghetto, High Crime, Football Culture - 2/17/2021
My husband and I moved here from the west coast in 2014 and both took jobs at a local corporate headquarters. At that time, it was doing much better. Crime was not what it is now and growth was happening. Covid-19 has devastated many local businesses here (or should I say the states response to it), inviting crime in once affluent areas. It feels like the entre city is being overrun with violent serious crime. No neighborhood is safe. Every morning on the news you will hear of another body found (sometimes laying in a street) a shootout, a home invasion. In 2014, our neighborhood rarely had homes for sale, and if one came available it sold within a few days. There are now many homes for sale, some have been abandoned. Recently, a number of vehicles in our neighborhood were vandalized along with other property. I could write a entire review on crime alone. Culture here is laser focused on the swill drinking overweight football watching male. Life here revolves around the Buckeye
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