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30 miles north of I-270 you start hitting the edge of the lake effect snow.  Just keep that in mind.  The further north, the more snow you get.  Columbus gets gray slush and gray skies.

Lancaster looks good on paper.  It's full of methbillies.
Canal Winchester is hit or miss, the sections bordering Groveport are pretty bad.
Reynoldsburg is trying to still be a small town, but it's big and ghetto and in denial.
Pickerington is in the middle of all this.  Somewhat better than the surrounding cities but stupid traffic.
Gahanna isn't bad.
Westerville was good 10 years ago.  I wouldn't buy a house there now, but renting wouldn't be terrible in the short term.
On the west side, Hilliard isn't too bad but it's surrounded by and full of industrial areas.  I hope you like dump trucks.
New Albany is good if you are loaded.  Property taxes will murder you if you aren't.  There are sections of Columbus that border New Albany that are more Columbus prices, with the feel of living in New Albany.  I can suggest an apartment complex that meets this description if you are interested, a friend lives there and is happy with it.
Columbus school districts are some of the worst in the state.  If you care about schools look at Upper Arlington, Dublin, New Albany.  Not sure if Westerville finally went to shit or if it's still good.
Anything Licking county is surrounded by corn fields full of deer.  Deer can go back to hell where they belong.  Same with all the tractors that want to go 5 mph in front of me while I'm trying to get to work.

Eastern and Southern Ohio is a beautiful area with lots of pollution and no jobs.  I grew up in Marietta and have a love/hate relationship with it.  I'll probably never return.

I lived in Johnstown for 12 years, which was mentioned by some of the others here.  There's a grocery store there, and like 5 places to eat.  If you want anything else it's a minimum 20 minute drive, more like 30 - 40 for most stuff to do.  Also, tractors and weaving around deer.

If I had to do it all over again, and was forced to stay in Ohio, I'd go to the Cincinnati area.  Better climate, better scenery.  King's Island.  Columbus is just where people go to find work, not because it has any other draw.

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One problem with living and working many years in the Midwest is your wages could be lower than in a higher cost of living place.  Once you retire it could be harder to move to a higher cost of living place if you haven’t saved like crazy for it.  If you want to stay then that’s not an issue.

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Lol, the F-Bomb itself adds one point.

Johnstown may have grown since you lived there.  I live in Alexandria and there are a few pretty good restaurants in Jtown now.  The housing market is on fire and there are a ton of new developments around town that are pretty nice.  It is still surrounded by corn and beans, which I like.

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Morrow county ain't bad.  I'm pretty happy here.  Drive daily to hiliard (45min) for work, been going to cbus and the North side (Powell,golf course) since I moved here, from Powell in 08.  I suggest, if absolutely nothing else, stay outside the 270 loop.  Outside of 270, traffic really isint too bad unless there's an accident...  Inside 270, it will take you 20-40minutes to go the store, or cross the city.  That's just how it is.

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You're damn right I am.  I need to catch up to Rick and Meatball, it's been awhile.

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First off my wife and I appreciate all the suggestions so far.

My wife has a phone interview tomorrow with a company out of Canal Winchester. We don't know much about the area, but if her conversation goes well I'm going to switch up my search in proximity to that area.

We looked at some houses in the area and my wife nearly shit herself at the taxes. Less than half of what we're paying currently!

Keep it coming! We're getting excited about the prospects.

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East side is where it's at. Housing is less expensive than the West or North sides, and if you work in town the sun is at your back driving in in the morning and home at night. Plus my shop is out East and We have NFA stuff in stock and a Silencershop Kiosk for stuff we don't

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Are you finding a job before an apartment? I would try to live as close to work as possible to start with.

Quoted:
30 miles north of I-270 you start hitting the edge of the lake effect snow.  Just keep that in mind.  The further north, the more snow you get.  Columbus gets gray slush and gray skies.

Lancaster looks good on paper.  It's full of methbillies.
Canal Winchester is hit or miss, the sections bordering Groveport are pretty bad.
Reynoldsburg is trying to still be a small town, but it's big and ghetto and in denial.
Pickerington is in the middle of all this.  Somewhat better than the surrounding cities but stupid traffic.
Gahanna isn't bad.
Westerville was good 10 years ago.  I wouldn't buy a house there now, but renting wouldn't be terrible in the short term.
On the west side, Hilliard isn't too bad but it's surrounded by and full of industrial areas.  I hope you like dump trucks.
New Albany is good if you are loaded.  Property taxes will murder you if you aren't.  There are sections of Columbus that border New Albany that are more Columbus prices, with the feel of living in New Albany.  I can suggest an apartment complex that meets this description if you are interested, a friend lives there and is happy with it.
Columbus school districts are some of the worst in the state.  If you care about schools look at Upper Arlington, Dublin, New Albany.  Not sure if Westerville finally went to shit or if it's still good.
Anything Licking county is surrounded by corn fields full of deer.  Deer can go back to hell where they belong.  Same with all the tractors that want to go 5 mph in front of me while I'm trying to get to work.

Eastern and Southern Ohio is a beautiful area with lots of pollution and no jobs.  I grew up in Marietta and have a love/hate relationship with it.  I'll probably never return.

I lived in Johnstown for 12 years, which was mentioned by some of the others here.  There's a grocery store there, and like 5 places to eat.  If you want anything else it's a minimum 20 minute drive, more like 30 - 40 for most stuff to do.  Also, tractors and weaving around deer.

If I had to do it all over again, and was forced to stay in Ohio, I'd go to the Cincinnati area.  Better climate, better scenery.  King's Island.  Columbus is just where people go to find work, not because it has any other draw.

Quoted:
30 miles north of I-270 you start hitting the edge of the lake effect snow.  Just keep that in mind.  The further north, the more snow you get.  Columbus gets gray slush and gray skies.

Lancaster looks good on paper.  It's full of methbillies.
Canal Winchester is hit or miss, the sections bordering Groveport are pretty bad.
Reynoldsburg is trying to still be a small town, but it's big and ghetto and in denial.
Pickerington is in the middle of all this.  Somewhat better than the surrounding cities but stupid traffic.
Gahanna isn't bad.
Westerville was good 10 years ago.  I wouldn't buy a house there now, but renting wouldn't be terrible in the short term.
On the west side, Hilliard isn't too bad but it's surrounded by and full of industrial areas.  I hope you like dump trucks.
New Albany is good if you are loaded.  Property taxes will murder you if you aren't.  There are sections of Columbus that border New Albany that are more Columbus prices, with the feel of living in New Albany.  I can suggest an apartment complex that meets this description if you are interested, a friend lives there and is happy with it.
Columbus school districts are some of the worst in the state.  If you care about schools look at Upper Arlington, Dublin, New Albany.  Not sure if Westerville finally went to shit or if it's still good.
Anything Licking county is surrounded by corn fields full of deer.  Deer can go back to hell where they belong.  Same with all the tractors that want to go 5 mph in front of me while I'm trying to get to work.

Eastern and Southern Ohio is a beautiful area with lots of pollution and no jobs.  I grew up in Marietta and have a love/hate relationship with it.  I'll probably never return.

I lived in Johnstown for 12 years, which was mentioned by some of the others here.  There's a grocery store there, and like 5 places to eat.  If you want anything else it's a minimum 20 minute drive, more like 30 - 40 for most stuff to do.  Also, tractors and weaving around deer.

If I had to do it all over again, and was forced to stay in Ohio, I'd go to the Cincinnati area.  Better climate, better scenery.  King's Island.  Columbus is just where people go to find work, not because it has any other draw.

Quoted:




You forgot GroveTucky



If OP needs any intel on Grove City PM me