Newish to the forums, so thought I'd hop in and rep my hometown of Columbus.
City, State, Country: Columbus, Ohio, USA
If a suburb, distance from city: Suburbs can be found anywhere from 2 miles to 25+ miles away from the city. The CBD or "downtown" isn't huge and Columbus annexed a lot of areas in the '70s & '80s so "Columbus proper" is actually spread out quite a bit
Average housing cost (specify rent or buy):
-This depends on where you want to live -> near the city's center or out in the suburbs or even rural areas. Using the links provided on COL, "Monthly rent for 85 m2 (900 Sqft) furnished accommodation in EXPENSIVE area" runs $1,462/month. "Monthly rent for 85 m2 (900 Sqft) furnished accommodation in NORMAL area" runs $1,037/month. That is in line with what I've seen posted for rents - if you want the brand new apartment downtown it'll cost you $1.5K-$2K or even more for the luxurious ones.
Median home price is listed around $160K or ~$120/sq ft. You will definitely find pockets of Columbus that run much more than that. I'd say if you are looking in a decently safe neighborhood and closer to the city (say, within 6-8 miles) it will cost upwards of $150/sq ft. There are some "revitalizations" going on immediately east and west of downtown, so the prices there are a bit cheaper while still being close to downtown. Suburbs vary - if they're nice w/good schools (Dublin, New Albany, Westerville, Upper Arlington) it might be a bit higher. If you're really looking to keep your $/sq ft down, then you should look to some of those suburbs near or even outside the outer belt (the flip side is you will be 10-12+ miles from downtown but if you like suburban living then it works out).
Indoor Hobbies: There are several museums (COSI is big for the kids). It depends on if you have kids or not - Columbus has options for all. Like most cities, plenty of gyms if you're a gym rat, plenty of community rec centers to get involved with. If you or your kids like hockey, there are several indoor rinks. Columbus actually has the 3rd or 4th largest adult hockey league in the country. There is a lot of shopping (not that it's recommended, but hey...people watching!). A lot of smaller music venues if you're a concert-goer (a couple big arenas too, but that costs a lot of $$$). A bunch of local breweries have popped up in the last 3-4 years (I think 25+ now in the area). You can find plenty to do indoors.
Outdoor Hobbies:
-In the fall, Ohio State football dominates - probably 150K+ are on campus for tailgating, partying, going to the game, etc. for the home games on Saturdays.
-There are a good number of city and metro parks for dog walking, biking, some kayaking/canoeing, minimal hiking (Columbus is very flat).
-There are 3-4 decent-sized inland lakes within an hour drive or so.
-Festivals. I won't name them all, but there are a lot of free (and some with a cost) festivals around the city - most occur from late April-September. Music, food, fashion, etc.
-Could be "indoor" but there are a lot of independently-owned restaurants. I've heard Columbus described as an under-the-radar foodie town. We also have quite a few of your typical chain restaurants when you get farther away from downtown. We actually are a "test market" for fast food restaurants in a lot of cases as we supposedly are described as "America in one city." So if that's your thing, you'll get to try that new Wendy's burger or White Castle slider before it goes national.
-Golf is pretty big - there are a lot of nationally ranked courses within ~hour drive of Columbus. We host the Memorial PGA event in a nearby suburb in June and have had a Nationwide Tour (is that what it's still called?) at Ohio State's course. There are a lot of good courses that are open to the public as well (in addition to I'd guess 12-15+ country clubs).
-The Clippers (AAA baseball farm team of the Indians) and Columbus Crew play in outdoor stadiums. There is a Major League Lacrosse team as well and I think rugby? Should have put under "indoors" but the Blue Jackets are our NHL team.
-I'm sure there is even more, but in a nutshell Columbus is a pretty flat area with a lot to do outside in the city, and even more if you care to venture out to the surrounding counties & towns.
Weather (High Temps, Low Temps, Seasons, Sun):
-We get it all in Columbus. It's technically a "hardiness zone" as defined by the USDA.
-Humid, humid, humid. We get a lot of humidity in the summer months, but usually cold and dry winters.
-Definitely a four season climate. The joke is that we even manage to get all four within a few days sometimes.
-Summers can be hot, even brutal sometimes. Typically low 90s in the "dog days" but usually 80-89 in the summer (these are in Fahrenheit, obviously). Seems like those "summer storms" can pop up any day. So pools get a lot of use from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
-Falls can be absolutely beautiful. Typically we get the full range of leaves changing colors. It's usually very mild for 2-3 months (I don't think we ran heat or AC from mid-September to Thanksgiving last year). Tops out at maybe the low 70s but more often temps are in the 60s in the fall.
-Winter can be hit or miss. I think the last 2-3 winters have been very mild (don't think the schools closed at all last winter). Sometimes we get pounded with snow. We don't get any lake effect like Cleveland or Buffalo, so it's actually low snowfall on average for the region. You will have to shovel snow (if you own property or a driveway for your car, that is) and/or scrape your car off a few times. It's usually not too bad, but every few years we get a blizzard that dumps a foot of snow.
-Springs are typically pretty wet. When it's not raining, spring-time can be very nice and it's funny how many people get excited about hitting 45+ degrees F and the snow all melting until next winter.
-Record high (twice) is 106 F and record low is -22 F - just to give a range. Anything above 95 F is rare and anything below 10 F is rare as well. That's the given range I'd expect in a year.
Favorite things:
-Local beer/breweries & restaurants. We have cut back significantly on going out, so it's more of a treat for us to try a beer at a new brewery (finace and I usually split, because of course). Personally, we don't really like the chains (it's fine if you do, because those dot the suburbs) so when we do celebrate by going out for a meal, it's nice that there are so many local options.
-The history. This might not be high on too many people's list, but it's cool for me. Columbus, as the capital of Ohio, has some really cool history and buildings/museums celebrating that. The hockey team (the Blue Jackets) is named for Ohio's contributions to the Civil War (320,000+ soldiers, for example). There is some under-the-radar history here if you're into history at all (and you can explore a lot of it for free!).
-The people. Maybe it's just who I've had the opportunity to interact with, but everyone I have come in contact with (even random people walking around or at shops) are all pretty laid back and friendly. Could be complete coincidence or it could be part of that "midwestern" way of living. YMMV.
-The resources. The metro area is home to 2 million+ people now, so with that comes a lot of things to do. It's growing as well, so there are always new things popping up. The airport isn't too far from downtown, so if I wanted to travel far away it's convenient. We're also within a 500 mile radius of roughly 1/2 the population of the U.S.
-Very open city. I've heard us referred to as the "San Francisco of the midwest." There is a fairly significant LGBTQ population and many businesses are very open-minded about that. We're probably a little more progressive/liberal than one might think for Ohio. A lot of diversity as well.
Least favorite things:
-The city is car-centric (for various reasons that I won't delve into - but the auto industry is big in Ohio and provides a lot of jobs for people, so there's some incentive to downplay other means of transit). Columbus is trying to do other things, but most notably missing is light rail or passenger rail. We're the largest city and I believe largest metro area with no light/passenger rail. There is a bus system that just went through an overhaul and it provides free service for a 3-4 mile stretch downtown. Bike share has been available for awhile and has expanded. We have car2go - the car sharing service. Some bike lines have been put in, but they're only experimenting with the completely segregated bike lines (instead of just drawing a small line on the road). The bus service is also implementing "bus rapid transit" for a line with plans to expand. We did win the "Smart Cities" grant so a lot of companies (in addition to the $50m federal grant) are now collaborating on fully autonomous vehicles for workers in a low-income area of town, which is adjacent to one of the mega mall complexes.
-Some parts of the city aren't great - high crime, low income, foreclosed homes, etc. If you know where to avoid, then it's ok. But the murder rate has jumped this year - we might be above 40 for 2017 so far.
-Some people see the "Ohio State football-centric" part of the city as a downside.
-I've mentioned it, but a lot of the suburbs are the prototypical "suburban sprawl" of America - the same chain stores surrounded by the same chain restaurants and massive parking lots.
-Transient city. A lot of people "stop here" while going to Ohio State and then move on to somewhere else.
-If you are into real estate, it can be hard to compete with the tax abatements the city hands out to the big developers. I get the premise behind them, but it's difficult for the "little guy" to break into real estate if only the big developers are getting tax help.
-I like to ski and there are no mountains (a few small ones - we're talking 250 foot verticals) about an hour away. So no mountains, no oceans/beaches - some small lakes 30-60 minutes away and a couple rivers that cut through the city, but almost no one goes out on the water on them (not exactly the kind of rivers you boat on).
-Fairly segregated (often along racial and income lines) in terms of living. Columbus has not done a great job of offering low-income housing options near more expensive housing. Maybe that's just how it always is, but certain places can have almost no minorities. So I think you lose the sense of a "melting pot culture" if you are outside of a 2-3 mile radius from downtown.
'Must Try':
-Ohio State football - just to experience everything that is a Saturday in Columbus, at least once
-State House Tour
-COSI (science museum)
-Zoo - we're consistently ranked #1 or #2 in the country
-Sports fans should check out a Blue Jackets game at Nationwide Arena
-North Market - 30+ vendors in old market warehouse-type building. Walk around and smell the food of a bunch of local restaurants and then pick one, or two!
Stupid ordinances/laws:
-No alcohol can be purchased from 1:30 AM to 5:30 AM (bars will stay open until 2:30 AM though).
-No "open container" districts (unless specified, like for a festival). There are some areas where people have argued it should be allowed to people can walk with a drink to another bar.
-Can't really think of too many others and I'm not going to post the goofy ones that would come up on a google search.
Words of wisdom/Advice:-Do you want to live without a car? Columbus is trying to improve that, but for now it's very hard to live in the city without some kind of vehicle. It depends on your lifestyle, of course.
-Have you considered Columbus? Many people I've talked to haven't or didn't...until a family member wanted to or a job offer came along.
https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/columbus From what I've read/heard/compared, we have a pretty low cost of living.
-Can you deal with the weather? We'll get everything from a blizzard to 95 F sun. That said, it's pretty mild compared to other locations and we avoid tornadoes (they rarely occur here), hurricanes, extreme desert heat, the worst of the snow, and earthquakes. I'd take that into account if climate is a big part of where you are moving.
-If you still want to work or still need to work, Columbus has a strong economy. We have a strong government presence - being the state capital and all. A lot of healthcare jobs, a growing number of tech jobs, several large insurers. A lot of jobs tied into the university. We handled the 2008-2009 surge in unemployment much better than the national average.
-Come visit! If Columbus isn't on your radar, but the low cost of living appeals to you then come check out the city for a weekend (or even longer). Plenty of things going on if you don't want to be purely a "doing your homework" type of visit. Hopefully the above gives you a good enough overview to decide if it should be on your radar.
-You can have almost any kind of lifestyle you want here - the urban bustle downtown, the "university" type living near Ohio State, the typical suburban lifestyle, or even more rural living but nearby a big city if you want to make use of the airport, theaters, etc. on a rare occasion.
Sustainability options (gardening, solar, etc):
-We do have certified master gardeners in the city - tied in with Ohio State.
-Net metering is an option with your electric company. That said, I haven't run numbers on how much energy could actually be generated give we are overcast here quite a bit. I'd need to double check Project Sunroof.
-Community gardens are popping up and taking hold, at least in my estimation as I drive by them frequently.
-A lot of people have backyard gardens. A lot of options for seeds, planting, etc. at stores around the city. Growing season is probably mid-April into October.
-"Go Green Columbus" offers rebates on composting bins. It's pretty easy - you fill in your address information and they'll send you a rebate form. You either buy from one of their approved retailers or send them the receipt and photo of one you bought. Rebate is either $50 or maybe even $75 now - haven't looked recently. You may need to check HOAs or whatnot if composting is allowed (can only think of one notorious snooty suburb that has tighter restrictions on composting, fencing, etc.).
-Not sure if it's needed or not, but every single-family home in Columbus is provided with a recycling bin. It's a bit tougher to recycle if you're in an apartment, townhouse, etc.
That's all I can think of for now - quote this and ask me any questions you might have and I'll do my best to answer! If you've been thinking about Columbus at all, shoot me a PM.