Columbus, OH

[JayF]

I went to OSU for undergrad and had friends that lived in basically every possible area of Columbus that I visited frequently so here are some thoughts for places to live and other randoms:

Short North/Victorian village is probably my top recommendation for a place to live. It's quiet, close to campus but in an area where it's rare to see undergrads on the weekends. It's a family area and one of my good friends lived here with her two older sisters (one PT student, the other med student). Lots young families and overall nice people. It's a good area to go running when it's nice out and if you live close enough to Neil Ave. you are a short walk away from the med center. You're also a less than 10 min drive from downtown and the COTA buses run pretty frequently and they're free for anybody with a BuckID. The Short North is a great area filled with delicious and diverse restaurants and great bars (Bodega has an intense beer menu and if you go there for happy hour during the week go early). If you're in to sushi avoid Haiku on High Street in the Short North. It's overpriced for decent sushi (I didn't like it and neither did a couple of my Japanese friends). Tyfoon downtown is better but just as overpriced. Your best best is Akai Hana out on Henderson Rd. It's more authentic, DELICIOUS, better priced and right next to a Japanese market.

Avoid driving on football Saturdays. Traffic is a nightmare anywhere close to campus.

If you're going to deal with campus realtors AVOID Buckeye Real Estate and Home Team Properties. The people that work for these two places are evil and don't care to fix anything that gets broken. Customer service is awful and they will find ways to charge renters for the most asinine thing.

Columbus is a really cheap place to live. If you're tight on money for your living situation, you can find decent one bedroom apartments close to campus for less than $500 a month.

Columbus is a surprisingly diverse city. As a minority myself a lot of people told me before moving there that OSU and Columbus in general lacked diversity but after 4 years, whoever told me that was totally wrong. There's a scene for just about everybody. You just have to find it. I'm originally from Chicago and I can say that i LOVE Columbus! OSU has a great community feel and the students are dedicated to their school. Even if you're not into football, you can't help but get excited to watch the Buckeyes play. Campus is beautiful during Spring Quarter and the impressive newly built Student Union (which I've read is that biggest student union in the nation) and main Library are great additions to campus. On top of the great rec facilities and amazing med center, OSU is just an overall great place to study. I wish I was still there!

[flinki]

Hey guys!

My girlfriend and I have both been accepted to graduate programs at OSU and will be moving from abroad to Columbus this fall. I have two questions, that I was hoping someone here might be able to answer:

1) All the grad-housing on campus seems to be meant for either single students or married students - does anyone know it there is any on-campus housing available for unmarried couples without children?

2) If we'll be staying off campus, we will probably need around two weeks to find the right place. The only temporary housing available seems to be for those who have on-campus housing contracts for the academic year... then there are hotels/motels obviously, but that's way to expensive. Is there really no affordable option for students needing temporary housing while they settle in and find off-campus housing?

Thanks in advance!

[JayF]

Hey guys!

My girlfriend and I have both been accepted to graduate programs at OSU and will be moving from abroad to Columbus this fall. I have two questions, that I was hoping someone here might be able to answer:

1) All the grad-housing on campus seems to be meant for either single students or married students - does anyone know it there is any on-campus housing available for unmarried couples without children?

2) If we'll be staying off campus, we will probably need around two weeks to find the right place. The only temporary housing available seems to be for those who have on-campus housing contracts for the academic year... then there are hotels/motels obviously, but that's way to expensive. Is there really no affordable option for students needing temporary housing while they settle in and find off-campus housing?

Thanks in advance!

I don't think there is housing for unmarried couples without children on campus. I know Buckeye Village is where some married couples with children live but I don't think they'd allow for you and your girlfriend to live together if you're not married. The Neil Ave building I believe has graduate housing. It's a fairly new building (4ish years old) on south campus close to the med center. But I wouldn't recommend living here because it's not the type of atmosphere for (most) grad students.

As far as temporary housing, I would talk to the people in the Office of International Affairs to ask about it. http://oia.osu.edu/international-students.html They might provide info on that and I would think that people in the past have needed temporary housing while looking for places to live, especially students from abroad.

Good luck!

[liszt85]

Hey guys!

My girlfriend and I have both been accepted to graduate programs at OSU and will be moving from abroad to Columbus this fall. I have two questions, that I was hoping someone here might be able to answer:

1) All the grad-housing on campus seems to be meant for either single students or married students - does anyone know it there is any on-campus housing available for unmarried couples without children?

2) If we'll be staying off campus, we will probably need around two weeks to find the right place. The only temporary housing available seems to be for those who have on-campus housing contracts for the academic year... then there are hotels/motels obviously, but that's way to expensive. Is there really no affordable option for students needing temporary housing while they settle in and find off-campus housing?

Thanks in advance!

If you look on the offcampus housing website, you will find rooming houses (these are specifically for this purpose.. I know many people in your situation who have rented rooms in such houses until they found apartments they could move into). You can rent rooms temporarily until you find a place. Its fairly easy to find a decently priced place near campus. I am married and live just off campus and my wife is unemployed due to visa restrictions and we do just fine. With two stipends, you should have nothing to worry about. So my advice would be to rent a room in such a house temporarily until you find a place where you can move into.

[davolicious]

I know this is a little different than most students, but I'm going to be bringing my wife and two young children with me to grad school. I'm almost definitely coming to OSU, and since we'll be there for five years or so, I'm looking for a place in an area that will be family friendly and safe, as well as having decent schools. How far from campus am I going to have to live in order to find something like that that's affordable?

Also, my undergrad university has a dry campus. How big of a distraction (if any) is having a wet campus?

[ScreamingHairyArmadillo]

I know this is a little different than most students, but I'm going to be bringing my wife and two young children with me to grad school. I'm almost definitely coming to OSU, and since we'll be there for five years or so, I'm looking for a place in an area that will be family friendly and safe, as well as having decent schools. How far from campus am I going to have to live in order to find something like that that's affordable?

Also, my undergrad university has a dry campus. How big of a distraction (if any) is having a wet campus?

You could check out Clintonville, about a 10-15 minute drive north of campus (it's on a bus line if you live closer to N High St).

I don't find a wet campus to be a distraction per se, there's just always a bar if you want to grab a drink.

[Scottielass]

Upper Arlington is pretty great. Look at the Kingsdale area. There are a lot of young families living there. It's a good mix of rentals and for-sales. A lot of post-war style homes (2-3 bd, 1-1 1/2 ba). About 5-10 min from OSU (depending where you're going on campus). Near a nationally-known hospital, grocery store, shopping, restaurants.

With the wet campus, I would just avoid the main drag (High St.) after 10pm on the weekends. Drunk undergrads clog the sidewalks. I do find it funny that there is one bar called The Library .

[ScreamingHairyArmadillo]

Upper Arlington is pretty great. Look at the Kingsdale area. There are a lot of young families living there. It's a good mix of rentals and for-sales. A lot of post-war style homes (2-3 bd, 1-1 1/2 ba). About 5-10 min from OSU (depending where you're going on campus). Near a nationally-known hospital, grocery store, shopping, restaurants.

With the wet campus, I would just avoid the main drag (High St.) after 10pm on the weekends. Drunk undergrads clog the sidewalks. I do find it funny that there is one bar called The Library .

+1 on this. I guess I could've clarified; a wet campus is only a distraction if you need to drive down High St on a weekend.

[GutLogic]

On 4/17/2010 at 4:27 PM, rooster34 said:

Thanks to all of the posters; there is a lot of great information on where to live. It seems like VV, Grandview, and Clintonville are the names I see mentioned the most.

What I didn't see any information about was parking. I looked through the OSU transportation and parking website and there are a lot of different levels of passes. It seems as if funded grad. students can buy an orange faculty pass. From what I can ascertain, these passes range from pretty cheap (~$80/yr.) to really expensive (~$600/yr.). I think that the cheapest gives you access to the lot on Western whereas the most expensive allows parking on campus and in the garages on campus. Is it worth it spend a ton of money to get a surface lot and/or garage pass? That is, can you find a spot in either case or are you just wasting money? Any advice on the parking/transportation front is welcomed and appreciated.

I'm an employee at OSU right now paying for parking... What it comes down to is what you are willing to deal with. If you get the West Campus passes, there is always plenty of parking, but only on West Campus. Unless you are going to be in one of the few buildings located out there, you'll have to take the bus in to central campus. I think the campus buses are pretty reliable. If you live in certain areas, like parts of Clintonville, it can be easier (and cheaper) to just take the bus to campus. There are fairly regular buses that run up and down High St- I did this for a year in undergrad when I lived in Clintonville.

As far as regular student © parking passes, from talking to people it seems that it can be a pain to park on the main part of campus even if you have one, so the difference between a west campus and regular student pass might not be worth the difference in price. With an A pass (the most expensive), however, you are pretty much guaranteed a place to park on the main part of campus. Those are for faculty & staff though, so I'm not sure graduate students are eligible for them. I do see a special kind of student pass, called a CPS pass, in the parking garage sometimes, so you may want to check in to what the requirements are for that one.

Overall, I'd start cheap and see how much inconvenience you are okay with. You can always upgrade later.

 

On 2/8/2011 at 11:14 PM, davolicious said:

I know this is a little different than most students, but I'm going to be bringing my wife and two young children with me to grad school. I'm almost definitely coming to OSU, and since we'll be there for five years or so, I'm looking for a place in an area that will be family friendly and safe, as well as having decent schools. How far from campus am I going to have to live in order to find something like that that's affordable?

Also, my undergrad university has a dry campus. How big of a distraction (if any) is having a wet campus?

If you are willing to commute a little further, Dublin is very nice, affordable, and from what I hear has excellent schools. It's about a 20 minute drive if you can avoid the worst traffic. It seems like a lot of faculty live out that way, and I've even met some grad students who do. Most students prefer to live closer to campus, but Dublin is definitely more family friendly than the campus area.

[ScreamingHairyArmadillo]

Graduate students with TA/RA/fellowship are eligible for B staff parking passes. It's about $30/month (and is deducted from your payroll) and if you get to campus a little before 9am there's usually no trouble parking. I've also always found a spot around 2pm, but you may have trouble.

West Campus parking is much cheaper though (I just checked - $7.40/month!) so that's a consideration. Damn, I may switch next year, that's some good money to save.

[woolfie]

Thanks to all of the posters; there is a lot of great information on where to live. It seems like VV, Grandview, and Clintonville are the names I see mentioned the most.

What I didn't see any information about was parking. I looked through the OSU transportation and parking website and there are a lot of different levels of passes. It seems as if funded grad. students can buy an orange faculty pass. From what I can ascertain, these passes range from pretty cheap (~$80/yr.) to really expensive (~$600/yr.). I think that the cheapest gives you access to the lot on Western whereas the most expensive allows parking on campus and in the garages on campus. Is it worth it spend a ton of money to get a surface lot and/or garage pass? That is, can you find a spot in either case or are you just wasting money? Any advice on the parking/transportation front is welcomed and appreciated.

I work on campus and so does my partner. Neither of us even consider driving, it's just way too expensive. I don't know a single graduate student that has a permit- it's less expensive to just live close enough to campus or a busline. I live too far to walk, but I can take the bus, bike path, or get a ride from my partner. It's just far less of a hassle than parking, because it's also hard to find spots I've heard unless you get there at 6 am. It's urban, so there are few spots and things are expensive. I'd suggest taking the bus. Sorry I don't have specific numbers- no one I know has a permit!

[ibangz]

OK, a crazy question here: what is the cheapest housing option? I mean cheap like realllly cheap I don't care about undergrads all around, 10 people in one room, ... nothing. Call me crazy, but I basically use housing as a sleeping place for 7 hours/day maximum. I'm usually out in labs classes or having fun. So I want to know about THE CHEAPEST. is something like $200-300/month or less possible?

Edited March 14, 2011 by ibangz

[woolfie]

On 3/14/2011 at 4:43 PM, ibangz said:

OK, a crazy question here: what is the cheapest housing option? I mean cheap like realllly cheap I don't care about undergrads all around, 10 people in one room, ... nothing. Call me crazy, but I basically use housing as a sleeping place for 7 hours/day maximum. I'm usually out in labs classes or having fun. So I want to know about THE CHEAPEST. is something like $200-300/month or less possible?

I would think that the absolutely CHEAPEST rent would be in north campus. I mean as far as being close and cheap, north campus is pretty shitty (sorry) so it's cheap. Cheap but far away would be anywhere east of 71 and the railroad tracks. Though that's far away, you'd have to drive, which is expensive. But rent there is cheap. Hope that helps!

 

On 3/5/2011 at 8:57 PM, the007expert said:

I don't have a permit myself either since it's very expensive. I'd consider living along the East Residential CABS bus line. It runs every 12 minutes during the day and every 30 minutes at night. The times of service are from 7 AM to midnight. However, there's no weekend service. By living along this bus line, you can bike, bus, or walk to campus pretty quickly. I don't know why anyone wants to live farther away from campus in Clintonville or Dublin.

Yeah, honestly, I think people live in Clintonville because it's nice yet cheap.. .but its far away enough that you are either going to have a 20-30 min commute or pay for parking. I really really recommend living in the Victorian village, short north, Italian village area. Clintonville kind of sucks.

[ibangz]

I would think that the absolutely CHEAPEST rent would be in north campus. I mean as far as being close and cheap, north campus is pretty shitty (sorry) so it's cheap. Cheap but far away would be anywhere east of 71 and the railroad tracks. Though that's far away, you'd have to drive, which is expensive. But rent there is cheap. Hope that helps!

OK Thanks

I saw two towers on the map near the Stadium, what are those? That's West Campus I guess. They seem kind of concentrated and cheap. What about price range of each of these locations?

[MCfresca]

I will be moving to Columbus in the fall to begin my PhD in psychology. I checked out Victorian Village online & in person and that area (and its perimeter) is definitely where I want to be, at least in my first year.

Are there any recommendations for landlords or places to look first? I'm already all up on metro-rentals.com. I'm looking at getting a 2-br with my roommate/gf/best friend in tow with me, so we're all set except for the roof!

[studentaffairsgrad]

OK Thanks

I saw two towers on the map near the Stadium, what are those? That's West Campus I guess. They seem kind of concentrated and cheap. What about price range of each of these locations?

Lincoln and Morrill are strictly undergrads...Lincoln is an honors dorm, and Morrill is party central. They used to call them Sodom and Gomorrah in the 70s. Crazy stuff went down in those buildings back then. The only dorm that housed grads that I knew of was Jones, and I'm pretty sure they recently opened that up to undergrads. There may be others, but not that I know of. Do yourself a favor and live of campus in Clintonville or Victorian Village...people get stupid on the weekends in the off-caampus area right around the edges of campus....and having been an RA and living in the dorms as a senior, undergrads can get pretty annoying.

I went to OSU, so I'm going to just take a min. here to share with you all how awesome it is...

Also, I saw someone ask about the GLBT community, and am not sure if anyone responded (I didn't read every single response.) There is a very vibrant GLBT community...they even have a huge pride parade in the summer. I can't speak from personal experience b/c I'm straight, but I have some gay friends who came out to their roomies in the dorms and everyone was very open about it...they've never felt harassed...that I know of. I think Columbus ranks in the top 3 cities in the country for having a large gay population. There is also a really big drag culture in the Short North. Everyone is really open about it. If anyone is worried that Columbus is your typical Mid-West cow town...it is totally not like that. There is a huge art scene, and tons of bands come play at the Newport, which is right on High St. The Activities Board at OSU is also amazing at bringing in people for students to watch for free...Ludacris, Will Ferrell, Conan O'Brien...you can find something to do every weekend, even if you just stay on campus.

Also, if you are into sports, the Blue Jackets hockey team is a ton of fun to go and watch...their practices are free and open to the public, but they suck again this year. Our pro soccer team won the championship a couple years back, and we also have a minor league baseball team too. Plus you have all the OSU sports too. So, good place to be if you are a sports fan.

Also, I'm not sure if anyone mentioned the Easton shopping center, only like 20 mins. from campus. If you like shopping, go there, you will be amazed. They have indoor and outdoor shopping, tons of restaurants, and a cool place called the shadowbox where you can go and watch comedians and others perform. You could spend all day there just walking around.

[latte thunder]

On 3/14/2011 at 4:43 PM, ibangz said:

OK, a crazy question here: what is the cheapest housing option? I mean cheap like realllly cheap I don't care about undergrads all around, 10 people in one room, ... nothing. Call me crazy, but I basically use housing as a sleeping place for 7 hours/day maximum. I'm usually out in labs classes or having fun. So I want to know about THE CHEAPEST. is something like $200-300/month or less possible?

Do you care about transportation? If not, you might like the downtown area. Strange as it seems, Downtown is cheaper than on campus (and victorian village), and is not all that far. I have a good friend who lives on campus (summit/20th) I live in the south end of downtown and Its less than a 10 min drive for me. Also, high st is very easy to navigate by bus. Problem is you're unlikely to run into any students and the atmosphere my be a little different. Under 300 a month would be possible with a roommate.

 

On 3/19/2011 at 8:00 PM, MCfresca said:

I will be moving to Columbus in the fall to begin my PhD in psychology. I checked out Victorian Village online & in person and that area (and its perimeter) is definitely where I want to be, at least in my first year.

Are there any recommendations for landlords or places to look first? I'm already all up on metro-rentals.com. I'm looking at getting a 2-br with my roommate/gf/best friend in tow with me, so we're all set except for the roof!

I always hear good things about the Tivoli Apartments.

[ibangz]

OK, I'm interested to know more about Upper Arlington area. Turns out it's very close to the lab, on Kinnear Road, I'm supposed to be working in.

Any info on rent comparison, proximity to decent grocery stores, the kind of people that live there, number of grad students there, etc. would be appreciated.

[burnt]

Anyone interested in Columbus housing or general info can send me a message. I've lived here for six years and am starting my MA in the fall in the NELC department for Arabic. I can answer questions and would be willing to show you around to some cool places to hang out, study, etc. If you have any particular interests (say you like jazz clubs or house shows) I could probably suggest some neat places for you too.

 

On 4/9/2011 at 10:35 PM, ibangz said:

OK, I'm interested to know more about Upper Arlington area. Turns out it's very close to the lab, on Kinnear Road, I'm supposed to be working in.

Any info on rent comparison, proximity to decent grocery stores, the kind of people that live there, number of grad students there, etc. would be appreciated.

I would say there are little to no students in Upper Arlington--mostly families and professors maybe and definitely has an upper-class vibe. You might be able to find a decent apartment there but I have no idea what it would cost. A car would be absolutely essential. If you're looking to be as close to there as possible, I would suggest Clintonville and, if you don't mind more of a student-like atmosphere, Old North Columbus. If you have a car and don't mind the 'burbs then see if you can find anything in UA. It's just that I personally wouldn't live there.

[TEK]

I'll be a grad student in ECE next year and I'm trying to figure out where to live. I haven't received a definite figure for my monthly stipend, but I know that it will be at least $1800 / month so that it what I am planning for. Do you have any specific recommendations as far as what companies to rent from or who to avoid? I've heard from multiple people that Clintonville and Grandview are nice areas, and I also know that Clintonville is fairly convenient since I will spend most of my time in Dreese. One of the apartment complexes I was looking at is Riverview Apartments, do any of you know anything about them?

Thanks for your help!

[latte thunder]

I'll be a grad student in ECE next year and I'm trying to figure out where to live. I haven't received a definite figure for my monthly stipend, but I know that it will be at least $1800 / month so that it what I am planning for. Do you have any specific recommendations as far as what companies to rent from or who to avoid? I've heard from multiple people that Clintonville and Grandview are nice areas, and I also know that Clintonville is fairly convenient since I will spend most of my time in Dreese. One of the apartment complexes I was looking at is Riverview Apartments, do any of you know anything about them?

Thanks for your help!

Avoid Pat McGrivey. I may have spelled his name wrong but he is a notoriously bad campus landlord.

[burnt]

Riverview's pretty far from campus, not necessarily geographically but you'd have to drive to get places. Stay away from Northsteppe Realty. They're terrible.

Two married friends of mine live here (he's an ECE grad student and she's a Chemistry grad student):

http://www.olentangyvillage.com/floorplan.asp?FPID=40059

The River is very close to campus and High Street (the main drag). I've been to their place many times. It's very nice. They split the rent, but it's a nice complex and location if you're willing to drop the dough. Having said that, you can find much cheaper places if you're willing to have roommates and live somewhere a little more... modest (shoddy yet not bad).

[TEK]

Thanks, I will definitely avoid Pat McGreevy.

Google maps claims it is about 20 minutes via bus from Riverview Place Apartments to Dreese. I attend a very small undergrad school (less than 3500 students) and I'm from a very small town so it is somewhat hard for me to judge how long a commute to class should be. Is that a long commute compared to most grad. student housing?

I've also been told that Olentangy Village is very nice, but I will be living alone so it would be fairly expensive for me. I'd really like to keep my rent + basic utilities to around $650 / mo whereas an ECE grad student I know told me that he pays roughly $700 before electric in Olentangy Village.

I was out in Columbus over my spring break, but I didn't get to see very many apartments and the one I thought looked alright was at 50 McMillen Ave. Since then I've read that most graduate students live further out than that. I'm a fairly studious individual so I'd prefer to avoid loud undergraduate areas. I will be working on Dayton this summer so I could potentially look at apartments around June when I start working. My only concern is that it would be fairly late for a fall move in, and I could end up getting stuck with a very bad apartment.

I was looking on Metro-Rentals and found a place at 1800 & 1806 North Star Road rented by Morgan Management / StarKing Rentals. It is a 17 minute bus ride according to google maps which doesn't seem terrible. The price also seems pretty good at $630 / month including gas heat and water. Any opinion on the location or realtor?

I will also be bringing a car with me, but I don't plan on paying for a parking pass on campus.

Edited April 12, 2011 by TEK

[gradstudent1234]

I will be starting a graduate program at OSU this fall and was hoping to buy a place to live. Can anyone give me any information about the area around Scioto Woods? I know it's close to Marble Cliff which is a good area, but that's about all I know. Any info is greatly appreciated!

 

[latte thunder]

On 4/14/2011 at 10:30 AM, gradstudent1234 said:

I will be starting a graduate program at OSU this fall and was hoping to buy a place to live. Can anyone give me any information about the area around Scioto Woods? I know it's close to Marble Cliff which is a good area, but that's about all I know. Any info is greatly appreciated!

Can you give any more information about where Scioto Woods is? Like some of the major streets around it? Marble Cliff is a nice, safe area, but you don't need to go to far before you end up in some not so nice places.

 

On 4/19/2011 at 8:10 AM, studentaffairsgrad said:

I graduated from OSU, and didn't find it necessary to have a car...I managed to get around for 4 years without one...but everybody is different (I lived on campus). All students can ride the COTA public bus system for free (well, you do pay a mandatory fee per quarter) just by showing them your student ID. If you live far off-campus, you might consider a car - a 15 min. car ride can sometimes take an hour and a half on the bus. I only really used the bus to go downtown and up and down High St. I made friends with cars - that works too!

Iif you really want to explore columbus you'll need a car. There are a lot of places the bus simply doesnt go.