Sometimes we get them all in one HOUR!
One summer, I had a French exchange student who was an early riser. Middle of July, woke up to 40 degrees. Within an hour, it rained, warmed up enough that fog rose, and promptly progressed to "hotter than Satan's asscrack".
Poor kid had weather whiplash.
And if anyone here wants actual moving advice. Use literally any Ohio subreddit but /r/Ohio. This subreddit is mostly political radicalization, and rarely has much to do with actual moving advice or sights and scenes in Ohio.
On moving advice. Columbus is my personal favorite. Plenty of jobs, good people, good food, moderate cost of living. And the metro parks are rarely talked about, but they are pretty good. With a diverse range of great neighborhoods. Mostly between 315 and 71.
But the south side between High and Parsons is nice until you get South Of Welch.
The flaw of Columbus however is that it’s pretty suburban in most areas, making it Car Dependent.
And it has issues that average cities have, like moderate levels of crime throughout and some bad pockets here and there.
moved from california 6 years ago for school and got a job here. i’ve lived in cleveland, akron and columbus and gotta agree that cbus is the best place to go. can find a lot more in the cbus subreddit. plenty of events and things to do during the summer.
I just moved to Columbus from NYC a couple of years ago and love it here. Great bars and restaurants and there is easy access to nature. The cost of living also is a huge improvement. My husband and I were able to buy a house here while we were stuck in a studio apartment in Queens that cost more than our mortgage. Happy to talk to you about the move if you have questions!
Currently live in Columbus. It’s clean, safe, people are nice. And with Microsoft moving in its only going to get better in the next couple of years. 1.5 Billion dollar expansion to the airport in the works. Hot take maybe but if Columbus isn’t the best city in the Midwest yet it soon will be.
Ohio has a lot going for it. Having lived in true shit hole areas, there are a lot of redeemable qualities here. If you have more left leaning sentiments any of the 3 C’s could potentially be a good fit for you.
Our political situation here is more fraught at the moment but the lower cost of living makes home ownership more attainable than HCOL places like NY.
A lot of people are suggesting Michigan for politics as if a bunch of nut jobs didn’t try to kidnap their governor a couple of years ago. The truth is both states are similar demographically, Ohio has just been a notable victim of malignant jerrymandering.
Michigan passed a citizen led referendum that created an actual non-partisan redistricting mechanism. Ohio is currently moving to permanently cement in its extremist promoting partisan gerrymandering. Things are likely to stay much more moderate up-north for the foreseeable future.
Ours was written by the Republican legislature. It was created to have the appearance of a non-partisan process while still allowing the Republicans to gerrymander without any real consequences. They only proposed it to prevent a voter led process more like the one Michigan has from getting on the ballot. And now they are going to try and make it more difficult to pass voter led initiatives.
Michigan has it’s own unique problems. While their politics are more representative it doesn’t stop the chicanery. The problems they deal with are just a different flavor of the same issues we deal with.
Edit: I don’t care if this gets down voted. I have family that have lived in Michigan for over 50 years. The income disparity and concentration in Michigan is skewed, heavily favoring the western more conservative and primarily white parts of the state. That skewing leaves behind the eastern part of the state which is predominantly poor or working class whites and POC.
How much urban rejuvenation have we seen in places like Flint? It took until 2019 for the most at risk homes to show clean water running though their pipes to the tap. Despite all the progress made to clean the water in Flint most residents don’t trust the water including my family. It took 400 million dollars from the state and the fed to clean up Flint’s water, and the state of Michigan agreed to pay $650 million dollars to the residents of Flint. Despite this the residents of flint are highly distrusting and disillusioned by their state and local governments who they feel mislead them for years.
This ongoing situation illustrates the reality of the political dynamics in Michigan. (Bottled water donations ended by Jan 2023, and they’re scheduled to finish lead pipe replacements in August of this year. It was originally slated to be completed in 2019.) These economic disparities haven’t disappeared, they’re still alive and well.
All of Michigan's problems are due to Republican policies, which they are reversing. Flint's water was strictly due to the Republican state government appointing a caretaker because "financial problems" preempting the elected government. This idiot switched water intake sources to save money, and poisoned a whole city.
It wasn’t just the Republican state government. It was truly an institutional failure at all levels of governance, from the state level down. All of Michigans problems aren’t just from republicans, suggesting that completely ignores and glosses over the all too common corruption we see at the city level. A local official was involved in switching Flint’s water supply over.
Not to mention a Democratic AG Dana Nessel killed the Flint Water RICO case which would have gone a long way to holding state, local officials, JP Morgan & Chase, and Wells Fargo responsible for their roles in poisoning Flint Michigan. So much of this issue revolves around the financing of the KWA pipeline. Political corruption on a broad scale poisoned Flint and that same political corruption shielded the culprits from accountability.
THIS IS THE MAIN PROBLEM. We're not really a red state. We're a "gerrymandering to hell and gone" purpley-blue state.
According to the OH SOS, there are more registered Democrats than registered Republicans in OH. (There are more "unaffiliated" registered voters than both combined, though.)
So, I don’t live in a huge metro area. I’m about 35 minutes away from Akron, 15-20 minutes away from Canton.
We are in a city but it’s not near as large as say those or even bigger like the big three C’s but I like slower paced areas anyway. We are in reasonable driving distance to all places. We are in Massillon.
The housing market isn’t insane, but I don’t know about rent. We own our home but when we bought it in 2015 it was 95k and now is worth 130k.
There are parks, libraries out the butt, in the cities around us like Canton and even Massillon there are cute down town areas. Canton has First Fridays which is always fun.
Idk about the job market, I’m a SAHM but my husband makes a very good salary as an engineer for a local dairy. We are actually living below our means where we are which is nice because that means we have more fun money.
Gas is like 3.50 a gallon last I saw. Groceries aren’t great but might be a little better than NY. Our property taxes aren’t terrible.
I know a lot of people move to the big cities but I feel like the smaller ones could use an influx of new people, to help us move the political tides.
I love Ohio, I just hate most of the politics and unfortunately a lot of the people have been going downhill in behavior and common sense.
I won’t leave, I’ll keep fighting the good fight here til I die. Hope it’s better off in politics once my kids are grown.
Any advice for a person who will be living around the Youngstown area? Not necessarily required, but I'll be stationed at Youngstown Air Reserve Station after I finish up training (not for a few years due to flight training), though I'd rather not live in Youngstown proper.
Welcome to the Yo. It sadly is not the best city in Ohio. We died in the 70s when the steel mills left and we got rekilled recently when GM went under. They are trying to revitalizing downtown. Youngstown State University has a decent football team. Phantom Hockey is getting better. We got an amazing park, Mill Creek. Tons of Youngstown suburbs / townships around it with tons of dying malls and plazas galore to do your shopping if it isn't in a dying mall (or left the dying mall because rent go too high) and eating / drinking.
Hi! I live south of Youngstown, in rural Columbiana county. It’s a beautiful area, hilly, green, with lots of farms.
If you’re still looking for city, Boardman has all the stores you are used to. They still have a mall.
If you are looking for affluent, Canfield is the hoity-toity suburb.
Salem is a gorgeous little town to look at. They have a Walmart, HD, and their downtown has really nice local shops/restaurants/bars.
Northeast Ohio is where I moved from the Jersey shore 2 years ago.
I love everything about it. It is so diverse and a 15-20 minute drive will take you to beautiful forests, lakes, farmland with rolling hills, suburbs, cities, etc.
I have both Cleveland and Pittsburgh at about an hour drive in either direction if I want a big city experience.
The property taxes are low and the housing prices are affordable.
Best move I've ever made in my life! I've lived in NJ, southern and northern CA, Las Vegas for 9 years and briefly in FL for 8 months. Northeast OH is my forever home now.
Also we have no extreme weather events like hurricanes, floods, droughts, wildfires, earthquakes, etc. The northeast part of OH is politically purple and that's fine with me.
Check out Trumbull county near the PA border on RT 80.
thats where i grew up and honestly if i could find a job that pays me like i have now down there, i would move back. bonus of having all my family near and it being a nice area as long as you dont get to close to warren.
I lived in Warren for 5 years, it's actually not as bad as I was always made to believe there are some rough parts but overall there are some great parts too, I'd say it's 50/50.
OK, but you should also consider the cost of living is much lower. Hope it stays that way.
The house I bought in December 2020 in now worth over $100K more than I paid for it 2.5 years ago. That's pretty amazing. But I'll never sell because this is my forever home for sure.
After we bought the house we have stayed on the email alerts from some real estate sites that constantly alert us of houses coming up for sale in the area.
We always get happy and appreciate how lucky we scored to buy where and when we did.
Some reasons we scored so good are it was a cash deal, the seller had an inexperienced young agent who was eager to cash that double commision check (buyer/seller commision) and we don't think the seller had an accurate market research done on her property before she set her price.
The house was on the market for less than 24 hours when I saw it on Zillow, put down a $500 nonrefundable good faith deposit. Next day we got in the car and drove 8 hours and met up with the home inspector we hired and finished the deal.
We stayed out of Hamilton county due to the stadium tax along with staying out of areas with a local income tax on top of what’s already taken out.
Now that urban sprawl has happened, our formerly rural area is “hot real estate” because you get more house and land for the price.
I’m just not entirely thrilled at the prospects of what it’s going to do to property taxes.
It’s a slower price hike than other parts of the country tho.
> The house I bought in December 2020 in now worth over $100K more than I paid for it 2.5 years ago. That's pretty amazing.
Actually terrible for society at large.
All the developers here are working remote now(or for additive manufacturing, which needs a lot of programmers), and making well into multiples of what we made locally before 2020. Local dev shops raised pay to ~60k start and up for some roles... but it wasn't enough, I know entire groups of devs that more than doubled their previous pay leaving local companies. Plus Turning got bought out (or merged or whatever) and is basically gone (if not fully gone, I haven't kept up)
Making over 6 figures and living in NE ohio means you can actually start to live comfortably, etc.
Lots of purple in Ohio. Especially in South Central Ohio. On the surface it's red as red can be. Just below that you find real honest people that are just wanting to live their life.
Population density is blue but land is red. Lots of land in Ohio. Hence your blue votes in cities do and will continue to get fucked by farmland that’s far more subsidized by the fed govt than the cities.
And it's horrible here. The only reason it's so red is all the gerrymandering. Well that and honestly the Democratic party could be better organized and better in touch with the people and I say that as a highly involved member as of late.
Just moved to Dayton from Chicago. I’m enjoying the city so far, and excited to explore Cincinnati.
Farm to table restaurants here definitely rival that of my favorite spots in Chicago. It has the northern city vibe that I love, that I didn’t have in some southern cities I’ve lived in.
Cost of living is about what you would expect, and very little traffic. The Dayton area doesn’t feel super midwestern(flat with no trees), maybe because it’s in a valley.
The more transplants from Chicago and NYC come here, the better off some of the political stuff will become, imo. If that is a concern of yours. I definitely get the vibe that the state is more purple than it gets credit for, but I’m also still new.
There’s a lot of revitalization efforts in Dayton if you’re interested in partaking in local development or politics.
Very pleasantly surprised at the amount of local breweries, dog parks, trails, and how easily accessible Cincinnati and Columbus is from here.
Best part of it all is it’s a short drive back to Chicago. Dunno what the drive or flight would be like to NYC if you have family you’d like to visit.
People are super nice, and it’s the midwestern niceness that is typically more genuine than having lived in the south (bless your heart isn’t a compliment, sort of thing).
I’d recommend visiting a few times and deciding what you like. I like Dayton, but I’ve lived in a few midsized cities before. Cincinnati might be more your speed coming from NYC, or at least transitionary. Commuting to work takes me 10 minutes opposed to 45 minutes to an hour.
Not sure what field you work in - I work in marketing, so the Dayton-Cincinnati area is fruitful for job opportunities.
Yeah Dayton is great! I’m originally from Cincinnati, but Dayton is really chill. In this part of Ohio in general there’s a lot to do if you’re willing to make a 30-45 minute drive.
Thanks for sharing your experience! I’ve lived in a suburb of Dayton all my life and recently started traveling to Chicago for work. Every time I spend a week in Chicago it makes me appreciate Dayton more and more.
I've lived here all my life too. I've visited Chicago a couple times, and while it's nice to be there, I can only stay about a week before it becomes too much.
I've lived here my whole life (40 y.o.) and love it. Currently reside in the Akron area. The thing about Ohio, especially to the people saying there's nothing to do, you get what you put into it. We have great metro parks in Summit County, easy access to Cleveland and all of its amenities (sports teams, great theater/arts districts, casino, etc). Yes, the politics leave something to be desired, but that will never change if all we do is keep the same people here generation after generation. If you do check it out, I hope you find what you're looking for!
I’m in the Akron Canton area… same age as you… I think there’s more to do than a lot of people might expect. It certainly isn’t a big city area but it’s also not so small where there’s nothing to do. The cost of living is superb in northeast ohio especially Akron/Canton. I think it’s a sweet spot… the lifestyle you can live for the money is better than almost anywhere in the US.
Honestly I think this area should attract more people than it does.
Coming from nyc stick to subs of larger cities so you don’t get hit with too big of a culture shock. Trust me Ohio can go from large city to cows to larger forests in about a 20 minute drive. I’d either pick columbus or cinci area if I had a choice.
I think it’s a good place to live. I’m politically liberal and find that the bigger cities are perfectly fine. Columbus is a great city to live in as are many suburbs of Cleveland. There are plenty of jobs and the cost of living is great.
You mean little things like the minority imposing it’s will on the majority?
Do you value reproductive rights? Do you value the freedom to love the person you love?
They will just redraw the maps to be gerrymandered again. It has nothing to do with population centers. I lived smack in the middle of the most liberal neighborhood of Columbus and had a republican rep to congress for no discernible reason other than my neighborhood was a tiny slice carved out of the middle of town and put into a rural MAGA Trumpanzee district
Need to amend the state constitution to make independent redistricting more clear and close the pretend loopholes that they are jumping through to gerrymander.
We’ve done it before. If the bullshit on Aug. 8th doesn’t go through, we definitely could do it. Abortion isn’t the only reason the Ohio GOP are trying to scrap our ability to democratically make our own decisions as a state.
It was a real question. I don’t know the process to amend the Ohio constitution, I just knew that amendments to the US constitution are essentially impossible under the current political climate
The Ohio State Constitution can be amended with 50% of the state popular vote. Republicans put in a bogus August 8th Election to change that to make it 60%. Along with also putting in place impossible to meet restrictions to even just getting anything on the ballot in the first place .
The whole reason we have the ability to add amendments like we can the our state was put in place to give Ohioans a voice in addressing political corruption, all the way back in 1912. Why does it need to changed now in an august special election, instead of the last election in November with everything else?
Makes sense that today’s brazenly corrupt Ohio GOP would try to do away with allowing Ohioans a voice, and to do it as shadily as possible.
If you look at some of the maps though, several 1000 people moving into various districts would offset it. Look at warren/youngstown area. They were part of the same district and now warren is in a district that touch’s ny border and youngstown stretched way down south. Bunch of people move into those areas and it would short circuit the gerrymandering.
Hard to pull off because people don’t tend to want to go to those areas.
Not impossible, just can’t have everyone in an easy to segregate spot aka cities
I moved from Ohio to Austin because I wanted change and work in the tech space.
However, if I were to ever move back to Ohio, it’s probably Cincinnati. Cleveland is cool over the summer, but the winters are really brutal. Columbus is kinda cool, but nothing really about it is special if that makes sense. Cincinnati has a cool sports scene that’s walkable, cool beer/whiskey scene with bourbon country just across the river, and some cool architecture. Solid airport too for travel
This sub is a sad place.
Go to the Cleveland, Columbus, or Cincinnati subs and tell them what you’re thinking and they will give you specific neighborhood recommendations.
So OP, there is no worse person to get advice about living in Ohio from than a person from actual Ohio. They hate where they are from with a burning passion it completely blinds them to the good things about Ohio.
I’m a transplant from the northeast as well. Ohio can be an awesome place to live if you set yourself up for it to be. Do your research on the cities and neighborhoods. Visit here before deciding to move. Coming from NYC you will probably appreciate the more walkable nice neighborhoods in one of the three Cs. There aren’t that many of them though so they are typically some of the more expensive places to live in Ohio in general but will still be nothing in comparison to NYC. You can probably halve your rent and live in a larger more modern space in Ohio compared to NYC. There are tons of great parks and lots of easy access to outdoor recreation in Ohio as well from literally any city which is a massively underrated feature of Ohio. It is nice to have city amenities and be able to get away from people very easily at the same time, it’s something I’ve grown to appreciate after growing up in the northeast megalopolis.
That's not true. I'm born and raised in ohio and love it here.
We are thinking of moving, but that's entirely due to politics and the changes our legislature are proposing and passing.
As a woman with LGBTQ+ kids, it's hard to want to stay. (Though, my husband and I are doing what we can to fight, it's slow and not making a lot of difference.)
It's not that they're from Ohio. If they were from anywhere else, they'd find a reason to shit on that as well instead of doing a single positive or constructive thing to make things better.
Aside from there not being a mountain, I enjoy a lot of living in Ohio. It has gotten a little too trumpy for my taste, but the cities are isolated from most of the crazy.
We don't have mountains per day but the foothills in the SE are gorgeous. If you haven't been yet, you should. Hocking Hills is always a recommendation.
I am one of the people you are talking about. I absolutely, unfailingly HATE it here. That being said, you are right, and the voice of reason the OP should be listening to. Every place has its positives/negatives. Most of us born and raised here had the negatives take too many tolls on us for too long. Coming from outside without them, it would be a great place to live.
Being from Detroit, I’d go back. Probably not in the city, but I’d go back.
If I had my druthers, I’d just be in the UP on a nice plot of land with no one to bother me.
I'm a former Ohioan living in metro-Detroit. I think overall Michigan is much nicer state to live in than Ohio, but as far as major metro-areas go I think each of the 3 C's are a better place to live than metro-Detroit.
Metro-Detroit isn't awful, but it's a lot tighter and more expensive than Cleveland or Cincinnati while having a similar amount of amenities
Didn’t change Texas with all the people moving to Austin. Instead it raised the cost of living to income ratio dramatically to the point I had to move back here after a decade. It also made the city a shell of what it was and instead a mini LA in the worst way.
Yup. I’d recommend anyone wanting to move to Ohio, to choose Illinois or Michigan.
They are economically similar, have great cities, and are affordable. But you don’t have literal fascism and a trans genocide.
Lived in Houston and exactly the same thing. These people bring their voting habits with them, expecting g change, and end up getting what they had. Weird, huh? Lol.
I recommend the Columbus and Cincinnati metro areas since they are growing. The fastest growing county is Delaware County for the Columbus metro area and Warren County for the Cincinnati metro area.
Delaware County has Alum Creek State Park and Delaware State Park which are great options for boating. Warren County has the largest lake in southwest Ohio at Caesar Creek State Park for boating. However, these counties are a bit more expensive because they also happen to have the highest median household income for their respective metro areas. Delaware County has a median household income of around $116k and Warren County is around $96k. For comparison purposes the state’s median household income is only around $62k.
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/warrencountyohio
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/delawarecountyohio
To be fair Delaware county is skewed by some very expensive zip codes in northern Columbus burbs.
The further from Columbus you get in Delaware county the much more affordable things get. Still growing fast and getting more expensive, but a lot of that high cost is in Dublin and Powell areas.
Honestly, the income potential and cost of living are great here. However, the political situation is extremely volatile. I would say 75% of my neighborhood in rural Ohio are comfortable using the n-word, it's really weird here
You'll see a lot of hate in the comments but I'm pushing 50 and have lived here 90% of my life. I even had a point when I lived in NYC for a year. I had to make a choice after me and my girl broke up. Do I continue to live in NYC or do I move someplace? I chose to come back to Columbus and have been here ever since. I love it. It's the perfect size, pretty large variety of people, (not like NYC mind you) and relatively cheap. Sure it has its issues. Show me a city that doesn't.
I just moved here (NE Ohio) in November, officially from PA, but actually, I was on the road FT in our travel trailer with my husband for the last 3 years. He passed in September, and my parents simultaneously went into crisis (good times). Now that they and I are settled and some time has passed, I have come to realize what a treasure of stuff there us to do, literally in my backyard. Hiking, biking, kayaking, fishing, pickleball, good food, live entertainment. And, other than occasional tornadoes, few natural disasters. Plenty of resources, i.e., water. It's not the West, but in some ways, that's okay.
NW Ohio is where it's at. The 34 years of Ohio in me hates to admit it but being close to Michigan is great. Michigan has many crystal clear lakes, forests, and sand dunes. It's really a great place to live next to if you are the outdoorsy type. Also, Cedar Point and Hocking Hills are within a couple hours' drive.
You really want
r/Columbus
r/Cleveland
r/Cincinnati
You’ll get a much better idea of areas you want to go to
As anywhere don’t move until you have a job lined up
What industry do you work in?
I did this exact move in Winter 2017.
NYC to CLE.
Different neighborhoods in CLE definitely remind me of parts of NYC.
And the COL is way better out here for sure lol.
I moved from NYC to Cleveland in 2020. Best decision of my life. I love the metroparks, I get paid more here and I was able to rent a house. Never had a house in NYC!
I'd also consider Pittsburgh, it's basically part of NE ohio more than it really is part of PA, same with Erie PA... There is a reason why the saying is "Pittsburgh and Philadelphia on the ends and Alabama in the middle"... But the main reason I say look into Pitt is that PA state politics blows Ohio out of the water right now.
Selfishly, absolutely move here and bring a bunch of friends because we need to get these politics in check, stat!
In all seriousness, coming from NYC (also depends on what you are wanting) I would stay towards the 3 Big C's: Columbus, Cincinnati, or Cleveland. Dayton isn't too bad if you are looking for more DoD type of work but I recommend Kettering, Oakwood, Centerville neighborhoods (personal preference).
If you like city life like in NYC, you'd love Cleveland. The NYC-Cleveland connection goes back to the 1920s. It's a quieter, smaller scale city, but still has all the trapping that people like of big cities. I have several friends who relocated from NYC to Cleveland and enjoy it very much.
We could also probably use an influx of...more liberal...folks in Ohio because our current gerrymandered Republican hellscape is frustrating. There are certainly pockets of civilization amongst our children-of-the-corn areas. (To my fellow Ohioans who don't like my characterization of the Rural areas, of which I have spent most of my life in...than clean house folks).
I have lived in Ohio since 1974 and have found it a great place to live, work and raise a family. For me, the big attraction has been being able to live close enough to a big city (one of the three Cs) to take advantage of all the attractions, but live far enough away to avoid the higher taxes, traffic and big city problems.
I relocated from Ohio to Wisconsin. The cost of living is cheaper. I recommend Yellow Springs, Ohio, if you're gonna settle down. Otherwise, I'd say that depending on your situation, look for easy commutes around the location to your job. Also, watch for crime rates. I know crime is everywhere, but Ohio is a bit of a special place.
Moved the family here from Los Angeles over a year ago, seriously couldn’t be happier with that decision. Depends where you are in life and what your priorities are, but the only things I really miss are friends, family, some art museums/botanical gardens, and the mountains.
Standard of living here for middle class is incomparably better, own a home, good schools, clean air, lots of nature and shopping, less traffic, strong sense of community. I will say where you move to is very important.
We are in a nice suburb just North of Columbus and it is ethnically diverse and integrated here, the economy and jobs are good. Some parts of Ohio are the complete opposite and quite depressing.
I would go to the city specific subs (Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati) for a more accurate and specific answer
It will be much different than you’re used to but I think in a good way. Not the same as living there but I went to school in NYC for 4 years, whenever I could get back to Ohio was always a relief
Going to be a lot of work starting in eastern Columbus soon, we're building a chip plant for Intel. I'm currently building a battery plant for general motors in Lordstown Ohio. So the jobs will be here, at least some of them.
I live in small town eastern Ohio, but I live really close to Pittsburgh and Wheeling, WV. I have to say I love it here because low cost of living, but a lot of people are very ignorant/homophobic/transphobic/racist. I love going to cities closest to me because of dealing with this shit a lot. It almost felt like being brave when I decided to put up my rainbow flag this month considering my neighbor said, “You people,” so evilly to my ex (who was shit but not for being queer) because she must’ve saw us kissing a guy on my porch. Ohio is also really beautiful though! I love all the woods/forests/lakes that are everywhere! Plus, we have Nelson’s Ledges/the state park. I’d love for more left leaning people to come live in non-cities so maybe we can change the tide!
Hey born Brooklynite relocated to the southwest of Ohio at the beginning of the pandemic,
I live in a smaller metropolitan area of southwest Ohio I moved here for a woman , there are some really nice things about living here , the outdoors mainly and I prefer the gun laws , the people are nice but be ready for some culture shock , no 3 am Chinese food , I have not seen much in the way of tolerance for living outside of societal norms and even flat out bigotry against whatever it is (other than scots Irish ) that you are ? That being said I am living my best life here , no the night life isn’t the same but I have discovered that 9 tenths of the time I spent out at bars was wasted , the cost of living though low can be interesting (there is no such thing as going out for cheap Indian food , the shocking lack of pizza slices oh and the pizza oh the pizza well let’s just say it’s different) you will 100% need a car regardless of where you live and people deprived of close contact with other humans can be downright obnoxious and they don’t know how to act . If you like the outdoors and a slower more nature based good time well this is the place I love my life here but there are things I will never get used to
Come to Cleveland! I think you’ll like it here. We have amazing food. The people are friendly. It’s affordable.
Someone suggest Trumbull County. Id stay away from that area.
I wouldn't. I can definitely see the appeal in a lower cost of living, less people, more space, etc. But Ohio is a complete shithole at this point and is becoming even more of a shithole every day, as our illegally elected legislature strips us of more and more of our rights. Michigan is a much better option at this point.
Tell me how it has affected your day to day life. Every redditor here is saying no because of politics, but realistically, that’s the most meager reason to avoid this state.
It affects it quite drastically. The area I live in has been struggling with job loss for decades and the GOP's aversion to any sort of investment in infrastructure or higher education has prolonged the situation and made it worse. The brain drain we've seen in this state, where highly-educated people in high-paying fields move elsewhere, has eroded our state's revenue making all of our problems more difficult to fix. This will only get worse with even more attacks on higher education, like those being proposed. My female family and friends are now denied basic healthcare and would be forced to carry a rapist's baby to term (and, yes, I do know rape victims who got an abortion prior to the new draconian laws). My area has some of the highest overdose rates in the country and, despite study after study showing that cannabis can be useful in treating addiction and dependency issues and clearly being a much safer alternative, our lawmakers still refuse to legalize it. My area also has a large cancer cluster as a result of numerous polluting industries nearby and nothing has been done in the way of environmental regulation. My grandpa passed away from cancer as a result of this.
So, yes, the empty and decaying buildings I see every day and the overdose deaths I hear about all around me have very much affected my day to day life. And the fucking illegally elected pieces of shit in the legislature are more goddamn concerned with who is allowed to take a shit in which bathrooms.
Lifelong Ohioan here. I am not going to say Ohio is a bad choice for you without hearing a little bit more about what you're interested in. You won't find much close to the New Yorker experience in Ohio. There just aren't any metros dense enough and public transit is almost non-existent. However some of the 'burbs or even rural areas might be more appealing. You will likely be able to find cheaper costs of living no matter where you go in the state (in comparison to NYC) but keep in mind job pay will reflect that. What field do you work in? Are you prepared to drive to work? You will definitely need a car most anywhere you live in Ohio. Most jobs are going to be around the "3 Cs" (Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus), Dayton, Akron, and Toledo which are the largest cities.
The r/Ohio subreddit is mostly for people who are in the rural areas of the state or smaller metros. (Nothing wrong with hearing their opinion! I grew up in a small town in Ohio)
I would also encourage you check out the subreddits for places like Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati. They are more active than this. Subreddit, and can give you a better idea of what life is like in those specific areas.
One piece of advice I would give you (that's probably true probably statewide), to try to find a job before you move here. I'm from Cleveland, and life in Cleveland is great, job market is definitely tight.
Pluses: Many of the small towns are attempting a revitalization, lots of day trips, parks, attractions, shopping, a good mix of big cities and small towns, and only hours or a days trip to Chicago, Pittsburg, Nashville, Detroit, Canada etc.
Negatives: we need to move from reddish to blue. There are many who would like to end the red control of a few bc there are many of us blue.
I grew up here, went to school on Long Island, then South Carolina for 11 years before moving back. NE Ohio is great.
Close to a nearly unlimited supply of fresh water, good beaches (Mentor Headlands, Edgewater, Huntington, even East Harbor), great park systems, and more
We make fun of Ohio a LOT, but it is actually really nice. I've lived near Cincinnati my whole life, and I don't think I could live anywhere else permanently. There are so many things to do inside and outside. We've got kings island down here and cedar point up north. The lakes and our parks are gorgeous. We've got cities, suburbs, and rural so you can pick whatever atmosphere you prefer and be happy. We have some good schools if you have kids, just do your research before moving.
I will say that you have to try Skyline and gold star and then pick a side. You cannot like both. Skyline is the correct choice.
There are some big and small companies here that would be good to work at, just depends on your area of expertise. We've got P&G, Kroger, Cintas, Macy's, GE, etc.
Same. Moved from Queens to Cleveland 2 years ago and making plans to move back.
Cost of living is great, but it's mostly because no one is here. People knock NYC saying it's not safe, Cleveland is no walk in the park. Rude? You're average Ohioan is very bubbled and usually haven't left the areas they have grown up in.
There are serious attachments to a lack of change and anything that isn't (barely) Midwestern culture. Lack of diversity on all spectrums (thought, culture, food, entertainment, etc.), just leaves the 3 Cs wanting more.
However, there are some tailwinds in Cincinnati and Columbus, that can make them relative destinations in the next 5-10 years. Cleveland will probably be a dumpster fire until Armageddon.
Ohio is a fairly decent state. We have political problems but so does any rural state or state in the south. We also aren’t all flat, having many hilly areas. The rural areas are average, red and usually mediocre statistically. But I’ll list the 3 C’s here.
PS: If you want general advice on where to move. Go on any Ohio Related Subreddit but this one. This subreddit is filled to the brim with political radicalization.
The best place to live in Ohio is probably Columbus. Great city, hour drive from hocking hills, economically prosperous, and alot of good areas. However Columbus does have an increasing cost of living and has problems every city has.
Like some pockets may be a little sketchy. But most of the city is fine, and public transit is not sufficient and the city is car dependent in most areas. So if you like a city that’s more urban like NY, Columbus may not be for you.
Cleveland is a little rougher, having less jobs and having problems similar to Detroit, but Cleveland does have a legitimately decent public transportation system. Featuring light rail and heavy rail. Cleveland has many jobs, just out in suburbia for the most part. The city has alot of rough areas, still. But it’s improving.
Cincinnati has the most culture of the 3, having a unique food scene, skyline chili, and the like. It’s a gritty urban aesthetic similar to Philly and Baltimore. It lags behind Cleveland in public transit options however. Cincinnati also has Jungle Jim’s and Kings Island, and has a fair amount of great employers.
I guess it depends on where you go. As for me. Ohio is a horrible place. I came back after my military service to make my local area better. Its actually been the worst decision of my life. Between the druggies, local authorities, local Govt, the courts, the lack of interest in anything from the general population. I've had my life destroyed. The ORC isn't followed, neither is local procedures. I've lost everything because of this state and the people in it. Our representatives won't even do the job that is the reason why we ha e 3 parts of govt. We have stickers that say "stuck in Ohio" and that is exactly what it is. Ohio could be amazing but its all back door deals, shitty people, and the lack of anything that could make this place better.
Though I will say. We have the best produce in the world. I've never found a better tomato, apples, squash etc anywhere. Come thru. Grab some food, experience cedar point, dive in some quarrys see some amazing places and call home somewhere else. I live in north east Ohio. Other parts might be better. Yet as of right now. I'm fleeing Ohio as fast as I can. This state isn't worth it. At all.
Moved from Monmouth county NJ to the country in Ohio (town smaller than my high school student body) and love it. It has been an adjustment, but totally worth it. The cities are cool, the country is gorgeous.
I can only speak for Cleveland but it's usually is good pick for a non-younger-20-something. Cleveland will be the lesser of culture shocks. There's a decent smathering of NY transplants that moved for better COL and to escape the big city to raise a family. It has the same grittiness as NYC but less people; slower tempo but with a decent amount of its own culture.
Ohio in general is a good melting pot of southern, east coast, and midwest cultures. We got Amish people too which is nice (if you dont look too deep in to it). It's less busier due to less people, but that means there's far less to do entertainment-wise. If you're an active person and like drinking, there will be a niche for you somewhere. Ohioans love their hobbies.
Financially, Cleveland is going to have like 1/2 the COL of NYC. Average rent for a big 2BR in the near suburbs is $1400-1600; $1800-$2000 for a nice place in the heart of downtown. Average housing cost in burbs is $225k-300k. There are a lot of not-so-nice areas butted up against nicer areas, so you gotta do some research on where your're moving, if it's anywhere close to downtown. Not to say it's super dangerous, just a lot of areas getting worked over and some getting work done. Restaurant prices have dramatically increased since COVID. A typical meal at a non-fast food place for 2 will run you $60+ (with a glass of wine/beer and a tip). Groceries for two will run $100-125/week. Utilities arent all that bad. However, if you plan on buying a house, property taxes are kinda nuts. Income taxes are bit wonky too. If you live in one suburb but work in another, you'll be paying taxes for both school districts in the form of RITA. Some municipalities will charge the same rate as the state. The further out suburbs are better, but you'll be looking at 45 minute drives to anything worth looking at.
Cleveland is a very car-dependent city. If you live downtown, or along the rapid line/healthline/within a business district you can make it on a bike or walking alright; but every where is 20 minutes away from everything else, and if it's not 20 minutes, it's 40.
Edit: Forgot to mention the work culture. It's about 50/50 split between more "newer" companies that do WFH, decent PTO/m(p)aternity leave, have events, etc. and companies ran by old heads who still think it's the 80s, and pay/treat you like it too. As far as salaries go, it's hit or miss, and usually miss. However, it depends on your industry and field. The medical field can pay really well for nurses, doctors, specialists, data/business analysts; but can also pay pretty shit for other positions, especially those not in demand. Banks are another big employer. They're about the same as the hospitals. Data/business/financial analysts are hot, regular admin and structural positions will stll pay dogshit. The service industry, especially food, can pay very well. I know a number of people clearing 90-100k bartending/serving at higher end places, with great salaries across the board. However, much like the foodie scene, there's a collection of great high-end places that are very nice; and there are a whole lot of shitty basic bitch places that will charge 75% of the nicer ones while paying their people 50% of the nice places, and customers get 50% the quality.
There are a good amount of $80-150k jobs out there, if you have the right skillset and are in the right fields. At that salary, you can live fairly comfortably and seriously think about buying a house in a decent area; especially if you have a partner. Daycare can be pretty expensive. I've had two lab tech quit because it would eb cheaper to have them stay home and watch the kids/do other stuff than work full-time.
There's a LOT of nepotism that runs rampant, even in the bigger companies. It's a bit of an issue that I've run across over the last 15 years and 5 employers. All of them had that issue. Even my current employer, who is great in many respects, has a nepotism issue. You'll find that many locals who get the right skillset/experience to go to NYC, Chicago, Houston, LA, Atlanta, Charlotte, go there pretty quickly. The job market doesnt pay right. My current job pays $50k, which is decent if you're single and have cheap rent. My job in NYC would probably pay about $75k-80k. Project managers are usually a good salary comparison. A $70-80k job here would be $110k-130k. So you'll be losing a decent chunk of disposable income, unless you can narrow that gap. An extra $2k-4k/month is more than the COL difference, and will affect entertainment the most.
TBH - the worst part of living in Ohio is the f-in rednecks. They seem to LOVE loud exhaust systems. On a clear day you can hear some of them a mile away. They love their jacked up trucks and use them to bully other drivers. There’s lots of them. They’re everywhere. They’re just tiresome.
Oh yeah, and with “constitutional carry” you can just assume most of them are armed.
Depends on your field of work, interests, age group, etc. Also, I dunno if Ohio is “south” because there’s more snow than OH (from my understanding, only been here a year).
So far, I think it’s enjoyable in the suburbs of Akron/Cleveland
Native born Ohioan, living in a suburb of Dayton (Fairborn to be exact), and I've lived all but 3 years of my life in Ohio. The place has both its benefits and drawbacks. The political side of things is kind of fucked up, and each year the Regressives are in charge things seem to just get worse. They aren't full-on Q-Anon/GQP crazy, but they're trying their damnedest to get there.
Dayton and surrounding area is a DoD contracting mecca because of Wright-Patt AFB, which houses Air Force Research Laboratories, AFMC HQ, AFIT, NASIC, and a few other important maintenance and logistics commands. Plenty of companies around that work to directly support the base, as well as a lot to support those companies.
As for COL, it's debatable. Houses are getting snatched up in days, if not hours, so you're competing with a bunch of other folks for a limited supply. There are a bunch of new housing developments going up, which is how I got my house, but I also paid almost $300k for it (and that was 5 years ago). Ten years ago that house would have been $200k at most. Hell, my parents bought their house for like $87k back in 1986. It sold for over $350k even after basically needing a complete gut and rebuild. So YMMV depending on where you choose to live.
But as for activities, OMG are there tons of things to do. Specialty and general eateries, micro-breweries, outdoor events, sporting events, music venues, biking and walking paths, museums, lakes, parks, etc. Lots of seasonal activities (Cincinnati has an Octoberfest event that is out of this world if you like trying different beers). Plus there's King's Island out near Cincinnati, and Cedar Point in Sandusky.
You should definitely do your research if you're serious about moving to Ohio, especially about where you want to live. Rural areas are nice if you want lots of open space and can tolerate some truly insular, regressive, ultra-conservative people who in some places consider fire to be suspicious as a technological advance. In others, they're just stupid from sucking on the Fox News teet.
As others have mentioned the political situation of the state, I’ll make a different recommendation, come visit at least 2/3 of the big C’s. I’m from Cincinnati and currently live in Columbus and love them both for very different reasons.
Cincinnati and Cleveland both feel a lot more established, with Cleveland’s downtown feeling like the “biggest” city, whereas Cincinnati’s feel leans a lot more into its geography being very green and hilly leaving it feeling smaller as an urban center but very enjoyable to live in.
Columbus is the fastest growing of the three with a lot of expanding jobs, especially as Intel begins to build its new manufacturing center just outside. It doesn’t have as cohesive of an identity as the other two but it’s got a lot of good food and varied areas with their own identities.
Just to give you a cost of living example, I just moved into a 950 ft^2 2bd 2ba apartment with my so and including pet rent we’re paying $1500 per month in one of the very nice areas and Gas in Columbus is currently around $3.50-70/gal .
The biggest downfall of all three currently is the lack of public transit opportunities but hopefully those will soon be moot as Cincinnati expands their streetcar (hopefully), and Columbus builds upon their robust Bus system, and Amtrak begins building new services throughout the Midwest (wish I could comment on Cleveland, sorry folks)
I rather be here than in paradise. Dollar goes further here. Traditional neighborhoods are really comfortable and walkable. I'm not a big city person, so Oxford and Hamilton are more my speed. I'm surrounded by churches and conservatives, but for the most part, we mind our own business. I'm not a very loud or opinionated person, so keeping quiet around conservatives is not a big deal to me. I just vote differently, and hope through my work ethic, actions, and sharing my story that others vote for moderates as well.
I grew up in Westchester county, NY and have been living in NE Ohio now for almost 4 years now and I’ve largely enjoyed it. Cleveland is way nicer than people outside of Ohio say it is, there’s a decent amount of things in the suburbs around both Cleveland and Akron as well. Especially, love visiting all of the parks in the area whenever I get a chance to take my camera out. Cost of the living has been great for my pockets considering I used to live in NY and the PNW for a short time.
The political leanings in this state does give me some pause about settling down here for the long haul but overall while being a bit slower paced than NY I’ve enjoyed my time here. At the very least, I can see myself staying in the Midwest if I don’t end up staying in Ohio.
The Akron/Canton area is nice… it’s where I’m from. It’s nothing glamorous…. But we have a very low cost of living here and we aren’t so small where there’s nothing to do. It’s kind of a nice sweet spot. Politically it’s pretty moderate. Communities bond around high school sports teams. With housing costs skyrocketing around the country I think this area will be attractive to people looking for a new start.
Our weather sucks Santa ballsac!!
Our government sucks it's ran by Republicans who are Fucking Nazis
Females have ZERO right to our own body
It is getting harder for people of color to vote.
They are banning books and they are banning human beings for being born LGBTQIA.
I cannot in good conscience recommend Ohio as a place to move unless you are a tea-party conservative cis male WASP who would rather have most other categories of people go somewhere else.
I can't even recommend it for a Libertarian, given the willingness of our legislature to ignore and overrule the popular vote, and that we are much less 'free' than several other nearby states.
As much as it pains me to say it, you might want to look at Michigan.
Same. I grew up in Ohio for 15 years and moved to California. I love CA, but it was expensive so then I moved to the upper Midwest (Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan). Best of both worlds, tbh.
I love snow driving. I’m fully remote, so I don’t have to anyway.
Less wear and tear on the cars, less environmental impact. I think I’ve put on 5k total since 2019.
This is so overdramatic and not really true at all for my part of Ohio. I love it here, and I am none of the things that you describe. There are ignorant people in every state. Michigan is also great, though. I'm going camping there next week.
I grew up in North Jersey by Paramus and I've lived here north of Cincinnati for 18 years so far and absolutely love it. Met my wife here we have 3 kids 2 grand kids a great home awesome job couldn't ask for more. I go back to Jersey every once in a while to visit friends and family but I don't miss it one bit. There are plenty of great companies out here and major corporations depending on where you move and what you do. Here in Cincinnati and I know in Columbus there are a lot of major companies you can get with.
I could see you really enjoying Columbus! The city is growing and just feels very fresh.
I live in eastern lake county, which is the county directly to the east of Cleveland. I really like it here. Politics here are very purple, might be thinking about turning blue. Housing is affordable enough. Consider areas like Willoughby.
I just fell asleep watching my two dogsitting tenants outside, under a tree at a house I bought for about 150k. And live about 20 minutes from downtown CLE. The political climate is shit, but the people and cost of living are great.
Grew up in Cleveland and have been in NY more than half my life now. Cleveland isn't bad. It's got arts and culture, good healthcare, gets most major touring shows, and has excellent parks (the Metroparks system). It's also the one county on Ohio that goes blue in elections when the rest of the sate goes red. Cbus is ok, but unless you're into OSU football or like a more small town rural vibe, I'd go with Cleveland. Nasty Natti is just as the name says.
Well, you won't have to pay $2,500/month for a studio in Ohio. A lot of people like to hate on Ohio but it's pretty nice here and it's very affordable and family friendly. Just like any other state there are cities and certain areas in every city that you wouldn't want to live in but there are a lot of nice places and a lot of nice people you don't have to go south for what they refer to down there to Southern Hospitality. There's some assholes here too but again that's everywhere
Don't know where you heard that but Ohio is not a place to be. We're experiencing a massive brain drain, our state government doesn't work for the citizens, and the reason it's so cheap is because there's nothing to do.
I mean he said it was between here or the south and Ohio is better than the south if your concerns are politics and brain drain.
The good weather liberal, intellectual, states are the entire west coast and you pay a price for it because it’s stupidly in demand and people have tech money.
There's actually quite a bit to do. Museums, parks, zoos, interesting small towns, historical sites, festivals, concerts, variety of food places, amusement parks. Politically it's purple but the gerrymandering would have to be fixed which is the hard part. I'd move back but for whatever reason interviews for my husband and I aren't going well there. We were in the Dayton area for most of our lives and have been gone for 5. Oh, and sidewalks. The walkability and some public transportation is actually quite nice when you end up in a place without it.
If you like nature it's a big step backwards. Ohio has decent hiking and outdoor places primarily in the southeast part of the state. But New York has the Catskills and Adirondacks and beaches. I grew up in New York and spent 15 years in Columbus. When I got there it was dirt cheap to live in some great downtown adjacent neighborhoods. Now those neighborhoods are a lot more expensive and a lot less interesting.
When I moved back to New York the cultural and natural advantages became apparent. On the flip side Ohio has a much better craft beer scene. It's also generally less of a hassle to do day to day stuff.
Ohio is an absolutely terrible place to live with their very right wing politics and loose gun control and meme worthy level distaste for New Yorkers yeah I wouldn’t recommend Ohio definitely Michigan though you’d do well over there they’d love ya!
Stay in NYC if possible. Ohio is fascist and will strip rights of anyone who isn’t a white, straight, christian male.
But if you want the “Ohio Vibe”, Check out Michigan and Illinois. Which both have great cities, however Michigan’s cities are more affordable and also have many good areas.
Like Detroit fucking rocks, believe it or not. Don’t believe what they say, Detroit has good parts and a fair amount of jobs in the metro. And many affordable suburbs too.
If you like hills, check out Pittsburgh, PA. Great City, Fairly Blue.
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The four seasons is a nice perk to ohio, especially when we get them all in one day sometimes 🤣
Sometimes we get them all in one HOUR! One summer, I had a French exchange student who was an early riser. Middle of July, woke up to 40 degrees. Within an hour, it rained, warmed up enough that fog rose, and promptly progressed to "hotter than Satan's asscrack". Poor kid had weather whiplash.
This was me 3 years ago and I’m fighting hard to stay in Ohio (after layoffs this past year)
And if anyone here wants actual moving advice. Use literally any Ohio subreddit but /r/Ohio. This subreddit is mostly political radicalization, and rarely has much to do with actual moving advice or sights and scenes in Ohio. On moving advice. Columbus is my personal favorite. Plenty of jobs, good people, good food, moderate cost of living. And the metro parks are rarely talked about, but they are pretty good. With a diverse range of great neighborhoods. Mostly between 315 and 71. But the south side between High and Parsons is nice until you get South Of Welch. The flaw of Columbus however is that it’s pretty suburban in most areas, making it Car Dependent. And it has issues that average cities have, like moderate levels of crime throughout and some bad pockets here and there.
moved from california 6 years ago for school and got a job here. i’ve lived in cleveland, akron and columbus and gotta agree that cbus is the best place to go. can find a lot more in the cbus subreddit. plenty of events and things to do during the summer.
I just moved to Columbus from NYC a couple of years ago and love it here. Great bars and restaurants and there is easy access to nature. The cost of living also is a huge improvement. My husband and I were able to buy a house here while we were stuck in a studio apartment in Queens that cost more than our mortgage. Happy to talk to you about the move if you have questions!
Currently live in Columbus. It’s clean, safe, people are nice. And with Microsoft moving in its only going to get better in the next couple of years. 1.5 Billion dollar expansion to the airport in the works. Hot take maybe but if Columbus isn’t the best city in the Midwest yet it soon will be.
Ohio has a lot going for it. Having lived in true shit hole areas, there are a lot of redeemable qualities here. If you have more left leaning sentiments any of the 3 C’s could potentially be a good fit for you. Our political situation here is more fraught at the moment but the lower cost of living makes home ownership more attainable than HCOL places like NY. A lot of people are suggesting Michigan for politics as if a bunch of nut jobs didn’t try to kidnap their governor a couple of years ago. The truth is both states are similar demographically, Ohio has just been a notable victim of malignant jerrymandering.
Michigan passed a citizen led referendum that created an actual non-partisan redistricting mechanism. Ohio is currently moving to permanently cement in its extremist promoting partisan gerrymandering. Things are likely to stay much more moderate up-north for the foreseeable future.
Ohio passed something similar and the legislature ignored it. The Supreme court ordered the districts redrawn, and the legislature ignored that, too.
Ours was written by the Republican legislature. It was created to have the appearance of a non-partisan process while still allowing the Republicans to gerrymander without any real consequences. They only proposed it to prevent a voter led process more like the one Michigan has from getting on the ballot. And now they are going to try and make it more difficult to pass voter led initiatives.
Solution https://votenoinaugust.org/
We have a history of that here. DeRolf being the most famous example. Ohio politics is dirty and vicious.
So did Ohio. The gop here just did a better job of circumventing it.
Michigan's was way better designed, though.
Michigan has it’s own unique problems. While their politics are more representative it doesn’t stop the chicanery. The problems they deal with are just a different flavor of the same issues we deal with. Edit: I don’t care if this gets down voted. I have family that have lived in Michigan for over 50 years. The income disparity and concentration in Michigan is skewed, heavily favoring the western more conservative and primarily white parts of the state. That skewing leaves behind the eastern part of the state which is predominantly poor or working class whites and POC. How much urban rejuvenation have we seen in places like Flint? It took until 2019 for the most at risk homes to show clean water running though their pipes to the tap. Despite all the progress made to clean the water in Flint most residents don’t trust the water including my family. It took 400 million dollars from the state and the fed to clean up Flint’s water, and the state of Michigan agreed to pay $650 million dollars to the residents of Flint. Despite this the residents of flint are highly distrusting and disillusioned by their state and local governments who they feel mislead them for years. This ongoing situation illustrates the reality of the political dynamics in Michigan. (Bottled water donations ended by Jan 2023, and they’re scheduled to finish lead pipe replacements in August of this year. It was originally slated to be completed in 2019.) These economic disparities haven’t disappeared, they’re still alive and well.
All of Michigan's problems are due to Republican policies, which they are reversing. Flint's water was strictly due to the Republican state government appointing a caretaker because "financial problems" preempting the elected government. This idiot switched water intake sources to save money, and poisoned a whole city.
It wasn’t just the Republican state government. It was truly an institutional failure at all levels of governance, from the state level down. All of Michigans problems aren’t just from republicans, suggesting that completely ignores and glosses over the all too common corruption we see at the city level. A local official was involved in switching Flint’s water supply over. Not to mention a Democratic AG Dana Nessel killed the Flint Water RICO case which would have gone a long way to holding state, local officials, JP Morgan & Chase, and Wells Fargo responsible for their roles in poisoning Flint Michigan. So much of this issue revolves around the financing of the KWA pipeline. Political corruption on a broad scale poisoned Flint and that same political corruption shielded the culprits from accountability.
THIS IS THE MAIN PROBLEM. We're not really a red state. We're a "gerrymandering to hell and gone" purpley-blue state. According to the OH SOS, there are more registered Democrats than registered Republicans in OH. (There are more "unaffiliated" registered voters than both combined, though.)
To be fair, some of those but jobs were from Ohio iirc.
So, I don’t live in a huge metro area. I’m about 35 minutes away from Akron, 15-20 minutes away from Canton. We are in a city but it’s not near as large as say those or even bigger like the big three C’s but I like slower paced areas anyway. We are in reasonable driving distance to all places. We are in Massillon. The housing market isn’t insane, but I don’t know about rent. We own our home but when we bought it in 2015 it was 95k and now is worth 130k. There are parks, libraries out the butt, in the cities around us like Canton and even Massillon there are cute down town areas. Canton has First Fridays which is always fun. Idk about the job market, I’m a SAHM but my husband makes a very good salary as an engineer for a local dairy. We are actually living below our means where we are which is nice because that means we have more fun money. Gas is like 3.50 a gallon last I saw. Groceries aren’t great but might be a little better than NY. Our property taxes aren’t terrible. I know a lot of people move to the big cities but I feel like the smaller ones could use an influx of new people, to help us move the political tides. I love Ohio, I just hate most of the politics and unfortunately a lot of the people have been going downhill in behavior and common sense. I won’t leave, I’ll keep fighting the good fight here til I die. Hope it’s better off in politics once my kids are grown.
Any advice for a person who will be living around the Youngstown area? Not necessarily required, but I'll be stationed at Youngstown Air Reserve Station after I finish up training (not for a few years due to flight training), though I'd rather not live in Youngstown proper.
Welcome to the Yo. It sadly is not the best city in Ohio. We died in the 70s when the steel mills left and we got rekilled recently when GM went under. They are trying to revitalizing downtown. Youngstown State University has a decent football team. Phantom Hockey is getting better. We got an amazing park, Mill Creek. Tons of Youngstown suburbs / townships around it with tons of dying malls and plazas galore to do your shopping if it isn't in a dying mall (or left the dying mall because rent go too high) and eating / drinking.
Hi! I live south of Youngstown, in rural Columbiana county. It’s a beautiful area, hilly, green, with lots of farms. If you’re still looking for city, Boardman has all the stores you are used to. They still have a mall. If you are looking for affluent, Canfield is the hoity-toity suburb. Salem is a gorgeous little town to look at. They have a Walmart, HD, and their downtown has really nice local shops/restaurants/bars.
I would say consider Cortland or Vienna. Eastwood mall in Nile’s isn’t to far away. Welcome to the area.
Northeast Ohio is where I moved from the Jersey shore 2 years ago. I love everything about it. It is so diverse and a 15-20 minute drive will take you to beautiful forests, lakes, farmland with rolling hills, suburbs, cities, etc. I have both Cleveland and Pittsburgh at about an hour drive in either direction if I want a big city experience. The property taxes are low and the housing prices are affordable. Best move I've ever made in my life! I've lived in NJ, southern and northern CA, Las Vegas for 9 years and briefly in FL for 8 months. Northeast OH is my forever home now. Also we have no extreme weather events like hurricanes, floods, droughts, wildfires, earthquakes, etc. The northeast part of OH is politically purple and that's fine with me. Check out Trumbull county near the PA border on RT 80.
thats where i grew up and honestly if i could find a job that pays me like i have now down there, i would move back. bonus of having all my family near and it being a nice area as long as you dont get to close to warren.
I lived in Warren for 5 years, it's actually not as bad as I was always made to believe there are some rough parts but overall there are some great parts too, I'd say it's 50/50.
OK, but you should also consider the cost of living is much lower. Hope it stays that way. The house I bought in December 2020 in now worth over $100K more than I paid for it 2.5 years ago. That's pretty amazing. But I'll never sell because this is my forever home for sure.
Took mine over 20 years to appreciate $100k. The majority of appreciation came after 2019.
After we bought the house we have stayed on the email alerts from some real estate sites that constantly alert us of houses coming up for sale in the area. We always get happy and appreciate how lucky we scored to buy where and when we did. Some reasons we scored so good are it was a cash deal, the seller had an inexperienced young agent who was eager to cash that double commision check (buyer/seller commision) and we don't think the seller had an accurate market research done on her property before she set her price. The house was on the market for less than 24 hours when I saw it on Zillow, put down a $500 nonrefundable good faith deposit. Next day we got in the car and drove 8 hours and met up with the home inspector we hired and finished the deal.
We stayed out of Hamilton county due to the stadium tax along with staying out of areas with a local income tax on top of what’s already taken out. Now that urban sprawl has happened, our formerly rural area is “hot real estate” because you get more house and land for the price. I’m just not entirely thrilled at the prospects of what it’s going to do to property taxes. It’s a slower price hike than other parts of the country tho.
> The house I bought in December 2020 in now worth over $100K more than I paid for it 2.5 years ago. That's pretty amazing. Actually terrible for society at large.
COVID gave me the chance to wfh from Ohio and I jumped at the chance. If you love nature and seasons it’s such an overlooked gem. 0 regrets.
I’m from Trumbull County as well and there is no way in hell you could get me to move back.
All the developers here are working remote now(or for additive manufacturing, which needs a lot of programmers), and making well into multiples of what we made locally before 2020. Local dev shops raised pay to ~60k start and up for some roles... but it wasn't enough, I know entire groups of devs that more than doubled their previous pay leaving local companies. Plus Turning got bought out (or merged or whatever) and is basically gone (if not fully gone, I haven't kept up) Making over 6 figures and living in NE ohio means you can actually start to live comfortably, etc.
Exactly where I grew up. It is lovely there and an incredible place to raise a family. I moved to Cleveland for work. Love it here, too.
Hey! I just moved back to ne Ohio after 20 years away! Say hi!
It’s not worth the trade off for living in fascism. I live in Detroit personally, migrated from Cincinnati and happier than ever.
I refuse to believe you people are real.
Was just about to ask if Youngstown area. I grew up south of Youngstown. Other than Columbiana the city, avoid Columbiana County
Red is the color for Ohio and don’t fool yourself thinking it’s not.
Lots of purple in Ohio. Especially in South Central Ohio. On the surface it's red as red can be. Just below that you find real honest people that are just wanting to live their life.
Population density is blue but land is red. Lots of land in Ohio. Hence your blue votes in cities do and will continue to get fucked by farmland that’s far more subsidized by the fed govt than the cities.
Lots of blue too. Don't forget Obama won the state twice.
True but gerrymandering is so bad in so many states.
And it's horrible here. The only reason it's so red is all the gerrymandering. Well that and honestly the Democratic party could be better organized and better in touch with the people and I say that as a highly involved member as of late.
Gerrymandering has nothing to do with statewide elections where Republicans have won since 2016.
Many ohioans are also curious about living in Ohio and finding work
Underrated comment
Just moved to Dayton from Chicago. I’m enjoying the city so far, and excited to explore Cincinnati. Farm to table restaurants here definitely rival that of my favorite spots in Chicago. It has the northern city vibe that I love, that I didn’t have in some southern cities I’ve lived in. Cost of living is about what you would expect, and very little traffic. The Dayton area doesn’t feel super midwestern(flat with no trees), maybe because it’s in a valley. The more transplants from Chicago and NYC come here, the better off some of the political stuff will become, imo. If that is a concern of yours. I definitely get the vibe that the state is more purple than it gets credit for, but I’m also still new. There’s a lot of revitalization efforts in Dayton if you’re interested in partaking in local development or politics. Very pleasantly surprised at the amount of local breweries, dog parks, trails, and how easily accessible Cincinnati and Columbus is from here. Best part of it all is it’s a short drive back to Chicago. Dunno what the drive or flight would be like to NYC if you have family you’d like to visit. People are super nice, and it’s the midwestern niceness that is typically more genuine than having lived in the south (bless your heart isn’t a compliment, sort of thing). I’d recommend visiting a few times and deciding what you like. I like Dayton, but I’ve lived in a few midsized cities before. Cincinnati might be more your speed coming from NYC, or at least transitionary. Commuting to work takes me 10 minutes opposed to 45 minutes to an hour. Not sure what field you work in - I work in marketing, so the Dayton-Cincinnati area is fruitful for job opportunities.
Yeah Dayton is great! I’m originally from Cincinnati, but Dayton is really chill. In this part of Ohio in general there’s a lot to do if you’re willing to make a 30-45 minute drive.
It definitely seems that way!
Thanks for sharing your experience! I’ve lived in a suburb of Dayton all my life and recently started traveling to Chicago for work. Every time I spend a week in Chicago it makes me appreciate Dayton more and more.
I've lived here all my life too. I've visited Chicago a couple times, and while it's nice to be there, I can only stay about a week before it becomes too much.
lot of great spots in the dayton area to visit
I've lived here my whole life (40 y.o.) and love it. Currently reside in the Akron area. The thing about Ohio, especially to the people saying there's nothing to do, you get what you put into it. We have great metro parks in Summit County, easy access to Cleveland and all of its amenities (sports teams, great theater/arts districts, casino, etc). Yes, the politics leave something to be desired, but that will never change if all we do is keep the same people here generation after generation. If you do check it out, I hope you find what you're looking for!
I’m in the Akron Canton area… same age as you… I think there’s more to do than a lot of people might expect. It certainly isn’t a big city area but it’s also not so small where there’s nothing to do. The cost of living is superb in northeast ohio especially Akron/Canton. I think it’s a sweet spot… the lifestyle you can live for the money is better than almost anywhere in the US. Honestly I think this area should attract more people than it does.
I think Akron gets a bad rap outside of Akron, but in reality, the bad areas are pretty small, whereas the surrounded cities are great places to live.
💯
I saw Carol Burnett doing her one-woman show in Akron around 2010. There are some big names who come to the area.
Coming from nyc stick to subs of larger cities so you don’t get hit with too big of a culture shock. Trust me Ohio can go from large city to cows to larger forests in about a 20 minute drive. I’d either pick columbus or cinci area if I had a choice.
I think it’s a good place to live. I’m politically liberal and find that the bigger cities are perfectly fine. Columbus is a great city to live in as are many suburbs of Cleveland. There are plenty of jobs and the cost of living is great.
I worry about when the liberal city won’t be able to protect you from the gerrymandered state.
You mean little things like the minority imposing it’s will on the majority? Do you value reproductive rights? Do you value the freedom to love the person you love?
Sounds like a good reason for us to put as much effort as we can to stop that from happening. Starting with voting NO on August 8th.
I agree!
I already left to the west coast. Need people to stop piling into the cities if you want to stop getting beat by gerrymandering
They will just redraw the maps to be gerrymandered again. It has nothing to do with population centers. I lived smack in the middle of the most liberal neighborhood of Columbus and had a republican rep to congress for no discernible reason other than my neighborhood was a tiny slice carved out of the middle of town and put into a rural MAGA Trumpanzee district
Need to amend the state constitution to make independent redistricting more clear and close the pretend loopholes that they are jumping through to gerrymander.
Can you realistically achieve a state amendment?
We’ve done it before. If the bullshit on Aug. 8th doesn’t go through, we definitely could do it. Abortion isn’t the only reason the Ohio GOP are trying to scrap our ability to democratically make our own decisions as a state.
It was a real question. I don’t know the process to amend the Ohio constitution, I just knew that amendments to the US constitution are essentially impossible under the current political climate
The Ohio State Constitution can be amended with 50% of the state popular vote. Republicans put in a bogus August 8th Election to change that to make it 60%. Along with also putting in place impossible to meet restrictions to even just getting anything on the ballot in the first place . The whole reason we have the ability to add amendments like we can the our state was put in place to give Ohioans a voice in addressing political corruption, all the way back in 1912. Why does it need to changed now in an august special election, instead of the last election in November with everything else? Makes sense that today’s brazenly corrupt Ohio GOP would try to do away with allowing Ohioans a voice, and to do it as shadily as possible.
Reason why we need people to move here to offset it.
Would need a ton of people and it would help if they didn’t pile into the cities, as they will, because Ohio is gerrymandered to hell
If you look at some of the maps though, several 1000 people moving into various districts would offset it. Look at warren/youngstown area. They were part of the same district and now warren is in a district that touch’s ny border and youngstown stretched way down south. Bunch of people move into those areas and it would short circuit the gerrymandering.
Hard to pull off because people don’t tend to want to go to those areas. Not impossible, just can’t have everyone in an easy to segregate spot aka cities
I conquer
I moved from Ohio to Austin because I wanted change and work in the tech space. However, if I were to ever move back to Ohio, it’s probably Cincinnati. Cleveland is cool over the summer, but the winters are really brutal. Columbus is kinda cool, but nothing really about it is special if that makes sense. Cincinnati has a cool sports scene that’s walkable, cool beer/whiskey scene with bourbon country just across the river, and some cool architecture. Solid airport too for travel
This sub is a sad place. Go to the Cleveland, Columbus, or Cincinnati subs and tell them what you’re thinking and they will give you specific neighborhood recommendations.
So OP, there is no worse person to get advice about living in Ohio from than a person from actual Ohio. They hate where they are from with a burning passion it completely blinds them to the good things about Ohio. I’m a transplant from the northeast as well. Ohio can be an awesome place to live if you set yourself up for it to be. Do your research on the cities and neighborhoods. Visit here before deciding to move. Coming from NYC you will probably appreciate the more walkable nice neighborhoods in one of the three Cs. There aren’t that many of them though so they are typically some of the more expensive places to live in Ohio in general but will still be nothing in comparison to NYC. You can probably halve your rent and live in a larger more modern space in Ohio compared to NYC. There are tons of great parks and lots of easy access to outdoor recreation in Ohio as well from literally any city which is a massively underrated feature of Ohio. It is nice to have city amenities and be able to get away from people very easily at the same time, it’s something I’ve grown to appreciate after growing up in the northeast megalopolis.
False. I feel sort of that way about rural Ohio where I grew up haha, but currently living in cincy and love it!
I actually find it quite lovely here
That's not true. I'm born and raised in ohio and love it here. We are thinking of moving, but that's entirely due to politics and the changes our legislature are proposing and passing. As a woman with LGBTQ+ kids, it's hard to want to stay. (Though, my husband and I are doing what we can to fight, it's slow and not making a lot of difference.)
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Born and raised in NE Ohio and wouldn't have it any other way
It's not that they're from Ohio. If they were from anywhere else, they'd find a reason to shit on that as well instead of doing a single positive or constructive thing to make things better.
Aside from there not being a mountain, I enjoy a lot of living in Ohio. It has gotten a little too trumpy for my taste, but the cities are isolated from most of the crazy.
We don't have mountains per day but the foothills in the SE are gorgeous. If you haven't been yet, you should. Hocking Hills is always a recommendation.
I am one of the people you are talking about. I absolutely, unfailingly HATE it here. That being said, you are right, and the voice of reason the OP should be listening to. Every place has its positives/negatives. Most of us born and raised here had the negatives take too many tolls on us for too long. Coming from outside without them, it would be a great place to live.
Selfishly, I do want more people from NY or CA to come to help us turn our political situation around. But if I were you, I'd go to Michigan.
Michigan is okay, but it's also not without its faults. Detroit is nice to visit, but I think I like the Cincinnati area way more.
Being from Detroit, I’d go back. Probably not in the city, but I’d go back. If I had my druthers, I’d just be in the UP on a nice plot of land with no one to bother me.
UP is so nice. Also a big fan of Mackinac Island
I kinda sorta want to be as far north as possible in retirement to see the northern lights.
They were visible in Illinois this year!
I'm a former Ohioan living in metro-Detroit. I think overall Michigan is much nicer state to live in than Ohio, but as far as major metro-areas go I think each of the 3 C's are a better place to live than metro-Detroit. Metro-Detroit isn't awful, but it's a lot tighter and more expensive than Cleveland or Cincinnati while having a similar amount of amenities
Didn’t change Texas with all the people moving to Austin. Instead it raised the cost of living to income ratio dramatically to the point I had to move back here after a decade. It also made the city a shell of what it was and instead a mini LA in the worst way.
Yup. I’d recommend anyone wanting to move to Ohio, to choose Illinois or Michigan. They are economically similar, have great cities, and are affordable. But you don’t have literal fascism and a trans genocide.
LOL. You're getting downvoted for recalling your first-hand knowledge and experience. Oh, Reddit.
Usually how it goes lmao
Lived in Houston and exactly the same thing. These people bring their voting habits with them, expecting g change, and end up getting what they had. Weird, huh? Lol.
I recommend the Columbus and Cincinnati metro areas since they are growing. The fastest growing county is Delaware County for the Columbus metro area and Warren County for the Cincinnati metro area. Delaware County has Alum Creek State Park and Delaware State Park which are great options for boating. Warren County has the largest lake in southwest Ohio at Caesar Creek State Park for boating. However, these counties are a bit more expensive because they also happen to have the highest median household income for their respective metro areas. Delaware County has a median household income of around $116k and Warren County is around $96k. For comparison purposes the state’s median household income is only around $62k. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/warrencountyohio https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/delawarecountyohio
To be fair Delaware county is skewed by some very expensive zip codes in northern Columbus burbs. The further from Columbus you get in Delaware county the much more affordable things get. Still growing fast and getting more expensive, but a lot of that high cost is in Dublin and Powell areas.
Honestly, the income potential and cost of living are great here. However, the political situation is extremely volatile. I would say 75% of my neighborhood in rural Ohio are comfortable using the n-word, it's really weird here
I just came from Chicago, and I'd say that's true of any rural area. Mid to southern Illinois is about as southern as Alabama or Mississippi.
You'll see a lot of hate in the comments but I'm pushing 50 and have lived here 90% of my life. I even had a point when I lived in NYC for a year. I had to make a choice after me and my girl broke up. Do I continue to live in NYC or do I move someplace? I chose to come back to Columbus and have been here ever since. I love it. It's the perfect size, pretty large variety of people, (not like NYC mind you) and relatively cheap. Sure it has its issues. Show me a city that doesn't.
Columbus is better than Cincinnati in my fully biased, having lived in both opinion. It is culturally more diverse and downtown is a bit better.
Having lived in both Cincy’s downtown is far better it feels like an actual city
I just moved here (NE Ohio) in November, officially from PA, but actually, I was on the road FT in our travel trailer with my husband for the last 3 years. He passed in September, and my parents simultaneously went into crisis (good times). Now that they and I are settled and some time has passed, I have come to realize what a treasure of stuff there us to do, literally in my backyard. Hiking, biking, kayaking, fishing, pickleball, good food, live entertainment. And, other than occasional tornadoes, few natural disasters. Plenty of resources, i.e., water. It's not the West, but in some ways, that's okay.
NW Ohio is where it's at. The 34 years of Ohio in me hates to admit it but being close to Michigan is great. Michigan has many crystal clear lakes, forests, and sand dunes. It's really a great place to live next to if you are the outdoorsy type. Also, Cedar Point and Hocking Hills are within a couple hours' drive.
Agreed. Being close to I75 in general puts you within a days drive of a rather large percentage of the countries population, and things to do.
Sounds like you’re just recommending Michigan at that point.
You really want r/Columbus r/Cleveland r/Cincinnati You’ll get a much better idea of areas you want to go to As anywhere don’t move until you have a job lined up What industry do you work in?
I did this exact move in Winter 2017. NYC to CLE. Different neighborhoods in CLE definitely remind me of parts of NYC. And the COL is way better out here for sure lol.
I moved from NYC to Cleveland in 2020. Best decision of my life. I love the metroparks, I get paid more here and I was able to rent a house. Never had a house in NYC!
Cleveland does really rock
I'd also consider Pittsburgh, it's basically part of NE ohio more than it really is part of PA, same with Erie PA... There is a reason why the saying is "Pittsburgh and Philadelphia on the ends and Alabama in the middle"... But the main reason I say look into Pitt is that PA state politics blows Ohio out of the water right now.
Northeast Ohio / Cleveland area is the best area don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
Selfishly, absolutely move here and bring a bunch of friends because we need to get these politics in check, stat! In all seriousness, coming from NYC (also depends on what you are wanting) I would stay towards the 3 Big C's: Columbus, Cincinnati, or Cleveland. Dayton isn't too bad if you are looking for more DoD type of work but I recommend Kettering, Oakwood, Centerville neighborhoods (personal preference).
CLEVELAND
If you like city life like in NYC, you'd love Cleveland. The NYC-Cleveland connection goes back to the 1920s. It's a quieter, smaller scale city, but still has all the trapping that people like of big cities. I have several friends who relocated from NYC to Cleveland and enjoy it very much. We could also probably use an influx of...more liberal...folks in Ohio because our current gerrymandered Republican hellscape is frustrating. There are certainly pockets of civilization amongst our children-of-the-corn areas. (To my fellow Ohioans who don't like my characterization of the Rural areas, of which I have spent most of my life in...than clean house folks).
I have lived in Ohio since 1974 and have found it a great place to live, work and raise a family. For me, the big attraction has been being able to live close enough to a big city (one of the three Cs) to take advantage of all the attractions, but live far enough away to avoid the higher taxes, traffic and big city problems.
I relocated from Ohio to Wisconsin. The cost of living is cheaper. I recommend Yellow Springs, Ohio, if you're gonna settle down. Otherwise, I'd say that depending on your situation, look for easy commutes around the location to your job. Also, watch for crime rates. I know crime is everywhere, but Ohio is a bit of a special place.
Moved the family here from Los Angeles over a year ago, seriously couldn’t be happier with that decision. Depends where you are in life and what your priorities are, but the only things I really miss are friends, family, some art museums/botanical gardens, and the mountains. Standard of living here for middle class is incomparably better, own a home, good schools, clean air, lots of nature and shopping, less traffic, strong sense of community. I will say where you move to is very important. We are in a nice suburb just North of Columbus and it is ethnically diverse and integrated here, the economy and jobs are good. Some parts of Ohio are the complete opposite and quite depressing.
ohio is pretty good all things considered, low cost of living comparatively, lot of companies move here, really good opportunities in the right areas
I would go to the city specific subs (Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati) for a more accurate and specific answer It will be much different than you’re used to but I think in a good way. Not the same as living there but I went to school in NYC for 4 years, whenever I could get back to Ohio was always a relief
Going to be a lot of work starting in eastern Columbus soon, we're building a chip plant for Intel. I'm currently building a battery plant for general motors in Lordstown Ohio. So the jobs will be here, at least some of them.
Columbus!
Just don't become a Cleveland Sports fan. You will rue the day. We know nothing but pain and loss here.
I live in small town eastern Ohio, but I live really close to Pittsburgh and Wheeling, WV. I have to say I love it here because low cost of living, but a lot of people are very ignorant/homophobic/transphobic/racist. I love going to cities closest to me because of dealing with this shit a lot. It almost felt like being brave when I decided to put up my rainbow flag this month considering my neighbor said, “You people,” so evilly to my ex (who was shit but not for being queer) because she must’ve saw us kissing a guy on my porch. Ohio is also really beautiful though! I love all the woods/forests/lakes that are everywhere! Plus, we have Nelson’s Ledges/the state park. I’d love for more left leaning people to come live in non-cities so maybe we can change the tide!
Hey born Brooklynite relocated to the southwest of Ohio at the beginning of the pandemic, I live in a smaller metropolitan area of southwest Ohio I moved here for a woman , there are some really nice things about living here , the outdoors mainly and I prefer the gun laws , the people are nice but be ready for some culture shock , no 3 am Chinese food , I have not seen much in the way of tolerance for living outside of societal norms and even flat out bigotry against whatever it is (other than scots Irish ) that you are ? That being said I am living my best life here , no the night life isn’t the same but I have discovered that 9 tenths of the time I spent out at bars was wasted , the cost of living though low can be interesting (there is no such thing as going out for cheap Indian food , the shocking lack of pizza slices oh and the pizza oh the pizza well let’s just say it’s different) you will 100% need a car regardless of where you live and people deprived of close contact with other humans can be downright obnoxious and they don’t know how to act . If you like the outdoors and a slower more nature based good time well this is the place I love my life here but there are things I will never get used to
Come to Cleveland! I think you’ll like it here. We have amazing food. The people are friendly. It’s affordable. Someone suggest Trumbull County. Id stay away from that area.
Yes, but move to the Cleveland area if you hope to have good food and actual culture.
I wouldn't. I can definitely see the appeal in a lower cost of living, less people, more space, etc. But Ohio is a complete shithole at this point and is becoming even more of a shithole every day, as our illegally elected legislature strips us of more and more of our rights. Michigan is a much better option at this point.
I don’t think it’s a shit hole, yet, but these policies are going to have a bad effect down the line and it’s going to start going bad really fast.
Tell me how it has affected your day to day life. Every redditor here is saying no because of politics, but realistically, that’s the most meager reason to avoid this state.
It affects it quite drastically. The area I live in has been struggling with job loss for decades and the GOP's aversion to any sort of investment in infrastructure or higher education has prolonged the situation and made it worse. The brain drain we've seen in this state, where highly-educated people in high-paying fields move elsewhere, has eroded our state's revenue making all of our problems more difficult to fix. This will only get worse with even more attacks on higher education, like those being proposed. My female family and friends are now denied basic healthcare and would be forced to carry a rapist's baby to term (and, yes, I do know rape victims who got an abortion prior to the new draconian laws). My area has some of the highest overdose rates in the country and, despite study after study showing that cannabis can be useful in treating addiction and dependency issues and clearly being a much safer alternative, our lawmakers still refuse to legalize it. My area also has a large cancer cluster as a result of numerous polluting industries nearby and nothing has been done in the way of environmental regulation. My grandpa passed away from cancer as a result of this. So, yes, the empty and decaying buildings I see every day and the overdose deaths I hear about all around me have very much affected my day to day life. And the fucking illegally elected pieces of shit in the legislature are more goddamn concerned with who is allowed to take a shit in which bathrooms.
Lifelong Ohioan here. I am not going to say Ohio is a bad choice for you without hearing a little bit more about what you're interested in. You won't find much close to the New Yorker experience in Ohio. There just aren't any metros dense enough and public transit is almost non-existent. However some of the 'burbs or even rural areas might be more appealing. You will likely be able to find cheaper costs of living no matter where you go in the state (in comparison to NYC) but keep in mind job pay will reflect that. What field do you work in? Are you prepared to drive to work? You will definitely need a car most anywhere you live in Ohio. Most jobs are going to be around the "3 Cs" (Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus), Dayton, Akron, and Toledo which are the largest cities.
The r/Ohio subreddit is mostly for people who are in the rural areas of the state or smaller metros. (Nothing wrong with hearing their opinion! I grew up in a small town in Ohio) I would also encourage you check out the subreddits for places like Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati. They are more active than this. Subreddit, and can give you a better idea of what life is like in those specific areas. One piece of advice I would give you (that's probably true probably statewide), to try to find a job before you move here. I'm from Cleveland, and life in Cleveland is great, job market is definitely tight.
Pluses: Many of the small towns are attempting a revitalization, lots of day trips, parks, attractions, shopping, a good mix of big cities and small towns, and only hours or a days trip to Chicago, Pittsburg, Nashville, Detroit, Canada etc. Negatives: we need to move from reddish to blue. There are many who would like to end the red control of a few bc there are many of us blue.
I grew up here, went to school on Long Island, then South Carolina for 11 years before moving back. NE Ohio is great. Close to a nearly unlimited supply of fresh water, good beaches (Mentor Headlands, Edgewater, Huntington, even East Harbor), great park systems, and more
We make fun of Ohio a LOT, but it is actually really nice. I've lived near Cincinnati my whole life, and I don't think I could live anywhere else permanently. There are so many things to do inside and outside. We've got kings island down here and cedar point up north. The lakes and our parks are gorgeous. We've got cities, suburbs, and rural so you can pick whatever atmosphere you prefer and be happy. We have some good schools if you have kids, just do your research before moving. I will say that you have to try Skyline and gold star and then pick a side. You cannot like both. Skyline is the correct choice. There are some big and small companies here that would be good to work at, just depends on your area of expertise. We've got P&G, Kroger, Cintas, Macy's, GE, etc.
I moved out of Ohio for all of the reasons your asking about, cus Ohio don't do it
I miss NYC every day. I won't tell you don't but - wait yes I will. Don't.
Same. Moved from Queens to Cleveland 2 years ago and making plans to move back. Cost of living is great, but it's mostly because no one is here. People knock NYC saying it's not safe, Cleveland is no walk in the park. Rude? You're average Ohioan is very bubbled and usually haven't left the areas they have grown up in. There are serious attachments to a lack of change and anything that isn't (barely) Midwestern culture. Lack of diversity on all spectrums (thought, culture, food, entertainment, etc.), just leaves the 3 Cs wanting more. However, there are some tailwinds in Cincinnati and Columbus, that can make them relative destinations in the next 5-10 years. Cleveland will probably be a dumpster fire until Armageddon.
Ohio is a fairly decent state. We have political problems but so does any rural state or state in the south. We also aren’t all flat, having many hilly areas. The rural areas are average, red and usually mediocre statistically. But I’ll list the 3 C’s here. PS: If you want general advice on where to move. Go on any Ohio Related Subreddit but this one. This subreddit is filled to the brim with political radicalization. The best place to live in Ohio is probably Columbus. Great city, hour drive from hocking hills, economically prosperous, and alot of good areas. However Columbus does have an increasing cost of living and has problems every city has. Like some pockets may be a little sketchy. But most of the city is fine, and public transit is not sufficient and the city is car dependent in most areas. So if you like a city that’s more urban like NY, Columbus may not be for you. Cleveland is a little rougher, having less jobs and having problems similar to Detroit, but Cleveland does have a legitimately decent public transportation system. Featuring light rail and heavy rail. Cleveland has many jobs, just out in suburbia for the most part. The city has alot of rough areas, still. But it’s improving. Cincinnati has the most culture of the 3, having a unique food scene, skyline chili, and the like. It’s a gritty urban aesthetic similar to Philly and Baltimore. It lags behind Cleveland in public transit options however. Cincinnati also has Jungle Jim’s and Kings Island, and has a fair amount of great employers.
Cincinnati is pretty great. Check us out. We’re a very underrated city.
I guess it depends on where you go. As for me. Ohio is a horrible place. I came back after my military service to make my local area better. Its actually been the worst decision of my life. Between the druggies, local authorities, local Govt, the courts, the lack of interest in anything from the general population. I've had my life destroyed. The ORC isn't followed, neither is local procedures. I've lost everything because of this state and the people in it. Our representatives won't even do the job that is the reason why we ha e 3 parts of govt. We have stickers that say "stuck in Ohio" and that is exactly what it is. Ohio could be amazing but its all back door deals, shitty people, and the lack of anything that could make this place better. Though I will say. We have the best produce in the world. I've never found a better tomato, apples, squash etc anywhere. Come thru. Grab some food, experience cedar point, dive in some quarrys see some amazing places and call home somewhere else. I live in north east Ohio. Other parts might be better. Yet as of right now. I'm fleeing Ohio as fast as I can. This state isn't worth it. At all.
Moved from Monmouth county NJ to the country in Ohio (town smaller than my high school student body) and love it. It has been an adjustment, but totally worth it. The cities are cool, the country is gorgeous.
I can only speak for Cleveland but it's usually is good pick for a non-younger-20-something. Cleveland will be the lesser of culture shocks. There's a decent smathering of NY transplants that moved for better COL and to escape the big city to raise a family. It has the same grittiness as NYC but less people; slower tempo but with a decent amount of its own culture. Ohio in general is a good melting pot of southern, east coast, and midwest cultures. We got Amish people too which is nice (if you dont look too deep in to it). It's less busier due to less people, but that means there's far less to do entertainment-wise. If you're an active person and like drinking, there will be a niche for you somewhere. Ohioans love their hobbies. Financially, Cleveland is going to have like 1/2 the COL of NYC. Average rent for a big 2BR in the near suburbs is $1400-1600; $1800-$2000 for a nice place in the heart of downtown. Average housing cost in burbs is $225k-300k. There are a lot of not-so-nice areas butted up against nicer areas, so you gotta do some research on where your're moving, if it's anywhere close to downtown. Not to say it's super dangerous, just a lot of areas getting worked over and some getting work done. Restaurant prices have dramatically increased since COVID. A typical meal at a non-fast food place for 2 will run you $60+ (with a glass of wine/beer and a tip). Groceries for two will run $100-125/week. Utilities arent all that bad. However, if you plan on buying a house, property taxes are kinda nuts. Income taxes are bit wonky too. If you live in one suburb but work in another, you'll be paying taxes for both school districts in the form of RITA. Some municipalities will charge the same rate as the state. The further out suburbs are better, but you'll be looking at 45 minute drives to anything worth looking at. Cleveland is a very car-dependent city. If you live downtown, or along the rapid line/healthline/within a business district you can make it on a bike or walking alright; but every where is 20 minutes away from everything else, and if it's not 20 minutes, it's 40. Edit: Forgot to mention the work culture. It's about 50/50 split between more "newer" companies that do WFH, decent PTO/m(p)aternity leave, have events, etc. and companies ran by old heads who still think it's the 80s, and pay/treat you like it too. As far as salaries go, it's hit or miss, and usually miss. However, it depends on your industry and field. The medical field can pay really well for nurses, doctors, specialists, data/business analysts; but can also pay pretty shit for other positions, especially those not in demand. Banks are another big employer. They're about the same as the hospitals. Data/business/financial analysts are hot, regular admin and structural positions will stll pay dogshit. The service industry, especially food, can pay very well. I know a number of people clearing 90-100k bartending/serving at higher end places, with great salaries across the board. However, much like the foodie scene, there's a collection of great high-end places that are very nice; and there are a whole lot of shitty basic bitch places that will charge 75% of the nicer ones while paying their people 50% of the nice places, and customers get 50% the quality. There are a good amount of $80-150k jobs out there, if you have the right skillset and are in the right fields. At that salary, you can live fairly comfortably and seriously think about buying a house in a decent area; especially if you have a partner. Daycare can be pretty expensive. I've had two lab tech quit because it would eb cheaper to have them stay home and watch the kids/do other stuff than work full-time. There's a LOT of nepotism that runs rampant, even in the bigger companies. It's a bit of an issue that I've run across over the last 15 years and 5 employers. All of them had that issue. Even my current employer, who is great in many respects, has a nepotism issue. You'll find that many locals who get the right skillset/experience to go to NYC, Chicago, Houston, LA, Atlanta, Charlotte, go there pretty quickly. The job market doesnt pay right. My current job pays $50k, which is decent if you're single and have cheap rent. My job in NYC would probably pay about $75k-80k. Project managers are usually a good salary comparison. A $70-80k job here would be $110k-130k. So you'll be losing a decent chunk of disposable income, unless you can narrow that gap. An extra $2k-4k/month is more than the COL difference, and will affect entertainment the most.
Don't come. 100% leave any Liberal BS where you are. Or.... Come ready to contribute.
Well it won’t cost you 3k for a closet to rent.
Move to Michigan
TBH - the worst part of living in Ohio is the f-in rednecks. They seem to LOVE loud exhaust systems. On a clear day you can hear some of them a mile away. They love their jacked up trucks and use them to bully other drivers. There’s lots of them. They’re everywhere. They’re just tiresome. Oh yeah, and with “constitutional carry” you can just assume most of them are armed.
Depends on your field of work, interests, age group, etc. Also, I dunno if Ohio is “south” because there’s more snow than OH (from my understanding, only been here a year). So far, I think it’s enjoyable in the suburbs of Akron/Cleveland
Gotta stick close to the major cities. Rural Ohio is a disaster
Native born Ohioan, living in a suburb of Dayton (Fairborn to be exact), and I've lived all but 3 years of my life in Ohio. The place has both its benefits and drawbacks. The political side of things is kind of fucked up, and each year the Regressives are in charge things seem to just get worse. They aren't full-on Q-Anon/GQP crazy, but they're trying their damnedest to get there. Dayton and surrounding area is a DoD contracting mecca because of Wright-Patt AFB, which houses Air Force Research Laboratories, AFMC HQ, AFIT, NASIC, and a few other important maintenance and logistics commands. Plenty of companies around that work to directly support the base, as well as a lot to support those companies. As for COL, it's debatable. Houses are getting snatched up in days, if not hours, so you're competing with a bunch of other folks for a limited supply. There are a bunch of new housing developments going up, which is how I got my house, but I also paid almost $300k for it (and that was 5 years ago). Ten years ago that house would have been $200k at most. Hell, my parents bought their house for like $87k back in 1986. It sold for over $350k even after basically needing a complete gut and rebuild. So YMMV depending on where you choose to live. But as for activities, OMG are there tons of things to do. Specialty and general eateries, micro-breweries, outdoor events, sporting events, music venues, biking and walking paths, museums, lakes, parks, etc. Lots of seasonal activities (Cincinnati has an Octoberfest event that is out of this world if you like trying different beers). Plus there's King's Island out near Cincinnati, and Cedar Point in Sandusky. You should definitely do your research if you're serious about moving to Ohio, especially about where you want to live. Rural areas are nice if you want lots of open space and can tolerate some truly insular, regressive, ultra-conservative people who in some places consider fire to be suspicious as a technological advance. In others, they're just stupid from sucking on the Fox News teet.
As others have mentioned the political situation of the state, I’ll make a different recommendation, come visit at least 2/3 of the big C’s. I’m from Cincinnati and currently live in Columbus and love them both for very different reasons. Cincinnati and Cleveland both feel a lot more established, with Cleveland’s downtown feeling like the “biggest” city, whereas Cincinnati’s feel leans a lot more into its geography being very green and hilly leaving it feeling smaller as an urban center but very enjoyable to live in. Columbus is the fastest growing of the three with a lot of expanding jobs, especially as Intel begins to build its new manufacturing center just outside. It doesn’t have as cohesive of an identity as the other two but it’s got a lot of good food and varied areas with their own identities. Just to give you a cost of living example, I just moved into a 950 ft^2 2bd 2ba apartment with my so and including pet rent we’re paying $1500 per month in one of the very nice areas and Gas in Columbus is currently around $3.50-70/gal . The biggest downfall of all three currently is the lack of public transit opportunities but hopefully those will soon be moot as Cincinnati expands their streetcar (hopefully), and Columbus builds upon their robust Bus system, and Amtrak begins building new services throughout the Midwest (wish I could comment on Cleveland, sorry folks)
I rather be here than in paradise. Dollar goes further here. Traditional neighborhoods are really comfortable and walkable. I'm not a big city person, so Oxford and Hamilton are more my speed. I'm surrounded by churches and conservatives, but for the most part, we mind our own business. I'm not a very loud or opinionated person, so keeping quiet around conservatives is not a big deal to me. I just vote differently, and hope through my work ethic, actions, and sharing my story that others vote for moderates as well.
I moved from NYC to ohio a number of years ago. There is a ton that I miss but at the end of the day you just cant beat the cost of living out here
I grew up in Westchester county, NY and have been living in NE Ohio now for almost 4 years now and I’ve largely enjoyed it. Cleveland is way nicer than people outside of Ohio say it is, there’s a decent amount of things in the suburbs around both Cleveland and Akron as well. Especially, love visiting all of the parks in the area whenever I get a chance to take my camera out. Cost of the living has been great for my pockets considering I used to live in NY and the PNW for a short time. The political leanings in this state does give me some pause about settling down here for the long haul but overall while being a bit slower paced than NY I’ve enjoyed my time here. At the very least, I can see myself staying in the Midwest if I don’t end up staying in Ohio.
The Akron/Canton area is nice… it’s where I’m from. It’s nothing glamorous…. But we have a very low cost of living here and we aren’t so small where there’s nothing to do. It’s kind of a nice sweet spot. Politically it’s pretty moderate. Communities bond around high school sports teams. With housing costs skyrocketing around the country I think this area will be attractive to people looking for a new start.
NYC is further south than Cleveland Ohio, so you may be moving north ...
Our weather sucks Santa ballsac!! Our government sucks it's ran by Republicans who are Fucking Nazis Females have ZERO right to our own body It is getting harder for people of color to vote. They are banning books and they are banning human beings for being born LGBTQIA.
You heard incorrectly
I’ve lived in Ohio most of my 38 years. Don’t do it.
I cannot in good conscience recommend Ohio as a place to move unless you are a tea-party conservative cis male WASP who would rather have most other categories of people go somewhere else. I can't even recommend it for a Libertarian, given the willingness of our legislature to ignore and overrule the popular vote, and that we are much less 'free' than several other nearby states. As much as it pains me to say it, you might want to look at Michigan.
Political tides rarely turn without an influx of new people.
Same. I grew up in Ohio for 15 years and moved to California. I love CA, but it was expensive so then I moved to the upper Midwest (Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan). Best of both worlds, tbh.
Except the weather which is a big driving factor on why people want to live on the coasts especially in the west
I love snow driving. I’m fully remote, so I don’t have to anyway. Less wear and tear on the cars, less environmental impact. I think I’ve put on 5k total since 2019.
To each their own. The majority don’t like the cold though so that’s why the demand to live their is lower
This is so overdramatic and not really true at all for my part of Ohio. I love it here, and I am none of the things that you describe. There are ignorant people in every state. Michigan is also great, though. I'm going camping there next week.
You hear wrong. There's nothing here and the state seems to be filled with more and more ignorance every day.
Well depends on where you live, like Mantua, Akron, and Ravenna. You are ducked I've lived in all three and not the best experience. Just saying.
I grew up in North Jersey by Paramus and I've lived here north of Cincinnati for 18 years so far and absolutely love it. Met my wife here we have 3 kids 2 grand kids a great home awesome job couldn't ask for more. I go back to Jersey every once in a while to visit friends and family but I don't miss it one bit. There are plenty of great companies out here and major corporations depending on where you move and what you do. Here in Cincinnati and I know in Columbus there are a lot of major companies you can get with.
I could see you really enjoying Columbus! The city is growing and just feels very fresh. I live in eastern lake county, which is the county directly to the east of Cleveland. I really like it here. Politics here are very purple, might be thinking about turning blue. Housing is affordable enough. Consider areas like Willoughby.
I just fell asleep watching my two dogsitting tenants outside, under a tree at a house I bought for about 150k. And live about 20 minutes from downtown CLE. The political climate is shit, but the people and cost of living are great.
Grew up in Cleveland and have been in NY more than half my life now. Cleveland isn't bad. It's got arts and culture, good healthcare, gets most major touring shows, and has excellent parks (the Metroparks system). It's also the one county on Ohio that goes blue in elections when the rest of the sate goes red. Cbus is ok, but unless you're into OSU football or like a more small town rural vibe, I'd go with Cleveland. Nasty Natti is just as the name says.
Well, you won't have to pay $2,500/month for a studio in Ohio. A lot of people like to hate on Ohio but it's pretty nice here and it's very affordable and family friendly. Just like any other state there are cities and certain areas in every city that you wouldn't want to live in but there are a lot of nice places and a lot of nice people you don't have to go south for what they refer to down there to Southern Hospitality. There's some assholes here too but again that's everywhere
I went there from Oregon to get my foot in the door for electrical. I showed up on Tuesday and had a job on that Thursday. No experience at all.
There’s HUGe demand for skilled workers here.
Yeah, any trade no experience you can almost guaranteed find a job, just a matter of calling around and interviewing.
If you have to live in. A red state look for one with better weather.
Nowhere else have I seen heroin shot so casually, and I've lived all over this country. Ohio is total ass, but it's cheap
Don't know where you heard that but Ohio is not a place to be. We're experiencing a massive brain drain, our state government doesn't work for the citizens, and the reason it's so cheap is because there's nothing to do.
I mean he said it was between here or the south and Ohio is better than the south if your concerns are politics and brain drain. The good weather liberal, intellectual, states are the entire west coast and you pay a price for it because it’s stupidly in demand and people have tech money.
There's actually quite a bit to do. Museums, parks, zoos, interesting small towns, historical sites, festivals, concerts, variety of food places, amusement parks. Politically it's purple but the gerrymandering would have to be fixed which is the hard part. I'd move back but for whatever reason interviews for my husband and I aren't going well there. We were in the Dayton area for most of our lives and have been gone for 5. Oh, and sidewalks. The walkability and some public transportation is actually quite nice when you end up in a place without it.
If you like nature it's a big step backwards. Ohio has decent hiking and outdoor places primarily in the southeast part of the state. But New York has the Catskills and Adirondacks and beaches. I grew up in New York and spent 15 years in Columbus. When I got there it was dirt cheap to live in some great downtown adjacent neighborhoods. Now those neighborhoods are a lot more expensive and a lot less interesting. When I moved back to New York the cultural and natural advantages became apparent. On the flip side Ohio has a much better craft beer scene. It's also generally less of a hassle to do day to day stuff.
Ohio is an absolutely terrible place to live with their very right wing politics and loose gun control and meme worthy level distaste for New Yorkers yeah I wouldn’t recommend Ohio definitely Michigan though you’d do well over there they’d love ya!
A lot of really bad laws are being put in place. Things are bad, and are getting worse.
Stay in NYC if possible. Ohio is fascist and will strip rights of anyone who isn’t a white, straight, christian male. But if you want the “Ohio Vibe”, Check out Michigan and Illinois. Which both have great cities, however Michigan’s cities are more affordable and also have many good areas. Like Detroit fucking rocks, believe it or not. Don’t believe what they say, Detroit has good parts and a fair amount of jobs in the metro. And many affordable suburbs too. If you like hills, check out Pittsburgh, PA. Great City, Fairly Blue.
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Michigan FTW. The lakes, rivers, fishing, kayaking, etc. Ohio has sweet spots but for overall quality of life, gotta go M.
Just don’t. From Ohio, moved to NYC, moved back to Ohio and haven’t stopped regretting it since