When deciding which city a family should move to, there are a lot of factors that should be taken into consideration. Many individuals are able to easily find the reasons why they should move to a city, but these individuals struggle to find reasons that discuss the reasons why they shouldn’t move to a city. So, what are 17 reasons to not move to Columbus, Ohio?
It can be difficult to know where to begin researching the negative aspects of a specific city. For a lot of individuals, it can be challenging to find information that is relevant to what they are looking for. After conducting research, the following information has been compiled below about the reasons not to move to Columbus.
1. Most Populous City in Ohio
Columbus, Ohio is the state capital, which causes many individuals to gravitate toward it. This city is the most populous city in Ohio and the fourteenth most populous city in the United States.
Columbus used to have the small town feel despite being the largest city in Ohio, however, it no longer has the small town feel that many residents fell in love with.
Throughout the years, Columbus began morphing from a medium-sized city to the top 15 largest cities in the United States. This change contributed to the loss of the small town feel that so many residents found charming.
2. College City
There are roughly 50 different colleges and universities in the Columbus area. This causes many individuals to move to the Columbus area after graduating high school. While not all of these colleges are known throughout the country, there are some universities in this area that have out-of-state students and even students from other countries enrolled.
Because it is a college town, this city is mostly populated by individuals in their early 20s. This makes the downtown Columbus area a place where families can feel out of place.
3. Taxes
Taxes
are an important factor to consider before deciding to move to a city. There are many different factors that play into the over-taxes that are paid in a specific city. While these taxes might not seem to be significant enough to steer someone away from a specific city, it is something that should be considered.
Taxes in Columbus, Ohio don’t seem to be high compared to other big cities throughout the United States. However, in Ohio, the taxes in Columbus are high.
The state tax is 5.1%, however, in Columbus, it is 7%. This means that shopping in the Columbus area is more expensive than in other cities and towns in Ohio.
The higher tax rate means more amount of money that is going from residents’ paychecks directly to the local, state, and federal governments.
4. Traffic
As a result of being the most populous city in the state, there is a lot of traffic that is experienced by both residents and individuals who are visiting the Columbus area.
The morning traffic is something that many residents in Columbus dislike having to deal with on a daily basis.
Rather than being able to easily get to work each morning, the average morning commute for Columbus is 43 minutes long. Residents of Columbus spend a large chunk of their week commuting to and from work.
5. Ohio State University
The entire city seems to revolve around Ohio State University. This is the biggest university located in Columbus, Ohio. Many individuals move to Columbus strictly to gain a higher education by attending this school.
The Ohio State University is a university that is respected by most individuals who live in the state of Ohio. Residents of this state are extremely passionate about their college football, and it is extremely important to many residents of Ohio that they be proud Buckeye fans.
Throughout Columbus wearing OSU merchandise is something that is extremely common. Not owning OSU merchandise is something that can cause individuals in the Columbus area to feel isolated.
6. Game Day
Columbus takes its college football extremely seriously. On game days, it seems as if the entire city shuts down in order to watch the Buckeyes play.
When there are home games being played, the game day traffic is almost unbearable. Individuals throughout all of Ohio will travel to the Columbus area to cheer on the Buckeyes and have the chance to spend the day in the Shoe, which is the OSU stadium.
A few hours before and after home games, people can find themselves stuck in stand-still traffic as a result of all the college football fans that are trying to get to the game before it starts, which is incredibly annoying.
7. Allergies
While seasonal allergies are something that is endured by many individuals throughout the world, it is extremely common for individuals to have long-lasting allergies while living in Columbus, Ohio.
The rapid shift in weather causes an excess production of pollen, which then causes the residents of Columbus to experience severe allergies throughout the typical allergy season.
As a result of these longer-lasting and more severe allergies, many individuals have to regularly rely on taking allergy medication in order to fight the sneezing, coughing, runny noses, and itchy eyes many residents are plagued with.
8. Pollution
Like many larger cities, Columbus seems to produce a lot of pollution. While the air quality of most cities is impacted by pollution, Columbus has decent air quality, which is somewhat surprising to many people.
The biggest type of pollution that is present in the Columbus area is light pollution. This is something that occurs in many large cities that have a decent amount of lights on streets and buildings, but it still isn’t good to have.
Light pollution affects how well individuals are able to see the night sky. As a result of the light pollution in Columbus, residents are unable to see a lot of stars in the night sky unless they travel for at least an hour outside of the city.
9. Property Crime
Property crime is something that is extremely common in the Columbus area. One in every 31 individuals in this city is the victim of a property crime every year.
Property crime is a broad category of crimes that individuals might be faced with. Most of these crimes include some form of theft, including robbery, burglary, and auto theft. However, property crime also includes more dangerous crimes such as arson, which you definitely don’t want to be a victim of.
10. Violent Crime
The violent crime rate in Columbus, Ohio is less than the property crime rate. However, 1 in every 178 individuals is a victim of a violent crime.
For most individuals, violent crimes are life-altering if they are not life-ending. These include crimes such as aggravated assault, homicide, armed robbery, and sexual assault. While some of these individuals are able to survive being a victim of these crimes, there are many issues that can present themselves as a result of the trauma that these individuals experienced.
11. Weather
The weather is an aspect of Columbus that many of its residents tend to struggle to deal with. The winters tend to be extremely long. On average, this city gets about 22 inches of snow every year.
The sun is visible to the residents in the Columbus area for less than half of the year. On average, there are 178 days that Columbus residents are able to enjoy the sunshine.
Many days in Columbus are filled with clouds and precipitation. On average, 130 days out of the year in Columbus are filled with some form of precipitation.
12. A Lack of Tourist Attractions
Despite the fact that Columbus is the largest city in Ohio, it does not have a lot of tourist attractions. As a result, many residents of this area feel the need to travel to visit their families rather than having family members come to visit them in Columbus.
It can be challenging for visitors when the biggest tourist attraction is the Columbus Zoo. This can be a great attraction for people with small children, but considering that Columbus is mostly a college town, there are not many people who have children that will enjoy the zoo.
There are two large amusement parks in Ohio, however, neither of them are located in the Columbus area, which causes many individuals to visit other cities in Ohio instead of Columbus.
13. Public Transportation
There is an extreme lack of public transportation in the city of Columbus. There is a city bus, but it really only goes from the airport to the downtown area. This allows individuals to get to and from the airport, however, it is not really beneficial for the individuals who live outside of the downtown area.
Many residents wish that there a more reliable source of public transportation was available throughout the Columbus area. The lack of reliable public transportation cause many residents in this area to have access to a car by either owning themselves or having friends who own cars. Without access to a car, it is possible that individuals in the Columbus area would have to walk to and from their locations.
14. Drug Use
As a result of Columbus being a college city, there is a lot of drug use. Like most cities, there are people who smoke marijuana, however, there are harder drugs that are used by residents in the Columbus area.
Many areas of Ohio have issues with abusing opioids. As a result of this, many individuals have accidentally heroin overdoses. Over the years, the amount of heroin being used throughout the Columbus area has only seemed to increase. As a result of this increase, drugs are plaguing all neighborhoods in the Columbus area rather than just the more rundown areas.
The use of cocaine has been on the rise in the Columbus area in addition to the use of heroin. The use of drugs overall in this city has been increasing in recent years.
Many residents who are raising children in the area are extremely worried about the increase in drug use in the neighborhoods of Columbus, Ohio.
15. Unaffordable Housing
For many people that are moving to the Columbus area, it can be difficult to find housing that is affordable. This causes many people looking into this area to be extremely frustrated with the lack of options that are available to them and are within their budget.
As a result of housing being so unaffordable, many people moving to the Columbus area are forced to purchase homes that are well outside their budget, which results in these individuals needing to take out larger loans than they would have if they were able to find homes within their budgets.
Instead of being able to purchase a home, many people moving to the Columbus area are forced to rent homes or apartments rather than purchase their own. This is something that is extremely frustrating for many people living in the Columbus area.
16. Blue City in Red State
Ohio is a very republican state. However, Columbus is a very democratic city. This results in many individuals living in the Columbus area having opposing viewpoints to other individuals living in the surrounding cities and towns, which can cause tension between residents.
17. A Lack of Nature
Columbus is a city that has a lack of nature throughout it. While there are parks throughout the city that allow residents and visitors to enjoy the outdoors, there are not very many national parks or hiking trails that can allow individuals to enjoy the nature around them.
This causes many individuals to need to travel outside of Columbus in order to find areas that allow them to enjoy nature and spend time away from city life.
Many residents wish that there were more places in the Columbus area that allowed them to escape the stress of their daily lives by enjoying nature, however, these individuals have to drive outside of Columbus in order to find the escape that they want.
