Topic: Wife got a job in Newark...

[mrCharlie]

Hey everyone! Long-time reader finally finding my way back to Ohio this summer, hoping the new governor doesn't destroy it before we get there...

My wife just got a professor job in Newark, bringing us back to Ohio after two years of post-doc in Rhode Island. We're both from greater Cincinnati, and lived in Athens for five years while she got her degree. Having lived in Athens, we came to know Columbus and the US 33 corridor fairly well, but never found our way to Newark or any of Licking County.

She'll be working in Newark, but where I will work is to be determined. I'm a graphic designer, I assume that there will be a lot more opportunities in Columbus than in Newark, so we are thinking somewhere in the middle will probably be best. Probably looking to rent for the first year until we get a little more established, but thats a bit up in the air too.

What I'm looking for are some suggestions on good places to live in that general area. Trying to avoid the sprawl areas, more interested in the country/small towns/historical areas. Just going by the map, Alexandria and Johnstown look interesting. But I also know that some of the small towns in Ohio can be pretty run-down and not too friendly to outsiders (Glouster, Chauncey in Athens County).

I'm okay with a long-ish commute if the area is right. Wouldn't be opposed to even living in Newark proper to keep my wife's (known) commute down, but know nothing about the area. We got our current apartment when we only knew where my wife was working, so I commute daily from Pawtucket RI to Worcester MA, about 40 miles.

Second thing- any good resources for finding rentals in that area? Craigslist doesn't seem to have the critical mass around there to be all that effective, and the Newark paper doesn't have great classifieds. One nice thing I have seen so far- rent prices are about half of what they are in Rhode Island.

Thanks!

[ColDayMan]

Granville, Granville, Granville.  You'll love it.  Highway access, between Columbus and Newark, clean vibrant little college town, great housing stock, great schools. 

[Jskinner]

Yeah, I would live in Granville.  Historic, walkable etc..

[Hts121]

Our closest family friends moved to Granville when I was a kid.  They bought a house just two blocks from that little downtown area (right next to the college).  We visited quite often over the years.  I agree that it is a very cool little town.  Sort of akin to Chagrin Falls.

[buckeye1]

Agree with Granville, but it's pretty expensive, and rentals are hard to come by.  Checking real estate listings, the least expensive home in town was $159k.  You didn't mention a budget?
Someone's renting a 4 bedroom double wide in Granville Schools for $1450/month! (http://columbus.craigslist.org/apa/2079340293.html). 

Alexandria has a population of 85 - that's pretty darn tiny.  No grocery store, one pizza shop, one bar, one gas station. http://www.orgsites.com/oh/alexandria/_pgg5.php3

You might be better off trying to find a short term lease or sublease in Newark/Heath, or maybe downtown Westerville or Gahanna, and then spending your weekends exploring and searching the area. 

[mrCharlie]

Thanks for the suggestions!

Budget TBD at this point, unfortunately. Depends a bit on what I can find for work. Agree it probably makes a lot of sense to look for something short term right now, I know from past experience you learn a lot about an area once you spend some time there, and I think we are kind of hoping to finally buy a place and settle down in the next few years. So going on the cheap end probably makes sense too, to help facilitate that plan.

So maybe a better question to ask, any particular areas out that direction that we need to avoid?

[ColDayMan]

Well, sections of Newark are a bit...undesirable, but most of that whole area is quite quiet, if that's what you're looking for.  I'm willing to bet it feels quite isolated out that way compared to outer-suburban Columbus aka New Albany/Gahanna/Pataskala.

[Gramarye]

I second the Granville recommendations if you can afford it.  The jaunt down 161 into Columbus is faster than it used to be because they made it a freeway (though, as always happens, that just encouraged more sprawling development, so the time saved isn't as much as they hoped ... but it's still faster than taking the old state route there).

If Granville is out of your budget but you know you'll want something in between Columbus and Newark--and if you know you intend to buy, not rent, since this is an almost entirely owner-occupied single-family community--you can also look at the Beechwood Trails neighborhood in Pataskala.  It's sprawl, especially now (was less so 20 years ago), but they left a lot of the old growth trees in as they were building the development, and there's not a whole lot of cookie-cutterness to the houses.  (The added advantage there is that you can probably find something within any price range from south of $150k to north of $300k, which is rare in more cookie-cutter newer developments.)