Columbus = Ghetto?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Ohio State University
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<p>So I was talking to my dad last night about my applications and stuff, and when I mentioned OSU he said “You’re not going to Ohio State.” Since Ohio State IS my second choice, I argued back and asked why; his response was “I don’t like Columbus, it’s filthy, and the surrounding neighborhood is dangerous. I think the surroundings would make you feel very uncomfortable.” (We live in rural Maine; pretty sure every big city’s dangerous to him.)</p>

<p>When I visited the campus, I remember the area around campus seeming nice. I remember trying to get to the interstate and going through an area a few blocks EAST of campus that didn’t look the best, but it seemed secluded enough from the university to make me feel safe.</p>

<p>Is Columbus’s apparent “filthy” reputation a legit reason not to go to OSU, or is the surrounding area/campus safe? </p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

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<p>Columbus is the nicest city in the state. It is not “filthy”. The campus is safe. </p>

<p>It is a large city, so when you stray off campus you just have to be sensible.</p>

<p>Personally, I think you are much safer on the OSU campus than some of the more secluded, rural colleges.</p>

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<p>Is your dad serious???</p>

<p>Columbus is about as sterile as Mr. Rodger’s neighborhood. Everything is new, in good repair, and IMO lacks a little of the gritty character I love of surrounding cities. </p>

<p>High street sucks, but the Short north (on High, but south of campus) makes up for what’s lacking there, and a major bonus about C-Bus is that you can walk around downtown at night alone without a care in the world, much less any other district in the city.</p>

<p>Next time, take your dad through German Village, Downtown, Upper Arlington, the area north of campus, Easton, and Polaris. Whether you use Google Earth or a day off school, I doubt your dad will complain after a further tour.</p>

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<p>OSU is my first choice, and a part of the reason I wanna go is b/c of my familiarity w/ surrounding areas. My dad was born and raised in the neighboring Upper Arlington (and my grandma still lives there), which is about as Middle America as you can get. Easton is so so nice as well. I have no idea why your dad would think Columbus is ghetto when it’s the opposite; even High Street is starting to see better days w/ the South Campus Gateway.</p>

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<p>What is your dad’s experience with Columbus? Assuming he’s around the same age as me (early to mid-40’s), there USED to be areas of Columbus (particularly around campus) that used to be QUITE run down, even scary would be the word. </p>

<p>Having spent quite a bit of time in Columbus this summer, there is less and less of that. The area you are talking about between the airport and campus is around the Fairgrounds and that does have alot of public housing/run down areas. I always lived on the East side of campus and we did have some problems the further we got away from campus. I could tell you some stories about what campus was like in the late 80’s. The closer you are to campus, the less issues you will see.</p>

<p>My parents sent 3 kids to Ohio State and we all survived. I am more concerned about the sheer size for my DD at this point then I am safety. Not sure if you are a girl or a guy. Tell your dad it’s alot better than it used to be.</p>

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<p>North of campus is a very nice, older gentrified neighborhood with mostly students but also younger faculty and young professionals.</p>

<p>West of campus is a large expanse that’s the agriculture school and many research builidings. Beyond that is Upper Arlington, which is one of the wealthiest old money suburbs in the state.</p>

<p>South of campus is Victorian Village which is a very upscale gentrified neighborhood–something one would expect to find in Chicago or Boston, not Ohio</p>

<p>East of campus is fraternity row and student housing. After that, and before the fairgrounds, is a narrow corridor of poor neighborhoods, which are no where near as prominent as they were 20 years ago.</p>

<p>Columbus is a very nice, white collar city. It’s easily the youngest, and most cosmopolitan of the the “3 Cs”. There are a lot of great entertainment options a short walk from campus in very safe neighborhoods.</p>

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<p>South of campus used to be alot more scary when the short North was just getting up and running and the first brownstones in Victorian Village were just getting upgraded. I was at Ohio State around the time the convention center was being built. There used to be alot of empty space/abandoned warehouses between South campus and downtown. This is when the penitentiary was still standing and before the new hockey rink, downtown shopping, Market, and entertainment areas were built. It was very scary at times, especially for a girl. I barely recognize downtown Columbus now.</p>

<p>One of my brothers lived in a walk up on the west side of Goodale Park and got to be on a first name basis with the hookers who would walk the beat up and down Goodale St where traffic slows getting on to 670. They would rest on his stoop when business was slow. I bet the girls are probably still there but they probably stick out more now. Back then, they were just part of the scenary.</p>

<p>To OP, tell your dad to come visit Columbus with you. I think he will be pleasantly surprised at how much the area around campus has changed. Some people are Columbus apologists and think nothing bad can happen there (my SIL is one of them) or they simply are too young to know what it used to be like.</p>

<p>I had some of the same concerns as your dad for my DD but each consecutive visit has helped alleviate those. That being said, she will probably end up at Miami due to more FA and a better fit, but Ohio State is her strong second.</p>

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<p>The area surrounding campus has changed a lot, although I did not feel unsafe when I attended in the 80s. I think the important lesson I was told still holds true today: don’t walk down Pearl Alley at night.</p>

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<p>Daughter is there now; seemed to me that everwhere around campus is pretty safe; the University has purchased real estate along High Street and leased it out for a lot of interesting suburban style shops.</p>

<p>She works above the campus and walks down High Street after her shift at the CVS at midnight down to 12th and it’s all right.</p>

<p>But, hey, compared to rural Maine . . . I think a visit will do the trick.</p>

<p>It still can seem like student ghetto, not a real one :-)</p>

<p>Kei</p>

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<p>Everyone tells me High Street is where everything happens. I thought High street was where a lot of partying took place?</p>

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<p>High Street’s the eastern border of campus - it’s where all the retail and food places are, basically. Some bars. But it’s not really where the parties happen.</p>

<p>I live East of campus - a little sketchy, but not so bad. Being scared of Columbus is kind of funny, as most places you’ll ever go are just full of rich people (short north, old north, german village.)</p>

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<p>It really comes down to this:</p>

<p>The areas that are sketchy in Columbus…you have no reason to ever go to. The places where students live off-campus are not sketchy at all (I lived south of campus for my junior and senior years).</p>

<p>Sure, there are some sketchy places in Columbus, but I can’t imagine why you would ever go there?</p>

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<p>I have to agree with everyones posts. The important thing everyone must practice at any large metropolitan campus…Use the Buddy System. This is just plain common sense. </p>

<p>My oldest son lived in the dorms the first two years. He lived west of campus last year in newer privately managed furnished apartments. </p>

<p>This year he lives three blocks east of High Street. He has had NO problems what so ever. </p>

<p>I hope your father will take another look at OSU.</p>

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<p>I grew up in Columbus. Columbus as a whole is a great city. High street has several bars that cater to the college crowd, and while the buddy system is always a good idea, I think a parent should send their kid to a college knowing all they can know about the area. </p>

<p>I think East of Campus is where any risk might be. Although campus has cleaned up a bunch over the last 20 years or so, there is still ghetto right around the corner. </p>

<p>A lot of colleges in Columbus are near shi**y parts of the city. Capital U is right next to the near East side, Ohio Dominican is near 5th and I-670, etc.</p>

<p>I don’t care if this offends anyone, but I get ****ed when I hear about OSU students getting jumped, mugged, burglarized and sometimes bound and shot in the head ( true story)by some scumbag looking for all the nice electronic stuff that college kids have a bunch of. </p>

<p>I knew a girl who had a guy walk into her house at 4 in the morning looking for something. Trust me, it wasn’t some guy she knew either. She happened to startle him by getting up to check it out. He ran out, but if he would have been armed, who knows. </p>

<p>I KNOW that there are a lot break-ins, assaults, and other ghetto ***** that goes on all around campus.</p>

<p>OSU is a good school, but parents should have there eyes wide open when it comes to their kids safety. </p>

<p>Look past all the politically correct, blinders-on mentality. Just because someone else’s kids went there and never got mugged or broken into, doesn’t mean you should blindly assume it’s the safest place for your kids. </p>

<p>I’m sure I’ll come across as an alarmist or something, but I could care less. </p>

<p>There is ghetto pretty close to OSU, and It’s NOT frat boys and OSU students doing this bull***t to these kids. It’s people that don’t belong anywhere near a college campus.</p>

<p>Any parent that’s interested should check out this OSU site that documents any crime report on the campus. Maybe this will give you a better idea. You might have to copy it to your browser.</p>

<p>Here is the link: <a href=“https://www.ps.ohio-state.edu/police/crime_alerts/[/url]”>https://www.ps.ohio-state.edu/police/crime_alerts/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Again, this goes for ANY school, from some podunk hellhole to a suburban sprawl-hell, to just plain ghetto hell, and everything inbetween.</p>

<p>OSU is definitely one of the safest urban schools in the country. C-Bus is nortoriuosly stable, clean…and boring :(</p>

<p>If it was U Cincy, Xavier, USC, Spelman, or many other urban U’s, I would say the above poster is absolutely correct. However, since I know C-Bus like the back of my hand, I know the alarmist attitude is not really applicable.</p>

<p>The only thing that really scares me about that part of town is when the Carnies show up for the Ohio State fair at the nearby fairgrounds…</p>

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<p>I’m from suburban Connecticut and OSU is my first choice right now. If your from a rural part of Maine then your dad is most likely just scared of large cities in general. I travel a lot and I can tell you that when I visited OSU it did not strike me as unsafe in the slightest. It is a massive campus and isn’t really “in” the city, rather it is in its own area. Compared to places like New York, DC, and Boston I thought Columbus was both incredibly clean, safe, and super friendly. As long as you don’t wander around dark alleys in the middle of the night by yourself, I don’t see why you would have any trouble. Be smart and you will be fine.</p>

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<p>I’ve visited that website and looked at the crime reports. Nearly all of the crimes were done by black/african american people.
I’m an international student and I’ve never been to US but after seeing this I can understand why people have prejudice against black people. Racism is a stupid and bad thing but these people are forcing you to become one.</p>

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<p>Aha… your first post congrats and a really stupid one just because one “black” person committed a crime doesn’t mean all the “black” people are bad !</p>

<p>and FYI i am an international student just like you !</p>

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<p>Poverty has something to do with it also and it heavily correlates with race.</p>

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<p>True It does …but my point is not all of them are bad !</p>