Moving From Savannah, Ga to Ohio (Columbus, Cleveland: best cities, sales, real estate)

[QueenEsther15]

Hello Everyone

I'am comparing 5 cities in the state of Ohio.
before moving. May the best cities win!!!!

*Columbus, Ohio *Cleveland, Ohio *Cincinnati, Ohio *Akron, Ohio *Toledo, Ohio

1. What are the good/bad neighborhoods? (Out of the 5 cities)

2.What’s the cost of living there? (childcare? Utilities? Gas?)

3. What’s the job market like? (out of the five cities)

4.How much does it cost to register my vehicle? (5 Cities)

5.How do the school systems operate? IEP(5 Cities)

6.How much is gas ? (5 Cities)

7.what are the affordable (5 Cities)

8. what is the rent average for a 4 or 5 bedroom house

9. What are the most culture diverse cities between 5 of the listed cities

10.What are the population Growth/Decline (5 cities)

11. what is the difference in weather from Savannah, Ga?

12. what are the crime rate?

11. How are Healthcare affordable?

12 Are their any culture supermarket? I enjoy cooking Haitian Cuisine Jamaican Food

I'am a African American with Haitian decent family of 6 Myself, Husband with two sets of twins Boys and Girls Elementary and Middle school aged we enjoy going out on Saturday Parks, Festivals, Beach My boys play football and basketball for the parks so i wanted to know if they also have youth park leagues. My girls are dancers and gymnast. i don't like to drive far i want to stay at least 3 miles to shops school and malls. My husband is a warehouse manager We are a young couple I'm in my early 20's and my husband is in his early 30's we enjoy date night walk downtown going out to dinners we love jet skiing the beach, canoeing We do a lot of family functions i'm a stay at home mom. almost forgot we are originally from Miami, Fl I'am open to a smaller town close to a major city.

Thank you in advance who help in providing answers

[WRnative]

Lots of questions that would best be asked on individual city forums for Ohio.

My general impression is that housing prices are lower in Cleveland, utility prices are comparable if not lower than in Columbus, and otherwise the cost of living is comparable in Cleveland to Columbus. I have several friends in Columbus and we talk about these things. I don't know enough about Cincinnati to comment on the issue.

As far as diversity, perhaps read post 36 and subsequent posts in this thread.

https://www.city-data.com/forum/ohio/...cinnati-4.html

Athletics in Ohio generally are centered on school systems, beginning with middle schools and even elementary schools, depending upon the district. Some systems have lacrosse, some have ice hockey, some have gymnastics, some have tennis, some have swimming, some probably even have volleyball; most have football, baseball, girls softball, basketball, track & field, cross country, field hockey for girls (this may be dated and not true today; I'm older), and soccer. YMCAs and community centers, and sometimes outdoor leagues in the summer for youth are big in northeast Ohio. As I said everything varies by community. Many for-profit schools teach gymnastics in Ohio. School districts on their websites post their athletic programs and prospective residents surely could inquire on phone as most districts have athletic directors.

Both real estate property taxes, sales taxes, and municipal income taxes vary greatly by each individual community in Ohio. Services, including recreational opportunities, generally correlate with higher tax rates, but not always if a community has a strong commercial property base, such as in Beachwood in northeast Ohio.

Job prospects vary by skills. E.g., if you're a nurse, you'll likely find good employment prospects everywhere.

Check out the weather for each city at weatherspark.com.

I know Cuyahoga Community College in Greater Cleveland has a strong and successful culinary program. I don't know about opportunities in Columbus and Cincinnati. Do a web search for ethnic restaurants of interest in each city and perhaps inquire at those restaurants. E.g., Cleveland has Caribbean restaurants. TripAdvisor.com allows you to search for restaurants by cuisine, such as "Caribbean." A difficulty is that you also have to search individual suburbs, such as Cleveland Heights in northeast Ohio. Even then some restaurants slip through unless you search all relevant cities. So also check the restaurant pages at major websites, such as Cleveland.com.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/taste-of-jamaica-lyndhurst

Join AAA and get relevant maps, such as the Cleveland and Northeast Ohio maps for Greater Cleveland.

Good luck!

[Natural510]

Columbus probably has the largest West Indian (mostly Jamaican) population. Toledo is the cheapest but also has the smallest job market. All cities have suburbs with good schools; I’d research them individually. Columbus has the largest population growth by far, also the best job market (they go hand-in-hand). The Cincinnati suburb of Fairfield has the largest international market in the state and probably one of the best in the country (Jungle Jim’s). Cleveland has the best entertainment options of all Ohio’s cities.

It may be difficult to find such a large house as a rental in Ohio (in a nice neighborhood). Because real estate is cheaper here than other areas, more people with large families own their own homes and rentals will be more rare in neighborhoods with mostly single-family homes.

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by QueenEsther15

My husband is a warehouse manager We are a young couple I'm in my early 20's and my husband is in his early 30's we enjoy date night walk downtown going out to dinners we love jet skiing the beach, canoeingThank you in advance who help in providing answers

Amazon is building two mammoth warehouse distribution centers on the east side of Cleveland. One in Euclid and the other in Warrensville Hts. Perhaps your husband should check them out for a job opportunity.

Cleveland and Toledo, with Lake Erie, definitely leads other major Ohio cities in water recreation. Greater Cleveland has several major marinas and yacht clubs, and many public jet ski and boat launches. I'm not as familiar with Toledo. Kayaking and canoeing are popular activities in Greater Cleveland, whether on Lake Erie or the region's several rivers.

https://www.city-data.com/forum/cleve...tion-lake.html

Rowing is even emerging as a major activity in downtown Cleveland on the Cuyahoga River.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCG-fm57eF0

wkyc.com | 'Foundry' to officially open, transform crew in Cleveland: PHOTOS

https://www.clevelandfoundry.org/copy-of-history

High School Rowing | Cleveland Rowing Foundation

[agreen9189]

Well I can tell you right now, any city you move to in Ohio weather will be NOTHING like Savannah, GA. Nice summers, but very cold Winters, depending how mother nature feels you might not get spring at all.

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by agreen9189

Well I can tell you right now, any city you move to in Ohio weather will be NOTHING like Savannah, GA. Nice summers, but very cold Winters, depending how mother nature feels you might not get spring at all.

Nice autumns as well, especially southeast of Lake Erie where prevailing winds turn Lake Erie into a giant heater. For many, the favorite season in Ohio, perhaps because Ohioans generally don't like muggy weather.

[ferraris]

This is a lot of questions for a lot of cities! Does your husband have job prospects in any of them?

Originally Posted by QueenEsther15

1. What are the good/bad neighborhoods? (Out of the 5 cities)]

5.How do the school systems operate? IEP(5 Cities)

12. what are the crime rate?

Save these for after you narrow down which city you prefer.

2.What’s the cost of living there? (childcare? Utilities? Gas?)

7.what are the affordable (5 Cities)

They are all roughly the same. Toledo is notably cheaper, but not by a huge amount.

3. What’s the job market like? (out of the five cities)

10.What are the population Growth/Decline (5 cities)

Toledo's is the worst, but for a warehouse manager it may be a different story. Manufacturing, shipping, and blue collar work is still relatively common there. Columbus and Cincy are experiencing some growth. Cleveland is experiencing slight decline.

4.How much does it cost to register my vehicle? (5 Cities)

The Cleveland/Akron area have emissions inspections which are free, but could require you to get repairs. Otherwise it is the same across the state.

6.How much is gas ? (5 Cities)

No significant differences.

8. what is the rent average for a 4 or 5 bedroom house

This will vary greatly by what type of neighborhood you choose. You could get into a so-so working class neighborhood for ~$800/month all the way up to $3,000+ for the nicest neighborhoods.

Buying is probably a better option in all of Ohio.

11. what is the difference in weather from Savannah, Ga?

Coming from Savannah, anywhere in Ohio will be a pretty big change.

11. How are Healthcare affordable?

Will depend on your employer more than your city. All of the cities have major hospitals.

we enjoy going out on Saturday Parks, Festivals, Beach My boys play football and basketball for the parks so i wanted to know if they also have youth park leagues. My girls are dancers and gymnast

All of the cities will have options for these things

i don't like to drive far i want to stay at least 3 miles to shops school and malls.

I will say that Toledo is by far the easiest of the 5 to drive in. There's a rule of thumb that "you can get anywhere in 20 minutes" in Toledo, and it's pretty accurate.

We are a young couple I'm in my early 20's and my husband is in his early 30's we enjoy date night walk downtown going out to dinners we love jet skiing the beach, canoeing

How important are the water activities? Living along Lake Erie will definitely give you the best access to that.

[QueenEsther15]

Thank you for your informative response

[QueenEsther15]

We need a different change as for as weather goes i'm excited

[bellhead]

Originally Posted by QueenEsther15

We need a different change as for as weather goes i'm excited

Maybe I can answer your ?'s pretty good, I live in Savannah but grew up in Lima & lived in Cincinnati 15 years....

1. What are the good/bad neighborhoods? (Out of the 5 cities)]

5.How do the school systems operate? IEP(5 Cities)

12. what are the crime rate?

Cincinnati has bad neighborhoods but it's not like Savannah where driving 2 blocks changes everything. In Cincinnati Avondale, Price Hill, West end are your bad areas. You can live in areas like Pooler, in northern kentucky or suburban Cincinnati where violent crime is almost non-existent. Even the murder rate for the entire metro of 2.5 million is about the same as Savannah metro of 400k people.

Schools in the suburban areas are much better overall compared to Savannah. Most of the schools are very good & you don't have to navigate them like in Savannah.

Crime is much lower than in Savannah overall.

2.What’s the cost of living there? (childcare? Utilities? Gas?)

7.what are the affordable (5 Cities)

Cost of living is about 20% lower for car insurance, food, gas is about the same, Cost to register your car is much lower, there is a one time sales tax & around a $40 a year registration per car. Electric is lower due to not needing AC all year. If you live north of C-bus, you'll need the AC less than 30X a year, growing up in Lima we slept with windows open almost all summer long.

8. what is the rent average for a 4 or 5 bedroom house.

I rent my house out in Union Ky. for $1550 a month, it's a 2200 square foot, 4 bedroom 2 1/2 bath newer home. The basement is finished giving you an extra 900 square feet.

11. How are Healthcare affordable?
Most healthcare is connected with your jobs, wages are generally $3 to 5 an hour more & most jobs include health care. Much better job market than Savannah.

Quote:
we enjoy going out on Saturday Parks, Festivals, Beach My boys play football and basketball for the parks so i wanted to know if they also have youth park leagues. My girls are dancers and gymnast
All of the cities will have options for these things.

In Cincinnati a season pass to Kings Island is $250 per month, includes a theme park & an aquatic center. Excellent parks & youth leagues.

Quote:
i don't like to drive far i want to stay at least 3 miles to shops school and malls.
Look up Union Kentucky, everything you ask for is within 3 miles. I used Union KY. in this quite a bit as I moved across the river from Cincinnati. The northern six counties in KY are a suburb of Cincinnati, schools are very good & is more Ohio than Kentucky.

Weather..
If you remember the snow & cold snap we had in January for about 5 days, that is a typical winter day in Cincinnati. 20's at night, 40's during the day.