Columbus, Ohio

I think we've talked about this a few times... I don't want to move, then move again within a year. I'm willing to move in 8 years, though that's not my preference. (Sozlet would be about to start 6th grade in 8 years -- the good elementary school goes K-5.)

That's why I'm researching my butt off now. :-D Feel pretty good about having a handle on things, actually.

Clintonville is definitely not completely out of the picture, for the reasons you list. Just took a hit. ("Oh. Darn.")

Well, when I moved to my new home town at the very end of 1998, I first moved into a 4 bedroom house with a sequoia grove that the realtor got a deal for me on.... I said I wanted a single or onebedroom apartment to store my stuff while I looked, and she came up with this for the same price, so I would keep it warm for the winter. The house hadn't sold for three years. Yes, yes, I unpacked some things, hung paintings, put my cookbooks in the pantry, put music on the stereo and the realtor called with some folks to look at it. I had been there perhaps two weeks. They bought it the next day. I had thirty days to leave. Thanksgiving occurred in the middle of that, and I was just about to take an icky onebedroom apartment when the New Owner called to ask if I would like to live in his old house at 14th and H. Turned out that, yes, it had four bedrooms too... way too much for me, but not if you added his baseball card collection, his shaving cream can collection, his bubble gum in glass cases collection, his pinball machine collection, and so on. In the back yard on the brick patio was his zztop canoe....

So, really, I lived in the kitchen and the bedroom. Still, it was fine. Then I bought my house, but the people who were in it were building a house, so I rented my house to them for a while more til they could move in there. So, then, I moved a third time, to my house.

I sort of lost pep with each move. Have been a little slow to fix up my own house. Got the wiriing and plumbing done, and a fair footage of fencing. Watch money flow out! and am in a continuous rest phase now.

What is my point, renting takes energy too, but... my waiting to pick my exact house was smart, real estate wise.

Hmm, yeah.

I'm currently liking the idea of buying a cute little house that is much less than what we can afford; about 2/3rds of what we have been approved for. It's in a good area, is really quite nice (haven't seen it in person yet), the era we like (built 1910), original wood, pretty pretty, and we'd have actual cash in hand and can trade up when/if we have mo money.

Anyway, my process seems to be to fall madly in love with a house, research it extensively, think about all positives and negatives extensively, dream about the damn thing, and then fall in love with another house. (One of 'em just went contingent. Sob. #4 on my ranked list.) It works, I think, if I've fallen in and out of love with numbers 1-3 and 5, I think that means I'm ready to decide.

The lovely house-hunting weather for our visit:



(Like this the whole time... forecast, anyway.)

(It is sunny in Columbus occasionally, right? Was like this for our last visit too.)

Just re-read AGAIN, (for the 387th time), and didn't see anything very specific about Bexley, though it was mentioned. Some very nice houses there, superlative schools, geographically fairly close to OSU but looks like the commute would be through downtown. One OSU guy we asked said he thought the commute would be prohibitive, but he lives 5 minutes away.

Any further info on Bexley appreciated!

Bexley is a "suburb" just east of the downtown area. The bigots refer to it as "that Jewish" neighborhood, but it has not been predominantly Jewish for quite some time. Like Clintonville, Mifflin Township, and quite a few other places, Columbus grew outward to surround it. Just after the Second World War, a lot of European Jews settled there, because it was close to downtown (at that time, that meant jobs for people with professional credentials, as described most of them), but was still mostly a "small town" outside Columbus city limits, and therefore less expensive to live in.

Today, the town is completely surrounded by Columbus, and is most notorious as a "speed trap" (rather unfair, the city-wide speed limit in Columbus is 35, and in Bexley it is 25--people just have a sour attitude because they come cruising through, not paying attention, and they get busted). It is a mostly ethnically mixed neighborhood, although almost entirely white. It is just east of the poorest black neighborhood in Columbus, which is hard by the most affluent black neighborhood, in which Mayor Coleman lives. Bexley has its own police force and city services, as it is politically independent of Columbus. I would describe it as a progressive, middle-class neighborhood. There are a few good restaurants and stores, but very likely, you would do a lot of your shopping in Columbus (as with all of the little towns swallowed up by Columbus, it is difficult to know if you are in Bexley or Columbus). It would be a fine neighborhood for children.

The commute would be a short, very intense ride, as it would be necessary to get on 670 through the heart of downtown, and then get off on Neil Avenue to drive about another two miles up to campus. I wouldn't consider it a bad commute, maybe just an intense ride, requiring all of the driver's attention.

The weather has been gloriously sunny for the last few days, and in fact, i turned on the AC today. From my point of view, anything over 70 is hot, and i would have trouble sleeping without the AC. We had some gloomy "i'm gonna rain, any minute now, and i mean it" weather off an on, but it did not rain. Spring has sprung, i think it safe to say.

There. Someone has said it. Love ya, Setanta, really. You've been invaluable.

"Jewville" floated around during one discussion (did he really say that?) and since then nobody seems to want to say anything on the record about Bexley. Nothing good, nothing bad, just nothing. Was wondering what was up with that.

Sposed to be hot (77-ish) but lots of that gloomy grumbling. Hopefully it will be more grumbling than actual cloudbursts.

OK, that helped re: Bexley. Thanks.

I was hesitant at first to comment at all on that topic, but felt i would do you a disservice if i did not mention it. A friend of mine lived there for quite a number of years. He and his sweetiepie are now buying a house in Clintonville, and, frankly, there's not an ounce of difference to my mind in the two neighborhoods. I only learned about the alleged prepronderance of Jews in Bexley because, when i'd mention that i was going to visit my friend, and tell them where he lived, they'd ask if he were Jewish. I'd ask them what the hell difference it would make. I may know far more Jews in Columbus than i am aware of, because that is not a topic of interest to me. Those whom i do know, and know to be Jewish, don't in fact live in Bexley--there is no ghetto in Columbus. My friend's fiancée has olive skin, and thick, black, curly hair. More than once, someone has made a comment to me about her (we all used to frequent the same coffee house in the Short North), to the effect of, "oh yeah, well they live in Bexley--she's a Jew, you know." "No, i don't know that--in fact, she's Italian and comes from New Jersey, in a part of that state where you'd want to keep your mouth shut about Italians, if your comments about Jews are any measure."

As i say, i really didn't want to mention it--but you're big girl, and you ought to know that there is a good deal of casual, White Protestant anti-semitism in Columbus. It's a good neighborhood, Soz, and would be a good place for the Sozlet to live.

Oh, I very much appreciate you mentioning it. There was a definite elephant-in-the-room feel, but I have been trying to figure out WHAT the elephant was. The poor black neighborhood next to it might have been some of it, too. Definitely something about waspy middle-aged lady realtors who live in Upper Arlington being uncomfortable with something and not quite articulating why. (The realtor I've been working with most closely is cool, tho.)

We made an offer!

It was accepted!

It's a gorgeous house!

Still contingent, though, pending inspection etc. We'll see!

Thanks for your help in getting me this far, folks. Mwah!

[funereal tone]You have my deepest sympathies.[/funereal tone]

Hey!!

Columbus is NICE!

The damn rain all damn day didn't make me super-happy, and I think I ruined my shoes slogging around the zoo, but it's NICE!

I'm getting really happy about moving here.

But the house isn't a done deal. I can't get too happy until closing (title handed off, that's it, that's that, all yours.)

Columbus is nice. No doubt about it.

Congrats, soz. You've come a wild and wonderful distance from the start of this thread! You'll have a nice house, things'll be lovely. You and the soz know all about makin' friends with the neighbours. She's got a bicycle ...

:-D

http://www.spiffyauctions.com/Upcoming_Auctions.htm



OUTSTANDING FURNITURE: (sells at 2pm) Cherry corner cupboard with inlays, Clark’s 6 drawer thread cabinet, 2 drawer thread cabinet, oak stacking card file, Chippendale style wall mirrors and other nice mirrors, dressers, baby grand piano, Victorian full size bed, Victorian ¾ size bed, tall glass front bookcase (7 ½ ft!), mission style oak bookcase and buffet, oak pedestal table, several Hitchcock style settees, leather waiting room furniture, leather office & sitting chairs, piano stool with claw feet holding glass marble, early OB/GYN exam tables, small glass front china cabinet, oak mission style desk, nice Victrola, bar stools, early B&W TV, eagle convex wall mirror, side tables, nesting tables, coffee & end tables. Various other good pieces of furniture & artwork will also be offered.

FINE GLASSWARE & POTTERY: Over 50 demitasse cups & saucers, fine china, depression era glassware, Candlewick, Fenton, Lennox, Noritake, Limoges, Blenko, Carnival, Vaseline, etc. Rare Roseville Futura vase and Weller double-signed jardinière (has chip). This is a brief list!

BOOKS & EPHEMERA: 1st ed. Joan of Arc, hundreds of old books, political memorabilia, John Birch society literature, medical magazines & books, early Life magazines, National Geographics, early advertising magazines, OSU medical school journals, etc.

Apothecary & Medical Items: Very large assortment of items including empty glass bottles, glass syringes (no needles), early OB/GYN exam tools, instruments, X-ray viewers, linens cabinet, baby scale, early medicine cabinet, etc.

Car: 1992 Cadillac Sedan Deville, 116k miles, runs good, nice shape. Sells with confirmation.

Antiques: Singer Featherweight sewing machine, horse figurines, early 1930’s GE refrigerators (great shape!), radios including Hallicrafters, linens & lace, golden eagle statue, candelabra, advertising items, 1930’s Ohio pen guards photo, figural anniversary clock, old hats, antique hairdryer, typewriters, RR lantern & picture, fire ext, primitive kitchen items, crocks, Tom’s peanuts jar, wooden bucket, ink bottles, china & porcelain figurines & plates, old paper cutter, umbrella stand, etc. Some tin type & other toys.

Architectural items & tools: Dozens of old windows, Victorian window weights, door knobs, grates & decorative iron railing/fencing, shop smith, radial arm saw, drill press, misc. old & newer hand & power tools, band saw, planes, grinder, saws, workbenches, etc.

General Household: There will be lots of general household & box lot items too!

NOTE: This will be a large auction – 3 auction rings anticipated. Food/facilities available. Security on premises. Bring a chair, truck, and a friend! All items to removed day of auction unless otherwise agreed. Local delivery of furniture available for a nominal fee.

OOOoooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOoooh!!!

Missed this until now.

Thanks!

We're figuring out the "when are we gonna move?" thing now. We won't be there by May 23rd (though we may have to fly just to bid on the mission bookcase and buffet -- drool), but there are a zillion little pieces of the puzzle. Like, I just won a local essay contest :-D and have to be here July 8th to pick up the grand prize. (Btw that goes back to the romance novel thing -- every once in a while I think "I could do that," and the essay contest was one. The romance novel is another. I'm trying to make myself DO it if I think "I could do that," hence the essay contest... We'll see.)

That is great news about the essay contest.
Do you need some of that good girl-gang 'you can do it' vibing?



I plan to be there on the 23rd
with my bidding paddle

If the girl gang would like to show up and entertain the sozlet for a week or so while I hunker down and write, that'd rock. But I mostly just need time. I dunno, I've been thinking about it more lately, maybe time to start chipping away at it when I can.

I'll send YOU some getting-great-stuff-at-the-auction vibes, though. Fill me in.

sooooooooooooooo ... ???


how is it?

:-)

Good!

We made the long-heralded trip to the zoo yesterday -- the first visit as residents. That's a nice zoo. Sozlet pet a baby alligator, which was part of an "Animals of Ohio" show, which means there are alligators here? Maybe just in the sewers? I was lookin' at the animals, didn't catch the Hanna-in-training's patter.

The house is -sigh- really nice. Remember the one that made my heart go pitter-patter? Right down the street? I already knew this from the buyer report (it's what calmed me down at the time) but the place is a dump. Our house is SO much nicer.

Our stuff is fitting in it really well -- only need to buy a couple of things. (Computer and sofa bed for my office/ playroom/ family room/ guest room.) All kinds of things like; we got a complete set of a china pattern I love for our wedding, we use the plates and bowls regularly but the rest has largely had to hide in the cabinet. (Teapot, fruit bowl, etc.) The dining room has a built-in china cabinet. China, meet china cabinet. (Fits perfectly.) Or, there is this deep ledge with original wood on the west windows. What to put there, what to put there... I know! Another wedding gift, a 19th century cut glass with deep red highlights sugar, butter and creamer set. So the evening sun shines through it and it's gorgeous. Or (just one more), sozlet's room has a window seat/ dormer, with oddly shaped walls surrounding it, the slope of the roof at the top and then leveling off to a vertical line. It's kind of a lot of space, though, wanted to put something there. She had two Chinese handpainted rice paper kites (sound expensive, they were like $2/ea), a dragonfly and a butterfly, in her room before. They fit perfectly, the wings filling the slope space and then the bodies against the vertical.

Just keeps happening. Bookcases fit perfectly under windows. Rug picks up exact color of wood. Etc. Fun.

The area where I am living really fulfills just what I wanted on several levels. Thanks again to you and Setanta for guiding me on that. What E.G. keeps being asked is "How did you figure out you wanted to live there?" It's not something newcomers often do -- they usually live in Columbus for a while, THEN figure out they want to live in this area.

We're right by several parks, have been taking sozlet out a lot to play. She's doing pretty well -- I keep thinking that she's back to baseline, then something happens. She's a little too pushy and needy around kids, she wants a best friend, NOW. Yesterday at the zoo she was persistently chasing this girl around who was like swatting at her and telling her to go away, and meant it. Ugh. Hurt sozlet's feelings. A bit after that she did meet a much nicer girl, though.

Another new professor in E.G.'s dept has a daughter close to sozlet's age, we're making arrangements to get the kids together now. I hope that'll be good, we'll see. Definitely want to get her started on some permanent friendships. Preschool starts in September, went and visited the facility, looks good, kid's excited. So I'm sure she'll make friends there.

We have two kids next door, age 2 and 5, who are nice but we never, ever see them. The parents both work, the kids are at daycare all day. We met shortly after we moved in, very nice and friendly, I'd thought we'd just kind of see each other -- next door! -- but that's not happening, so I'm going to set up some sort of playdate.

GREAT library, another good place to hang out for instant socializing.

Went to the Short North market, cooool. I love having downtown so accessible.

On my first walk around the neighborhood, I came over a hill and saw a sign saying "Support Our Troops", and thought aw, a Republican sign, eh? Then kept walking and saw the rest of it: "Support Our Troops/ Vote Bush Out!" Big smile. Since have seen a lot of evidence that this neighborhood is pretty lefty-liberal, lots of people associated with the university.

Very green 'round here. Love our humungous cottonwoods.

I talked about neighbors with kids, neighbors on the other side are super-duper incredibly nice, with a dog who has the same name as the sozlet. (Not "sozlet", her real one. :-) ) They adopted the dog from the pound about 3 years ago, so named her about the same time, too. (Plus, they're the kind of people who adopt grown dogs from the pound... ;-) ) They're childless and were very close to the kids who used to live here. They and sozlet instantly fell in love. That helps with the new personal connections thing, even though they're grown-ups. They're a BIT indulgent, which I have to figure out (have already talked to them some), things like bringing sozlet back after entertaining her in the evening, after their dinner but before ours, saying er, she had a little snack, hope that's OK -- a whole slice of pizza! Kind of like having grandparents living next door, with all that implies. Very kind and respectful though, I'm sure the little things can be figured out.

Overall, going well, feeling good about this house and this area as where sozlet will grow up.

And next time you're in Mudsock, come on by!!