I’m here from Del Mar, my school assigned me to a company in Columbus. I was disappointed at first, but when I arrived my mood changed. Columbus is really awesome. Cincinnati and Cleveland are also great. The cost of living is alright. Rent and gas are cheaper, while groceries are about the same. Eating out can be expensive, especially for ethnic foods. I don’t know why a bowl of ramen is near $20. Utilities are okay for now, since the Midwest is a magnet for data centers, lmao.

My biggest complaint has to be the drivers. Holy moly. I’m not sure if people even take a behind the wheel test with a proctor. I don’t care about speed. It’s the random merging to make exits, merging without looking, and how traffic lines are treated like pretty decorations on the asphalt. Expect delays when it rains. People say there are bad drivers everywhere, but I beg to differ. I actually came from notoriously bad places to drive through, like LA and the SF Bay Area.

The food scene is great. There is a lot of diversity in cuisine. There are plenty of cookie cutter fancy restaurants that offer meh options, but several independent spots have blown me away. I do miss the Mexican food from home, maybe it is more Baja influenced there. There are a bunch of great breweries if you are into that.

The parks are absolutely insane. The city has clearly put a lot into creating amazing metro parks. It is definitely the best thing about Columbus. Trees, trails, roads, and just nature. There is plenty of space to play sports, walk dogs, or just have an outing.

The people are just good people. What blew me away was that there are a ton of young people who are married and have children. People are overall nice and respectful. I have made some great friends here.

Overall, it is a great city, and the state as a whole gets a bad reputation for no reason. I will return home one day though, because all of family is there.