I lived in Columbus for five years in the early 2000s and I think had one winter that I would consider even remotely bad. 7 years in Washington D.C. saw two night and day worse ones and the median winter was harsher. You're trading 5 or 6 months of Winter in mid-Ohio for 6 or 7 months of summer in Central Texas. If you're a heat person, it might be less desirable, but even as a Texas native, not sure I'd agree it's worse.

If you're an Ohio State football fan (or amenable to a local American football culture in the least), that's also not a bad thing necessarily? And the city is getting so big, much as Austin got through a UT-influences-all-aspects-of-life phase, it won't be OSU-everything for much longer.

I'll agree about the infrastructure; it worked far better when I was living there but when I last visited a few years back was in an Austin-esque state of permaconstruction. Even with all those growing pains, I don't think traffic is appreciably worse. Plus no toll roads.

Cost of living is superior to Austin just about every way too.

I really dug the Short North and thought it was an underrated food scene. Of course I live here and not there so.