08-19-2017, 02:01 AM
We live in semi-rural central Ohio, about 20 miles east of Columbus. We originally moved here 25 years ago from Chicago to better split the difference between my family in St. Paul, Minnesota and my wife's family in southern New Hampshire. It's now 800 miles (13 hours) each way. I'd love to live another hour away from the city, but I'm a software developer still 10-ish years away from retirement (I think), and need to be able to commute to where the high tech jobs are. If we turn out of our driveway any direction but west (toward Columbus), we are on decent 55 mph roads with no traffic lights and within about 20 miles we have fun curvy loads. Scenic Amish country is 50 miles to the northeast; the southern Ohio Appalacchian foothills are 50 miles to the southeast. Lots of opportunities to deer hunt in Licking County. And there are tons of great churches around. The cost of living is reasonable, especially compared to the Twin Cities and New Hampshire areas our families live. The local public schools aren't great, but Wifeums home-schooled both boys all the way through, so that didn't really matter to us. Given my essential daily commute to Columbus, I can't imagine a better place for us to live.