There are plenty of nice neighborhoods here and I haven't heard any of the 20's crowd complaining about lack of night life. The Arena District and adjacent Short North areas sound like what he is looking for; if he takes the job, he might want to start looking there for a place to live.

Other singles friendly neighborhoods good for young professionals would be German Village, Victorian Village, and Clintonville. Victorian Village and Clintonville may fit the budget of someone just getting started better than the Short North or German Village. They are both very nice residential areas very close to thriving commercial areas. I live in Clintonville so I may be a bit biased, but it is a top-notch urban neighborhood.

An underrated suburban area would be Olde Gahanna. Not quite as trendy as the premier urban areas of Columbus, but if he is more of a suburban guy, it would be a good neighborhood for a young single.

Columbus is definitely a young city. A large number of the people who graduate from Ohio State (or any of the other colleges in the area), stay right here. Don't worry - your son would have plenty to do!

As far as the cold goes, there's really no getting around that. :)

Here are a few links to learn more about Columbus and the neighborhoods:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_ohio

…wikipedia.org/wiki/…_Ohio

Lots to do here for young people. Park St./Arena District is the big 20-something post-college pickup bar scene right now. Parts of Grandview have a similar nightlife, although somewhat more sedate. Short North is great for more of an artsy, hipster nightlife. Campus Area is mostly undergrad-focused, but I'm sure for someone who has just graduated it would still be a fun area.

Victorian Village is a great place to live, central to everything. Rents are reasonable, although buying is expensive. I've been in the neighborhood for almost five years, and am only leaving because I can't afford to buy there. Lots of young people I know live in German Village or Merion Village and love it. Lots of people in their 20s live in Grandview, mostly east of Grandview Ave and down towards Goodale, and also in the adjacent parts of Columbus going more north towards Upper Arlington (everyone calls that "Grandview" but it's technically the Fifth by Northwest neighborhood of Columbus). Suburbs aren't really my scene, but if he prefers that, there are lots of apartment complexes in places like Dublin, Hilliard, Grove City, etc.

Metro Rentals is a pretty good site for finding apartments in the city:

http://www.metro-rentals.com/

Some friends have also had luck on Craigslist:

http://columbus.craigslist.org/apa/

To find out more about the city, I'd strongly recommend that your son checks out Columbus Underground. It's a messageboard centered around the city; most posters are in their 20s and 30s, and it's a great resource for finding out about local events, new restaurants, new condos and apartments, etc:

http://www.columbusunderground.com

He might also want to look at the websites for Columbus Alive and the Other Paper. They are the free weekly arts/entertainment papers and will give some sense of what's going on in the city.

As for the cold, it's all relative. Someone who has always lived in Florida will probably find it cold. I lived in Upstate New York and Canada for ten years, so I don't even consider what Columbus has to be winter. Mostly stays around the freezing mark, doesn't snow too often, and when it does, it typically melts within a couple of days. The area is somewhat prone to freezing rain (we're right on the freeze line a lot of the time), which can be a big drag to drive in if you're not used to it.

I think he would love it here. I came here after high school and have been here and loved it ever since. There are things to do all of the time. It is really an awesome place to live because it has such a low cost of living. There are many great young people in this city and it is really easy to get involved at any level.

www.ColumbusUnderground.com also has monthly meetups so he could get to know a lot of people. They also have a weekly email newsletter he could sign up for. The people on that website are very welcoming to newcomers, new people come to the meetups all of the time.

www.columbusretrometro.com is also a good site to check out to get a really good feel of neighborhoods.

If he got an apartment in the Short North or Italian Village or Victorian Village or Arena District, he would be right in the middle of all of the fun stuff. I would definitely recommend an urban neighborhood to him and not a suburb, otherwise he will feel like Columbus is blah and in my opinion it would be harder to make friends.

Best of luck to him as he makes his decision! I think he would find Columbus is a great place to live, he might just need to get a warm coat or two. :)

Columbus is awesome! German Village has everything...parks, bars, resturants, shops, churches, grocery stores. Very friendly neighborhood and close to downtown too.

And remember, yes, its cold in winter...but the other 3 seasons are great.

As far as the cold go. Your son might not like it or want to get used to it especially coming from Florida. I only am use to it because I took trips from Georgia and Florida to visit family alot. So I knew what I was getting into. Most of my friends from florida either deal with it or they go back but they never get used to it.

As far as what to do and the night life it all depends on what your son is used to and what he likes. If he's used to only going out in Orlando then it is somewhat similar (kinda of). If he's used to going out in Miami then no it's not alot to be expected.

As far as where to live he can practicly live anywhere in columbus. It gives him alot of diffrent choices but young singles pretty much migrate anywhere in Columbus. Right now they are trying to push them to move downtown but at this point I'm not sure if it's an idea for everyone.

I suggest that his best bet which I'm sure he plans, is to visit the city and see for himself how he might like it. If it's the cold that might bother him than I suggest that he gets here before the end of the year.

thanks everyone!! My son will be in Columbus in 2 weeks. The company is flying him in for his final interview. I have passed on all this great info to him. Anymore info? Keep it coming!