I’ll be the first to admit: I was wrong about Ohio. When Dave first told me we were going to be moving here, I was so upset. I mean, first off, I was living less than two hours from my parents and sister, going to an amazing church, skydiving every weekend, and hanging out with my best friends. Second off, it’s OHIO. Why would anybody want to live in Ohio? It’s just cow fields and country hicks, right?
Wrong.
I have never loved a place more than I love southern Ohio. I have never loved a group of people more than I love my neighbors, my youth group girls, my friends, and my church family. This has been the best 2 years of my life, and I’m going to cherish every second I have remaining here.
I never wanted to move here, but I can genuinely say I never want to leave. If by some miracle the army let us stay, I’d be the happiest girl in the world. This might be strange to you — after all, it’s OHIO. And if you’ve never been here, you are probably thinking all the same things I was thinking a couple years ago. But if you’ll humor me, I have 10 reasons why I think southern Ohio might be the best place in the world to live:
1. Beautiful Scenery
This part of Ohio really surprised me with how beautiful it is. Plenty of farmland, rolling hills, forests, lakes, and gorges. For the majority of the year everything is lush and green, and then during the fall everything turns into a fiery display of red and orange and gold. The spring is just as beautiful, with pastel flowers and white blossoms everywhere. Even the winter is pretty with light powdery layers and lacy frost patterns. There are some gorgeous hiking trails right near our house, and I love going out during the changing seasons to take photos and soak up the beauty.
2. Top Notch Schools
This area has some great schools, most ranked 8 out of 10. Dave and I don’t have kids, but I have the privilege of working with the church youth group, and have gotten to know a lot of the kids that go to the local schools. And let me tell you: the schools (and parents) are turning out some amazing young people. Not only are they very smart and dedicated, but they are kind, respectful, and genuinely good kids. Talk about being prepared for college and career. Not to mention the schools offer a ton of unique extracurriculars, and their sports and music programs are amazing. Most of the kids end up with various athletic or performing arts related college scholarships on top of academic scholarships.
3. Virtually 0 Crime
I’m fortunate that I’ve never lived in high-crime areas, so I’ve never had to deal with muggings or mail theft or vandalized vehicles. But southern Ohio is SO low in crime, that it makes even the safest areas seem sketchy in comparison. This is the kind of place where you can let your kids run around with their friends and they will be totally safe. You can go for a late night stroll and not worry about any creeps lurking around the corner. If you leave your wallet in a restaurant or forget your purse in the shop, it’ll be right there when you go back for it (or someone will have turned it in to lost and found, every cent accounted for). I’ve never once felt uncomfortable wandering around without my husband, and I’ve never felt the need to look over my shoulder.
4. Cute Businesses
You can’t throw a pebble without hitting an adorable small-business. Just up the street we have Hidden Valley Orchards, which is like a combination farmers market, cafe, bakery, brewery, live music venue, ice cream parlor. They have lawn games and fire pits and host regular activities like trivia, bingo, calligraphy, and more. Not to mention the cooking classes and wine tastings and other various workshops. Aside from HVO, we have upscale clothing boutiques, adorable cafes, bookstores, craft shops, and farmers markets.
5. Delicious Food
This piggybacks of the cute businesses, but most of the townships barely have chain restaurants — most are really nice, family-owned businesses with unique menus and high quality ingredients. I didn’t expect Ohio to be a culinary Mecca, but I’d say we have almost the same variety, and certainly the same (or better) quality as the Vegas strip. We have upscale French, authentic Bolivian, delicious Italian, fresh seafood, loads of Indian, Mexican, Thai, Mediterranean, and vegan cafes, to name just a few. Plus plenty of places serving comfort food and bar bites, and ice cream and donuts. I didn’t even like donuts before I was introduced to Bill’s, and now I crave them on a daily basis.
6. Plenty of Activities
I already mentioned HVO, which has enough activities each day to ensure we are never bored. But there is so much else to do around here. A lot of the farmers markets offer seasonal activities like pick your own fruit, hay rides, pumpkin carving, and wreath making. We have craft shops where you can do your own woodworking, make floral arrangements, paint Christmas ornaments, and try your hand at sewing and embroidery. The city of Dayton puts on live concerts during the summer, and there are countless hiking trails. We have an unlimited supply of lakes, ponds, pools, aquatic centers, and splash pads. A lot of the country clubs out here shoot off fireworks regularly, and we have airshows on the regular. Not to mention all the Air Force and aviation-related activities — it pays to live in the birthplace of the Wright brothers.
7. Travel Opportunities
As if there wasn’t enough to do right here in town, we are situated right between Columbus and Cincinnati, so it’s barely an hour to either city. Both cities have amazing aquariums and zoos, and really unique bar experiences. Kentucky is just across the river from Cincinnati, so you can explore Covington and venture down into the Bourbon Trail. Louisville is just a short trip, and Whiskey Row can’t be missed if you’re traveling with a bourbon enthusiast. Out a bit past Columbus you have Hocking Hills, which is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited. You can stay in treehouses, chalets, and luxurious caves, and spend your days hiking and your evenings soaking in the jacuzzi or playing board games with your family and friends. It’s the perfect place to go to disconnect and unwind. Then, of course I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Berlin, Ohio, which is basically the Ohio version of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country. I actually like Berlin (and the surrounding towns) a bit more than Lancaster because it’s not as commercialized.
8. Midwest Kindness
I know people talk a lot about southern hospitality, but they’ve got nothing on midwest kindness. It’s amazing how easy it is to make friends here. People are just so kind and friendly. We moved into our community already knowing everybody because our neighbors all reached out well before we got here. People out here use their turn signals, leave plenty of room for merging, and will give up the right of way to let another driver turn left on a busy intersection. People wave as you drive down the street and stop to chat if they are out walking. People assume the best rather than the worst, and it’s intoxicating to live somewhere where everybody around you has a smile on their face and a kind word to share.
9. Amazing Community
Thanks to the military lifestyle, Dave and I move. All. The. Time. And we are usually at least 500+ miles away from our family, and doing life without a support network. It’s been good in a way because it’s made us a really great team, and we know how to function together and figure things out. But living here has been such a welcome break from our usual “us against the world” lifestyle. We have the best community in the entire world here — a community that really understand what it means to be a community. We all do life together. We get together for meals and game nights. We go for long walks together. We go on vacations together. We throw each other birthday and anniversary parties. We take care of each other. Recovering from surgery? You won’t have to lift a finger, your neighbors will be there to cook and clean for you. In quarantine with COVID? People will pull up chairs outside your window to chat with you through the glass. Run out of sugar? Here, have a whole bag. It’s like living next door to family and lifelong friends.
If you had any preconceived notions about living in Ohio, I hope that reading through this will help change your mind a bit. I’ve lived in a LOT of places — the NY Finger Lakes, in the mountains of Colorado Springs, the Matanuska Valley in Alaska, on the bay in Virginia Beach, the Louisiana Bayou, overseas in China and Vietnam, Richmond VA, the Emerald Coast of Florida, and Los Alamos NM (the site of the Manhattan Project). But out of all those places, some of which were truly amazing — none of them could possibly top living in southern Ohio.
Lydia Pert 