There’s very poor correlation between “a slightly arty, left-leaning community” and spacious back yards - in Columbus and most other places. 
At least the Grandview area has good restaurants.
I’m not sure what your budget is; I wanted to live in Grandview Heights, but the houses are older and smaller. Garages are an afterthought, yards are small, 4 bedrooms is a luxury. There are a few larger houses in the area, but they were way out of my budget.
I ended up living slightly north in Upper Arlington. Still nice, but it’s a newer area and the houses are larger. My house was built in 1926 but it’s more usable space than what I was seeing in Grandview (where the houses were built in the teens). The schools are good too. North of Lane, there are houses built in the 50s with giant yards. Still reasonably close to downtown as well.
Yeah, I will look in Upper Arlington for sure. No kids, so the schools are not a factor. I’m assuming our budget is in the $130-170k range.
It seems to me that real estate prices would be quite high in that neighborhood.
The arty areas I can think of right offhand are the Short North and, as noted, Grandview. I’m not sure if either offers much in the way of ranch-ish houses in your price range.
It’s not an arty area, but the neighborhood in which I spent my childhood is right behind Riverside Hospital. Lots of (at this point) 50-year old houses of the type that might fit the bill- you might check Google Maps or Google Earth to see if the yards are of sufficient size. If they might work, I’ll just note that my old neighborhood (don’t know the name, but it includes Thomas Lane and Bradshire Drive for search purposes) doesn’t have a neighborhood school. (The one I attended was closed 30 years ago). That might make it a bit less desirable for families and bring housing costs down a bit.
From that area, you could extend your search a ways out- northwest and north-central Columbus have a lot of that type of neighborhood. If you get into Upper Arlington, Dublin, or Worthington, though, prices are going to get expensive.
There are small one-story houses in Sharon Township (look for Westview Ave. on Google for examples) with HUGE backyards, and I even know of one that will be for sale soon. A lot of those may have laundry facilities in the basement, though. In fact, basements are pretty much standard in the parts of Columbus I’ve lived in and visited, and that’s almost always where the laundry is. So, I’m not much help there- maybe there are basement-less parts of Columbus?
Good luck!
I wonder if you know my friend, Karsten Elliot?
I’m PMing you. 
Edit: Wait, no I’m not, you seem to not have PMs enabled. Anyway, yes, I know Karsten fairly well.
I’m reviving my thread because it’s finally (going to be) official: I’m getting a call with the offer tomorrow morning. So now it’s time to seriously think about where I’m going to land. I’ve got a few priorities for an apartment: I want a balcony, because I want a bird feeder and some plants, maybe a bonsai–I’ve been wanting to try those for years. Pet friendly is a must; I have a cat and would like, some day, to have a moderately substantial dog. A fairly quiet area; a small part of what has me leaving New York is the stress induced by horns, idiots on crotch rockets, sirens, and drunks. (Not to mention this one panhandler who likes to station himself directly across from my building. You’d think some coins jingling in a cup wouldn’t travel 10 stories up? You’d be wrong. I have seriously considered going out there and offering him $5-10 to pack it up and take his act somewhere else, but that’d be like negotiating with terrorists. :p) And fairly close to downtown, as that’s where I’ll be working.
Any thoughts?
(BTW, janis_and_c0, best get cookin’. ;))
Just a warning; if you move to Columbus you’ll be expected to join a religious cult known as Buckeye Football Fans.
Congratulations! Please keep me posted on how the hunt goes, and if you ever want to grab a drink once you get settled in, let me know–I’d be glad to show you around a bit.
Yes, I’m well aware of the Cult of the Buckeye. Drain Bead, I expect to be there within about a month or so right now. I’ll keep you posted.