Possible relocation - commuting to German Village (Columbus, Westerville: house prices, school districts)

[amchasco]

My family may be relocating to Columbus this summer (at least I hope so! I'm planning ahead) with my husband working in German Village. Having never lived in Columbus before, I'm at a loss about where to look for homes.

Couple of thoughts:
I know the commute times in the area are supposed to be good, but I have no clue what that means in real terms. I'm looking for numbers, I guess. We wouldn't want any longer than a half-hour or so commute. The shorter, the better, of course.

I have my little list of the better school districts in the area, but that all depends on the commute times above. Also, I know every school district has some schools that are better than others, so even Columbus City Schools has to have some good ones. Where are the better elementary schools?

Not sure of our price range at the moment, but it will definitely be under $200,000.

Any thoughts, comments, suggestions would be appreciated.

[cmhgirl]

Pretty much any suburb will work. German Village is downtown, so during a good rush hour day, you can be to work from most outlying areas in under 30 minutes. And I stress a "good" and "most"!
Hilliard,Dublin, Westerville, Gahanna are good choices. Dublin's a little more expensive. Worthington's nice but may be a little high too. But with today's house prices, who knows what you'll find with the right agent. Grove City is a nice area too.
I look more into the area than schools. Schools can be ranked all they want. I think the child has the power to make any school he goes to the best.
Good Luck!

[newnurse111]

I suggest Gahanna for you. There downtown area is very nice, and homes are more affodable :-). The commute to German Village would be 20-30 minutes as well