Westerville - Franklin or Delaware County? (Columbus, New Albany: sales, credit, buying a house)

[MiMeQu]

Hello to All,

My family may be moving to Columbus in the coming months. I have read all the posts concerning what areas are the best to live in. However, I had a few questions concerning Westerville that I have not seen answered.

1. I noticed that Westerville is mostly in Franklin County and partly in Delaware County. Can anyone give some insight to whether it is better to live in the Franklin or Delaware County part of Westerville? Does it make a difference? Are county taxes better in one area over the other? Is there any difference in the schools between the counties? Basically, is there a major difference between living in Westerville in Franklin County versus Delaware County?

2. In the threads, I have not been able to find any reference to where Columbus ends and Westerville begins. I have noticed that some Columbus residents go to Westerville schools, and vice versa. My question is: is there a bright line where Columbus ends and Westerville begins (like a road, a natural barrier, etc.)? Where is the boundary where Westerville residents attend Westerville schools and where they attend Columbus schools?

I would appreciate any information anyone can give on one or both of these topics. Thanks.

[adamhos]

I'm not sure about the taxes and such, but you can find out if you're in Westerville schools, and which particular one by looking at their website. [url=http://www2.westerville.k12.oh.us/planning/index.htm]Westerville City Schools[/url]

[PhillytoCincy]

I would imagine that Delaware would be the cheaper county to live in due to the fact that Columbus is not located in it. So if you are looking for cheaper, go with Delaware. You can't go wrong, Westerville is a great community.

[MiMeQu]

I figured that Delaware County may be cheaper, but are there any real differences? Is the Delaware County part more suburban/rural since it is farther away from Columbus?

Does anyone know about the Columbus/Westerville boundary I referenced in the second question?

[CwEshelman]

A good reference point for any suburb of Columbus is I-270. Personally, I think most areas are nicer outside of the loop and that goes for Westerville as well. Stay north of 270 and you'll find nicer neighborhoods. The south end of westerville where it joins with c-bus isn't moving forward, and I personally wouldn't buy there. Good Luck!

[Mike_M110]

The county sales tax is the same in Franklin and Delaware counties: 6.75%. The taxes are close but not the same. A Realtor should be able to give you a more detailed comparison.

Westerville in Franklin county is typical suburbia, nice but generally smaller lots. Delaware is a bit more varied. You'll find wealthy new developments as well as older larger properties. Double and triple check the school district of every address you look at! In the northeast metro area, there are overlapping city and school districts between Westerville, New Albany, rural Delaware county, and Columbus. Your taxes and school quality can change a lot within a small area.

And no, there is no clear dividing line between Columbus and Westerville, especially as you travel northeast. Columbus expands in a haphazard pattern, and because of exchange agreements the school districts don't always match up with city boundaries. The Westerville school district doesn't differentiate between county residence, but does use geography to assign schools to students.

It's not as complicated as I'm making it sound, but the point is to know going in, and to find a good Realtor that knows the area. I know people who have gotten burned buying a house with a Westerville or New Albany mailing address, only to wind up in Columbus public schools. But do your homework and you'll have nothing to worry about. Westerville is a very nice and family-friendly place to live. If you're moving into the area it's a great place to start your search.

[neocassady]

If you're looking in Delaware County, make sure you watch the line between Westerville and Genoa Township. Genoa's a nice, newer area (it's being built up pretty quickly along with Polaris and the Olentangy district), but if you're wanting to use Wville public services (e.g., the rec center), be aware that Genoa residents do NOT count as Wville residents for membership purposes (you can still use them, it's just more expensive). I'm not trying to discredit Genoa at all (it's where my parents live and I've never had a problem with it); rather, I'm just making you aware that it's a different community, even though it's seamlessly integrated into Wville.

Secondly, regarding the schools. Wville schools are great, no matter where you live within the town. As with the homes, the high schools get newer the farther north you go (but, S to N, they go South, North, Central). The districting is kind of wonky, though, as when I went to North I had classmates who lived within a stone's throw of South. According to this map (http://www.westerville.k12.oh.us/doc...dary%20Map.pdf), since they've redistricted it's even stranger. But that should also give you a good idea of the district boundaries.

[MiMeQu]

Thank you all for the thorough analysis. It has been a great help. Mike_M110, thanks for the extensive details. I will definitely find a good realtor who can sort out these boundary issues. In the places where I have lived (none in Ohio), the cities are more clearly defined in terms of boundaries (it seems from other threads that Columbus streches far and wide) and we don't have the overlapping school district issue. If you live in a particular town, you go to that school district unless you enroll in a private school or magnet school.

I would appreciate any other information or advice that anyone has on this subject. Thanks.

[MiMeQu]

Those of you who mentioned the interesting school district boundaries were definitely right. I have looked at some of the maps, and there seems to be no rhyme or reason to how the school district boundaries were set. It seems you could live across the street from someone, and one of you goes to Westerville and the other to Columbus. And within Westerville, there doesn't seem to be any design for which areas go to which high schools. They are all over the place.

If anyone has any history on how or why this happened, I would be curious to know. Was this to make the population of each school (North, South, Central) as evenly as possible? And between Columbus and Westerville, is there a reason there is not a brighter dividing line between the two?

If anyone has any information, please post here. Thanks.

[PhillytoCincy]

Columbus, just like a lot of cities down south and out west, annexes its suburbs. So that is why you could be in Westerville, and the otherside of the street is Columbus.