Question about Westerville (Columbus, Upper Arlington, Gahanna: sales, car registration, attorney)

[MiMeQu]

We are moving to Columbus in the next few months, and we have been looking at different cities/towns to move to. We had a question concerning Westerville. This may sound silly, but we wanted to know if Westerville is as good as advertised? From the websites we have read, to the magazine articles proclaiming a top 20 city, etc., to their proclamation on their website that their Uptown District is a 21st century Mayberry, we just wanted to get some feedback from those that live there and to those that have gone through the City to see if it really is as nice as advertised? Is it a great place to raise a family, have your children go to school there, the amenities as nice as advertised, etc.? (We figure that if it is really as nice as advertised, it must be a very, very expensive place to live).

We are looking for honest feedback, both good and bad. If you don't think it is as great as advertised, we would appreciate feedback on where else we should be looking to live. Thank you.

[POS VETT]

I don't have all the numbers but I live in Westerville. It's a mostly conservative town littered by HOA-controlled communities. Supposedly, it is one of areas of the highest average income in Ohio. The school district is one of the highest rank in Franklin County area and the recreation center is nice. The state of Ohio is already heavily taxed, addition of the city tax is only makes it worse. So, you are right, consequences come with territory.

[MiMeQu]

POS VETT

Can you explain the city tax issue you referenced? Are you referring to a tax that Westerville has, or for Columbus (since I imagine alot of people who live in Westerville work in Columbus).

My understanding of the local tax issue in Ohio is that you pay local income taxes to the city where you work, not live. Though I have also read that if the tax you pay where you work is not at least equal to the tax where you live, you must pay the rest to the city where you live. Is this correct? Is this the city tax you are referring to?

We are trying to get as much of a handle on the tax issue as we can. We don't want to go where there are so many taxes that we can't afford to live there.

As an aside, we are used to being overly taxed. We live in PA. There are "nuisance taxes" galore here.

[VideoEngineerAJS]

Originally Posted by MiMeQu

As an aside, we are used to being overly taxed. We live in PA. There are "nuisance taxes" galore here.

Unfortunately that's the way it is in Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri. I moved to St. Louis from Central Ohio in July of 2009 and while a lot of stuff is cheaper (gas, utilities, rent, car registration, etc) there are a lot of extra things like higher sales taxes, sales tax on food, bi-yearly safety and emissions checks on cars, etc that it ends up being about even with Ohio.

To be honest, Ohio is probably about middle of the road when it comes to taxes. Now the better the school district you live in, the more likely you'll be paying higher property taxes due to the school levies. I'd say Westerville is one of the more upper-middle class areas in Central Ohio, but I wouldn't say it's so expensive that an average person couldn't live there. Now I wouldn't recommend trying to live there with a family only making fast food wages, but if you are moving due to a job then obviously it's a pretty decent job to warrant a move and I would say you would be pretty comfortable living there.

I am not biased toward Westerville at all and if I were to give you a biased opinion I would recommend Marysville as it's a really fast growing area, the housing is cheaper, the schools are great, and you'd still only be about 15 minutes from Northwest Columbus. However since you are looking at Westerville, Marysville may be too far of a drive for you. That being said, Westerville is a fast growing area and the schools are great as well, so Westerville is a fine area.

[MiMeQu]

We are not "wedded" to Westerville, and we are definitely looking at other areas. We wanted to post this thread to get some honest feedback on Westerville because of everything that we have been reading. We figured that if it was as nice as advertised, then the taxes had to be high.

As I said, we are definitely looking around. From people we have talked to, most have said to look in the northern suburbs of Columbus. And when you go on sites like this or look up information on the web, you get a lot of the same cities/towns mentioned, so those are the ones we have been looking at since we are not overly familiar with the Columbus suburbs. We keep reading about Westerville, Worthington, Dublin, Upper Arlington, Gahanna, Grove City, and places around those areas, so that has been our focus.

We would appreciate any more honest feedback, both good and bad, about Westerville. And if someone can explain the city tax issue, it would be appreciated. Thanks.

[VideoEngineerAJS]

I can't really give you any bad feedback on Westerville. I have never personally lived there, even though I do have a more than just passing through relationship with Westerville since I worked on Polaris Parkway (which a portion of it is in Westerville) and I would go there all the time to eat and hangout.

POS VETT would have to give you more info on the taxes in Westerville. I can tell you that Dublin, Upper Arlington, the Powell Rd./Polaris Parkway corridor, New Albany, and parts of Worthington and Westerville are going to have higher housing prices.

Hilliard, Grove City, and Marysville are going to give you more bang for your buck on the housing front. ALL of the areas I mentioned in this post have some of best schools in the state so you probably will pay a bit on your property taxes because since they are such good districts with such good schools, they don't get very much money from the state.

[POS VETT]

Sorry, but beyond what I have posted before, I have no idea.

[SKandM]

I am self employed and my OH work is based out of my house so I pay my taxes to the city where I live (Bexley) however I believe your understanding is correct that for people who work in OH city taxes are paid to the city in which one works. An attorney friend of mine went a number of rounds on this issue after getting audited by the city where she is employed verifying city tax payment (at the end of the audit they ended up owning her money ironically).

Westerville is a nice community, the houses are generally newer builds compared to the other areas you have mentioned. They have some wonderful parks and a fantastic rec center. The public schools are good, however they have excellent magnate schools if you can manage to get into them. There is an old town strip that I believe is technically Westerville (up towards the reservoir perhaps one of the Westerville locals can give more details) to which I think "modern day Mayberry" is a perfect description. Small restaurants and diners, independent ice cream shop and movie theather, little police station etc.

Honestly, I find all of Columbus to be very family friendly and Westerville is no exception. Dublin, Westerville and Powell are all suburb areas with strong school districts and good sized newer houses. Bexley and Upper Arlington also have very strong school districts and are close to downtown but generally are all older homes (no HOAs though). If you are seriously looking at school districts Grove City and Gahanna wouldn't be my first picks. They aren't terrible, they just don't rank with the others previously mentioned.

Hope that helps.

[VideoEngineerAJS]

I would agree that Grove City and Gahanna would not be my first picks for schools, except the Grove City area schools are the better of the Southwestern City School District.

The downtown area of Westerville is pretty much on N. State St. between Home St. and Walnut St.

[POS VETT]

Psst, by Walnut it's S. State St. The dividing line is College.