Moving to Columbus from Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Upper Arlington, Gahanna: rental market, mortgage)

[Vijay]

Greetings,
I got a job in Gahanna, near Ohio and am planning to move with family (wife and two children) there within next one month.. My older son is going to elementary school and hence I am really looking for neighborhood with good schools. Safety is equally important..
Could some of you who have lived in Columbus for some time, offer some suggestions. My specific questions are:
1. Besides the above considerations of good school district and safety, if I want to reduce my commute time to work(Gahanna) ,will New Albany a good area for living?
2. Heard a lot of Dublin/Upper Arlington from this site...but looks like they are far from GAhanna..(from maps).. Would it be difficult to commute to malls/other interesting places from family, if I live in New Albany?
3. Can I live in Gahanna itself, is it a safe place to live? How are the schools there?

Thanks for all your input..really appreciate.
Jay

[paintballer1708]

Gahanna is a very nice suburb. But, its not far at all from New Albany. Thats where i would consider a move to. New Albany is a very nice small town, but it is growing by leaps and bounds. But it still has much more room to grow and the people are very friendly. New Albany is safe and the school systems are great.

For entertainment, Columbus is only about 45 minutes away depending on traffic. I know sometimes the 270 loop can get some heavy traffic. But you would be taking 670 to get to Columbus so traffic might not be as bad. You have some very nice parks nearby like Blendon Woods Metro Park, and if you travel east you have lots of Nat'l parks and wooded areas. When i went to New Albany i couldnt believe that Columbus wasnt that far of a drive. Its such a small quiet town. You wouldnt think that it was by a big city. I know the Easton Town Center is also not far away. That is a very big mall. I have heard many good things about it on a NATIONAL level. There is a lot of entertainment nearby, just in the suburbs themselves. If you add Columbus the entertainment is endless. I would really look into moving to New Albany.

I will provide a couple links for you to go to for New Albany. The first one is the town's website, then the second one is the school district website.

http://www.villageofnewalbany.org/

http://www.new-albany.k12.oh.us/

Good Luck with the move. If you need anymore info, please feel free to ask.

[Vijay]

Thanks for your very informative response..I really appreciate. Could you comment on living in Dublin/upper Arlington areas (the two other good areas that somebody mentioned in these columns), to work in Gahanna? Do you have some info on the average commute time as well as some pros and cons of living in these areas viz-a-viz at New Albany? We plan to rent home/apt for few months before we settle for a house, though moving straight to a house appears more attractive. Becasue of the high mortgage rates, I assume that rental market would be competitive..
Thanks in advance

vijay

[hairmetal4ever]

Originally Posted by Vijay

Thanks for your very informative response..I really appreciate. Could you comment on living in Dublin/upper Arlington areas (the two other good areas that somebody mentioned in these columns), to work in Gahanna? Do you have some info on the average commute time as well as some pros and cons of living in these areas viz-a-viz at New Albany? We plan to rent home/apt for few months before we settle for a house, though moving straight to a house appears more attractive. Becasue of the high mortgage rates, I assume that rental market would be competitive..
Thanks in advance

vijay

First I must comment on your "high mortgage rates" comment. They're still low by historical standards, we've been spoiled the last few years! If you sit around waiting for fixed rates of 4.875% again you might wait a long time!

Anyway, as far as your commuting question-with typical traffic you're looking at 45 minutes.

[ead462]

Is there good public transportation in these areas? Thank you.

[paintballer1708]

Columbus has a good metro bus system, but no subway or rapid transit. They are currently working on some major transportation projects in the Columbus metro right now.

[streetcreed]

No New Albany would have horrible transit!

Honestly, there's no reason to move to new albany its almost 25 minutes from any entertainment. There's many stable and decently safe neighborhoods in Columbus (clintonville, beechwold, the NW part of the city)

Also, theres many inner ring suburbs which would be close to gahanna and still near things to do such as Grandview Heights and Worthington.

[streetcreed]

The areas that i mention above would have decent transit for the person who asked that question