Moving from the Southwest - Where to live in/near Columbus? (Westerville: sales, low crime)

[momuvtwo]

We may be transferring to the Columbus area in the next couple of months. My husband would be working I guess downtown - Near Easton Mall? I have 2 kids (one in elementary school, approaching middle school and the other a High School senior next year) - I know, poor kid to have to move now.

We are looking for either close or commuter-close areas to live, middle income, safe/low crime, good schools, organized activities/sports for kids, gyms to choose from, churches, shopping options, etc. Someone suggested Gahanna (?) but I'm not sure how upscale or expensive that might be.

I'd like to do some online research as well as feedback from this forum so if anyone is able to include links, etc. that would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[Natural510]

I'd suggest the Upper Arlington & Clintonville neighborhoods. Safe, walkable, things to do, nice parks. When I went to Clinton Elementary years (over 25) ago, there was tension between the black & white kids, but that was probably a sign of the times and less relevant now. It seems to still be one of the top schools in the Columbus area:
Clinton Elementary School - Home
Anyway, Whetstone Park and its services offer a lot for families, and you're still on the N.High corridor.

[jbcmh81]

Easton is on the East Side, north of the airport, not really close to Downtown (well, a 10-15 minute drive). Gahanna is your basic, traditional suburb. It has a small downtown area that's nice, but otherwise not much different than every other suburb. It shouldn't be expensive, however. Most of the outer suburbs have decent schools, though the best ones are actually in inner core neighborhoods like Upper Arlington, Grandview Heights and Bexley. However, these are high demand areas right now, so pricing is going to be higher and there's going to be a limited number of houses on the market. Clintonville is nice, as is Worthington.

[tripmom]

More information is needed to help you with best areas to live in as far as commute to work.

Easton is not downtown. Do you know if your hubby will be working in downtown or at Easton? It would make a difference as to what areas of Columbus to suggest to you.

Also, what is your housing budget? What are you looking for in a house?

If your hubby's job is in Easton, I would also recommend New Albany, Bexley and parts of Worthington. Gahanna is near Easton but I would not describe it as upscale or expensive. It does have some nice areas, but the suburbs I referenced are more expensive and generally regarded as having better schools than Gahanna.

[Natural510]

Yeah I meant Worthington, not Upper Arlington, in my previous post (my bad).

[Scarpacci]

What's your budget? If you have a larger checkbook, practically any suburb starting from Pickerington and following I-270 into Hilliard is going to be a good bet. If you want to be in older, established upscale communities, Worthington, Upper Arlington, Bexley and Marble Cliff. If your checkbook is more modest, there is some modest housing to be found in the burbs, but most of that kind of housing is inside I-270, especially south of Interstate 70.

Where will your husband be working? Salary? Budget?

Also your Race? The reason I ask is that the largest black populations are inside I-270 but nobody is going to stop you from living in other places. The eastern suburbs Westerville, Gahanna, Reynoldsburg, Blacklick and Pickerington are the places where blacks generally gravitate.

[spiderpig1]

Blacklick, westerville, GroveCity, Hilliard, Gahanna, Polaris, Dublin, Worthington, Canal Winchester, New Albany. Great schools, nice areas.

[momuvtwo]

To answer some of the questions so far: Currently, my husband makes about $140K in this market but salary is still being negotiated for this job so we're just not sure, and also not sure what that salary in this market translates to there. While his salary is good, it's straight commission car sales and over the years with the economy issues, etc. we have secured quite a bit of debt so we aren't living at the level one might expect for that figure. Currently we're in your basic suburb type neighborhood about 15 years old, and we're quite good with that. Definitely not looking to live beyond our means.

Housing budget?? No idea there again because I don't know the cost of living differences. The home we're in now is probably a $185,000 home here at the moment but I'm just guessing.

We are used to a large Hispanic population in the area here but my kids' schools are almost 100% Caucasian. I imagine we're looking to live in an area with a similar ethnicity profile.

Oh, and where the job would be is actually right across the street from Easton Mall.

As far as lifestyle goes - it's pretty typical. I work part time from home. We have a teenager and an elementary schooler. Both are involved in weekend sports. I'm a runner and also a gym rat. We attend church and volunteer. Sounds pretty classically suburban, soccer mom type stuff, huh?

Hope some of that helps?? I appreciate the responses so far.

[moving_time]

Columbus isn't bad as far as traffic goes, so anywhere in Franklin County would be a decent commute. However, if you want to be close to Easton, then Gahanna would be an option. It's a standard suburb, not super-upscale, but certainly middle class and pretty nice. New Albany is a more upscale, in that outer-suburb kind of way. Bexley is upscale in the inner-suburb older house style. Dublin is great, but on the other side of the city.

Look at greatschools.org to find out about specific schools - it has test score, demographics, etc of every public school.

The salary you mentioned is quite good for Columbus. It's not a very expensive city. 185K for a house is certainly do-able in the kind of areas you prefer, but might be on the low end. I live in Upper Arlington, so am more familiar with the west side of the city. There are houses in UA for 200K or less (I'm in one of them), but they may not be as big or updated as you are used to. This is one of the more expensive suburbs in the area, though. In Hilliard, 185k would get a decent suburban home. I have not priced homes in Gahanna but I imagine it's similar.

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by moving_time

Columbus isn't bad as far as traffic goes, so anywhere in Franklin County would be a decent commute. However, if you want to be close to Easton, then Gahanna would be an option. It's a standard suburb, not super-upscale, but certainly middle class and pretty nice. New Albany is a more upscale, in that outer-suburb kind of way. Bexley is upscale in the inner-suburb older house style. Dublin is great, but on the other side of the city.

Look at greatschools.org to find out about specific schools - it has test score, demographics, etc of every public school.

The salary you mentioned is quite good for Columbus. It's not a very expensive city. 185K for a house is certainly do-able in the kind of areas you prefer, but might be on the low end. I live in Upper Arlington, so am more familiar with the west side of the city. There are houses in UA for 200K or less (I'm in one of them), but they may not be as big or updated as you are used to. This is one of the more expensive suburbs in the area, though. In Hilliard, 185k would get a decent suburban home. I have not priced homes in Gahanna but I imagine it's similar.

The average sales price in the Columbus area for January was $120K, so $185K is probably a good budget. The problem is that the number of homes on the market is low, the lowest in 11 years as there is strong demand but not as much building going on. It's definitely a seller's market in Columbus.