Info about areas of Pickerington (Columbus, Dayton: wood floors, condo, crime)

[carlek]

My husband, two young kids and I are planning to move out of Clintonville within the next 6-9 months and are exploring neighborhoods with good schools and without horrific traffic issues (I'm looking at you Dublin/Powell/Lewis Center). I decided to look at some online listings for houses in Pickerington on a whim, since one of my husband's colleagues lives there and likes it. We tend to go for older homes because we like wood floors, thicker walls, etc. So I found a couple of homes built in the 1970s that are very nicely updated and priced very low, in my opinion. One is on Willow Run Drive in Meadowbrook Estates and one is on Willow View Court in Easton Village. Can anyone give me insight into these areas? Are they safe? Can I walk my dogs/kids without getting mauled by a pit bull? Prices in Pickerington do seem reasonable on the whole, so maybe that's why these are relatively inexpensive, but any insight would be welcome. Thanks!

[carlek]

Realized that these two homes are in different areas (the "Willow" name threw me). The first one is close to the library and Victory Park, just to the south of W Columbus St. and just to the east of Hills Rd. The other one is further north, just south of Refugee Rd and east of Milnor Rd.

[cbus2abq]

I love Pickerington, my mom lives near there, off Refugee Rd.
Hill Rd has every store/restaurant you could ever want. I would say its pretty safe. Not like Upper Arlington safe, but certainly better than a number of other hoods around SE Columbus. That's just my gut impression though, I would recommend researching crime statistics by zip code if you want hard data.

[Dewddd]

Pickerington is definitely safe, but I wouldn't say it's free of traffic issues. SR 256 (Hill Rd) Can be horrific from Taylor Road in Reynoldsburg all the way through Pickerington, especially on weekends. It's pretty much the only way in and out of Pickerington. Other than that, the schools are great and the neighborhoods are safe. I'm not sure on how many older neighborhoods there are in Pickerington, considering that area completely took off in the late 90's into the 2000s, but i'm sure there's at least a few. I live in a home built in 1972 in Reynoldsburg and completely love it!

[Meemur]

From your other thread: I'm not sure Pickerington has as many young parents, so you might want to check into Mom's groups if that is still important to you, and also the commute to New Albany can get a little tricky in the winter.

That said, I love the area! If I had work down in that end of town, I would want to live there.

[carlek]

Thanks Meemur! I have checked, there is a MOMS Club (it's a chapter of MOMS Club International, which I'm a member of now in the Clintonvilee chapter). That's one of the first things I checked, lol. But I'm surprised, given the reasonable prices of housing and the good schools, that there aren't more young families. Are they all concentrated in certain areas? Is the population just aging in place, like in a lot of parts of my neighborhood (Beechwold)? Just curious.

[Meemur]

I don't know . . . I do know about 15 or so empty nester co-workers live around there. When I visit, I notice a lot more 45+ out walking and working in yards.

[Lily55]

My husband and I moved to Pickerington in 2006 when he got transferred from the DFAS (Defense Finance and Accounting Services) office in Dayton to the DFAS office in Columbus - by the airport. We bought a condo here at the Villas at Milnor Crossing.

We both really enjoy Pickerington! It is close enough to Columbus to get to anywhere quickly and easily, but far enough away to avoid the city problems. Pickerington has everything that you need - grocery stores, Kohl's, Barnes and Noble, a nice movie theater, restaurants, bowling alley, golf course, a frisbee golf course, parks, doctors, dentists, eye doctors, community swimming pool, fitness centers, whatever you need!

My husband goes to work pretty early in the morning. He leaves just after 6:30 am, so he avoids the backups on Hill Road as everyone in town heads to I-70. It especially gets heavy traffic when it rains or snows.

I work as a substitute teacher for Pickerington Schools. The schools here are fabulous! The teachers are wonderful!! The buildings are very well maintained! The community supports the schools.

Pickerington is a great town!

[carlek]

Originally Posted by Lily55

My husband and I moved to Pickerington in 2006 when he got transferred from the DFAS (Defense Finance and Accounting Services) office in Dayton to the DFAS office in Columbus - by the airport. We bought a condo here at the Villas at Milnor Crossing.

We both really enjoy Pickerington! It is close enough to Columbus to get to anywhere quickly and easily, but far enough away to avoid the city problems. Pickerington has everything that you need - grocery stores, Kohl's, Barnes and Noble, a nice movie theater, restaurants, bowling alley, golf course, a frisbee golf course, parks, doctors, dentists, eye doctors, community swimming pool, fitness centers, whatever you need!

My husband goes to work pretty early in the morning. He leaves just after 6:30 am, so he avoids the backups on Hill Road as everyone in town heads to I-70. It especially gets heavy traffic when it rains or snows.

I work as a substitute teacher for Pickerington Schools. The schools here are fabulous! The teachers are wonderful!! The buildings are very well maintained! The community supports the schools.

Pickerington is a great town!

Thanks Lily55! Since you're a teacher, can I ask you what the reputations of the various schools are like? A realtor I talked to mentioned Tollgate as the best Elementary and middle schools, and I gather that the North HS is slightly ritzier than the older Central one. But do you feel there are any real differences in terms of safety, achievement, resources, etc.? Any elementary or middle schools to avoid?

[Lily55]

Originally Posted by carlek

Thanks Lily55! Since you're a teacher, can I ask you what the reputations of the various schools are like? A realtor I talked to mentioned Tollgate as the best Elementary and middle schools, and I gather that the North HS is slightly ritzier than the older Central one. But do you feel there are any real differences in terms of safety, achievement, resources, etc.? Any elementary or middle schools to avoid?

Toll Gate Elementary and Toll Gate Middle Schools are very nice! I never have behavior problems when I go to these schools. The kids are just great! The teachers are wonderful too. Diley Middle School is really good as well.

Fairfield Elementary is in a very nice neighborhood and is a great school. Sycamore Elementary is as new as Toll Gate and is also a high quality school.

I would avoid Tussing Elementary and those students attend Harmon Middle School, so that one is not quite so terrific either.

The two junior high schools are Ridgeview and Lakeview. Ridgeview is fairly close to "Pick Central" and Lakeview is directly behind "Pick North." I really haven't gone to either of the junior high schools too much. Ridgeview is an older building. I believe I was told it used to be the high school building, years ago. Lakeview is much newer and nicer. At that age, kids are kids! The hormones are in control. Ha! The teachers at Lakeview are friendly and helpful.

Central is an older high school building. I hate their narrow hallways. There are "traffic jams" during the five minutes between classes. North is newer and more spacious. North seems to be doing better in football than Central. I go to both of these schools. Central has a lot of good kids - and some that cause problems. I would have to say that I have fewer problems when I go to North, but there are always those few! The teachers are great at both schools, but I appreciate feeling a little more comfortable with the North teachers and staff.

I hate to say it, but there is a drug problem in Pickerington. It seems like this is too "nice" of a town to have trouble with Heroin! Stories about it have been in the Columbus news. I have never seen any indication of it! I wonder if it is a case of too many rich kids with too much money and time on their hands.
You might want to look at www.tylerslight.com
Tyler was a young man from Pickerington who died from using illegal drugs. Now the family is trying to raise awareness about drugs in our town.