Being transfered to Columbus (Middletown, Grove City: relocating, big home, diversity)

[NewToCA]

Grove City and Hilliard are OK, but I would choose Worthington over either. I have never understood Worthington to be regarded as snooty, that applied to New Albany, Dublin, Powell and Upper Arlington, but not to Worthington.

[streetcreed]

I have never understood Worthington to be regarded as snooty, that applied to New Albany, Dublin, Powell and Upper Arlington, but not to Worthington.

Worthington is not snooty. That is most likely a sterotype that would come from someone in a rural area. Worthington is slightly liberal and down to earth though. The residents love to give their tax dollars to the school district in Worthington and that can seem snooty to some. Worthington has many middle class residents it is hardly a "high end only" kind of place. Worthington is very much like the Clintonville/Beechwold neighborhood to its south (homes with good character, wide range of residents ages, tree lined streets, decently walkable.)


And the idea that "grove city is bad" comes from the thought of suburb VS suburb. People from suburb A want to believe that it is drastically different than suburb B. However, in reality there is little large differences among them. The differences are smaller things like number of minorities, home ages, etc.. They are in the same region, the midwest, in the same metro, Columbus, and have similiar housing styles and are all very car oriented and post WWII construction.

The only suburbs that have drastic differences are between the Inner Ring Suburbs and the newer Outerbelt suburbs. The inner-ring suburbs have older, usually expensive homes and have smaller school districts. These are areas like Upper Arlington, Grandview, and Bexley. The outer ring burbs that grew after the 70s and are based mostly outside or slightly inside of the outerbelt (Westerville, Dublin, Hilliard, Pickerington, Reynoldsburg, Grove City, Powell, and Worthington.) Though Worthington has the most developed downtown, urban like area of all of the "newer" suburbs.

In reality almost any of the suburbs are a good place to raise a family. And many areas of Columbus are a great place to raise a family too.

[macsports2]

Originally Posted by Torn2pieces

I live in Grove City - what is so bad about it???? All I hear is this negativity, yet no one says why!?!?!?

I hear all these other towns having crime - these so called "good" towns.

I live in a Nice neighbor....


My Husband works over in Worthington - says it stinks....The people are snobbish. But, that's just his opinion...

I agree with you. I don't live in Grove City yet but there is nothing that's going to change my mind about moving there. I've been watching Columbus news and have seen things happen in Westerville and other areas people say are the best areas but I haven't once heard anything bad about Grove City except for little things like shoplifting.

[bgfalcons86]

Originally Posted by streetcreed

People from suburb A want to believe that it is drastically different than suburb B. However, in reality there is little large differences among them. The differences are smaller things like number of minorities, home ages, etc.. They are in the same region, the midwest, in the same metro, Columbus, and have similiar housing styles and are all very car oriented and post WWII construction.

I would tend to agree. Look at the median household incomes in towns like Worthington, Westerville, Hilliard, Gahanna and Pickerington. They are all very similar and each has a mix of housing. Dublin and Powell have higher median HH incomes. Grove City is a little lower than the first group I mentioned, but well above the national average. All of these suburbs are fine places to live. Unfortunately, I think there is a tendency in Central Ohio to be a bit status conscious. That is why you will hear certain people in one suburb talk about another like it is a 'bad' or 'terrible' place to live. Some of it comes down to a matter of taste. For instance, I don't particularly like Westerville, but I don't think it is a 'bad' place. Just not my cup of tea.

[jajosh07]

Originally Posted by streetcreed

Worthington is not snooty. That is most likely a sterotype that would come from someone in a rural area. Worthington is slightly liberal and down to earth though.

I hope that was not suppose to be directed towards me... otherwise i would have to tell you that maybe you should live in Worthington with the other snotty people.... but only if that was directed towards me

[CrissCT]

Originally Posted by bgfalcons86

Unfortunately, I think there is a tendency in Central Ohio to be a bit status conscious. That is why you will hear certain people in one suburb talk about another like it is a 'bad' or 'terrible' place to live.

I totally agree with you, we lived in Columbus for a long time, then Cleveland for a couple years and now live in San Diego and I found Columbus (surprisingly) to be the most status conscious place of the three.

[lovin it 13]

Based on housing, I would try Grandview or Upper Arlington. They have older houses that I think would suit you, and are nice places to live. Grandview is very safe, and is located right outside the city. It's small, young, and very personable. Upper Arlington, is more upscale. The town itself is rich-old money, not new. I honestly don't know much about either school system, but you could look up their report card online. Another place you may like is New Albany. It does not have old homes, but it is safe, has a good school system, and is nice. It's more rural, but is not far from everything that you need. It is a ritzy town though...and has a highly populated elementary school..as for the secondary grades, I'm not sure. Other than that I'm not sure what to advise. The suburbs are booming faster than they can get the schools built. Pickerington has a good school system, but it is becoming extremely hectic-especially for a daily commute out of the city. Honestly, any of the cities I named, along with Westerville, Worthington, and Gahanna all have nice-old-down town parts that give the city character, and make you fall in love with them. They are all nice areas that have become crowded, but are safe. They are not that far apart from each other-I would recommend that you take a day and drive around the cities before you decide. That way you can get a feel of them, and see what fits you best. As for Dublin, it is also ritzy and highly, highly congested. However they do have good schools, but I would venture to say no better than the other school districts I mentioned. The only thing that puts them ahead is money. Now, all of that aside. I would not recommend that you move to Groveport, Grove City, Reynoldsburg, or anywhere that will send your children to Columbus Public. It's not that they are horribly-awful places, it's just that there are much better places to live around here.

Hope this helps

[lovin it 13]

I would agree-Worthington is not known for being "snooty". However, as someone else said, Columbus suburbs do tend to talk unfavorably about each other. Every suburb has an understood label..a stereotype already put on them. I will also warn you, that every district that contains more than one high school, will tell you that they have a "rich" side and a "poor" side to it, and that the schools are favored more in one direction.

[OHtoCT]

look at Grandview Heights. It's got the old homes, tree lined streets a nice little strip with coffee shops, etc. I've lived in Cols 14 years and lived all over the city and Grandview Heights is the best in my opinion. They have excellent schools and taxes aren't much higher than the city of Cols taxes (in fact, they might be the same so you'd want to check) If the husb is going to work out of the home, you want the home to be in a nice place and not a pop up development neighborhood. Grove City is also known as Grove-tucky (due to being like Kentucky) It's a little, for lack of a better word, hick. Or hicks who have a little money, but still hicks. They have a waffle house on their main strip....need I say more?

[streetcreed]

I would not recommend that you move to Groveport, Grove City, Reynoldsburg, or anywhere that will send your children to Columbus Public. It's not that they are horribly-awful places, it's just that there are much better places to live around here.

Regarding Columbus City School district sections of Columbus, some of the most desired places to live in the entire metro are Columbus neighborhoods in the Columbus school district. The Short North, Victorian Village, Clintonville/Beechwold, German Village, NW side of Columbus neighborhoods. These are all very sought after, safe, beautiful neighborhoods. And the columbus city schools in some of these neighborhoods rank well to very well. Columbus Alternative High School ranks on par with many suburbs. I felt the need to expand upon this generalization.