Seattle to Cbus- Where should we look? (Columbus, Dayton: houses, YMCA)

[elmoseattle]

Hi everyone,

Yes it's another "where should I move" thread. Please read on and help me out as I'm a super planner and over analyzer.

Background info: I grew up in yellow springs near Dayton until I was 13 and then moved to a small island near Seattle, and have lived in Seattle suburbs since after high school. I really miss being near family and cost of living here is very high amongst some other dislikes, so we are planning to move back to Ohio. Most of my family is in the Dayton area but I feel that jobs, things to do, diversity etc., may be easier to find in the Columbus area, but I'm really unfamiliar with it.

About us and what we want: we are a family of five plus a huge (newfoundland) dog, 3 children ages almost 10, 5, and 3. My oldest is on the autism spectrum (high functioning but still needs extra school support) my 5 year old will be entering k in the fall of '16. Politically we lean fairly to the left and though technically Catholic we aren't very religious. My husband is Panamanian (Latino) and I'd like to live somewhere that this won't be much of an issue. We like to do family oriented things like go to parks, zoos, museums, fun in the sun and snow but nothing super outdoorsy or super city oriented. My husband works in computers/software and I currently stay home.

Schools are my absolute number 1 priority. We need a district that will be accepting of our family and of special needs. My son needs a very nurturing environment and access to good iep services. I can find school rankings which are based on test scores but the school culture is also very important to me and that info is harder to find. Many Columbus suburb schools have excellent ratings which makes it hard to decifer which are the best fit for *my family*

Next priorities are accepting community/sense of community, proximity of things to do, not too urban feeling (I prefer country or small town but am willing to compromise for schools and a little diversity), some walk ability would be nice. I prefer character to cookie cutter but again I'm willing to compromise. Commute is not a huge issue as long as it's within 45 minutes at its worst, we are used to a 1.5 hour commute currently. no job is secured yet anyway so I couldn't tell you where he'd even be commuting to.

Housing: we would like a 4 bedroom home with a big back yard for ideally at or under 300k.

Help me start my search!

Thanks!

[Supergrrl7]

I have written a lot about Worthington in my past posts (click on my username) and it would probably be a good fit for you. In your price range, Old Worthington is probably not going to work, but some areas near Old Worthington like Worthington Estates, Wilson Hill and Colonial Hills would still be in your price range and walkable. There are also other areas in the Worthington School district would be great like Worthington Hills, Brookside and some other areas to the west of 315 and have bigger houses in your price range, but they are not walkable.

Worthington house shopping is a bit...competitive right now but there are still a lot of affordable options. It is a really desirable area and you need an experienced realtor who can not only get you in to see a house but who really knows your family and can help you navigate multiple offers. This a problem in most of the more desirable areas of Columbus right now and a good realtor would be able to work with other areas too.

Our family is a multi-racial family and we have really loved being here. Our kids have about 25-30% kids of color in their classes and it seems to be a non-issue for the most part. Different Worthington elementary schools have different racial compositions (as low as 5% kids of color up to maybe 40%) so I would look into that as you are looking at houses and getting more comfortable with the areas you want to focus on. There are a good number of gay families and kids who openly identify as LGBT pretty young (middle school) and so far I haven't heard any negativity about either situation (at least as far as my 7th grader and several families of lesbian mom friends have reported). I mention this only because Worthington is a little more left-leaning than a lot of other suburbs with good schools like New Albany.

Some challenges you might want to keep in mind: Kindergarten signup happens here in the winter and early spring. In the Worthington district, you can do half-day kindergarten for free and full-day is by lottery and costs somewhere around $300 a month. Depending on which elementary school zone you live in, it can be very competitive to get a full-day slot. I dont' know about other districts so it may be something you want to research.

Depending on your son's IEP, you may end up with a full-day IEP which would get him into K+ and and may be free. You can check out the Worthington ABCs and IEPs FB group where they may have some advice for you. Depending on how challenging your son's autism is, you may also want to look at your options with the Ohio Autism Scholarship for private schools and other support services. There are two Autism schools in the Worthington area (Haugland and Step By Step). I don't know if you would be interested, but I though you might at least want to have it on your radar.

As for IEPs, no matter what school district you go with, I highly recommend hiring a special needs advocate who is familiar with autism and the services at area schools who can help you navigate that process and who will attend your IEP meetings with you. Best $200 I ever spent for my child with sensory issues and ADHD. I can give you a few recommendations if you send me a PM.

If Worthington is not your cup of tea, I would say look at Dublin. There is a lot of diversity there, though mostly Asian and South Asian which has created more intense academic pressure than you might get other places. Other top districts would be Bexley (expensive), Grandview (expensive, very white, and very small school district which might limit your special needs choices), New Albany (Conservative, expensive but with bigger, newer houses), and Upper Arlington (older money, kind of conservative, expensive and very aggressive housing market).

If you read through my copious posts about Worthington and have questions, please feel free to send me a pm for more info. We moved here from San Francisco and LOVE it, but it isn't everyone's cup of tea. I have a friend who moved from Worthington to Vashon Island and she really enjoyed both places.

Good Luck!

[elmoseattle]

thank you so much for your thoughtful response, this is just the type of answers I was looking for. I'd definitely like a bit more diversity in all aspects (lgbt acceptance, racial acceptance, special needs acceptance etc.) and that is where I was having a hard time finding more than "this school/town has great schools" I will take a close look at worthington for sure. I'll also look at Dublin. How far is Haugland from Worthington?

I just a few minutes discovered Haugland. I am unsure if we would go that route but it's definitely a good thing to be local to and have in my back pocket incase public school was becoming too challenging. It is my almost 10 year old who is on the spectrum and he is high functioning/aspbergers (but honestly his severe anxiety and sensory issues are more of an issue than the ASD currently). We have found a decent school here but he still has a fair amount of difficulty making friends and with certain transitions and chaotic situations like lunch time or PE and needs some accomodations.

It's good to know about kindergarten. Ideally I'd want full day K and I am guessing we couldn't get her registered until late summer when we had an address...

again thank you so much and I may be PMing you at some point.

[bjimmy24]

Upper Arlington is expensive, but it's a very good place to have a family if the cost isn't prohibitive. I have three cousins who all went through UA their whole lives and are all doing very well today after going to some pretty respectable universities. Dublin and worthington are good suggestions. There is some diversity in worthington too. At least I used to go to some Russian grocery about once a month over there, not sure if it's still around.

[bflynn]

I would also 2nd Worthington. Is also focus on most of the northern schools (North of 70 - Worthington, Hilliard, Dublin, Olentangy, Westerville, Big Walnut, Granville) all good schools however I am not familiar with their special needs programs. You should be able to find housing in your budget however it might not be as up to par as what you can find for that price in Dayton.

We have been searching since February and relocated back here from Colorado in April. Looking for good schools like you but we are looking for land as well. Good luck!

[jbcmh81]

Here are some diversity figures for a few of the mentioned areas.


Bexley
White, non-Hispanic: 89.3%
Black, non-Hispanic: 5.5%
Asian, non-Hispanic: 1.0%
Other, non-Hispanic: 2.1%
Hispanic: 2.1%
Foreign Born: 5.8%
Median Age: 35.0
% of Households with Children: 37.0%


Columbus
White, non-Hispanic: 58.4%
Black, non-Hispanic: 27.4%
Asian, non-Hispanic: 4.4%
Other, non-Hispanic: 4.0%
Hispanic: 5.7%
Foreign Born: 11.3%
Median Age: 31.8
% of Households with Children: 26.0%


Dublin
White, non-Hispanic: 75.7%
Black, non-Hispanic: 2.1%
Asian, non-Hispanic: 15.8%
Other, non-Hispanic: 1.9%
Hispanic: 4.5%
Foreign Born: 16.1%
Median Age: 38.8
% of Households with Children: 44.3%


Grandview
White, non-Hispanic: 93.5%
Black, non-Hispanic: 0.3%
Asian, non-Hispanic: 2.3%
Other, non-Hispanic: 1.6%
Hispanic: 2.3%
Foreign Born: 3.6%
Median Age: 32.5
% of Households with Children: 27.4%


Hilliard
White, non-Hispanic: 87.6%
Black, non-Hispanic: 2.8%
Asian, non-Hispanic: 5.8%
Other, non-Hispanic: 1.9%
Hispanic: 1.9%
Foreign Born: 6.1%
Median Age: 37.2
% of Households with Children: 42.3%


Upper Arlington
White, non-Hispanic: 89.8%
Black, non-Hispanic: 1.1%
Asian, non-Hispanic: 4.4%
Other, non-Hispanic: 1.9%
Hispanic: 2.8%
Foreign Born: 7.6%
Median Age: 42.2
% of Households with Children: 32.6%


Worthington
White, non-Hispanic: 92.8%
Black, non-Hispanic: 0.9%
Asian, non-Hispanic: 1.8%
Other, non-Hispanic: 2.5%
Hispanic: 2.1%
Foreign Born: 4.1%
Median Age: 42.0
% of Households with Children: 32.2%


So if you are looking for the most diversity, it would be either Dublin or Columbus. Most of the outer suburbs lack much diversity.

[Supergrrl7]

As you can see from the attached diversity info for three different Worthington Elementary schools (Evening Street, Wilson Hill and Slate Run Elementary Schools info from Great Schools), you may have very different levels of diversity at individual schools than you do in the district overall. 89% white to 50% white is a HUGE difference.

It also looks like the above stats are for the areas as a whole and not for the schools specifically. Suburbs are much more diverse among younger people and young families than they are among the elderly. I would say make sure you are looking at the stats that actually matter for schools.

[elmoseattle]

What can you tell me about Dublin vs. Worthington?

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by Supergrrl7

As you can see from the attached diversity info for three different Worthington Elementary schools (Evening Street, Wilson Hill and Slate Run Elementary Schools info from Great Schools), you may have very different levels of diversity at individual schools than you do in the district overall. 89% white to 50% white is a HUGE difference.

It also looks like the above stats are for the areas as a whole and not for the schools specifically. Suburbs are much more diverse among younger people and young families than they are among the elderly. I would say make sure you are looking at the stats that actually matter for schools.

I think as a whole is more important than at a school district, because they won't be living in a school. The basic idea is this: Where are they most likely to encounter diversity?


And that chart brings up some obvious questions.

[Sirmione904]

We are an interracial family living in Dublin school district, but our address is in Powell. (It's tricky here. Your address and school districts are not always the same so be careful). Both Dublin and Powell (Olentangy) schools are great, but it's hard to find a 4 bedroom single family home with big yard under 300k. You may find one but it may not in a good condition.

I recommend Hilliard. There are more selections of home in your price range, schools are good in general, but I'm not sure about special education. Diversity varies, like Dublin, it depends on the school. You can check each school rating and race composition with greatschool.org.

Downtown Hilliard is small but there are plenty of restaurants all over especially Hilliard-Rome Rd, and access to I-270 and I-70 is easy. If you plan to visit your family in Dayton often and work in Columbus, Hilliard is the best choice, I think. West Hilliard has more rural atmosphere but access to I-70 is not bad. I don't recommend living in south of I-70 though. Many Hispanic, mainly Mexican live there, but IMHO, it's not ideal place to live for a family with young children.

Homestead park is a great place for family and adjacent Heritage Trail is my favorite cycling course. Heritage Metro Park has a good dog run where your dog can make friends. YMCA is nearby. Prairie Oaks Metro Park in the west is also nice. Tuttle Crossing mall is actually in Dublin but it's close to Hilliard. I think it's good match to your family.