Olde Worthington? (Upper Arlington, Dublin, Green: real estate, daycare, buying a house)

[tinmantis]

Hi guys
OK,
me, my wife, my 3 yr old and my 1 yr old 'may' be buying a house in Olde Worthington...
may I ask 3 basic/stupid questions?

is Olde Worthington full of old people, and no young families?
is there good local pre-schools avaliable?
are there strict building codes regarding extending/adding and/or changing existing windows etc. Would we get burnt at the stake for adding french doors?

regards
jon

[UAbear]

You should move to UA. Yeah its a little more expensive, but the schools and communities are wonderful. There are much more children in UA. North UA is a little less expensive, and it's right next to St. Andrew school which is superb. You should make the transition to UA.

[ViperPilot]

what is UA?

[LancasterNative]

Originally Posted by ViperPilot

what is UA?

UA = Upper Arlington.

As for Olde Worthington, I think there's alot more to recommend it than the post above would lead you to believe.

Olde Worthington's "oldness" refers to the architecture and history of the town itself—not the demographic makeup of the current population!

Worthington was settled in 1803 by folks who moved west from New England, and that fact is reflected in the layout & plan of the town (the Village Green, etc.) and some of the homes, churches & other bldgs. that date to the early 1800s. It's a charming neighborhood; imminently walkable, and diverse in architecture as each home/building has a custom-built character. There are Cape Cods, Federal, Saltbox and Dutch Colonial houses all within a short walk of the Green.

Age-wise (among people), the area is pretty diverse too—including everyone from younger families w/kids to older retired couples.

As for private schools, the Worthington Christian system is outstanding. St. Michael's church/school (a few blocks down on High St.) also does a great job, and I think they have a preschool as well.

If there's one thing I find soul-numbing about Upper Arlington (with the exception of Old UA), it is the conformity: everyone being in the same age-range, all rooting for OSU, all into the same hobbies, all at the same upper management/executive income level, etc. Boooring... Plus, northern UA is mostly 1960s–1980s developed suburbia, with solid residential on curvilinear streets—and you can't walk to anything commercial! It's quite vehicle-dependent.

Oh, and as for Olde Worthington's building codes...I think the objective there is to maintain the general historic appearance of an early 19th-c. village. I doubt anyone would jump down your throat for adding French doors. But you may wanna think twice about any glass trapezoids or weird/funky 1970s-style lawn ornaments. Hehe...

[tinmantis]

thankyou, that's a nice little rundown
anyone know anything about the 'Alternative Schools' in Worthington? Where are they? What are they? A few people have told me to check them out...
jon

[Michiibelle]

Hello, I have lived in Ohio my whole life and lived near Worthington in the community of Dublin. I think Worthington is a really nice community as well as Upper Arlington. I have family in both.

I had many friends that went to the Alternative school in Worthington. It's is actually in Linworth and their website is :
Linworth Alternative Program >> Welcome! (broken link)

It's a very interesting program for those who are not into main stream public high school.

[Supergrrl7]

We live in Olde Worthington and have a 2 year old and a 5 year old. We have found our neighborhood to be incredibly family -friendly.

There are at least 4 parks within a 4 block walk from our house. The worthington library is one of the best in the country and has great kids' programs. The Community Center (City of Worthington: City Services: Community Center (http://www.worthington.org/services/communitycenter.cfm - broken link)) has amazing facilities, pool and children's programs including free family fun night on fridays in the winter. The farmer's market on saturday's are simply amazing and full of families. On Sunday evenings, there are free concerts on the community green too. When our kids get a little older, it is nice to know they can safely go to the library, pool, ice cream store, or candy shop on their bikes.

It is a mixed age community. On our street, there are several young families, several single women in their 40s and two retired couples. From what I have seen, the older folks leaving for florida or assisted living result in a lot of the turnover of housing near our house. I wouldn't worry about finding other young families at all. We are all over around here.

As for preschools: if you are looking for all-day preschool/daycare, you couldn't do better than Creative Play Center which is located in the worthington united methodist church (but isn't religious to my knowledge). There are part-time preschools at several of the churches on the green that I have heard good things about (St. Johns and worthington Preschool, I think.) We also know people who drive to clintonville to go to Overbrook preschool or to Dublin for Northside Montessori School.

As for the building codes, there is a small portion of old worthington that requires a special permit process for renovations. YOu can see more information about that here: City of Worthington: Business & Development: Planning and Zoning (http://www.worthington.org/busdev/planning_zoning.cfm - broken link) I think they tend to approve most reasonable requests.

If you have any additional questions, I would be happy to answer them. YOu can email me at supergrrl7@yahoo dot com

[joepeffer]

tinmantis,
there is a lot to like about olde worthington and supergrrrl above was right on about everything she said including the pre-schools. Worthington schools are some of the best public schools in the state and olde worthington and Riverlea are fantastic communities. The $/sq ft is sometimes hard to handle but I believe that as long as your renovation is hirtorically friendly and your french doors aren't replacing bay windows on the front of the house, you should be OK with the regular approval process. Good luck.
Joe Peffer
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