Hilliard, Dublin, Worthington, Gahanna, Westerville (Columbus, Dayton: fit in, homes, transfer)

[Heidi1737]

My family is relocating to the Columbus area, but we're having a tough time figuring out which community to live in. We want to find a 4 bedroom home under $300,000 with more than a tiny yard. We want a family-friendly community with good schools. We are not folks who want to "keep up with the Joneses", and we don't want to feel like we or our kids have to wear name brand clothes or make shopping our number one past-time in order to fit in. Is there a community where people are generally well-educated yet somewhat down-to-earth? Also, we'd love to keep a commute to OSU under 20 minutes or so. Any input?

[NewToCA]

Many threads discuss these communities, I would take a look at the multitude of comments made recently.

Overall, I would eliminate Dublin if keeping up with neighbors is distasteful, it has some elements of that in the community. The rest are fine, I'm a little partial to Worthington of that group though.

[sftong]

If commute time of less than 20 minutes is a consideration, then I think you got only Worthington and Hilliard. These 2 have quite large selection of homes within I-270.

I thought Upper Arlington is the worst in "keeping up with the Jones" as I have friends stories from around columbus. Dublin not so bad I think.

[Heidi1737]

Thanks for the feedback. Another factor in our decision is that one of our children is mentally challenged and we want him to have friends and appropriate activities. Does anyone have any experience with Special Olympics in the Columbus area? Which places have the stronger programs? My son is 12.

[NewToCA]

That changes things considerably. We had mixed experiences with Hilliard, and found that Worthington and Dublin had much stronger Special Ed programs. It has been a couple of years since I moved from Columbus, but the Worthington Community Center had specific programs for mentally handicapped children, both summer camp and activities.

Definitely places Worthington in higher consideration to me.

[Heidi1737]

Originally Posted by NewToCA

That changes things considerably. We had mixed experiences with Hilliard, and found that Worthington and Dublin had much stronger Special Ed programs. It has been a couple of years since I moved from Columbus, but the Worthington Community Center had specific programs for mentally handicapped children, both summer camp and activities.

Definitely places Worthington in higher consideration to me.

Thanks for that insight. Did the community center in Worthington have programs for mentally handicapped teens and adults?

[NewToCA]

Originally Posted by Heidi1737

Thanks for that insight. Did the community center in Worthington have programs for mentally handicapped teens and adults?

Yes, they had a program for group outings, generally on Friday nights.

[lovinglife02]

My husband and I are looking to relocate from NY to Ohio he is being transferred to Dayton and we are looking at both areas outside of Columbus and Dayton. We have children in both middle and high school as well as a toddler....We heard Beavercreek schools and area are great and also heard great things about Hillard, Dublin and Westerville...Any insight or suggestions to other areas with good schools and community.....would be greatly appreciated.....

[NewToCA]

Originally Posted by lovinglife02

My husband and I are looking to relocate from NY to Ohio he is being transferred to Dayton and we are looking at both areas outside of Columbus and Dayton. We have children in both middle and high school as well as a toddler....We heard Beavercreek schools and area are great and also heard great things about Hillard, Dublin and Westerville...Any insight or suggestions to other areas with good schools and community.....would be greatly appreciated.....

I can't advise about Beavercreek, the area was very nice when I had seen it about a decade ago, but I can't comment on it now. I can tell you that the drive from metro Columbus (Hilliard is the closest community) to Dayton is very long, and I would not advise anyone to do this more than once a week.

I did the drive twice a week for a little over a year, and I really got to the point of resenting it.

Dayton has quite a few nice suburbs (Kettering, Centerville), and I would look around there.

[lovinglife02]

Thank you very much for your helpful information.