Relocation: considering Upper Arlington, Dublin, Westerville, and New Albany (Columbus: low income, for sale)

[Cumin]

Hi All,

There is a house I found online in Galena that I really like. It is part of the Olentangy school system which is what I am aiming for at this point. But my question is what kind of a town is Galena. I can't find much info on Galena other than basic statistics. It is apparently a small village. Can anyone tell me anything more about Galena? Is it an area that would be open to newcomers? Is it a nice place to live? Friendly?

[LancasterNative]

Galena is out a little-ways further, another 5 miles or so beyond Westerville. It sits at the northern tip of Hoover Reservoir.

It's a beautiful area, and it hasn't been "discovered" yet by developers. (Maybe that's because it hasn't been "discovered" yet by developers!) Of course, that also means from Galena, you'd have to drive a little further for services/conveniences that are plentiful in the already-developed 'burbs.

Come to think of it, since Galena is mostly surrounded by state and local parks, it may just retain that idyllic small-town flavor after all

Not sure about the social attitudes of locals there. Friendliness is a common trait among small-town Ohioans, but so is resistance to change. (I'm a good example of both, myself ) As for welcoming outsiders, I think local folks here are generally open to accepting new neighbors as long as the openness and acceptance are reciprocated.

[mac-lady]

Hi there. This looks like a great forum. There is a good chance my family will also be heading to the Columbus area soon from Portland, OR. Our daughter will also be a freshman next year and our son who will be a sophomore (BTW - we're ruining his life!). They are both pretty good at making friends, but I really want that "open to newcomers" feel so it will be easier for them. I'm a little familiar with the area (grew up in Dayton) but it's been a very long time. New Albany has been mentioned to me more than once and I like most of what I hear on this forum. Can you explain a little more about "planned" issues? Are there regulations for each neighborhood (CC&Rs?), zoning or what? Is there a village/town and is it within walking/biking distance of many of the homes. I hear a lot about the golf course and there are a lot of homes in the very high range, so I wanted to make sure it wasn't too upscale for us . My daughter, and most of us, are into the arts so the arts focus sounds great. We're also pretty techy and I see they have a new technical center at the school. How far is NA from downtown? I'd been looking more on the west side (UA, Worthington, etc.) as my husband's company is near 70/270, but NA caught my interest. Would that be an easy commute? We don't need to deal with too much traffic here, not saying there isn't any, but nothing like CA I suppose! Thanks for any/all input!

[baygirl]

When we say planned, that means someone took the time to conjure up the image they wanted in this "town" and carry out that plan. That someone is Les Wexner and it has been carried out to a "T" and every proposed house or development of any kind must be brought before the New Albany Company for approval and must adhere to this vision. It is based off of Williamsburg, VA (I think?). The homes and businesses have a "colonial architecture" influence. Large brick homes of varying sizes with pillars and shutters and white pickett fences that span the perimeters of the "town". Very clean, well kept, manicured lawns with extensive landscaping. The schools are all brick with large white pillars and are part of what they call the "learning campus". The downtown is very quaint (again everything is brick with white or black shutters...this includes banks, pharmacies, medical bldgs, the post office, and even the starbucks and library). Most neighborhoods are connected by a series of walking/biking trails. It is fairly pedestrian friendly with the exception of outlying areas that were part of the original "plain township". In these outlying areas you will find different types of architecture in the existing "older homes", but any new development is strictly to code. There is an area called "the reserves" that has more of a European feel to it with stone homes and cobblestone streets (these homes are mostly 7 figure mansions). In addition, there are homes that are smaller with brick fronts or no brick but still colonial in architecture. These homes are not in the township its self. These homes are cookie cutter suburban homes ranging in square footage from 1800 to 3500 sq ft with prices ranging from $225,000 to $425,000 depending on the particular subdivision and the model and size of the home within that subdivision. The people in these developments pay city of Columbus property taxes, but pay Plain local/New Albany school taxes. These areas can be in the City of Columbus, in the City of New Albany, or in the city of Westerville...but they all have to pay New Albany school taxes with their property taxes going to their respective cities. They call these "win-win" areas because of the assumption that there is a huge tax break. There is a tax break for your property, but once you add on the Plain local school taxes it isn't that huge considering most of the homes are under $300,000. The notable exception to this would be parts of the "country club" subdivision (and I use this term loosely) resides in the City of Columbus as well as parts of various other subdivisions being divided between the "Village" and City of Columbus's annexed land. These people do get a huge tax break because their homes could range from $400,000 to $3,000,000. Paying Columbus property tax is definately beneficial there!! Anywhere there is a yellow fire hydrant serviced by city of columbus instead of Plain twnshp, this technically belongs to the city of Columbus as opposed to the Village.

At any rate, I would have to say that New Albany has a fairly "religious" population. There's a big Catholic presence, as well as a very large Jewish Population and an equally large Christian population...this makes for a fairly welcoming community (I think so anyway). There is a parish, a synagogue and several christioan assemblies within this small town. My daughter seems to have very few friends that don't attend church...I can only think of one off hand. But, if that isn't your thing, I don't think that's a problem either. Everyone is very accepting. The population is fairly educated, higher income, but they tend to be conservative with that income so there isn't tons of debt here (that's the story anyway), the people could have much more but choose not to for whatever reason. The population is diverse in that there are various nationalities and transplants, but definately majority caucasion with a noticeable absence of hispanics for whatever reason. There are those with, as my father used to say, "more money than brains" whose children drive expensive cars and indulge in suspect behavior, but for the most part this is a very close knit, family-friendly community (totally!) with some singles who wanted to be in the district before they had children and some older residents who wanted to be close to family and enjoy easy access and close proximity to ammenities without being in the hustle and bustle of the actual city. It's just a very diverse town in most regards...especially since it's so small (I think theres under 7,000 people in this town!)

Our family moved here in 2003 and found it to be very welcoming and friendly. The school is stellar and arguably the best in Central Columbus (not just due to test performance). The staff and administration are well trained, enthusiastic and dedicated. I have a student in the K-1 Bldg, one in the 2-5 bldg and one in the highschool (a freshman). I don't know if your children use "my space", but there is a New Albany page that may give you and your children some insight. The school monitors the pages (I think?), anyway we monitor our daughters page and apparently many teens use these pages to talk to other kids when their families may be moving. We are moving to California this summer and my daughter and I used "my space" to reach out to the student population at her prospective high school. As with any high school, the children seem to divide people up into groups or cliques, but I don't know that it's possible to avoid that anywhere, but thankfully those groups are not "the have's and the have nots" and are not based on race or or religious affiliation. It tends to be more divided based on interests and extracurricular activities. There's also a group called "young life" that alot of the children attend that is loosely religious based, but more just encourages responsible and moral teenage behavior. The do meet at a church once or twice a week.

I know this was a long post, if you have any other questions feel free to send me a private message.

[baygirl]

Originally Posted by mac-lady

Hi there. This looks like a great forum. There is a good chance my family will also be heading to the Columbus area soon from Portland, OR. Our daughter will also be a freshman next year and our son who will be a sophomore (BTW - we're ruining his life!). They are both pretty good at making friends, but I really want that "open to newcomers" feel so it will be easier for them. I'm a little familiar with the area (grew up in Dayton) but it's been a very long time. New Albany has been mentioned to me more than once and I like most of what I hear on this forum. Can you explain a little more about "planned" issues? Are there regulations for each neighborhood (CC&Rs?), zoning or what? Is there a village/town and is it within walking/biking distance of many of the homes. I hear a lot about the golf course and there are a lot of homes in the very high range, so I wanted to make sure it wasn't too upscale for us . My daughter, and most of us, are into the arts so the arts focus sounds great. We're also pretty techy and I see they have a new technical center at the school. How far is NA from downtown? I'd been looking more on the west side (UA, Worthington, etc.) as my husband's company is near 70/270, but NA caught my interest. Would that be an easy commute? We don't need to deal with too much traffic here, not saying there isn't any, but nothing like CA I suppose! Thanks for any/all input!

The commute from New Albany to 70/270 can be a bear depending on the time of day. I believe my sister said it took her about 25 - 40 minutes depending on what time she left her house. She had to be in that area by about 8:30 I believe, so if she left after 7:30 then she may hit some traffic. I find peak travel time to be between 7:30 and 8:30. and you can very narrowly escape this by a few minutes. Leaving your home before 7:15 could easily cut 20 minutes off your time! (or so my husband and other relatives say).

If you move to New Albany, I think you'd be pleased It is close to most everything!

[streetcreed]

New Albany is about as far as you can get from downtown when your speaking of actual columbus suburbs. New Albany is a brand new suburb and is a great place, but is further from most things to do in the city and does have a rural feel to it.

Dublin was the new burb of the 90s and 80s, and even though its mostly outside 270 its also closer and right in the middle of a lot of retail, offices, and highways to get to and from other parts of columbus.

Upper Arlington is the closest to downtown and my favorite of the suburbs originally mentioned on this list (upper arlington, dublin, westerville, and new albany)

[mac-lady]

Thanks to everyone for your comments!

Can you tell me any more about UA? It is very close to where my husband will be working, and seems like our best choice if we want to be close in. I would definitely look closely at both areas, as he doesn't mind the commute.

I don't mind an older house and doing some updating, if the lot/location is nice. How are the "natives" with newcomers? That would be pretty important to me and one of the main reasons I would go with NA. Is the school funding secure? I believe I heard mention of extra taxation - is that propery tax? The property taxes there are about double already what we pay here.

What about arts and technology in the UA schools - anyone know about that? The NA development in those areas is sure tempting.

Thanks again to all for your input. It's really invaluable!

[mac-lady]

Just a quick observation. We've noticed in searching for houses online that many of the houses in UA are empty, obviously not a good market for sellers right now (good for us though). However, seems like something's amiss. Any ideas?

[streetcreed]

In general a lot of the Columbus city limits and not so far out suburbs are open to newcomes. Columbus is a city that has seen a decent amount of transplants, so many are not from here and that is a norm.

Upper Arlington is close to Ohio State, the central city, and downtown so it is a place that is very use to seeing a constant influx of new residents. Most properties are more expensive there so it does seem that once a resident moves there they are settled for a little while. So you may be the "new" family on the block but I have never heard of the neighbors and people not being friendly.

[baygirl]

Originally Posted by streetcreed

New Albany is about as far as you can get from downtown when your speaking of actual columbus suburbs. New Albany is a brand new suburb and is a great place, but is further from most things to do in the city and does have a rural feel to it.

Dublin was the new burb of the 90s and 80s, and even though its mostly outside 270 its also closer and right in the middle of a lot of retail, offices, and highways to get to and from other parts of columbus.

Upper Arlington is the closest to downtown and my favorite of the suburbs originally mentioned on this list (upper arlington, dublin, westerville, and new albany)

I'd have to disagree with the New Albany comment about distance. I live in New Albany and travel to campus daily and to the airport on weekends as well as to a rec center very close to downtown twice a week. It takes me exactly 12 minutes to get to Main and 18th from New Albany at 5:30 in the evening. Likewise, it rarely takes me more than 10 minutes to get to the airport. As for Campus...I usually cut it close and I can leave my house at 9:05 am and be parked in the garage and at the classroom bldg I need to be in by 9:30. I'm sure that the distance from Westerville (as well as access to freeway) and the distance from Powell is much further. Yes, Upper Arlington and Worthington are closer to downtown.

Worthington, in fact, would get my vote for best all around suburb in this area.