Dublin, Hilliard or Powell? (Columbus, Cincinnati: middle-class, real estate, apartments)

[sasspea]

I may be relocating to the area. Any thoughts on real estate in Dublin, Hilliard or Powell? What are the pros/ cons of each town? Are they growing towns?

[streetcreed]

Hilliard is cheaper, Dublin was once a cow town, it has now grown into a suburban city with offices and dencent-large sized homes.

ALSO TO ANY OUT OF TOWNER

IN columbus you can live in the city limits but go to suburban schools. Since columbus is 222 square miles in size, the city limits stretch near and around suburban school districts. Some of those areas are actually city of columbus but suburban schools. This does safe property tax dollars. Example: Some may tell you that you are moving into Dublin, but really its just dublin schools, so locals refer to that area as Dublin.

Back to this questions. None of those areas are small towns, or really towns. Most of them are still growing areas, so your new home may look at a field now but in a few years there will be a development across the street and a new school. Some are okay with this, just realize these are changing areas. They are all newer suburbs in Columbus (speaking of the last 30 years)

Powell is growing very fast as well. Realeastate in Powell and Dublin will cost more than Hilliard. Hilliard has easier access to downtown. Hilliard is also the more middle class of the three. Dublin and Powell give off, atleast, vibes of uppity or upper class. All tend to lean republican (the eastern and central parts of columbus metro are more moderate or liberal) Hilliard would be best if your looking for a home that is the best value for size and year. Dublin and Powell have many grand homes that will cost you a bit more, but are still cheaper when compared to the square footage/price that you get in downtown Columbus, German Village, or suburbs such as Bexley or Upper Arlington or Grandview Heights. The places that I mentioned last are all highly sought after more mature suburbs or sections of columbus (speaking of age) and closer to the central city.

[NewToCA]

I moved to Columbus in 1992, and just left this past year. I lived in both Hilliard and Dublin. I have also spent much time in Powell.

Hilliard is very middle class, with many nice homes available in the $200-350K range. Schools are generally good, but the kids in the schools can be a bit of a mixed bag, somewhat due to the large number of apartments in Hillard's school districts.

Dublin is very upscale for the area, and many of the residents of Dublin are very aware of this. It is very golf and country club oriented, and status can be perceived as important. Keeping up with the neighbors might feel like an issue there, so if it makes you uncomfortable you should keep it in mind. However, the area is very well maintained, clean and has nice (if limited) shopping options. Schools are top notch.

Powell has more options and is as upscale as Dublin, but seems to be more comfortable with variety. It is more laid back in lifestyle and seems to be less status intense than Dublin, and it probably would be my area of choice over $350K. It is near two large shopping areas, Sawmill Rd and Polaris. Again, schools are top notch.

However, none of the areas are bad choices, but they have a little different feel to them.

[sftong]

Hilliard School District rated only "Continuous Improvement" in 2006, which is 2 grades below Excellent received by Dublin and Powell (Olentangy School district). Ohio Dept. of Education has 5 ratings, with excellent being the top.

[bgfalcons86]

Originally Posted by sftong

Hilliard School District rated only "Continuous Improvement" in 2006, which is 2 grades below Excellent received by Dublin and Powell (Olentangy School district). Ohio Dept. of Education has 5 ratings, with excellent being the top.

Since you're using the Ohio Dept. of Education rating, let's look at the whole picture a little more closely rather than just saying 'skip Hilliard' because of the overall district rating, which I think is misleading in the first place.

Hilliard's rating was affected by missing Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for 3 years. Hilliard CSD met 25 out of 25 indicators this year with a Performance Index of 101. All of Hilliard CSD's schools were individually rated either excellent (including both high schools, all three middle schools and both 6th grade schools) or effective.

As the standards to meet AYP are made increasingly difficult, more districts are missing it. Among districts that missed AYP last year were Upper Arlington, Dublin, Worthington and yes - Olentangy (where you're from). It is likely that more districts will have a similar situation as Hilliard as AYP standards become increasingly difficult to meet.

To have Hilliard (25 out of 25 standards, PI of 101) and Cincinnati (6 out of 25 standards met, PI of 81.5) both rated 'Continuous Improvement' seems confusing and misleading to me. Just for comparison's sake, Olentangy met 25 of 25 standards and had a PI of 103.3 - pretty similar to Hilliard.

[LancasterNative]

Howdy Sasspea!

Of the three communities you listed, I would consider Powell the most pleasant and livable.

Powell and Dublin are among the "elite" suburbs of Columbus in terms of wealth, income and prestige, although Dublin folks seem quite a bit more status-conscious and likely to talk about such things, compared with Powell residents whom I find generally more laid back and less materialistic. Hilliard, despite having upscale areas in its northern reaches and along the Scioto River (beyond 270), is still mostly a middle-class suburb at its core. Hilliard also has the most historic downtown of the three.

If you like golf, you'll absolutely LOVE Dublin! It's the home of Muirfield, Tartan Fields and Riviera, plus the public courses residents rave about. (If you dislike or barely tolerate golf like me, well... ) Dublin also has a large number of corporate offices, so if you work in one of them, you could enjoy a nice short commute. If you've got a few hundred-Grand to spend, there are some stunning homes along both sides of the Scioto River. In fact, many of these now probably top the $1Million mark. Yowza...

Powell is the only one of these areas that lies entirely outside Franklin County, and that has its advantages! It has an overall more rural feeling than the other two, and alot of that "country" consists of prosperous farms and equestrian estates. You're further removed...not just from the city and all its bustle and stress, but also from some of its taxing authority! Not that Powell is a low-tax zone by any means, but at least your hard-earned dollars tend to stay in your local community. Powell/Liberty Twp. also has Old 315, a state-designated Scenic Byway along the Olentangy R. The "scenic" status means this road will never be trashed up with a McD's, CVS, Blockbuster and gas stations every quarter-mile. It's an absolutely gorgeous drive, any time of year.

Hilliard...well, I get roundly criticized on here for "bashing" Hilliard. But the simple fact is I lived there and couldn't stand it. It's a traffic nightmare; three of the Top 10 most dangerous intersections in town (per WCMH-TV 4) are along Rome-Hilliard Rd. alone. Everywhere I would go outside of Hilliard, it took me 5-10 minutes just to get on a freeway--and I lived only a few hundred yards from my exit! In addition, Hilliard is a little shady around the edges. Crime exists there--not to the same degree as Columbus itself, but more so than either Dublin or Powell.

[bgfalcons86]

LN, There is a difference between 'Hilliard proper' (city limits of Hilliard) and the areas along Hilliard-Rome Road south of Roberts. I'll agree with you that Bayside Commons Apartments, etc. wouldn't be among the most desirable places to live. Most of the 'shady places' (as you call them) are actually inside the city limits of Columbus. Even most of the city of Columbus portion inside Hilliard CSD presents good living options (Golfview Woods, Western Lakes, Westbrook, Stonewyck Manor, Quarry Point). I don't have a problem with your criticism of Hilliard. I'm sorry that you had such a bad experience. Just realize that not everyone has had the same experience that you've had (depending on where you've lived).

On the flip side, I know people who have had negative experiences in the Dublin CSD area. One person I talked to recently live in Dublin CSD (not 'Dublin proper') in a less-than-desirable housing situation and was looking to move. There are other people I know who moved from Dublin to Hilliard to get away from some of the social pressures that you've alluded to on other threads.

Have a good day!!!

[sftong]

bgfalcons86, I am not trying to bash Hilliard, but I am just reporting the OFFICIAL data to people. If you look hard, offcouse there is always someone in the local school district who is Very proud of their district performance, even in the worst rating district. I am going with the objective government report.

I am not going into the details of argueing whether or not Hilliard School District is good or bad, but I am going to follow Government guidelines. Besides, I am not an expert to argue anything in the rating system, since it is complexed, and I am going to trust the local government official data.

That said, don't get confused as Hilliard is comparable to Olentangy School District. Latest data is Hilliard Performance index is 101, Olentangy is 103.3, Worthington is 104, Bexley 104.1, Dublin 104.8.

Rating wise, out of 5 rating levels, Hilliard is right at the middle (continuos improvement), while the rest of the above is at Excellent.

[bgfalcons86]

Originally Posted by sftong

bgfalcons86, I am not trying to bash Hilliard, but I am just reporting the OFFICIAL data to people. If you look hard, offcouse there is always someone in the local school district who is Very proud of their district performance, even in the worst rating district. I am going with the objective government report.

I am not going into the details of argueing whether or not Hilliard School District is good or bad, but I am going to follow Government guidelines. Besides, I am not an expert to argue anything in the rating system, since it is complexed, and I am going to trust the local government official data.

That said, don't get confused as Hilliard is comparable to Olentangy School District. Latest data is Hilliard Performance index is 101, Olentangy is 103.3, Worthington is 104, Bexley 104.1, Dublin 104.8.

Rating wise, out of 5 rating levels, Hilliard is right at the middle (continuos improvement), while the rest of the above is at Excellent.

sftong, I don't think you're trying to bash Hilliard. However, I do feel that you need to look at the data closely and understand how the AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) clause works and how it affects the overly simplistic (IMHO) overall rating. Believe me, I'm not the only person in Hilliard CSD who thinks that the schools are good. Two community surveys indicate that folks in Hilliard are happy with their schools.

I think the performance index that you listed above is actually the best indicator. Believe me, you will see an increasing number of very good districts rated in Continuous Improvement (due to the AYP clause) in the coming years. I would strongly encourage you to take a deeper look at the numbers and really understand how the ratings system works.

Just a few short years ago (02-03), Hilliard was rated Excellent and Dublin and Olentangy were only rated Effective. The performance indexes were very close for all three districts, but I believe Dublin's was actually the highest. Hilliard's performance index has actually gone up since then (as has Dublin's and Olentangy's). However, failure to meet AYP will eventually force a district to be rated no higher than Continuous Improvement.

Have a good one!!

[LancasterNative]

Originally Posted by bgfalcons86

LN, There is a difference between 'Hilliard proper' (city limits of Hilliard) and the areas along Hilliard-Rome Road south of Roberts.

Now that you mention it, I was actually located S. of Hilliard proper but still in the Hilliard CSD. Like a "worst of both worlds" scenario. I don't doubt that alot of folks do enjoy living in Hilliard, as more people are moving there constantly. If someone I know were looking seriously at Hilliard, I would steer them to nicer areas like Dublin Rd., anywhere east of Mill Run or north of Davidson. The core "Old Hilliard" area is actually pretty charming--although you'd still have to deal w/the heinous traffic on Cemetery Rd. or Main St. to get anywhere from there.

Originally Posted by bgfalcons86

There are other people I know who moved from Dublin to Hilliard to get away from some of the social pressures that you've alluded to on other threads.

No question about that. I'm not necessarily a Dublin booster either. While the Shamrock Suburb has a lot to recommend it for more affluent people, it's really not my type of town. Getting cut off, tailgated and honked at by self-important Mercedes drivers gets old pretty fast

Originally Posted by bgfalcons86

Have a good day!!!

Thanks! Have a great Easter weekend

-LN