Looking for a little advice (Columbus, Westerville: low crime, house prices, neighborhoods)

[ohiohunter2]

I've been reading this site for awhile and just want to thank all of you for taking your time to help us new home buyers out.

I am in the market for a home and was looking for some advice as to which area of Columbus you would suggest. I would also like to be in a good school district with very low crime. I can spend up to 300,000. My biggest concern really is going to be resale value. I will be in the Columbus area for 5-10 years and looking for an area preferable on the west side of Columbus. I like the Dublin area, but I will be making daily commutes to campus and I'm sure will take several cab rides back from downtown and might be a little too far. Thanks in advance for all your guys help. Go Buckeyes!

[dustin183]

upper arlington, grandview, worthington

[streetcreed]

Generally the NW side of Columbus is one of the best areas for resale value.

Dustin183's mentioned areas (Upper Arlington, Grandview and Worthington) are all in this area. There are many homes in the upper 200,000 price range in these areas (as well as slightly below or above.)

Grandview and Upper Arlington would be closer to OSU and downtown. Where Worthington can be closer but also just as far as Dublin depending on where you settle.

Dublin is a good community, but you are right, if you are looking to go to the centre part of the city very often and regularly say for nightlife or restaurants in the short north or downtown you may want to be closer. All of the mentioned areas Dublin, Grandview, Upper Arlington, and Worthington have some of the best school districts in the metro.

As a second note, all of the NW side is pretty stable and has low crime. There are parts of Columbus last lye between the city boundaries of the NW side suburbs. These areas often attend the suburban schools, have many different well kept homes, but with lower Columbus taxes. Even the areas that attend the Columbus schools attend ones that rank well. This is another option to note.
Unlike older midwestern cities columbus has many areas developed in the last 20 years within the city limits.

I hope this helps. If you do settle on Dublin it is a very stable area with appreciation and would be doable as far as commute but do realize it is far from your only option and there are many others closer to OSU or downtown.

Last, there is a major difference between NW columbus metro (and NW city Columbus) and WEST columbus metro. NW Columbus and NW metro is generally better schools, steady appreciation, more upscale, safer, and more white collar.

WEST metro columbus (and city columbus) is generally a mix of blue collar and white collar. The west side city limits tends to be more on the decline with pockets of stability.

The west side suburbs (Hilliard) and SW side suburbs such as Grove City are alright places for a middle class family but do not have the most stable schools (Grove Cities' SW city schools are presently in budget deficits) and the SW side is more average middle class than the NW upper middle class. There are striking differences in the two areas and should be differentiated between.

Let me know if you have any more detailed questions.

[bgfalcons86]

Originally Posted by streetcreed

The west side suburbs (Hilliard) and SW side suburbs such as Grove City are alright places for a middle class family but do not have the most stable schools (Grove Cities' SW city schools are presently in budget deficits) and the SW side is more average middle class than the NW upper middle class. There are striking differences in the two areas and should be differentiated between.

Let me know if you have any more detailed questions.

IMHO, it doesn't make a lot of sense to lump in Hilliard CSD and South-Western CSD together (if that is what you're doing in this post). There are big differences between the two districts in terms of academic achievement and community support, among other things.

Among them... Hilliard CSD meeting all 30 indicators on the most recent Local Report Card and South-Western CSD meeting just 16. Hilliard CSD voters have passed 9 school issues (5 operating levies and 4 bond issues) since 1991, while I believe South-Western has passed just 4. Not saying that those stats in and of themselves mean that Hilliard CSD is more desirable than South-Western CSD, but (IMHO) they do indicate that there are some differences. Not to mention, the vast majority of Hilliard CSD graduates (85%+) go on to further education.

[ohiohunter2]

So I'm getting the feeling that worthington, grandview, and dublin would be better choices than say hilliard as far as making a safe investment. Thanks again for all the help. Just trying to narrow my search a little. Thanks!

[sauerkraut145]

If you don't mind a little drive Olentangy schools are not bad, as is Powell, otherwise you can save $100,000 and just buy a home for $200,000 or less in Worthington, parts of Hilliard are not bad.

[bgfalcons86]

Here is a quick synopsis (IMHO) and grouping of the different suburbs around Columbus. This is based mostly on incomes, but also on house prices. The two usually are correlated, but not always precisely.

Tier 1... New Albany, Powell, Dublin, Upper Arlington, Bexley, Worthington
Tier 2... Lewis Center, Hilliard, Pickerington, Westerville, Gahanna
Tier 3... Grove City, Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester, Galloway, Pataskala
Tier 4... Groveport, Obetz

Tier 1 contains the elite suburbs. I should mention that incomes in Worthington are actually similar to the communities in Tier 2, but Worthington is more established than those communities, with slightly higher home prices. I would say that home prices in Worthington will be more reasonable than those in Dublin or UA.

Places such as Hilliard, Pickerington, Westerville, etc. are hardly 'bad investments'. (See post on Hilliard CSD.) However, the communities and school districts are more socio-economically diverse than those in Tier 1. Hilliard CSD and Pickerington LSD tend to have slightly better standardized Performance Index Scores than Westerville CSD and Gahanna-Jefferson CSD. However, I always say that one needs to be careful to put too much emphasis on standardized scores. All-in-all, Hilliard, Pickerington, Westerville and Gahanna have a lot in common.

So, if you are looking to be invest in the elite suburbs, you should stick to Tier 1 -- especially New Albany, Powell, Dublin, Upper Arlington and Bexley. Also, please note that Lewis Center is part of the same school district (highly-performing Olentangy LSD) as Powell, but tends to be somewhat less expensive than Powell.

Note that are nices areas even in Tier 3 and some in Tier 4, but the housing is less expensive. A place like Grandview is a tougher fit on here. Incomes in Grandview are comparable to (slightly lower, actually) than many communities in Tier 2, but the schools (quite small student population) are very good and very stable with their small enrollments.

[bgfalcons86]

BTW, I should have added that Grandview (because of the schools among other things) would be a good investment as well.

[streetcreed]

IMHO, it doesn't make a lot of sense to lump in Hilliard CSD and South-Western CSD together (if that is what you're doing in this post). There are big differences between the two districts in terms of academic achievement and community support, among other things.

I agree with you and agree that Hilliard is not a "bad" investment. However, as you mentioned, it is not in the same category as the "tier 1 suburbs."

The Hilliard schools are doing better financially than the SW city schools. If this poster can afford a tier 1 suburb, or tier 1 city neighborhood, then I say go ahead and do it.

These sought after suburbs like Worthington, Upper Arlington, Grandview, are so popular because they were developed in different time periods, have a diverse housing stock, sidewalks, sometimes are more walkable (in terms of distance between retail, amenities, and housing), and have a more higher end housing stock.

This does make the more founded suburbs a safer investment than say Hilliard.

On a side note (related to the topic but more of a general comment on growth patterns...)
There has been a strong movement back inward toward central cities and inner ring, traditional suburbs. Columbus metro is an example of this trend. Italian Village/Short North (a central city Columbus neighborhood) saw the largest increases in property values from 04-06 more than any other section of Franklin County. Not Hilliard or Worthington or Lewis Center. All of those areas saw increases but not as large as a gentrifying urban neighborhood. That says something about changing trends.

This movement is fueled by the backlash against urban sprawl, car oriented communities, and the desire for more interesting housing stock.

There is little sign that this will let up and if current trends continue (or shift even more rapidly) these inner ring suburbs and Columbus neighborhoods (Victorian Village, Worthington, Grandview, Bexley) will only continue to gain popularity and are even more of a sure investment. I am not willing to bet that these cookie cutter (and sometimes poorly constructed) exurban developments will hold value and maintain demand say 10-20 years down the road (which Hilliard has a decent amount of as does parts of Dublin and Columbus and many other "newer" suburbs).

However, I am willing to bet that the suburbs closer to the city, jobs, and have a more diverse and well constructed housing stock will grow even larger in demand and thus value.

[ohiohunter2]

awesome info guys!!! thanks a bunch