Moving to Columbus Indiana (Columbus versus Greenwood) (Franklin, Tipton: real estate, crime)

[domergurl]

Donner Swim Club is very competitive ... they have nationally ranked swimmers and a fantastic coach. You really cannot compare Greenwood (Center Grove) to Columbus ... they are 2 different animals. Again, when we were looking to move, we considered Bargersville and White River Twp schools, but what it came down to was commute. THAT has been worth the price of admission. My kids love their schools. The principal knows who I am and his door is always open. For us, if you are an involved parent, your kids will do great. I volunteer, heck, I even shelve in the library and have lunch with my kids if they feel like being seen with me

As for dance, we have 1 extraordinarily competitive dance team (Elite Performance) and several studios (Christies, Beth's Dance Center, Sonja's and another one who's name escapes me ... sorry ... Plaidmom .. the one on the corner of Washington and 3rd, help!).

All I can say is that when we looked at test scores, then we looked at school size ... and commute time (my husband can pitch in in a pinch since he's only 10 minutes away ... that has come in HANDY!). The choice was difficult, but 4 years later, it has turned out to be the best decision for our family. Are there things I wish we had? Sure! No town is perfect, but the close knit nature of Columbus, the non-suburban nature of columbus has been wonderful. When we lived in Fishers, my kdis couldn't make friends because there is such a revolving door ... don't know if it's that bad in Greenwood, but I had the impression that it was the case when we were looking at houses up there. I like the stability. But again, that fits our family. You may be very happy in Greenwood, you can always come visit us down here!

Hope that wasn't too much ...

[milissawasserman]

Thanks for replying. I am very grateful to have someone who is living down there that can provide me with this valuable information. The commute is an issue for us too. We currently have a 1/2 hr. drive to everything we do....Schools, swimming, dance, theatre, and work. I just want to make sure that if we choose Columbus it has everything that we need close by. Mainly grocery stores, Wal-Mart, the kids school, and their activities. I don't mind driving to get to a major mall. I understand that there is a outlet mall just North of you? Do you know anything about the Catholic School in Columbus? Our kids currently go to a Catholic school up here and we really like it. My husband said that he would be surprised if Columbus didn't have a Community Theatre. Do you know if there is one in Columbus? We will be coming to the area in about 3 weeks to check it out.

[domergurl]

Ok ...

Swim Club-5 minutes-8 minutes during outdoor long course season
Groceries-2 superwally's/1 Sams, Kroger, Marsh, Aldi, JC's, organic green grocery,natural food store ... all within 10 minutes
School-Elementary-10 minutes by bike ... 3-5 by car
Dance sudios-10 minutes

outlet mall-10 minutes
Greenwood Park Mall-30-40 minutes

Yes, we have community theatre ... check this out:
Crump Theatre* - Performance Schedule

We have a Catholic School-St. Bartholomew, goes to 8th grade, have friends who go there and adore it.

feel free to private message me at any time.

[plaidmom]

Originally Posted by domergurl

and another one who's name escapes me ... sorry ... Plaidmom .. the one on the corner of Washington and 3rd, help!

Awww you forgot the most important one ; Dancer's Studio Inc.

Home

(disclaimer, I used to do some work for them ).

Dancer's Studio is the only non-profit studio in town, funded in part by the Columbus Area Arts Council. They focus on classical dance and present the local version of "The Nutcracker" every year. I know that at least a few of their students have gone on to major in dance at the college level or joined the schools of professional dance companies after their early training here.

Here's a link to St. Bartholomew's School:

Saint Bartholomew Catholic Church » St. Bartholomew School

I thought you might want to google-map it so you can have a look at the area before you arrive. If I had to do it all over again, I probably would have bought a house in that little neighborhood just to the west of the school. Super-dooper easy (walkable) commute to all of the schools through H.S.! It's an older, well-established neighborhood and not much comes up for sale there though.

One word of warning (if you are looking for less commute/car-time): All of the realtors in town will drag you out to Tipton Lakes west of town as soon as they find out you are a "professional family with children". There's nothing wrong with Tipton Lakes per se (many newer, larger houses, walking trails, and of course the water...) but what they don't tell you is that there are no neighborhood schools out there. Many parents choose the montessori school(ABC Stewart) if they decide to live west of town; not sure if tha's an option for you.

If your kids tend to be very involved in activities and you want to avoid the back-and-forth-back-and-forth drive every day, it's something to consider.

You didn't mention the ages of your children, but my daughter was very happy with the theater program at Columbus North H.S. . One of the reasons I wished I'd actually lived closer to the school; all of those late-night rehearsals.

Good luck with your decision and feel free to ask any questions.

[domergurl]

We picked our neighborhood (we were trekked all over Tipton Lakes until we told our realtor to stop it) because it was in a no bus zone.

The neighborhood by St. B's is called Tipton Park (can be a little confusing). I LOVE that neighborhood too!

[milissawasserman]

We just got back from visiting the Columbus area. We loved Columbus and Center Grove. I am torn between the two. Of course, I would like to be close to his job. I didn't know Tipton Lakes was a no bus zone. That's good to know. However my husband would like to live further out in the country with a couple of acres. It doesn't matter to me either way. We found the houses are not comparable to the houses here in Gibsonburg. That was a bit discouraging. Our kids ages are two seven and ten. We are still going through inspections this week on the house and then hopefully it will go on the market in a couple of weeks. The relocation company has final say. We really liked the library the community pool and the visitors center was very helpful. Do you know if you can get a day pass to the community pool or do you have to be a member??? I would like to take the kids there next time we come in town with my husband. We got a couple of coupons to KidsCommons. Have you been there yet? Are there any activities going on over the Fourth of July weekend? I looked at Brown County State Park. They have some activities but not too much. Does Columbus have any type of parade or events planned for that weekend?

[domergurl]

seriously, you cannot go wrong with either. Center Grove schools have higher standardized test numbers, which you can peruse on the dept. of ed's website. My feeling is that as long as there is parental involvement ... your children will be fine.

Donner Pool. It's the public pool in town and you can get passes or pay as you go. Ceraland is a Cummins run private park, but anyone can join. We pretty much live at their aquatic center. You can check it out Ceraland.org - Home

Kidscommons is great. small enough where you don't have to worry about the kiddos running all over tarnation and always good activities. Their summers camps are awesome.

Not sure if there's a parade in July ... the fireworks are on July 2nd this year. They are at the airport north of town. There is a fun parade at Christmas time though! There's another parade during Ethnic Expo in October (??????). Plaidmom, help.

Glad you enjoyed Columbus. Did you check out Zaharakos?

[milissawasserman]

Everyone has had good things to say about Center Grove and Columbus schools. Have you heard if there are any problems with violence, bullying or drugs at either Center Grove or Columbus????

We'll have to visit Kidscommons the next trip too. I'm sure they will enjoy it.

I just checked out the site for the Cummons pool. The company my husband works for (Faurecia) has a joint venture for emisions control with Cummons so we would be eligible for membership. It doesn't look like we would be able to get single day passes without being accompanied by a member though. I'll probably call and explain our situation and hopefully they will work something out when we are in town. I can't see purchasing an annual membership when we aren't actually living there.

My husband is working out of Toledo today and I just asked him what Zaharakos was. He new right away.......Not to sure why he didn't take us there We will definitely be patronizing it next time.

Well at least it sounds like we will have some things to keep us busy next visit. I'll let you know when we are coming. Maybe we can meet at Zaharakos for ice cream

[domergurl]

Tipton Lakes is most definitely a bus zone! I'm not aware of any kids who ride or walk to school to Southside. Maybe the neighborhood directly adjacent .. Cross Creek???

My neighborhood is in a no bus zone, which I love.

just wanted to clarify.

and by all means! Would love to meet a new potential Columbus resident! Maybe we can get Plaidmom into the mix!!!

[plaidmom]

Originally Posted by domergurl

and by all means! Would love to meet a new potential Columbus resident! Maybe we can get Plaidmom into the mix!!!

Can I come eat ice cream even if I don't have kids?

I was there last Saturday. I looooove the vanilla shakes.

Sorry, no info on 4th of July. We'll be working on our house. Anyone who wants to scrape paint and sand is welcome to stop by.