Please reccommend a place for us to live. (Columbus, Upper Arlington: condo, houses)

[weten2]

Here is our background. We are retiring and moving to Columbus area from Chicago area to be by our daughter and grandchildren living in Upper Arlington. We will live here 6 months/yr and in Florida the winters. We would like to be not too far away from UA (< 15 mi) in a community setting to meet people and with nearby amendities (shopping, health club). We probably will spend in the $275000-$350000 range and would like a safe area and are more concerned about property taxes than schools.
I originally posted on here looking for a golf community; however after studing futher feel like we can be up to 5 miles away from a decent public course.

[sftong]

"shopping, health club"

In UA, That sounds like somewhere along the Bethel Road/Hayden Run where there is a Sawmill Premier fitness center followed by Tuttle Mall shopping.

For golfing, powell Zoo area has like 4 golf courses close to each others, ranges from cheap to good. Do a google map and type in Golf in the search and it should reveal the nearby golf courses.

[weten2]

SF
Thanks. This may be a possibility; however we were looking for a more quaint small town atmosphere. If anyone is familar along the lines of Hinsdale, IL, a west suburb of Chicago. With our very limited experience the only thing resembling this is Lane in Upper Arlington.

[bam989863]

You might look into Grandview, it is just south of Upper Arlington and has a strong community feel. Another area for you to check into would be Worthington. Worthington is a suburb just north of Columbus with a quaint little downtown area that is very walkable and nice. Dublin also has a cool little downtown area with lots of stone buildings.

[Zen_master]

Gahanna is another area you may want to consider. With its easy access to both I-270 and I-670 it is approximately 10 minutes from downtown and 15 minutes from Upper Arlington and about 5 minutes from the airport (flying to Florida?) and 2 or 3 minutes from Easton Towncenter, the premier mall in Columbus with just about any dining or shopping attraction you could ask for. Housing is much more affordable than in UA or the Dublin/Powell area and they have a municipal golfcourse and a nice gentrified 'downtown' area they call Creekside that is all new having been constructed in the last 5 to 7 years or so with plenty of festivals and parades throughout the year. Also part of their long-term vision plan has been an increase in the number of walking and bike trails in the community and I think even a canoe livery is in the works. Depending on where you live you could probably ride your bike to 50%-75% of the city. Gahanna is not a 'newer' suburb like you would find in the Polaris/Big Walnut/Delaware County/Olentangy area so there is a good mix of younger families and retired persons.

Here's a couple links to explore the area. If you have questions about the parks or future developments on the agenda feel free to place a call to the appropriate governmental department. They'd be happy to answer your questions.

Homepage : City of Gahanna, Ohio

Official Blog of the City of Gahanna

http://www.gahanna.gov/Uploads/Docum...Plan-FINAL.pdf

Creekside Conference and Event Center

Home

http://www.eastontowncenter.com/


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When you do ultimately decide where to live please keep up posted on your decision. I'd be curious to learn of why it was a good fit for you.

[Supergrrl7]

I don't know anything about golf accessibility but Old Worthington has a very small town feel with a lot of amenities of a bigger city.

[ttonk]

Check out "Worthington Hills."
Also check out west of Upper Arlington south of the Fishinger road and Hayden run road. For example, Tremont Club Condo, Marble Cliff Crossing, etc. I don't remember all the names but there are gated communities alike. It seems that they accommodate empty nesters from UA who still want the UA amenities but not the housing prices (because of UA school), old houses, and yard work.

[HPY1]

I'd live in either UA or Grandview. In fact, those are the only two parts of Franklin County I would live in period. I have family all over Central Ohio. I grew up in *****way County and I've spent plenty of time in Franklin County. Unfortunately, I can't tell you of an specific places/locations/communities in UA or Granview that meet what you are looking for.

What I can say is, when you are ready to golf, check out the following golf courses. There is a range in quality amongst them, but I've always enjoyed playing each and everyone of them. I am listing them in no particular order... some are nicer than other. From UA or Grandview they are all about a 30 minute drive.

Upper Lands Down - Ashville, OH

The Landings at Rickenbacker - Lockbourne, OH

Fox Fire - Commercial Point, OH

Cooks Creek - South Bloomfield, OH (Probably the nicest and definitely my favorite)

Homestead Springs - Groveport, OH

[Cbus76]

Upper Arlington, Grandview Heights and Bexley are all old "streetcar" suburbs that would remind you of north shore suburbs in Chicago like Wilmette or Winnetka. Worthington would be another place to look.

[weten2]

thanks for the list of courses. I think Cooks Creek is the only one I heard of.