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I will be relocating from Indianapolis to Columbus early next year, working at OSU Wexner Medical Center. I've been told that Columbus feels like a sister to Indianapolis. I have been living in Indy for the last five years, and I'm fairly happy here. If it helps, I was born and raised in Philadelphia, but I like the Midwest better.
What are the ghetto parts of Columbus? I'm looking to avoid people with less than desirable moral values. This includes outer areas they may travel to.
How is traffic and commuting times? Indy isn't too bad to get around. Would New Albany or Pickerington be a bad idea for rush-hour traffic to OSU? I currently drive a 30-min commute.
It looks like I may pay as much as 2x the property taxes I currently pay here in Indiana.
What are your thoughts of the area west of I-270? Hilliard for example; there is no Whole Foods but there is a Meijer.
I will be renting at first, but I like newer build houses... $150/$200,000. Older houses are nice, but remodeling cost a lot of money and sometimes the floorplan layout is odd.
South of 70 is kinda ghetto. North of that you are ok, for the most part.
Yes, property taxes here are high, but we also have great schools in the suburbs.
I can't comment on New Albany/Pickerington traffic, I am never that far east.
I live in Hilliard, it is a good city. The northern part is newer and nicer. The southern part is older and cheaper. It is the fastest growing city in Franklin County. There is no Whole Foods, but Giant Eagle and Kroger are here. Dublin I think has a Whole Foods and that's not far away.
$150-$200k is a good range for a decent home. It won't be massive, but you can get a smaller new build home for under $200k. Yes, older homes have a lot of character, but tiny rooms and ongoing maintenance issues.
The price range up to 200k will not buy anything in New Albany so you can cross that off the list. Someone mentioned Dublin, it is also out of the price range.
Pickerington and Hilliard are nice places to live. I would check Hilliard first for the broad price range, there are lots of affordable neighborhoods. Many neighborhoods referred to as Hilliard will actually be in the city of Columbus but are served by Hilliard schools.
The rush hour commute from Pickerington would be a bear, I wouldn't recommend it.
The best suburban areas for OSU commuting are Grandview and Upper Arlington but both will be out of the price range.
Clintonville is popular with OSU people and is an easy commute, but the price range will be very difficult. It is a neighborhood of older homes, tree lined streets but is within Columbus city schools. Columbus schools are a drawback. Two catholic schools are very popular there.
Disagree with the above poster about "south of 70". Plenty of nice areas in and around Grove City in that price range. Pickerington also comes to mind.
There are decent parts of Columbus in that range far north and far west. Areas to avoid are Franklinton, Near East, most of the south side of Columbus proper. Also the Brice Rd. corridor gets bum rap even though it's suburban. 161 corridor is on the decline.
Grove City, also called "Grovetucky"...lol, is far south and a drive to anywhere. Sure there are some nice neighborhoods, but you are in the middle of nowhere. Same with Pickerington.
Tier 1 suburbs: Upper Arlington, Dublin, Powell, Bexley, New Albany
Tier 2 suburbs: Worthington, Hilliard, Pickerington, Westerville, Gahanna
Tier 3 suburbs: Canal Winchester, Grove City, Reynoldsburg, Groveport, Pataskala
Tier 1 is the priciest and most expensive with the best schools. New Albany and Powell have seen huge housing booms with very good schools and pricey homes. Personally, I'd take Dublin over Powell, as the Powell area doesn't seem to have the transportation infrastructure in place to support all the new homes. Dublin is still growing, but not as fast as it was 20 years ago and is well-planned. UA and Bexley are established, old-line suburbs with older homes that have a lot of character and a price-tag to match, although there are more 'affordable' (relative term here) options, too.
Tier 2 affords a broader range of housing options, but with schools that are generally well-regarded. Worthington probably straddles Tier 1 and Tier 2 and is by far the most established of the 5 suburbs I listed here. IMHO, a I'd give a slight edge to Hilliard over Pickerington, Westerville and Gahanna, but they're pretty close and it is probably depends on exactly what you're looking for. Pickerington is a well-regarded area, but notorious for its traffic. The Westerville area (including the portions of Columbus near it) is very diverse. Gahanna is similar to Westerville in terms of diversity.
Tier 3 suburbs still have nice areas, but are a bit more socio-economically mixed. If you choose here, look closely at your school options. IMHO, Canal Winchester would have the edge as far as schools.
All in all, if you're at OSU, I'd give Hilliard a look, if I were you. I live in Hilliard and the schools are good and it is seeing positive momentum as far as amenities (shopping/dining options) are concerned, with an increasing number of businesses setting up locations in Hilliard. Hilliard to OSU is a pretty easy commute.
Tier 1 suburbs: Upper Arlington, Dublin, Powell, Bexley, New Albany
Tier 2 suburbs: Worthington, Hilliard, Pickerington, Westerville, Gahanna
Tier 3 suburbs: Canal Winchester, Grove City, Reynoldsburg, Groveport, Pataskala
Tier 1 is the priciest and most expensive with the best schools. New Albany and Powell have seen huge housing booms with very good schools and pricey homes. Personally, I'd take Dublin over Powell, as the Powell area doesn't seem to have the transportation infrastructure in place to support all the new homes. Dublin is still growing, but not as fast as it was 20 years ago and is well-planned. UA and Bexley are established, old-line suburbs with older homes that have a lot of character and a price-tag to match, although there are more 'affordable' (relative term here) options, too.
Tier 2 affords a broader range of housing options, but with schools that are generally well-regarded. Worthington probably straddles Tier 1 and Tier 2 and is by far the most established of the 5 suburbs I listed here. IMHO, a I'd give a slight edge to Hilliard over Pickerington, Westerville and Gahanna, but they're pretty close and it is probably depends on exactly what you're looking for. Pickerington is a well-regarded area, but notorious for its traffic. The Westerville area (including the portions of Columbus near it) is very diverse. Gahanna is similar to Westerville in terms of diversity.
Tier 3 suburbs still have nice areas, but are a bit more socio-economically mixed. If you choose here, look closely at your school options. IMHO, Canal Winchester would have the edge as far as schools.
All in all, if you're at OSU, I'd give Hilliard a look, if I were you. I live in Hilliard and the schools are good and it is seeing positive momentum as far as amenities (shopping/dining options) are concerned, with an increasing number of businesses setting up locations in Hilliard. Hilliard to OSU is a pretty easy commute.
Pretty good summary!
Within the two tiers there will be a big difference between the areas within the municipal city limits compared to areas that are really in Columbus but point to the suburban school districts. The Columbus areas are often poorly located and poorly planned with ugly strip shopping centers, apartment complexes of various quality and lots of ugly sprawl.
Within tier ones New Albany or Dublin would be my choices. Avoid the Sawmill right ad area that is inexpensive but part of Columbus municipality.
Within two tier I would choose municipal Worthington or Westerville but I would avoid the Columbus areas within the districts. I'm not fond of Hilliard but it is decent.
Pretty good summary!
Within the two tiers there will be a big difference between the areas within the municipal city limits compared to areas that are really in Columbus but point to the suburban school districts. The Columbus areas are often poorly located and poorly planned with ugly strip shopping centers, apartment complexes of various quality and lots of ugly sprawl.
Within tier ones New Albany or Dublin would be my choices. Avoid the Sawmill right ad area that is inexpensive but part of Columbus municipality.
Within two tier I would choose municipal Worthington or Westerville but I would avoid the Columbus areas within the districts. I'm not fond of Hilliard but it is decent.
Thanks for the comment.
Within each tier, a lot of comes down to personal taste/preferences. For instance, I prefer Dublin or UA over Powell and New Albany... but like you I'm not a big fan of the Sawmill area. I understand why people like Bexley, though, because it has kind of a edgy vibe vs. buttoned-down UA.
I'm really not a big fan of Westerville or Gahanna and I feel like Hilliard's schools and its positive momentum give it a slight edge over those two. I like Pickerington better than Westerville or Gahanna, but the traffic on 256 is obnoxious. The old section of Worthington is quite attractive. The nice thing is that each of these Tier 2 communities enjoys a fair amount of diversity in their respective school systems.
That said, I think anything in Tier 1 or Tier 2 provides a lot of good options and I understand why some prefer options that may not necessarily be the options that I would pick. And you're on point about mentioning the Columbus areas served by the suburban schools associated with the adjacent suburban municipalities.
Last edited by bgfalcons86; 12-31-2016 at 03:07 PM..
Going to OSU, I would avoid the eastern side of Columbus inside the I-270 beltway. Most places within I-270 with exceptions around Minerva Park / Columbus proper, where it is Westerville Schools, are either gentrifying or most likely declining or facing typical urban issues that plague most large cities. I say declining, in addition to urban issues, because the section of OH-161 between Worthington City Line and I-270 on the east side has lost ground to Broad Street (East of 270), Easton and Polaris as the go-to business and residential areas. These areas around OH-161 and Morse Road corridors are very much 1960's-1980's suburban in nature.
Places that are new and would fit your price range on the east side outside I-270, would either be very close to the runway departure / approach lanes for John Glenn Airport (main Columbus airport) or in Licking Heights Schools, which have suffered as sprawl overtook this small school district over about the last 15 years. The district itself is only 17 years old as it is. Most of LH is north of Broad Street, which is chock full of shopping options that have moved north from Brice Road or areas inside 270 over the last 10-15 years and is still building out. Licking Heights Schools tend to be north of Broad (except some portions south between Wagonner and Pataskala's original town center) and east of Wagonner Road (except some neighborhoods west of Wagonner between Broad and Haven's Corners). Licking Heights is cheap, and has plenty of new homes, most in your range (at least near the top), but the build quality isn't the best and schools will hurt resale (if the current scoring trend continues). The district sits in parts of Columbus proper, unincorporated Blacklick, and Pataskala. Pataskala annexed its entire township (similar to Indy annexing most of Marion County), so be aware of which district you are zoned to attend (Southwest Licking isn't too bad, but you will be way out in farm land and large tract exurban developments by then). Southwest Licking is seeing some new housing development, but distance and schools make the commute and pricing unattractive for the OP.
I go into detail with Licking Heights schools because it is one of the few areas in or just outside Franklin County that would be new or near new (1-3 years or less) that would fit a 150K-200K price tag that hasn't been discussed. You will also find new developments in Grove City for these prices. That would entail a commute up I-71 and OH-315 to OSU and that can be a traffic jam at peak rush (not sure of times, but when I check traffic at peak times, I-71 is red from downtown to the construction to widen I-71 south of the Stringtown Road exit). It has plenty of shopping at Stringtown, but the landfill just south of town and dirty industry in parts of southern Columbus can make for smelly neighbors, depending on weather and winds. If down here, stick with Grove City HS zoning in the South-Western Local Schools. Best high school out of the 4 total high schools and comparable to most of the Tier 2 districts' respective high schools.
You may find some places between Wagonner and I-270 that are Gahanna schools as well. I would avoid only because this puts you under the immediate departure and arrival lanes for the two runways at John Glenn. They are also usually part of unincorporated Blacklick or Columbus. Decent area except for those runways. Traffic out on this side of town on Broad (your main route to I-270) and I-670 can take an extra 30-40 minutes at peak rush. So, at peak rush, you are looking at door to parking spot at OSU being 45-60+ minutes. New Albany proper (with New Albany schools) would run you even longer.
The west side of town may offer something out towards the Plain City area up US-33 or all the way out in Marysville, but that would be a trek to OSU on a daily basis and I wouldn't recommend going too far beyond Dublin and too far up US-33 N to get an in-budget home. That would probably be looking at a similar (or longer?) commute time.
As you can see, the issue now with Columbus over the last 2-3 years has been skyrocketing prices in the housing market. Especially for new builds in decent areas. As was alluded too, there may be older areas that are part of Columbus proper that have suburban districts and parts of Columbus proper that are much (much) newer outside I-270 that are new build but are now Columbus Public Schools. Basically, suburban districts balked at the annexation and development patterns from Columbus proper's planning department so most new development outside I-270 that is part of or was annexed into Columbus City Limits tend to be Columbus Public Schools. Thus, parts of Sawmill Road south and east (inside) of I-270 are Columbus services for municipal functions (street, police, fire) and Dublin Schools but out in Hayden North (Hayden Run and Cosgray) where it is Columbus services, it is now also zoned Columbus Public Schools. And Hayden Crossing is where there is a bunch of new and rather affordable developments.
Another area that this example can be applied, on top of Hayden North, is the area immediately west of New Albany proper. The area and its developments tend to be referred to as Upper Albany. Columbus services and schools, but it may have a zip code for New Albany (or Westerville), so they may advertise as being in New Albany (w/ Columbus Schools). I would choose Hayden Crossing over the Upper Albany area since Centennial HS, the Columbus Public HS that the strip of land along Hayden Run is zoned for, tends to do better than Beechcroft HS in the Northgate area of Columbus, where Upper Albany attends. As a note, Centennial also pulls from the strip of land between Upper Arlington and the Olentangy River (or OH-315), which is considered a well kept and more educated part of Columbus proper. Most resales in this high school's zoning are better than other CPS high schools.
It has been mentioned to check the Franklin County auditor's site for correct service information, including which school district you are paying taxes too, and thus attending.
As for the Tier 1, 2 and 3 designations, I would agree for the most part on that. Though I like Gahanna better than Pickerington or Hilliard!
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