Moving to Ohio

[shortbun]

Another Columbusite welcoming you! Do you know what part of town you'll settle yet?
Start collecting scarlet and gray clothing for football Saturdays-if you're not a Buckeye around here you gotta fake it, lol! 1st Saturdays provide a 'hop' in the Short North section of downtown-galleries, boutiques and restaurants. If you'll be here for June 24-25th weekend, check out ComFest in Goodale Park/Short North(old hippie fest turned huge vendor, music festival with five performance areas.) It's outdoors-bring a blanket to sit on and be readly to walk a ways from parking. July 4th-the Doodah parade also in the Short North, google it. Dublin, Ohio(suburb) has several things going on-most famous is their St. Patrick's Day doin's. St. Patrick's Day is a big deal around here-parade downtown by the Shamrock Club. Our zoo is the best I've ever seen, seriously.
Columbus City Schools have all the problems you would expect of an inner urban school system in a large city-no money, loss of student population, teachers leaving to go to suburbs...do you have children? Columbus Airport usually has Southwest nonstops to Orlando...good news to any Disney fan!! PP is correct, our Metro Parks system is very good!! Lots of biking, lots of families, lots of great restaurants and loads of friendly people. Great diversity, enormous number of higher learning institutions, failrly decent snow removal...we had a lot this year. Where will you live? North, Northwest, Clintonville, Upper Arlington, Bexley, West side, Worthington, Westerville, New Albany, Grandview??????

 

[YayDisney!]

Yay for Ohio!! You'll love the Columbus area! I'm from NW Ohio (Bowling Green area), but we love to take family weekend trips to Columbus. As others have mentioned, the zoo is great, as is Cosi. Sporting events are exciting...Buckeye football and basketball, of course, as well as the Columbus Blue Jackets (we're hockey fans and love the arena there). My favorite mall of all time is the Easton Towne Center (http://eastontowncenter.com/). So great to stroll around on a sunny day! The campus area is fun...awesome eateries and historic sites. And the airport is easy to navigate and offers plenty of quick access to WDW - only 2 hours away! Have a great move and welcome to Ohio!!

 

[GADisneyDVC]

You guys are awesome! Thanks for all of the welcomes and info. Having never lived out of the south, I have no clue about snow blowers. That should be a fun shopping trip. We do have a daughter that will be in sixth grade and a son who will stay down here to finish his senior year of college. We have been looking at Powell, Dublin, Westerville and a few others. Any info on these would be appreciated. Also, are there any good Christian schools in these areas. Thanks......you guys rock!

 

[disfanmelK]

Westerville checking in!

I agree with PP about parks, the zoo, COSI and Jeni's Ice Cream and we too love the direct Southwest flights to Orlando. I love reading this thread, if only to confirm that, indeed, I am not alone!
I'm guessing by your name that you are a DVC member. There are at least 3 of us from Westerville on the Disboards and a good many more from the Columbus area.
We have younger children, so I am not as well versed in Christian schools but I know Worthington christian (www.worthingtonchristian.com) is a group of schools here on the north side. I also have several friends with chidlren at Central College Christian which is also in Westerville.

Best of luck and welcome to Buckeye Country!

 

[SDSorority]

You guys are awesome! Thanks for all of the welcomes and info. Having never lived out of the south, I have no clue about snow blowers. That should be a fun shopping trip. We do have a daughter that will be in sixth grade and a son who will stay down here to finish his senior year of college. We have been looking at Powell, Dublin, Westerville and a few others. Any info on these would be appreciated. Also, are there any good Christian schools in these areas. Thanks......you guys rock!

DUCK AND COVER... here are my thoughts on Dublin, Powell and Westerville.




You would LOVE any of them!!!

Dublin has a LOT of traffic (esp. around the Sawmill Road area), but that's where DBIL lives and he likes it a lot. GREAT schools, close to the Zoo, lots of restaurants and shopping. Whole foods, Jeni's Ice Cream, you can't go wrong.

I LOOOOVE Powell. I was just up there Saturday to drop my flute off at the repairman . We have cousins that live in Powell and they REALLY like it. Very close to highbanks metro park- awesome schools just like Dublin. ALSO has a Jeni's ice cream. Can you tell I like Jeni's???

And then there's Westerville.....ugh. JK. My sister lives in Westerville, my DH used to live in Westerville and I used to work in Westerville. IN FACT, I'm playing with the Westerville Symphony for 2 concerts this summer- it's like my 3rd home (right behind New Albany and Gahanna). This is a good part of town, close to everythig. Hoover Dam is there (not the big one LOLOL!) with nice walking paths and you can see boats out on the water sometimes. And Frisbee golf if you like that. There's a university right in town with a cute little 'uptown' with shops. They don't have a Jeni's... but they do have Graeters, which is still a good choice.

In all honesty, you would LOVE any of these places. Others I would suggest to check out: Like Dublin/Powell: Bexley, Upper Arlington, New Albany. Like Westerville: Gahanna, Hilliard

I hope my opinions help! And I hope they don't get flames I myself am partial to Gahanna because that's where I'm born and raised. My parents still live there- I live just outside of Gahanna now (seriously, by like... 2 yards), and would move back in a heartbeat. As someone from Columbus, I would be perfectly happy in Westerville, Dublin, or Powell. Great choices! Be sure to buy some scarlet and gray before you come! If you have any dk blue and gold clothes.... leave them in GA.

 

[lisajl]

Hello-another suburbanite checking in...we live in Delaware Ohio.
Short distance to Columbus. Nice area here in Delaware. We have Ohio Wesleyan University, small town atmosphere, and we have a local movie theatre-The Strand. It has been showing films for 95 years. Can you imagine the party we will have in 5 years?

If you don't live right in Columbus you should be fine.
I agree with a lot of the posters on here. The Zoo-fantastic-Zoombezi Bay is the water park next to the zoo-gets rather crowded. My kids are older and they don't like Zoombezi Bay.
Highbanks-fantastic walking area and picnic areas, Polaris Mall, Easton, etc.
We are home to many things...I think you will like it here.

Oh-we drive to Disney. 15 hours-no big deal, those are our bonding times with the kids!! We always have a great time!
I would cry too being further away, but it is what it is and you will get through this.

 

[Fire14]

WElcome to our lovely state. Southwest flys nonstop to orlando regularly and prices aren't bad IMO. Yes it gets cold and Yes snow happpens but life goes on.

 

[manning]

As my dad would say "If you are cold you can put on more clothes, still cold put on more, when you are hot you can take clothes off. Take off all your clothes and you are still hot there isn't much more you can do about it." Of course that was before we had A/C.

 

[Our 2 Princesses]

Hi! Another Columbus suburbanite checking in! We live in Galloway. I used to love this suburban area more when we first moved in years ago... Anyhow we used to live in Hilliard and still live really close. We really like Hilliard and Grove City which is close to us too and both areas have really grown adding alot of nice stores and restaurants. Hope you enjoy wherever you choose to live in Columbus!

 

[momto2girls]

You guys are awesome! Thanks for all of the welcomes and info. Having never lived out of the south, I have no clue about snow blowers. That should be a fun shopping trip. We do have a daughter that will be in sixth grade and a son who will stay down here to finish his senior year of college. We have been looking at Powell, Dublin, Westerville and a few others. Any info on these would be appreciated. Also, are there any good Christian schools in these areas. Thanks......you guys rock!

My sister's children go to Central College Christian Academy in Westerville. She is really happy with it. It goes through 5th grade at the present time, but they are hoping to expand it through 8th grade.

Worthington Christian (in Worthington) is another well-known Christian school. I don't personally know much about it though.

A newer Christian school is Genoa Christian between Westerville and Lewis Center. It is a smaller school.

I think that Gahanna has a Christian school too?

I know several non-Catholics who send their kids to Catholic schools, particularly St. Paul's in Westerville and St. Michael's in Gahanna.

 

[ceecee]

We live an hour away...Columbus is a very nice city. It's going to be cold and we do get snow that's the down side.

 

[bzlady2]

You can take the auto train to Disney when you go. My brother's family did that and loved it. He said it made their vacation special.

 

[mafibisha]

FWIW, my mom has 2 God-daughters who live in Columbus area in Reynoldsburg and Pickington. Their schools and towns were supposedly wonderful (I haven't been) including a Christian school.

But my mom just told me over the weekend that they're both losing lots of state funding, as well as all schools in Ohio, so things aren't as good as they used to be. Its similar to whats going on in Wisconsin with funding. Just FYI FWIW.

 

[shortbun]

I know that most of the catholic schools in Columbus City are excellent. I'm not hip to the schools outside of the city. I do recognize the name Worthington Christian but I think I know of the church and it's senior housing facility rather than it's school. You might like the Olentangy Schools in Powell. My Goddaughters both graduated from there and they got excellent, balanced and moral educations.

 

[NYEmomma]

But my mom just told me over the weekend that they're both losing lots of state funding, as well as all schools in Ohio, so things aren't as good as they used to be. Its similar to whats going on in Wisconsin with funding. Just FYI FWIW.

Truth. Tis very, very sad & a whole 'nother can of (unfortunate) worms.

You can take the auto train to Disney when you go. My brother's family did that and loved it. He said it made their vacation special.

NO WAY! I didn't know that! That's fantastic! *wanders off to google*

 

[SDSorority]

My sister's children go to Central College Christian Academy in Westerville. She is really happy with it. It goes through 5th grade at the present time, but they are hoping to expand it through 8th grade.

Worthington Christian (in Worthington) is another well-known Christian school. I don't personally know much about it though.

A newer Christian school is Genoa Christian between Westerville and Lewis Center. It is a smaller school.

I think that Gahanna has a Christian school too?

I know several non-Catholics who send their kids to Catholic schools, particularly St. Paul's in Westerville and St. Michael's in Gahanna.

In Gahanna it's St. Matthews, not St. Michael's. There is the "Gahanna Christian Academy" which I think has been shortened to "Gahanna Christian" for the locals. There's also St. Pius in Reynoldsburg, and lots of area Christian High Schools- Bishop Hartley, Bishop Ready, Bishop Watterson, Worthington Christian, St. Francis DeSales.... there's also an all-girls private school in Bexley called Columbus School for Girls (CSG), and a local co-ed private school called The Columbus Academy (also in Gahanna).

Hope that helps some!

 

[GADisneyDVC]

Thanks so much for all of the school info. Here are a couple of stupid questions but where do you buy snow blowers and what are the best winter coats that aren't too expensive? Can you get like a yard service to clear your driveway for you or is this not available or crazy expensive? Sorry- I have no clue about these things. Also, for all you Columbus people, I'll try to let you know before I go off driving in the snow!
Looking forward to checking out the auto train too!!

 

[NYEmomma]

Thanks so much for all of the school info. Here are a couple of stupid questions but where do you buy snow blowers and what are the best winter coats that aren't too expensive? Can you get like a yard service to clear your driveway for you or is this not available or crazy expensive? Sorry- I have no clue about these things. Also, for all you Columbus people, I'll try to let you know before I go off driving in the snow!
Looking forward to checking out the auto train too!!

Honestly, I wouldn't invest in a snow blower. Get a shovel & you'll be fine. They're fairly expensive and I really don't think Columbus gets THAT much snow to warrant the expense (unless you get a house with a mile-long driveway or something!).

We live in NE Ohio so we get dumped on a lot... and we've never had a snow blower. Even in the big snow storms, we still shovel & it takes no more than an hour to do it all.

There's also PLENTY of snow shoveling services (and entrepreneuring young neighbors) that will shovel your driveway for you. There's been a couple times over the years that we've just HAD it with snow storm after snow storm or are both sick & we've caved and taken the neighbor kid up on his offer to shovel the drive. It was $20 well spent.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Hope you like snow. From Nov till May expect to have snow or cold weather and by cold I mean the wind chill can be in the minus temps. So you will want to invest in a good winter coat. We get our coats from Lands End because they have goose down fleathers which are warmer. You can also get down feather coats at Burlington Coat Factory.

Unlike GA when it snows we DO go to work and school, but not when we get a lot of it. So be careful driving in it.It does not get as hot as GA.


Cost of groceries are cheaper. Being in the middle of the state you are two hours from Cleveland and Cincinatti which are good cities to visit.

 

[SDSorority]

Thanks so much for all of the school info. Here are a couple of stupid questions but where do you buy snow blowers and what are the best winter coats that aren't too expensive? Can you get like a yard service to clear your driveway for you or is this not available or crazy expensive? Sorry- I have no clue about these things. Also, for all you Columbus people, I'll try to let you know before I go off driving in the snow!
Looking forward to checking out the auto train too!!

LOL

We don't have a snowblower, just a couple of shovels. My dad and FIL both do, they love theirs. I think they probably got them at Lowes or Home Depot. The best winter coat I have is actually a layer of a couple of different coats. I *invested* (seriously) in a North Face Denali, and like to pair that under a down coat if it's REALLY cold. If it's not TOO cold I will wear that alone with a sweater. Works for me! Driving in the snow is a whole other beast. The first snow of the year causes a lot of headaches and traffic jams around here. Just take your turning slow and start stopping at a safe (aka far away) distance. ODOT did a pretty good job of clearing and salting this year within the city (on the major roads, anyway). Winter is my LEAST favorite time of year. I know I know, lots of hoidays yaddy yaddy- I HATE DRIVING IN THE SNOW AND ICE. People ride my tail like you wouldn't believe and it makes me crazy. You just have to be aware of everyone, but block out the annoying ones that think they own the road and that you're in their way.