Westerville or Lewis Center? (Columbus, Cleveland: apartment complex, for rent, crime)

[ryw]

I've heard a variety of things about several of the little towns surrounding Columbus. I'm looking to relocate, but I don't want to move too far away from my ex-husband because of my daughter.
These too places seem to kind of fit. Westerville seems to look a lot like the city I live in now. I was wondering what the cost of living was like, I'm definitely middle class . So the more wealthy parts I know I couldn't afford. I'm not really concerned about schools right now, because who knows what the schools or the area will be like in the 3-4 years it will be before my daughter is old enough for school.
I've done a little research on both on various websites on the internet, but most were set up by the cities themselves, so of course "This is a great place to live" is plastered all over them.

Help me please!

[Roccomom]

I live in Westerville, right near Old Town area of Westerville. Its a quaint area with shops, ice cream, etc. within walking distance if you live near enough. There is a small college in the Old Town area as well. The rest of Westerville has turned into your traditional suburban town. The south end of town is losing business to the north end of town, with all of the new development. Westerville has seen an astronomical amount of growth in the last 5-7 years. I used to live on the far north side of Westerville, near Genoa Township, and traffic is a nightmare during rush hour. Now I live in the middle of town, am within in walking distance to about a 100 parks, library, Dairy Queen, etc. This is wonderful for a two sons. Not bashing Westerville at all, its a wonderful place for families, kids, etc. Just moving near the newer developments and your talking serious headaches with traffic. Then on the south side, Columbus is slowly creeping in, and you have a more run down area of town.


Lewis Center, is mainly large, sprawling housing developments, in a country setting. There is not really a center of town. Its either country living, or strip mall heaven. Its not a traditional town. Its really pricey too. Some people don't even realize Lewis Center is not Westerville or Delaware because it doesn't really have an identify without a center of town.

If you are looking to rent or buy I can lend some suggestions. Hope this helps and is not too confusing. Let me know if you have additional questions.

[NewToCA]

I agree with the differences between Lewis Center and Westerville, but find that both are priced about the same for housing. Bottom line to me is that you can find a very nice home with 3-4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, a two car garage and basement (frequently finished into a rec room) for the low to mid $200's.

[ryw]

I'm looking to rent, I can't afford to buy right now, I'm really young, just turned 21. I just started going to MU here in Huntington, WV. So I was thinking about transferring to OSU.

Seriously around $200?!? That's insane, for a house? Insane! I pay $400 right now for a dinky little 2br apartment. Its such crap too, there's no fixing it up either Its sounds nice though, Westerville, I live pretty much out in the country, a car is absolutely necessary. So it would be nice to be able to walk to a park or to get ice cream with my daughter with my boyfriend is at work because we only have one car!

Could you give me any links or anything for newspapers, or any kind of classifieds for the area?

It would be a great help! Thank you both.

[ryw]

I almost forgot, what is the approximate cost of daycare? Is there plenty of centers located in Westerville, or would I need to go to Columbus for a daycare?

[Roccomom]

Childcare in Columbus in general is expensive. I pay $1582 a month for two boys, infant and pre-school age. There is the option of in-home daycare, I paid $140 a week for my oldest before he went into daycare. We absolutely love our babysitter, she actually lived in Lewis Center.

The Daycare I send my boys to is not a national chain, so the outside appearance is a building that is 15 years old. However, they absolutely love the center. Brooksedge Day Care Center, its online, just search name plus city/sate and it should pop up.

My oldest briefly attended a private, upscale day care in another town, and it cost $200 a week. They treated him bad and thought he wasn't good enough.

Housing in the $200K range is for a GIGANTIC 2500 s.f. home. I just bought a house in Uptown Westerville in Oct. 2006 for $139,000. Its 3br, 1ba, 1100 s.f. Nice, starter home, needs some work, we redid the bathroom. But its safe, reliable and cozy. With a young child, and one car I would recommend sticking to the Uptown/Old Town area of Westerville. It leaves a lot of options within walking distance. Even two different public pools, library, parks, ice cream, pizza shop, restaurants, dance schools. You get my point.

Westerville News and Opinion is a local newspaper in Westerville. They have a classified section that includes babysitting options, and housing. A great apartment complex is Otterbein Apartments, located on Otterbein Avenue. On the outside its a little run down, not a 5-star resort, but we have friends who live there and they have more room then we do. They are townhouses I think, 2 story, plus 1/2 finished basement and laundry downstairs.

City website has a lot of local resources also:

City of Westerville, Ohio

The pictures are honest pictures of what Uptown looks like. The rest of Westerville is your traditional over developed, store on every corner, mall up the street city.


You may be able to find reasonable rent in a house as well. A small ranch, without a basement you may find a decent price. Not sure. Apartments run between $600-$800 for a 1 or 2 bedroom. There are larger more fancy complexes that run into the $1000's but you can definetely find reasonable housing options if you spend some time looking.

[Roccomom]

These Daycares are also in Westerville:

Kindercare Learning Center (has government assistance options)
Children's World
La Petite Academy
Learning Ladder (small, non chain center, great reviews from friends with kids)
Brooksedge Day Care Center
All the Children of the World (christian based, attached to a church)

[ryw]

Originally Posted by Roccomom

These Daycares are also in Westerville:

Kindercare Learning Center (has government assistance options)
Children's World
La Petite Academy
Learning Ladder (small, non chain center, great reviews from friends with kids)
Brooksedge Day Care Center
All the Children of the World (christian based, attached to a church)

There's also a Kindercare in my area. I've sort of checked them out but I haven't had a real need for daycare of a babysitter so far.

Is there any "bad" areas in Westerville at all, or is it pretty much the same? Its hard to judge what an area is like. I mean you say Old Town area, but I have no idea what streets that would include. Since most places if for rent ads only include street addresses. I know its difficult to explain things that that to someone who knows nothing about an area. You've been so much help though! Thank you.

[fdbohio]

Westerville is average priced lower.

[Roccomom]

In reality there are no bad areas, Westerville really is your all american safe town. Now, crime does happen, but minimal stuff. You don't hear about it on the TV hardly ever. A lot of people think Westerville is stuck up and in a way we are. They just passed legal drinking/selling alcohol like a year ago. The Prohibition started in Westerville. There is an entire library dedicated to it somewhere I believe. Passing the alcohol issue was a HUGE deal. People still insist crime has increased because of drinking being allowed in restaurants. It is SO family oriented. By being this way, it has managed to maintain a very clean, pretty town.

I will try to give you an idea of streets and areas, but it may get confusing. Try looking at a map with the information I give you to help you search out areas. Westerville is in the NorthEast area of outer COlumbus, on the outside of I270 which is the loop around Columbus. Cleveland Ave (runs north/south) is what I consider the western border of town. It goes much farther but I consider anything to the west of Cleveland Ave I consider to be Columbus, its gets a little sketchy. Just personal opinions. State Street/Rt 3 are one in the same. It runs north/south right through the middle of town. Uptown is centered around State St/Rt 3. SPring St. runs north/south, but you are starting to get in to higher end, up scale developments. The Eastern border of Westerville is Sunbury Road, which runs along the Hoover Dam, small lake area. I270 is the Southern border of Westerville, though technically is a but south of I270, again, Columbus is starting to creep into with some higher crime. Shrock Rd runs East/West and runs through the older retail areas of town. This is the area where I said it losing business to the North end of town. Still most housing in this area is safe, and nice. You are still too far to walk to Uptown unless you are up for a hike. The Northern border is Polaris Parkway, which when is intersects with State Street/Rt 3 is becomes Maxtown Rd. They are the same road. Anything near Polaris is brand new in the last 5 or so years. When I moved to Westerville 7 years ago, it was all still farm land. Anything inside the main borders is 100% safe in my opinion.

Now to form a central Uptown zone, Main Street(east/west) and State St/Rt 3 (north/south) intersection is the point blank middle of Uptown. The northern border of Uptown is Countyline Road (east/west), eastern border is Otterbein Ave, Southern border is Park St. and western boarder is Otterbein College Campus. There is no real road because the college is made up of a series of small, one way, brick roads. Very cute school, I graduate from there in 2005.

The border for Uptown are slightly smaller than what real Uptown is consider but they are the most prominent roads. Anything around there is a great location. My house is near the corner of Otterbein Ave and Park Street. There are a ton of HUGE mansion houses mixed with starter homes and homes that have been turned into duplexes.

Hopes this helps some. I will check back to see if you need any more help.